There are many different forms of
home education. One of the forms that is gaining some popularity is child-led
education. Child-led education is a method by which the children are allowed to
study and learn what interests them. Some people also call this type of
education unschooling. Part of the reason that this type of education is
labeled UN schooling is because it does not follow the traditional education
model of reading, writing, and arithmetic.
In child-led learning the
children determine the direction and intensity of their education. They follow
their interests. For example, an elementary student with an interest in
volcanos might research more about them on the internet, check out books from
the library about lava, and build their own volcanos out of materials provided
by parents. The parent is there to facilitate learning, but does not necessary
plan lessons or gives lectures.
Because the student is following
their own interests they are often move involved with the subject, and they
consider the subjects less dry or boring, because the subjects are of their own
choosing. Students may study one subject at a time, or
may move from interest to
interest throughout the day. Again, this would be determined by the student's
own interests.
Understandably, child-led
education may leave some parts of the child's education lacking because each
student will not be interested in all subjects equally and therefore will not
study all subjects with the same intensity. For a student with no
interest in math the argument
against child-led education is that the student will choose not to ever study
math.
This is not a correct assumption
however. While the student might not ever undertake official education in math,
at some point it is presumed that the student will want to learn something that
requires math, and in order to follow the interest that they have will
undertake math to facilitate that subject.
A direct example of that might be
the child wanting to build a mathematically correct pyramid as part of their
study of Egypt. The student will need three dimensional geometry to build the
pyramid correctly, and since the student has an interest in the pyramid, they
will then learn the geometry.
One might also argue that un schooling
or child-led education will not prepare students adequately for real world
learning, or employment. While a student's education might not be complete with
child-led education there is a theory that the students will have intense
knowledge in some subjects and a curiosity and desire to learn that will allow
them to fill in the missing information when they desire to.
Many homeschooling parents,
having been educated either in traditional schools, or homeschooled using
traditional education as a model, will be uncomfortable allowing their children
to lead the education. For these parents there are modifications to child-led
education that can fill both traditional sensibilities about education as well
as student-led learning.
One way to modify the child-led
model is to teach traditional course work during part of the school day, and
then allow the student to use that knowledge to enhance their own learning and
follow their own interest for another part of the day. By allowing special
projects, or electives of the student's choosing, it is possible to get not
only the benefits of traditional education but also the benefits of allowing
the child to follow their own interests.
By providing an education rich
environment for the student, parents are able to maintain some control, and
also allow the student to made determinations about the direction of their
education. As students get older, this flexibility in learning might pay
dividends beyond what either traditional education, or child-led education
might pay if used separately. For more info visit Ojas Global Academy.