|
Think like an Educator
November 15, 2012 by Beverley Paine
Deb's son is an avid PS3 player. It's all he does, or so it seems. Three months into unschooling and she's starting to worry... She's happy for him to play PS3 all day everyday but as a registered home educator she'll need something to tell the moderator come time for review.
This comes up a lot in unschooling groups.
What I find is that as parents we tend to notice only a fraction of what is really going on. I usually tell people to keep a log of everything , science or sociology experiment style, for a few days. Tell t he child that it is the quickest way for the parent to learn that a lot is happening when a child is apparently 'doing nothing' or only one thing 'all day'. Most kids are okay with that - so long as it doesn't mean they have to do anything to help.
List everything, from getting out of bed, getting dressed, cleaning teeth, mopping up spilled milk, reading the competition ad on the cereal box... Does he read comics in the toilet? Did he ask a question about an ad on telly? What did he talk about with his siblings? Note when he starts playing PS3, when he stops playing and when he starts playing again. Ask what games he played, how long he played them for, what his score was, etc.
Okay... you've filled a page (or two) with what he did in one day. Get some coloured highlighter pens and using blue for maths, highlight anything, absolutely anything that required any kind of calculating, problems solving or spatial skills. Think patterns, symmetry, fractions, whatever. Science is easier (I'd pick green!) English: think communication, listening, speaking, reading, writing. Any new vocabulary? If he talked about the PS3 game, that's narration. If he asked about the cereal box competition, that's comprehension.
Learn to think like an educator.
Our children don't have to do school for them to learn stuff, but it helps us to think like an educator for us to recognise the education in what they are doing.
The way I see it, we help our children stay at home and avoid all that garbage and time wasting that goes on at school. They can't organise that themselves, they need our help to ensure they continue to have that freedom. So it's okay for me to ask for a bit of cooperation in making sure the situation doesn't change.
I might ask for a poster about a topic they are interested in - something that shows they can write whole sentences, organise information for publication, retell a story or offer instructions. I might ask for a photo collection with captions about their last holiday, what they saw, what they did, what they thought. I might ask them to write a shopping list out for me when my hands are covered in flour. I might photocopy the birthday card they made for Grandma.
Thing is, it's okay to ask them to jump through a few bureaucratic hoops too. After all, they are going to spend the rest of their lives needing to jump through the odd bureaucratic hoop, just another skill they need to learn.
Was this article helpful? Was it worth $1.00 to you?
Your gift of $1 or more helps to keep this site operating
offering encouragement
and reassurance to families
wanting
better outcomes for their children.
Beverley Paine with her children, and their home educated children, relaxing at home.
Together with the support of my family, my aim is to help parents educate their children in stress-free, nurturing environments. In addition to building and maintaing this website, I continue to create and manage local and national home educating networks, help to organise conferences and camps, as well as write for, edit and produce newsletters, resource directories and magazines. I am an active supporter of national, state, regional and local home education groups.
"You've been an inspiration to me, I love the way
you really listen to people." Vanessa
"Whenever I read your writing I always come away
with increased confidence in my ability to provide and
share a wonderful learning journey with my family!" Davina
"Your guidance, understanding, support and words of
wisdom changed our lives. We now offer support and
organise many homeschooling events for others." Lesley
"Thank you once again for your prompt and friendly service.
I am convinced that your books are going to add
quality and peace of mind to my journey of teaching my kids
at home! Just from studying your website, until almost
2am
in the morning, I 've been encouraged!" Louisa
"Thank you for all your many,many reassuring words
over many, many years. You probably don't know exactly how
valuable you are to the Australian Home Education community.
I've been reading your stuff for maybe 8 years or more now.
And I'm very grateful." Gythaa
CLICK HERE
if you want to learn
how to write your own education plans
to suit
your unique children's
individual learning needs?
Or you are looking for quality curriculum and teaching tips...
|
|
Welcome to the World of Home Education
and Learning without School!
We began educating our children in 1985, when our eldest was five. In truth, we had helped them learn what they need to learn since they were born. I am a passionate advocate of allowing children to learn unhindered by unnecessary stress and competition, meeting developmental needs in ways that suit their individual learning styles and preferences. Ours was a homeschooling, unschooling and natural learning family! There are hundreds of articles on this site to help you build confidence as a home educating family. We hope that your home educating adventure is as satisfying as ours was! Beverley Paine
3 ESSENTIAL STEP BY STEP GUIDES
Let experienced home educators Beverley, Tamara and April walk you through HOW to create a learning plan that builds on solid foundations that works for YOUR family AND ticks all the boxes for home educaton registration!
|
Tap into Beverley's
experience
through her books
"Your books, your blogs helped me beyond words... they helped me to find comfort in knowing it is ok to choose exactly what is best for my family." Nisha
"Your books and information are mind blowing and already I am feeling good about this new experience." Diane
"Your guidance, understanding, support & words of wisdom changed our lives." Leslie
"I feel specially inspired by Beverley's words and, the more I read her comments, the more inspired I feel, since my need for support, respect for different parenting styles, and information are fully met." Marijo
|
 |
|
The information on this website is of a general nature only and is not intended as personal or professional advice. This site merges and incorporates 'Homeschool Australia' and 'Unschool Australia'.
The Educating Parent acknowledges the Traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Owners, the Custodians of Australia, and pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people viewing this website.
Advertise on this site.
Australia's premier online annual conferences, lifetime access to video and audio recordings, freebies, notes and associated resource guides.
EVERY SUMMIT IS UNIQUE!
$29 each  2023  2022 2021
$25 each 2020 2019 2017
"Biggest and best Aussie homeschool event of the year!"
Home education is a legal alternative
to school education in Australia.
State and Territory governments are responsible
for regulating home education and have different
requirements, however home educating families
are able to develop curriculum and learning programs
to suit the individual needs of their children.
Without revenue from advertising
by educational suppliers and Google Ads
we could not continue to provide information
to home educators. Please support us by letting
our advertisers know that you found them on
The Educating Parent. Thanks!
|
About
Thank you for visiting!