Besides building Godly character, homeschooling for the love of learning was also one of the primary reasons homeschooling pioneers touted homeschooling.
Does that philosophy still hold true today?
Are the Methods of Homeschooling Outdated?
Does homeschooling for the lifelong love of learning mean you are more interested in having fun than in helping your child advance in academics?
Some homeschoolers think so.
Not every homeschooler recognizes the value of instilling the love of learning in their children.
Take a look at some of these attitudes that can go from determined to succeed to devastating effects in the long run.
- When your sole focus is on planning long term only for academic advancement like AP and CLEP.
- When your child’s desire to love learning is secondary to your foremost goal of achieving academic excellence.
- When your homeschool plans are constantly pushing your child through the grades regardless of his age.
- When year after year, your homeschool lesson plans seem to be always ambitious.
- When you know that your child is capable of college level work in junior high so you pile on the academics because he is bright and hard working.
- When complaining by your child is met by you with a tough attitude.
Only you can determine what course you are on.
Instead of getting you to change your philosophy, I want to share the results of some of the families I have known through my 12+ years of homeschooling.
Many of those young kids are now grown. Some are in college, some have started families of their own and some are considering homeschooling their children. However, some are not considering homeschooling their own children. Why?
From Childhood to Homeschooling Curriculum
The adult children are now pushing back at their parents. Robbed of a childhood where they could have spent endless hours playing, adult children recognize that they were burdened with adulthood too soon.
Other families were met with resentment and outright hostility much sooner in their journey like when their teen started high school.
Instead of following the course the homeschool parent set out for him, one teen I knew rebelled and move out while still in high school.
How sad for those parents who now lost their opportunity for a relationship with their son.
Teens and homeschooled adult children have a way of biting back. It is dangerous to deliberately year after year put an enormous amount of pressure on a child, gifted or otherwise.
It is one thing for us as parents to want our children to succeed, but it’s quite another to be over demanding of our children and cause them to lose their only childhood.
It is amazing too that while a homeschool parent can sabotage a child’s love of learning they can also be the one that rejuvenates a child’s love of learning.
The power we wield as parents should not be taken lightly because it affects a child lifelong.
When a child’s intrinsic love of learning is fed naturally while balancing a high academic standard, these families have been the ones to not only succeed academically but to maintain a strong bond with their adult child.
Homeschooling for the lifelong love of learning is not only the building block to a strong character but it is the impetus for self-learning. Self-learning is like a glue that sticks way beyond your few short years of homeschooling.
Do you allow enough free time for self-discovery which will propel your children to homeschool for the lifelong love of learning?
Hugs and love ya,
Read on:
What is REAL Homeschooling? Homebound, Co-op, or Public School at Home.
When You Feel Like a Homeschool Failure
3 Reasons You Wouldn’t Want to Homeschool
Very thoughtful post! Thanks for linking up at the Thoughtful Spot!
Samantha @Stir the Wonder recently posted…Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop #89
Tina, I absolutely love this post. One of my favorite one’s you’ve done. And I’ve read some great posts here.
I am all for this. Our philosophy and mission statement reflects this same concept. I have a post in the works on how I don’t focus on grade so much or if my children are “ahead” of ….such & such. My main goal is for them to want to learn and how to learn. If they want to know something they are encouraged to research it and find answers.
I’ll stop know, I feel so strongly about love of learning rather than academic recognition, that I could go on forever.
Love this post… Thanks for sharing.
Brandy @ Our Thrifty Home recently posted…Summer Plans
Hey Brandy,
I am so glad this resonates with you too.
Sometimes the conversation is well, not too “pretty” when talking to a homeschooler who doesn’t care whether their child loves learning or not or when a homeschooler tells you the only thing that matters is academic achievement.
It’s not said, but it’s almost insinuated that when you are determined to nurture a love of learning in your own kids that it equates with low academic standards and that is just NOT the case.
Scholars are persons who have had time pursue what interests them and normally most gifted kids and adults I know are not evenly developed across the subjects.
But once they have the tools, they can learn about anything…
Thanks for your sweet words. I just need to keep it real and say it when it needs to be said.