how children learn - Page 2

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How Ticking Off Boxes Can Be a Waste of Time

Do you ever tick off boxes? When we have a lot of things to do, making a list, and then ticking off the items as we complete them, can be very helpful. It feels satisfying to see the ticks appearing, doesn’t it? Yes, ticking off boxes is good. Well, it usually is. It just depends on what’s on our lists.…
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Old and New Stories, a Book Club and Other Unschooling Things

A few weeks ago, I received a letter from Fr James Tierney who is the author of the Bush Boys children’s books. Fr and I are old friends. We’re also writing buddies. And Fr is also a great source of inspiration and encouragement for me and my family. As I was writing my reply to Fr’s letter, I realised that…
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Are You a Curious Unschooler? [Podcast]

I recorded a new podcast episode! That might surprise you because it’s been quite a while since my last episode. I’ve become a bit of an unreliable podcaster. But, hopefully, that’s about to change: I’m planning to record a new series of episodes. Each episode will be based on a blog post. I’ll be telling a story and then chatting about…
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Is it Really Okay if Kids Play All Day?

Parents value play when children are very young. At this stage of life, we all agree that children should be playing. But what about when they get older? Should they still be allowed to play as much as they would like? When children reach an age when they could go to school, play is often pushed to one side. It…
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Unschool Reading: A Slow Learner

It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was helping my daughter Gemma-Rose learn to read. She’d choose a book and we’d sit side-by-side on the sofa and we’d enjoy the story together. Actually, I don’t know if ‘enjoy’ is the right word. Reading was a very slow process. We hardly ever got to the end of a book. I’d…
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What Do Children Need to Learn?

Here’s another younger unschooler story. My daughter Gemma-Rose was 8 when I wrote this post. Being the youngest child in the family, Gemma-Rose often slipped under my radar as far as teaching her the essential skills of life goes. But did that matter? Regardless of me, did she learn what she needs to know?  A couple of weeks ago, Gemma-Rose…
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How Kids (and Adults) Learn

In this week’s podcast, episode 108, I’m telling some stories and chatting about how kids and adults learn: What is the best motivation for learning? Why do we persist using teaching methods that we know aren’t working? Why do we waste our time? Would more people unschool if there was no such thing as homeschool registration? What bad habits have adults learnt…
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Watching a Child Learn

This is a guest post written by Elizabeth Johnson. As mothers (and fathers) we are blessed with an incredible privilege: watching our children’s minds unfold to the world around them. I used to take great pleasure from seeing an “A” at the top of my daughter’s spelling tests and would congratulate myself on parenting well done when my son could…
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