Homeschool Monday — Being the Example

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is its focus on teaching children how to learn rather than just rote memorization. Learning is a lifelong process, I’ve heard many teaching mothers say, my goal is to teach them how to learn. While I agree with that statement 100%, I wonder how often we actually model this for our children. When was the last time your children saw you learning something?

When are kids are very little and are potty training, we bring them into the bathroom with us so that they can see how to pee. When they are learning to go to Mass, we make sure they sit beside us so that they can copy our example of how to behave. When the are beginning to read, we trace our fingers under the words in their bedtime stories to help them connect the concept of the letters on the page with the spoken word. When they are learning to drive, we put them in the front seat next to us and hope like anything that they watch what we are doing.

We should be setting the same kind of example for learning. If we truly believe that education never ends, do our children know what that looks like?

If you’re not already doing this, why not start today? Pick a topic and get going. There’s no pressure, no grades, and no one telling you that you can’t pick a different one when you get bored. Not only will you be teaching your children a valuable lesson about life, but you’ll be helping your own brain stay fresh and alert. Who couldn’t use a little more fresh and alert?

Need help figuring out where to start? why not:

• Pick an interesting historical figure and start reading a biography
• Find a list of classic literature (like this one) and begin working your way through it. If you don’t have time to sit and read, audiobooks are great
• Listen to audiobooks on things that interest you while you’re in the car.
• Make a list of documentaries on a topic that interests you and start watching them
• Learn about different cultures through their food by making one meal a week from your chosen country.
• Listen to different genres of music out loud where your kids can hear them. Have you listened to music from Japan? Germany? South Africa? If all you’ve heard is American or British, it’s time to broaden your horizons.
• If you’ve always wanted to play the guitar, why not get a cheap one on Craigslist and a book on how to teach yourself from the library? Sure it will sound awful at first, but there is great value in showing your kids that you don’t already know how to do everything.
• Teach yourself to dice onions like the guys on the Food Network by watching how-to videos on YouTube. I have learned some great cooking skills on there, and my kids do actually pay attention. Yesterday my 8 year old said I was getting much faster in the dicing. I don’t mind saying that I glowed with pleasure just a little.

It doesn’t matter what you do, and there are thousands of possibilities. The point is not for it to be a production for your family to watch, but a normal part of life that they will see.