Inspiring Self-Directed Learning

Seeds of Self-Directed Learning

Consider how much a child learns during his first year of life

The Garden Allegory

1. Clear the

Weeds

2. Sunshine and

Water

3. Soil Condition

4. The Law of the

Harvest

A garden allegory provides the perfect back drop for discussing the essential tools to inspire

self-directed learning.

The Master Gardener

What He Does Not Do

He does not create the

seeds

What He Does

Trusts the process

Creates an environment for

the seeds to grow

Weeds (Obstacles) to learning

Compulsory

Education

Unresolved

emotional trauma

Electronic devices

(cell phones,

tablets, video

games, etc.)

Other distractions

Unresolved emotional trauma blocks

learning pathways

Grief

Divorce

Bullying

Anxiety

Relationship

before

Scholarship

Resources: • The Sharing Place: http://www.thesharingplace.org/

• The Arbinger Institute – Parenting Pyramind:

http://www.familygoodthings.com/transform-your-family-and-buy-into-the-

ultimate-pyramid-scheme/

• Teaching Self-Government by Nicholeen Peck https://teachingselfgovernment.com/

Electronic Devices It’s ‘digital heroin’: How screens turn kids into psychotic junkies Posted August 27, 2016

http://nypost.com/2016/08/27/its-digital-heroin-how-screens-turn-kids-into-psychotic-junkies/

This Is What Screen Time Really Does to Kids' Brains

Too much at the worst possible age can have lifetime consequences.

Posted Apr 17, 2016

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/behind-online-behavior/201604/is-what-screen-time-really-does-kids-brains

Too much screen time, too soon, interferes with important cognitive development.

Compulsory Education Peter Kaufman, professor of sociology at the State University

of New York:

“As a college professor, I see the dysfunctional effects of an educational system based on testing when I look out into a room full of students. After years of cramming, memorizing, regurgitation, and forgetting, many students enter college with little intellectual curiosity, much less a sense of academic excitement. Too often, the students just want to be told what they need to learn to pass the test or what they need to write to get a good grade on a paper. Because so much of their schooling has been based on this dysfunctional model, they have forgotten how to be the self-directed and genuine learners that they were when they first entered school.”

Water and Sunshine of Education

The most effective stories for nourishing the heart include:

Stories of Character and Faith

Stories of History

Stories of Nature, Animals, and Fairy Tales

Classics

Storytelling in an atmosphere of warm relationships provides the water and

sunshine of a heart-based education.

Nutrients for the Soil

Song - includes all music, dance, and rhythm

Symbol - includes artwork and artistic representations of real objects such as dolls, figurines, puppets, object lessons, metaphors

Service - includes all activities that help to build relationships and assist others in their learning and progress

Story - includes fiction and non-fiction stories and poetry

Spirit - includes all activities that invite the Spirit of God into the learning environment like prayer, scripture reading, reverence, gratitude, and stories that teach moral values and principles. Nature is God’s University

Creativity connects us with our Divine Nature

“Children need art and stories

and poems and music as much

as they need love and food and

fresh air and play."

-Philip Pullman

The Law of the Harvest

1. Seed Selection (Define principle or concept)

2. Soil Preparation and Planting (Discovery)

3. Nourish the plants (Skill practice and Service)

4. Pull out Unwanted Weeds (Evaluate, Organize, and Apply)

5. Share the Harvest (Create and Share New Understanding)

Compulsory Education

Separating children by grade

Set standards for each grade level (conveyor belt education)

Removal of parents from educational goal setting

Emphasis on academics with little time for childhood, character building, and family relationships

SAMPLE STANDARDS Reading: Literature Standard 4

Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest

feelings or appeal to the senses.

Reading: Literature Standard 5

Explain major differences between books that tell stories and

books that give information, drawing on a wide reading of a

range of text types.

Reading: Literature Standard 9

Compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of

characters in stories.

Craft and Structure

Reading: Informational Text Standard 4

Ask and answer questions to help determine or clarify the

meaning of words and phrases in a text.

Freedom in Education

Primary objective

for children 0-8:

Learn from stories

and play

Parents provide:

Play time with a

variety of toys

Time in nature

Stories

Warm relationships

Resource: homeschoolcoach.com

Mary Ann Johnson - Spark System

Freedom in Education

Parents watch for signs of readiness to begin formal reading

and math instruction

Some children will show reading readiness at ages 4-5 and

others will not be interested until 8-9.

Children who develop a broad vocabulary through read-a-

louds with parents will learn to read quickly once they show

signs of readiness

Freedom in Education (0-8 years)

1-2 Story periods each day

Nursery rhymes and nursery tales

Stories with moral values

Stories about nature, animals, and fairy tales

Enriched Story Time (Sharing Time)

Group time to includes music, art, poetry, stories, dance

Structured play time (dramatic play, shapes, numbers, letters,

measurements, clocks, money, nature study)

Reading and math instruction when child shows signs of

readiness

Freedom in Education (8+ years)

Connect learning

experiences with a child’s

passion

Weekly mentor meetings

to report on progress and

set goals

Student Centered –

Parent Directed Learning

Freedom in Education (8+ years)

“Children are born passionately eager to make as much sense

as they can of things around them. If we attempt to control,

manipulate, or divert this process, the independent scientist

in the child disappears.” – John Holt

Freedom in Education (8+ years)

Independent readers with basic writing and arithmetic skills

Students learn through a holistic unit study led by a teacher

As they approach 12 years, they will continue with group

study but they start to work on independent studies

Parents set goals and students learn to self-govern as they

accomplish those goals

Freedom in Education (8+ years) Educating for Human Greatness by

Lynn Stoddard

The Great Brain Project

Choose a topic and become an expert on that topic

Ask questions: what, why, when, where, who, was, which, would, were, how, is, do, does, did, may, are, could, shall, will, can, have, if

Study and Learn

Create and Share

Notebooking,

Journaling, or

Education

Scrapbooking

Instead of using pre-determined fill-in-the

blank worksheets, students create their own

journals about a topic. They add illustrations,

definitions, and commentary.

Freedom in Education (8-12 years)

Two enriched story times each day

Morning Sharing Time (Religious and values based)

Closing Sharing Time (History based)

Self-Directed Learning Time

Math

Language Arts

Science/Nature Study: Nature Journals and Science

Notebooks

Weekly mentor meetings – parents help students set goals

for each subject for the week.

Freedom in Education (12+ years)

Greater independence in learning

Students set more of their own goals and seek out learning

opportunities

Discovery of personal mission and purpose

Freedom in Education (12+ years)

Enriched story times each day

Religious and Values based

History based

Self-Directed Learning time

Math (parent/student choice)

Student created textbooks in Literature, History, and Science

Academic Service projects to practice Language Arts