‘… if we’re curious people, the whole world is a source of fascinating things to investigate. But this doesn’t mean we will all enjoy learning about something the same way. Sometimes we need to find the right angle. Can we find a way into a subject that appeals to us? Can we approach it through the back door?’
-Challenge 50, The Unschool Challenge
What if we think something is boring and don’t want to know about it? Is this a problem? It isn’t for parents because we’re free to pick and choose what we’re interested in.
But what if it’s our kids who are saying, “That’s boring!”? Are they missing out on potentially interesting experiences? What if these words are their response to something that’s in the school curriculum or program that they’re legally required to follow? What can we do?
A Blog Post
I wrote about this problem in my post, Unschool: Boring or Maybe Not.
‘Even though I never forced my kids to learn anything they weren’t interested in, we always had plenty of notes covering the required school key learning areas, to show our Authorised Person at registration time. I tried to find an angle that appealed to my kids for each subject. There are more ways than one to learn about something.’
Unschooling: Boring or Maybe Not
A Challenge
You could try finding a back door into a subject you or your kids think is boring by doing this challenge from my book The Unschool Challenge
50: Find the Right Learning Angle
- Watch out for a topic that holds no interest for you or your kids.
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Walk around this topic, examining it from all angles. Can you connect it with something you or your kids are interested in?
I tried googling the words ‘art history’ together with ‘maths’ as I searched for a pathway from one of Gemma-Rose’s passions into the dreaded subject of maths. My daughter ended up discovering that maths is very interesting and necessary when you want to sell your famous and highly valuable painting at auction. It doesn’t matter if your work of art is a forgery as long as no one finds out!
Of course, there are times when, despite trying to find alternate ways of looking at a subject, our kids fail to get excited. They think the topic is irrelevant. They have no need of the knowledge, at least for the moment. They’re just not interested. What do we do?
I used to move on and not worry about it. I’d presented plenty of opportunities for my kids to learn the things in the school curriculum, but they had to accept the invitations. We can’t force anyone to learn anything, can we? I’d done what was legally required. I could do no more.
Images
I found these fabulous images on the Biodiversity Heritage Library site.
I’m wondering…
Have you ever discovered an unexpected way into a subject that you’d written off as boring? What about your kids? Have you tried linking a ‘boring’ topic with to something your kids are passionate about? Why not stop by and share your stories?
