I want to heart and quote and like every line of this. “Grades are as irrelevant in the context of writing as telling a child that they are being graded to learn how to assemble LEGO kits. When a child is motivated to learn, they put in ridiculous amounts of time to learn the skill or information they value.” My child was homeschooled and she is a wonder. She knows so much more than I do about so many more specialized areas that she taught herself from coding, to music production, to film editing, to doing our taxes! She was never graded until she started high school through a dual enrollment program in college and absolutely hated it. Everything became centered around tests and grades and the love of learning was driven out of her in order to survive the school system. She still graduated with honors but it was at the expense of living a joyful life inspired by intrinsic motivation. She equates it to having served time in jail in order to meet her California requirements. It’s taken her nearly four years to be ready to embrace that culture again in order to earn a degree and it’s been heartbreaking to see how the school system strangles the love of learning in favor of achieving. Great information and insight. Thank you!
Spot on, Julie, as usual! I will be forever grateful for your influence in our family’s home education adventure.
My 17-year-old loathes writing about Abraham Lincoln or most other things I “assign,” but has written literally hundreds (maybe even thousands) of pages of magic show scripts, observations on the performing arts, and letters to friends across the country. The vast majority of his writing occurs on a vintage typewriter and every time I hear the pounding of the keys and the DING! of the return bar, I am encouraged that he’s writing and learning all the while.
“Writing is the tool they use to show off how much they know and are learning. They never needed grades to become writers. They needed the freedom to experiment and the support to grow. They need interested readers.” Yes to all of this! Great Job!👏
I want to heart and quote and like every line of this. “Grades are as irrelevant in the context of writing as telling a child that they are being graded to learn how to assemble LEGO kits. When a child is motivated to learn, they put in ridiculous amounts of time to learn the skill or information they value.” My child was homeschooled and she is a wonder. She knows so much more than I do about so many more specialized areas that she taught herself from coding, to music production, to film editing, to doing our taxes! She was never graded until she started high school through a dual enrollment program in college and absolutely hated it. Everything became centered around tests and grades and the love of learning was driven out of her in order to survive the school system. She still graduated with honors but it was at the expense of living a joyful life inspired by intrinsic motivation. She equates it to having served time in jail in order to meet her California requirements. It’s taken her nearly four years to be ready to embrace that culture again in order to earn a degree and it’s been heartbreaking to see how the school system strangles the love of learning in favor of achieving. Great information and insight. Thank you!
Spot on, Julie, as usual! I will be forever grateful for your influence in our family’s home education adventure.
My 17-year-old loathes writing about Abraham Lincoln or most other things I “assign,” but has written literally hundreds (maybe even thousands) of pages of magic show scripts, observations on the performing arts, and letters to friends across the country. The vast majority of his writing occurs on a vintage typewriter and every time I hear the pounding of the keys and the DING! of the return bar, I am encouraged that he’s writing and learning all the while.
That’s so amazing!!
“Writing is the tool they use to show off how much they know and are learning. They never needed grades to become writers. They needed the freedom to experiment and the support to grow. They need interested readers.” Yes to all of this! Great Job!👏
Thank you and thanks for an important description of how the process looked in your family!
Absolutely YES. Learn to love to learn = lifelong learner. Yes. 👏