Learning is all around


What do my children do when they're

Engaged? Learn

Playing? Learn

Exercising? Learn

Copying mummy? Learn

Bored? Learn

Awake? THEY LEARN! 


Do they stay motivated? Yes

Do they love being at home? Yes

Are they free? Yes

 

Do they choose to learn independently? All the time! 

Do they burn out? No, because they lead the pace and flow. 

Do they ever resist learning? Yes and no. They may resist my choice of lesson, but they will have an alternative to offer.


Negotiating and debating subjects is common place with my eldest.... What she fails to realise is, she's learning transferable life skills whilst she's arguing why her choice of lesson is superior than mine. 

I'll negotiate terms which aligns both of our wishes, because the key is that she stays engaged. 

This is the reality of a growing up in a learning environment.

I have my daily checklist of subjects and skill practice, and they choose how we complete this.

Teamwork leads to peace and success.

There is no definitive divide of when school work/education is occurring and life is happening. School is never in session. 

They were playing hair salon the other day, whilst answering questions on multiplication tables. 

They were exercising on the trapeze, swing and trampoline later, having a spelling test. 

Whilst I'm washing up, I'll ask if one of them would mind entertaining me by reading to me. 

My eldest likes to do her writing work whilst I'm bustling around cooking, so my attention isn't fully on her. I feel the teacher/pupil mode of me sat next to her just watching her places pressure on her. I'll pass by every so often, and interact on route to the fridge etc. 

This is the first page from her holiday diary, describing the car journey. I ask them before the event casually in conversation to recall the topic of the report, as their vocabulary is very extensive and I only want them to write about what they personally remember. 

I then write it in a shorter format to keep their interest, using a mix of words they know how to spell or can sound out for themselves and then vocabulary they have used. I then dictate it whilst I'm busy with another job and spell out the words they don't know yet. 

When I started this method in January, Sophia could not recall spellings out of context, only within a spelling text scenario. The first piece where she could independently spell a word was a cause of celebration. 

She can now usually spell 21-35 individual words by herself per piece of writing. There are now times when she learns new spellings in the course of writing the piece which she commits to memory. 

If she hits upon a golden sentence whereby she can spell seven or eight words without mummy she is overjoyed. It's an interesting challenge on my behalf! 


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