Homeschooling Myth Busters–Only One Way to Learn–Part 6

(Just an aside…it appears that I’m incapable of writing a short post I’m terribly sorry…so much to say, so little time!)

“Inspire him to love to learn–that is the pivotal point of all his learning experiences to follow.”

Yesterday’s post touched on it, but I thought it might be helpful to flesh out a little more the common homeschooling myth that “only a qualified teacher can teach”. It’s a myth fed by our limited experience in the system where we were convinced there is only one way to educate people. (A deeper look into the system’s “agenda” reveals a very concerted effort to control their prodigy by keeping them narrow-sighted and dependent on them. That is the way their humanistic religion is propagated.)

It’s ironic that the very system that we believe is the superior form of education has actually done so much to hinder and limit our own education. Our very confinement of thinking has been a severe handicap to our education.

Let me explain…when a child is first born, he enters the world with an amazing curiosity, given to him by his Creator, that enables him to learn what he needs to learn. He is curious about everything, even before he is able to express it. From the instant he is born, his brain has already begun to process language, sights, sounds–the whole universe. He is heavily engaged in living education.

He continues that route all through his toddler years, learning more, and adding more to his repertoire of knowledge. His parents, if they are involved much in his life, are his teachers. Educated or not, they talk to him, explain things to him, answer questions for him, take him places, expose him to different experiences–they teach him every minute of the day. His environment is his teacher. His experiences are his teachers. Everything around him is his teacher.

Then, about the age of 5, they tell him, “you’re going to go to school so you can learn”. The confusing message begins right there…this child has already learned more in his 5 years than he will learn for the rest of his life! He is removed from a living, breathing environment where he can touch, see, hear and taste everything at his own pace and interest, and his plopped down in a confining room with a bunch of other kids. They are definitely taught…taught to be quiet when they have questions, taught to stand in a straight line outside the bathroom (because that’s a very important life skill), taught to work faster or slow down, depending on what everyone else around him is doing, and the list goes on.

All the while, he is being conditioned to think that his teacher is the only one in his life that has anything intelligent to impart. He is also being conditioned that “school =l earning”. And since school is from 8-3, then learning starts at 8 and is over at 3. Education has become a whole new concept.

Worse yet, as he gets older, it becomes fashionable to dislike school, therefore disliking learning. Not all kids adopt this loathing of learning, but I don’t remember very many who didn’t.

Still worse, these older children, being forced to conform to the average curriculum, work at an average pace, and study the average subjects, are robbed of the ability to indulge their natural gifts, talents and bents.

One of the tragedies of the system can be explained by my own experience as a high school English teacher. It happened with many children, but I will describe one example. I had a student who, by the school’s standards was an absolute failure. He only passed through his academic classes because of the pressure by the administration. He was disinterested, angry, lethargic and hated school. And we shamed him for it. What we didn’t realize, was that this kid had tremendous abilities and talents that were not able to be expressed in the classroom. I was trying to force him to understand Shakespeare; he could barely read. But his interest lay in cars and mechanics. He had an uncanny ability to take things apart and make them work better. He understood things about automobiles that blew my mind.

“If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, by the way, how
can we presume that a child can learn anything in the public school system which
is absolutely devoid of God?”

Do you know how he could have become a well-rounded, educated student? By being given the freedom and opportunity to “study” his art. Reading would have taken on a whole different meaning to him had it been connected to something of interest to him. Give him a mechanics manual, or an intriguing biography about a race car driver, etc., and his curiosity would have propelled him to learn the necessary skills to indulge his interests.

Every subject could have been taught to him from a “delight-directed” approach. Learning would have been something he enjoyed. And better yet, his self-esteem would not have been shattered by all the teachers that told him that since he wasn’t performing on the same level as the other average kids, he wasn’t smart. Tragic.

Some kids do thrive in a classroom setting, I’m not saying they don’t. But so many children have lost tremendous potential in their own areas of expertise because they were forced into a mold they didn’t fit. And while there are some very basic concepts that everyone should learn, those concepts are not learned the same way by everyone. Reading, math and communication–in my opinion the bedrock of a good education, will either be a delight to the student, or a misery, depending upon that student and the way the subjects are presented to him.

Inspire him to love to learn–that is the pivotal point of all his learning experiences to follow.

How is a person educated? By following their God-given curiosity and love of discovering things. It’s when that natural love is squelched that we lose the real potential for education. Does it take a certified teacher to teach? Absolutely not. It takes nothing more than the ability to acquire information…period.

Can I take my child to the library? Can we read together? Then I can teach, and I can teach well. Can we discuss things? Can we find the answer to questions that come up? Can we visit other people with expertise in different areas of subject? Can we ask someone who knows what I don’t know? Can we take a trip? Can we go to a museum? Can we learn how to think about the experiences around us? Can we learn how to communicate well? Can we study God’s Word, which the beginning of all knowledge? (If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, by the way, how can we presume that a child can learn anything in the public school system which is absolutely devoid of God?)

There is so much about this topic that I haven’t talked about it, because this post is already so long! But I hope I gave you a sketch of what I’m trying to say…education is a vast and varied endeavor. Don’t limit its pursuit by assuming there is only one way to learn!

Now, it’s your turn to “fatten” the discussion!

Related posts:

1. Homeschooling Myth Busters–Academics Part 5
2. Homeschooling Myth Busters–Part 1
3. Homeschooling Myth Busters–Sheltering–Part 3
4. Homeschooling Myth Busters–Socialization–Part 2
5. Homeschooling Myth Busters–"Proof is in the Puddin’"–Part 4