#58 Become a Learner

One of the most valuable things you can do for your children's education is to become a learner yourself, even if it means spending a little less time directly educating your children. This will offer many benefits to you and your family:

Your children will learn from what you learn - even in the casual format of dinner table conversations about what you're learning.

You'll show them how much you value education and help them see that it's not just something for school age kids.

It will help you become more enthusiastic about learning in general and their learning in particular. Enthusiasm is contagious! And they will enjoy learning more if they do it with you.

It helps to build a learning environment. For example, if you're reading instead of watching the news or listening to the radio, your house will be quieter and more inviting for others to study in.

The Catechism says: "One is entitled to think that the future of humanity is in the hands of those who are capable of providing the generations to come with reasons for life and optimism." (1917)

Helping Your Children Love Learning (#38)

There's nothing quite like the interest and involvement of parents to help motivate children to WANT to learn. Here are a few ideas to try out with your own families.

Go outside and look at the stars together. Learn the names of a few of the constellations.

Children love "real" things. Let them help you with real jobs and house projects.

Take them to the beach, forest, pond or desert and have everyone draw pictures of what they find.

Spend time with other families who love learning.

Pop a batch of popcorn and sit down to a family read-aloud.

Plan ahead for an art museum trip by introducing each child to a beautiful painting they can search for once you arrive.

Go on an adventure walk in your own neighborhood. Bring water bottles and magnifying glasses!

Choose a country and find recipes native to that place. Invite several friends to do the same, and get together for a day of ethnic cooking.

Most importantly, let your children see that you love learning too.

Old Books (#26)

C.S. Lewis said: "Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books."

What does this mean for the education of our own children? Instead of just textbooks - written by modern writers, make room for some of the old greats - and these are great for parents too!

So make room for Shakespeare, for G.K. Chesterton and for Charles Dickens. Make it a priority to read C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien with your children. Hilda Van Stockum and J. Henri Fabre are terrific, and don't neglect the old fairy tales and the old myths.

C.S. Lewis also said: "Two heads are better than one, not because either is infallible, but because they are unlikely to go wrong in the same direction."

More Isn't Always Better (#22)

If a child finishes an entire school book on schedule, but remembers little or none of what is studied, he has accomplished very little. It's much better to study less and learn it well.

Here are a few possibilities for adjusting your studies accordingly:

Measure a day's or a week's progress according to effort and time expended upon a subject rather than the number of pages completed.

Don't latch onto formal work at the expense of the informal learning that fills in the cracks and makes formal learning easier and more delightful. For example, a child is read to and talked to and given an initial and very important grasp on the language before he learns formal reading skills.

For a subject like Science or History, split a textbook up into two or three years and study the material in greater depth. Supplement with excellent books and videos, visits to a museum and hands-on projects and experiments.

It's About the Family... (#21)

Success in homeschooling is intimately tied with a healthy family culture. This doesn't require financial success or parents who are highly educated. Success is truly in reach of everyone. It doesn't require perfection and when we despair over our imperfections we close the path to God. Instead, keep striving for the good even when you make mistakes. The grace of God is essential here!

Here are a few suggestions for parents and families:

Cultivate and model good attitudes, virtues, joy, diligence and enthusiasm.

Learn, pray, work and play together each day.

Help each other discover and develop each other's gifts and talents.

Avoid extremes.

Keep your priorities straight.

Work through challenges and problems together.

Keep on trying and loving even when you make mistakes.

Service (#15)

Sometimes we're too busy with the nuts and bolts of formal education to remember that volunteer work can have a huge impact on education and is even considered in the college application process.

A wealth of opportunities are available and children can be introduced while they are quite young by first serving others in their own family.

Pope Benedict had this to say about works of service:

I wish here to offer a special word of gratitude and appreciation to all those who take part in these activities... For young people, this widespread involvement constitutes a school of life which offers them a formation in solidarity and in readiness to offer others not simply material aid but their very selves. The anti-culture of death...is thus countered by unselfish love which shows itself to be a culture of life by the very willingness to "lose itself" for others. (Deus Caritas Est)

Beauty in Education (# 13)

One important, though often overlooked, aspect of education is beauty.

Pope Benedict XVI said,

"Children exposed to what is aesthetically and morally excellent are helped to develop appreciation, prudence and the skills of discernment. Here it is important to recognize the fundamental value of parents' example and the benefits of introducing young people to children's classics in literature, to the fine arts and to uplifting music. While popular literature will always have its place in culture, the temptation to sensationalize should not be passively accepted in places of learning. Beauty, a kind of mirror of the divine, inspires and vivifies young hearts and minds, while ugliness and coarseness have a depressing impact on attitudes and behaviour."

Read his entire message, from the 41st World Communications Day here.

An Environment of Love and Learning (#12)

Education isn't just about what children know; perhaps more importantly, it's about what they love. Successful home education relies on a healthy family life where love of goodness and truth is modeled and cultivated.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church offers a beautiful explanation of this concept: "Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children. They bear witness to this responsibility by creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and disinterested service are the rule. The home is well-suited for education in the virtues. This requires an apprenticeship in self-denial, sound judgment, and self-mastery - the preconditions of true freedom... Parents have a grave responsibility to give good example to their children. By knowing how to acknowledge their own failings to their children, parents will be better able to guide and correct them."

Further Information:

The above quote is from The Catechism of the Catholic Church, #2223

Pope Benedict XVI has recently written on the subject of beauty in education.

Play Time is Essential (#11)

A recent American Academy of Pediatrics study tell us that children's development and important family time are being compromised by today's hectic lifestyle. Modern society tells us that we need to put more and more formal lessons and activities into our children's lives in order for them to succeed. Though it's hard to break from convention, reality tells us otherwise. Family time and unstructured, old-fashioned playtime shouldn't be replaced with the latest educational craze. Give yourself permission to slow down as a family and keep that desire for efficiency in check when it comes to your children. Playtime is essential. Important connections to nature, family and God are made through the informal and natural learning that comes from skipping rope, building sand castles, playing checkers, helping bake muffins, catching fireflies or voluntarily snuggling up with a good story.

Further Information:
"New AAP Report Stresses play for Healthy Development"