Are you wondering how to let your child take control of their learning opportunities? Child-led learning is letting your child dive deep into topics of interest. When they are interested you will be amazed at what they learn, and how much they will want to learn. This has been the foundation of our homeschool for a couple of years now, I am embracing their interests in life.
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Child-Led Learning Ideas for Your Homeschool
For the most part, you are going to be looking for what your child is showing an interest in. My kids have wild and full imaginations and their interests are varied. From day to day with my younger two. Today it could be an interest in bugs and tomorrow it could be an interested in how machines work.
Your job is to encourage their learning, to provide learning materials for their interests, and to not beat it to death. Don’t find every learning material possible and force your child to do them. You are going to end up taking an interest and turning it into lessons and then your child isn’t going to be as interested.
You might give your child(ren) objects to promote an interest in a manner such as a morning basket, or sensory bins. Providing them with objects to boost their creativity or imagination isn’t moving away from child-led learning, but instead, you are introducing them to things that might spark interest in something else.
Just talk because you give them books about dinosaurs doesn’t mean that is all you can learn, they might develop an interest in evolution from dinosaurs.
How to Get Started With Child-Led Learning
I like to start planning during the summer. Asking them what it is they are interested in learning to get me started. I admit, I dropped the ball this year as they wanted to learn about a lot of history-related things in theory, though I’m not too sure how interested they would have been in reality. But ask your child their interests is the first step.
Follow them in the library to see what books they are showing interest in, even if they aren’t necessarily checking them out. This is the best-looking glass into my children’s interests.
Child-Led Learning Ideas
- dinosaurs – history
- drawing a comic book – art & language arts if you include writing
- woodworking
- in the kitchen
- art supplies
- bird watching – great morning basket type of idea
Child-Led Beyond Early Years
Once your child reaches the middle school years, this is the time to take note of your child’s individual and unique talents and abilities and help them develop those. If your child has an interest in something that goes beyond what you consider to be passing fancy, delve deep into it.