"mvm34534" <mvmartin@...> wrote:
how do you go about exposing your children to things that you value, but that they don't immediately understand the value of--without burning out, giving up, or resorting to methods that don't feel quite right?
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The biggest, most important thing to realize is that all the exposure, exposition and explanation in the world won't produce interest or a sense of value. Those things only come from within. You can't Make someone else care about what you care about, or learn what you want her to learn.
That's the problem with education itself - not you, not your kids, but education period.
Start someplace else - how do kids learn what they need to know if no-one is showing them what's important?
Kids learn because they are observant. I don't only mean modelling, I mean the human brain is designed to notice patterns and there are patterns everywhere - in speech, in social interactions, in shapes of things, in the relationships between physical characteristics. Some sets of related patterns we call "language" some we call "mathematics" some we call "music" etc. Kids can't help but notice those patterns and think about them because that's what our big convoluted brains do best.
Think about the things you're considering valuable in terms of education - they're Prevalent. That's why you want your kids to know them, so they're not lost and ignorant and helpless. I used to worry that my kid wouldn't know anything about religion because I wasn't "exposing" her to it in any kind of systematic way. But religious and mythological ideas are very prevalent - in books, movies, tv shows, puppet shows, random conversations in the grocery store. She can't avoid learning about a dozen different religions just from going about her daily life, observing the patterns she sees.
In addition, kids learn because they are full of curiosity and wonder. That's big. It's a marvel. Wondering is what takes people - including children - from observation to something else, to asking questions and looking for answers. To trying and finding out. Wondering is one of the reasons people push through challenges - climb real mountains and metaphorical ones. You can't Give someone that kind of motivation; it only comes from deep within. Sadly, you can take it away, and teaching someone who doesn't really want to be taught is a proven way of doing so.
how do you go about exposing your children to things that you value
Step back from the word "children" and replace it with "friends" - how does the question change?
If you value something, make it part of your life. If you value music, play music, listen to music, dance and sing. Invite the people you love to join you - maybe they will. If you value scientific thinking, think like a scientist. If you enjoy math, play with numbers and relationships. The catch is to live your own values without trying to foist them off on other people - because that's not a very good way of sharing what you love, and because personality matters. All your singing and dancing won't make your kids musicians if they're not so inclined - but they'll know a few things about music. If you push music at them, they may associate what they know with drudgery and unhappiness - and then you've failed and failed more utterly than if you never sang a note in their presence.
if this forum is intended for hardcore unschoolers only, I will gladly bow out
You don't need to bow out, but realize you won't get any support for "incorporat[ing unschooling ideas] into our eclectic home education" - it's outside the scope of the list.
---Meredith
