The Question that Begs to be Answered

We live in a time when any piece of information that you could possibly want is only a click away.  

Teaching my son the anatomy of a bird in 5th grade may no longer be relevant, because if and when he is interested in learning that – whether as a child or grown adult – he can access that information in a matter of seconds.

This age of information access begs the question:

Why are we teaching the subjects and topics that we’re teaching?

Forty years ago, information was more challenging to come by.  These days, it is incredibly accessible.  So, is it imperative that our children strive to learn the highest quantity of information?

Or would it better suit them to develop a love for learning, a curious outlook, and practical knowledge of how to access information that they are interested in?

Our job is to bait the hook for our kids; to give them an environment where they are allowed to follow their curiosity, ask a thousand questions, and find answers through discovery, research and experimentation.

Our role is not simply to instruct them, but to teach them to look for the exciting and the meaningful in everything around them.  And when they start running with it, we get to give them the ground beneath their feet.

This approach may seem questionable at first, but let go of fear for a moment and imagine what could happen if we encouraged our children to be children – to find wonder in the little things, to harness the excitement of discovery, and to see beauty and potential in everything that surrounds them.

How could you stop learning from happening in a situation like that?

Consider the motives driving the learning that is taking place in your homeschool.  How do those motivations affect what the child learns, how they learn, and how long they will retain that information?

As you begin to ask these questions, you’ll find that topics, subjects, and more begin to fall into categories:

• Things that inspire your children.
• Things that are relevant and necessary.
• Things that don’t have practical application or are not actively launching you towards fulfilling your homeschool goals.

Embrace the things that bring joy and inspire your children.

Find innovative and fun ways to learn about those that are relevant and necessary.

And dump the things that are taking up valuable time and effort, but not advancing your child in the goals you have for the education. Don’t feel bad about it – this is part of the process of refining your child’s education in order to give them a tailored, individual experience that best sets them up for success.

The reality is that if and when they’re interested in exploring that topic, they’ll have all of the information at their fingertips.

Focus on teaching them how to learn, how they learn best, and how to access quality information when they have questions about the world around them. Doing this will go so much further in establishing healthy educational habits than trudging through unnecessary lessons ever will.

Teach your child how to learn and they will spend the rest of their lifetime doing just that.