The Way Children Learn: Living a Life that Supports All Kinds of Learning
Episode 47: The Way Children Learn: Living a Life that Supports All Kinds of Learning
Anne fromEclectic Kids, Bird Bound and @obytheby and April Scully from Modern Homeschoolers join for a conversation about the many faces of whole life learning. The conversation is as vibrant, messy, wonderful and meaningful as whole life learning itself is. We talk not only about the “academic” side of learning but also about including children in real life experiences — even hard or uncomfortable ones sometimes — and the self-awareness, care for others and resilience they develop bit by bit.
We Discuss:
How whole life learning isn’t age specific and allows for the idea of curiosity across the ages
Labels – where they serve us, where they limit
How much more and how much more deeply we see when we slow down and the way that can impact what we share with our child
That once you label certain things as educational, it often follows that other things are considered ‘not’ educational
How changing our thinking to expand what we see as worthwhile and educational allows us to blur those lines
That sometimes we do go somewhere or dig into something with the intention of specifically learning and how other times we’re just out experiencing something and learning is a by-product
That we can learn from almost anything, but we can choose whether we want to learn in a deep intentional way or just experience something for the moment
Helping people to find the message sooner that learning doesn’t have to be as complicated as we think it is
The many layers of learning that are happening all the time
How the conversation element with our children is so underrated
That sometimes we can actually learn more after the planned program is over and there’s a chance to talk to a presenter, etc.
Kids gaining perspective from conversation and having the opportunity to offer their perspective
Authentically offering kids information and opportunities to build on things with genuine curiosity from the parent rather than ulterior motives or “sneaky learning”
Naturally narrating or exploring together rather than looking for teachable moments and how different that feels to the child
How hard it seems to be for people to slow down and get into a true mindset of curiosity
How adults can get moving at a quick pace and forget kids in the midst of what could be an interesting conversation for them too
Having consciousness and looking for ways to include kids in conversations
Whether we’ve lost curiosity for each other and the holding of space in the midst of distraction with our phones and busy schedules.
Kids as full members of society and participants in life and the world and how many things are set up to separate them from real life
Some of the gimmicks and rewards involved in programs that are for children, but that if a child has a deep interest in something, they don’t need to be laden down with that
That having an opportunity to be part of multi-age learning, including adults is one of the ways that children can mature in their learning
Showing that we care for people and modelling that for our kids – even simple awareness of other people around us
Modelling how we react to things like other adults, sharing gossip with us or speaking disparagingly about people
Whether when we spend a lot of time with our child, it might modify the way we speak
That the homeschool parent role makes us very aware of ourselves – the good, the bad and the ugly
How being with our children a lot can help us become more self reflective, humble and honestly, better people
That the reality of being with our children this much means that they often get a very well-rounded view of who we are, even the more uncomfortable sides of us
How much more valuable layers of learning that involve things like emotional maturity are than many of the skills we put up on a pedestal
That our kids have time to see the full gamut, not only of our emotions, but range of life experiences
The ability to use things like scientific method or forming a hypothesis in real time as things come up in life, repairs need to be made to the house, etc.
The empowerment of being able to be part of real life repairs and skill development
Making natural choices that actually need to happen in life – what is there space for? What is there enough money for? If we need to make a decision, how can we figure it out? What might we choose to give up or figure out differently?
Whether we could be more energetic parents, if we had some of those breaks from each other during the day from school, childcare, etc
Yet how time together can be both tiring and connecting at the same time as we share context, rhythm and experiences
Building resilience and social/emotional intelligence as a natural by-product of this type of life
That a home educating life can be a messier one, even as far as the range of emotions and circumstances and lack of order, but that it’s a real life
Things that kids learn that they can’t learn from a course
That soft skills are so important – not facts but a way of being
Whole life learning as being about more than fun and curiosity but also some really hard things sometimes – it really is WHOLE life learning
Figuring out how to be real and navigate and name things without overwhelming our kids
Real talk – relief that we don’t always know what’s ahead and that our kids will maybe endure and navigate things that are harder than we imagine
The value of kids coming to medical appointments, even if ours or siblings, etc
The joy of seeing degrees of responsibility and maturity and care for others develop
What self-care looks like when we have chosen a life where our children are often with us
Explaining to kids that each of us having some time to ourselves can be helpful for any of us, children included
That “me” time can happen with everyone in the same space – kind of a form of parallel living frame
The idea that the words “me time” actually can resonate very well with kids, especially young ones – we don’t have to disguise or dress up our need to care for ourselves
That whole life learning can mean that our kids and us are often learning and enjoying many of the same things … it’s not always one or the other
That the very early years in particular can be difficult to realistically find much time for oneself
The observation that we are sometimes so enthralled with kids when they are little that the lack of self-care time sometimes isn’t even noticeable until we’re coming out of that era
How child development and family life can be actual interests and passions of ours, so our self-care needs won’t all be the same
Enjoying watching our kids enjoying things
Resources:
Home Ed Labels and Jargon: Sorting Them Through – Virtual Kitchen Table Podcast