Inspire Learning

Let's tackle Janet's question about how to inspire learning. She has recently taken her children out of public school and sounds like everyone (including her) is burned out. In school there is so much "teaching to the test" and meeting government standards etc. that often children's love of learning is squelched.

I was in a similar situation last year at this time. I highly recommend reading materials about a Thomas Jefferson Education. Through my reading, I discovered that summer is the perfect "detox" time. It's a time to heal family relationships and rekindle our love of learning.

My veteran TJEd friend Amanda W. suggests to do nothing! There was a time when I would have shuddered at the suggestion. I used to be scared of the dreaded complaint "Mom, I'm bored!" But Amanda is right! I have since discovered that being bored creates the necessary vacuum needed for children to discover and explore. My children have come up with wonderful activities and games when left to themselves. Now when I hear "Mom, I'm bored!", my response is always the same. "That's great! I love when you're bored!! You come up with the best things to do when you're bored." And they have!

Amanda also shared with me that much of what inspires her children simply comes from following her instincts as their mother. I would love to share more about that on a later post. Stay tuned!

We also read great books together. See What We've Learned From the Classics for some ideas (more to come!). Discussions and activities natuarally flow from sharing a great book together.

Camping is another great detoxing activity. It's a great time to work together as a family and heal relationships by being present in nature. On Memorial Day weekend we (by "we" I really mean my husband and kids ; ) camped in our backyard...just for fun!

Any family work projects like caring for a garden and yard where we all work together has a healing effect as well.

The key is being together and spending quality time with your children. More and more my husband and I are realizing that our children are only with us a short time. Make use of every moment.

These are only some ideas of how to rekindle our (yes, ours too : ) love of learning and is by no means comprehensive. Please share any ideas you have done to inspire learning.