It's not child-led learning...
My take on natural learning, aka unschooling
Natural learning is not 'child-led' learning... It is 'nature-led' learning, driven by the NATURE of the child. As natural learning parents we seek to understand and work with the nature of our children; to help them understand and work with who they are; and to use that to successfully achieve their dreams, visions and goals withing the context of family and community life.
When people use the term ‘child-led’ they are usually talking about what the child wants or desires to do, based on their current interests. That isn’t what I’m talking about. Not unless ‘child-led’ to mean an holistic response, the whole body and being of the child leading the child to whatever they are doing. I don’t think people use ‘child-led’ in that way though.
And I say that because I see people in homeschooling groups often commenting about not knowing what their child’s interests are, or how to develop their child’s interests, while at the same time ignoring or devaluing what their child is already choosing to do.
When I talk about natural learning I’m not talking about interest-(aka child)-led learning. Or as I saw it called many years ago ‘delight-directed learning’.
I’m talking about the learning that is naturally provoked by the nature of the child.
I don’t see natural learning as simply allowing the children to choose what, when and how to learn things on their own. I believe it is inviting and allowing our children to participate in decisions made about what they want to do, and how, and when. It is encouraging and giving them opportunities to exercise personal responsibility within the social frameworks of family and community life.
Parents who support natural learning don’t fall prey to exposing our children to a plethora of different experiences and activities – a smorgasbord approach to education – anything and everything! We confidently recognise the richness of everyday existence… And trust a busy, active, constructive and contemplative life focused on meeting our needs, the needs of our families, and the needs of the community will be sufficient.
I believe that natural learning is learner centred: expressed through individual learning styles and preference.
It is needs-focused: the activities and goals we draw to us need to make sense and relate to what is needed now.
Natural learning enhances and expands on our children’s natural interests and talents.
As natural learning parents we become astute observers of our children’s behaviour, interests, likes and dislikes, and to begin to understand the ways in which they learn best.
This post grew out of something I wrote many years ago while still homeschooling my children. Unschooling made sense to me but I was forever deschooling my conditioned mind. Now that I have grandchildren who are learning without school I feel much more confident with my beliefs about natural learning and unschooling… and homeschooling.
I want to help people feel comfortable about engaging with their children in whatever way best suits their child and their family situations. To encourage them to identify and help their children meet their learning needs, those that arise from the nature of the child as the child grows and interacts with their environment.
Agree with this. I’m all about helping parents come to know their child’s individual nature better so they can support them to learn “naturally”. I find Human Design a great tool for this, especially because sometimes as parents we are so close to and enmeshed with our children it can be hard to ‘zoom out’ and see their strengths and natural gifts clearly. Thank you for this article :-)
Tamara said on one of her Facebook posts a moment ago 'follow the child' - as a Montessori trained teacher she says this often. And I suddenly got thinking, it's a version of 'child-led', but unlike 'child-led', which puts the emphasis on the child being the actor and director, responsible for their learning (which they are, I truly believe that), it places the parent firmly in the picture too, as someone supporting, observing, learning from, enabling... Well, that's my take on it. What do you think?