Something that has definitely been lost in our education system today is a passion for learning. If you have ever read Little House on the Prairie or Carry on Mr. Bowditch, you may recall how much the main characters, during their young adult years, loved to learn. It was a privilege for them to go to school or get a new book. Becoming a schoolteacher was an honor and book learning was one of the most fascinating things for the main characters.
We seem to have lost this passion in the mundane K-12 education system, filled with checking the box, preparing for standardized testing, and following regulations set out by a higher school board (who usually doesn’t have much experience actually teaching in schools). If you see what kids nowadays focus on its getting into college. Whatever it takes to check a box and get into college. For teachers it is whatever it takes to check the box and have their students pass the standardized test.
However, one of the best things about homeschooling is that the passion for education doesn’t fade because there are really no boxes to check. Of course, homeschoolers take standardized tests and end up getting into college, but they are not governed by a school board.
Younger children can partake in more hands on activities, or fit their schedules to the subjects they are interested in. If a child prefers to read, they can read as much as they want. If a child prefers to make paper-mache volcanoes instead of doing workbook pages, that is okay.
This may seem like sort of a flimsy way to conduct schooling, but according to the Department of Human Development at Cornell University, “Children are naturally curious…and motivated to learn the ‘hows’ and the ‘whys’ of the world.” Furthermore, the study points out that children learn best by actively engaging in an environment that stimulates their needs. This is not necessarily found in a classroom, but in whatever the child is interested in.
This style of learning translates over into the standardized tests, which so often measure success in public schools. On average, homeschoolers score in the 80th percentile for every subject, while public schoolers range in the 50th percentile. Clearly, a more engaged style of learning is not inferior to that of a classroom.
Does this classroom learning affect their ability to interact with peers and adults? In other words, are these homeschoolers freakishly smart but then unable to communicate with the rest of the world? Studies say no. In a study of communication skills, homeschoolers actually ranked on average about 11 points higher than public schoolers in regards to maturity, communication, and socialization.
This passion for learning that homeschoolers have translates into every aspect of their success in live, whether it be education or employment. It forces them to have higher GPA’s, get into more colleges, and overall have better GPA’s in college than their peers who came from a traditional schooling environment.
A passion for what you learn is largely a demonstrator of your success later in life. We need to reform the public education system to include a more engaging curriculum that is not so dependent on results. In this way, we ensure that kids are actively engaged in what they learn so that they continue to want to learn.
Sources
Click to access Learning-about-how-children-learn-Kushnir.pdf
https://www.home-school.com/news/homeschool-vs-public-school.php
http://www.onlinecollege.org/2011/09/13/15-key-facts-about-homeschooled-kids-in-college/
I think this is an interesting approach to learning. I know that I would have been a more engaged student at a young age (and even now) if I got to focus more on what interests me. Kids definitely tend to have short attention spans, so it is always better to come up with activites that interest and engage them. Public schools should take the individual interests of students into accaount to a greater degree, instead of focusing solely on standardized testing. Although this point could easily be countered with the fact that public schools have too many students to meet individual needs; whereas a homeschooling parent only has a child or a few children.
Undoubtedly, having a love for education is one of the best ways to excel at your studies. I agree that there has been times where all of the testing and other nonsense can be a drag. In contrast, there are also those times where you have a teacher that is engaging and fascinating. They have a passion for education and their students feast off that passion. Those are the teachers that make learning enjoyable and fun. I must admit that there are times where I wish I could study what I want, but I would still miss the connection I had with some of my teachers that taught me how to see past the bubble sheets and standardized tests. It is definitely a trade-off between learning without constraints and learning to love education despite its detriments. I can imagine both producing outstanding outcomes if both students are engaged and inspired.