a) more to ed…
More To Education Than Meets The Eye
“I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” ~ PABLO PICASSO
Education is so much more than learning times tables and answering comprehension questions at the end of the chapter (in fact, we don’t even do the latter, although we do discuss what we’ve read).
Our greatest educational desire is to inspire our children to become learners for life. To that end, we set an example of pursuing learning *ourselves*, some of which is documented in our blog off the BOOKshelf. We also point the older children towards various areas of learning that they might like to consider in Self-Directed Studies.
We do not work on every possibility every single day, and when we are on the road, we will accomplish what we can. In some areas, I’m sure there will be a great many more opportunities than we would have had at home; in other areas (like the number of books available to read), there will be restrictions. The big kids are planning on having a *science year* as far as formal studies are concerned. Some of the science courses they would like to do are available on CD, so we are getting three years’ worth and they are planning to work through them, instead of the reading they would usually do for hours every day. They are also insistent about taking a mathematics textbook!
For the little children (under 8-ish years of age) our main goal is for them to learn to get on with each other – this can be done anywhere! The slightly older ones, who typically would be immersing themselves in a period of *learning to love learning*, will not be disadvantaged. Although they may not have at their disposal large sheets of cardboard or boxes of string, they will have experiences a-plenty to journal about and watercolours to experiment with. They will walk mountains and boat down rivers, they will investigate new flora and fauna, they will listen to different music, they will meet new people, make new friends.
We’ll make the most of each day, learning what we can.
(And here’s a link to an *education* post. And another one. And I really shouldn’t start a sentence with “and”, should I? Rather ironical on a page about education!)
From the road….
* learning to parent
* craftsmanship
* lighting the fire
* the value of books and here
* Lao culture
* what to do with coconuts
* horrific history and here
* a learning conversation
* it just happens and here
* learning Vietnamese and Lao and…
* quiet day learning
* finding out
* learning to ride a unicycle!
* museum mania and here and here
* learning about Shanghai
* hands-on dumpling making
* thoughts about writing/journalling
* learning about bears!
rayres
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