Fostering a Love of Learning

I love that we homeschool because it allows us to turn everyday occurrences into an educational lesson and helps to foster a love of learning in our children.

For example, Nicholas has had a splinter in his foot for quite a while.  Stuart, the master splinter remover, has tried to get it out but it is just too far below the skin.  So we've been having Nicholas soak his foot in warm soapy water.

And success!  It finally came out.  But instead of just throwing it away, Nicholas wanted to study the splinter up close under a microscope.  Fortunately we have two microscopes so that was easy to do!

I not only love that we can adjust our schedule to have a science lesson before breakfast instead of just shooing my child out the door to go to school but I treasure the fact that Nicholas sought out this knowledge on his own.  My children are enjoying learning.  They are developing a curiosity and a quest for knowledge that we are able to foster and grow in our homeschool environment.

We follow textbooks and curriculum but we can adjust what we study and adjust our schedule to fit our children's learning levels and learning styles instead of forcing their learning to fit a pre-set schedule and lesson plan determined by a school board who has never met them.  We don't have to teach to the lowest scoring child in the classroom or worry about focusing our teaching on what some irrelevant state test is going to measure them on.  We can skip areas that they already know and are bored with or we can spend more time delving deeper into areas that most interest them or that we feel they need more time studying.  We can let their learning soar.

Creating this love of learning is one of our primary goals in our homeschool.  Yes, the basics like math, reading, and scientific principles are important and are certainly being taught in our home.  But we want our children to grow up with a love of learning that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.  As they get older, we want them to continue to seek out knowledge that they soak up from books that they love to read, from expert mentors that they study and follow, and real life experiences that they seek out on their own.