As a father of home education, I want to give my children the best education I can. But what constitutes a good education?
Well it is a subjective word, so I can tell you what I think is a good education. I think in terms of results.
What do I want my children to come out of their education?
I want my children to love to learn. I want my children to develop satisfaction by becoming "experts" about the issues that interest them. I want my children to wake up, wondering what they manage to learn that day. I want my son to investigate or ask me for help on how to spell a word because he is writing a story. I want my daughter to ask how to solve an algebra problem because she is studying bacteria. They must be able to read magazines and make sense. They need to be able to separate the Scafe from the wheat by doing almost anything. My children should understand how their community and country works and has a clue on what is happening in the world. My children should be able to adapt to new technologies and change social, political and physical climates. I want my children to be good contributing members to society.
What kind of education will this be achieved?
I am convinced that the worksheets, the school bells and the long hours at school are not the way to encourage a love for learning in children.
The game is important for learning. A book called Einstein never used FlashCards talks about how the game time makes young children happy and children "catch up" with their colleagues for second grade, even if they have not been in ballet classes, swimming lessons, classes of piano and a rigid. Preschool curriculum.
An advantage in the edition of January 20, 2009 of science called report requires a fresh aspect to what happens outside the school reports of how important it is to learn science in informal environments, and that we learn science in many different environments . Schools are charged with a lot of requirements for teaching, and love for learning may not stand the bureaucracy of the school.
An article in the February / March 2009 issue of the US scientific mind called the serious need of game makes a point that "free game, imaginative is crucial for normal social, emotional and cognitive development. It makes us better adjusted, more Intelligent and less stressed. "
I have read many other books and articles about the best way to encourage love for learning in children, and I have developed my home education program for my children depending on this.
The minimum
Children have a minimum amount of "work" they need to do each job. They need to practice their piano every day, but I agree that they only practice for five minutes. They have to read every day. I do not trait my daughter's reading, because she reads all the time. My son is still not breastfeeding, so I feel with him and read it to me for fifteen minutes more or less every day. My son has to write a prayer every day and my daughter needs to write a paragraph every day. They should also do some kind of physical activity every day. Both children need to make some kind of mathematics every day, even if you are playing monopoly with dad or keeping the score of a scrabble game.
In addition to the minimum, I have some objectives established for them. My daughter has to give me at least one book report a month. My son has some established goals to learn to write.
All these activities are your responsibility. If they make their minimum, they are played, or whatever.
Documentaries
If my children want to see a documentary of the history channel, Nova or the discovery channel, I leave them. I look at the shows with children so you can answer the questions you might have, but if my 7-year-old son wants to see a documentary in string theory, he gets seeing him. Children collect an amazing amount of information, and understand much more than I expect.
Library
We go a lot to the library. If the children want to play with the plastic jungle animals, I leave them. If you want to look for the time a ladybug lives, I leave them.