It’s so easy to miss out on one of the coolest parts of homeschooling: spontaneous learning. Or what I call “rabbit trails.”
Kids are made to be naturally curious, and spontaneous learning is simply following that curiosity, seeing where it takes us. I like to think of it as all the unplanned (yet exciting) adventures that Alice has following the White Rabbit throughout Wonderland. Spontaneous learning brings freshness and joy to education. It really is the fastest ticket to creating life-long learners, which is one of my top goals as a homeschooler teacher.
So why are we moms continually tempted to squelch this type of learning? Come on… I can’t be the only one out here.
Ah yes, because we’re the responsible ones. The ones who must keep the family engine humming along at breakneck speed so that everyone can get to swim class by 4:00 and dinner at 6:30. We know that if we do allow the kids to pull out that big box of electronic gear to tinker with, not only is there going to be a big mess to clean up, but some other “ultra-important” school worksheet isn’t going to get done.
Ahem.
Read the rest...
http://www.thevintagecreative.com/2013/08/29/pardon-us-were-off-on-a-rabbit-trail/
