Self Directed Learning

I know some of you have been waiting for this for a long time! If you have expressed interest to me via the online question form - I'll be sending you a free gift!! - You know who you are!

Self Directed Learning - is it an approach or an end result?

Whichever way you look at it - whether you tend to be a natural learner using life's experiences to mould and direct the educational process or whether you aim to guide and direct your children towards self directed learning as one end goal - you will be interested in my latest pages.

What we know about Children

We know that children are naturally curious and excited to learn;

We also know that children will learn when they are actively involved in the educational process and so to develop self directed learners, we recognize that if the education is driven by the child, the interest is maintained.

We also know that parents have a God given responsibility to their children to teach, train, guide and correct them.

The beauty of homeschooling is that as parents, we can tailor the interests of our children and create their own unique independent learning program based on those interests and their own ability. We can also direct our children, guide them and teach them how to set goals and develop skills to become independent self directed learners.

Read more about the Self Directed Learning Approach here.

Encouraging Self Directed Learning

When your child shows an interest in a certain area, you will find that they naturally set up their own learning pathway to discover more about their interest. If they love creep crawlies, you won't need to tell them to go outside - they will be out there searching for lizards and bringing their treasures indoors. If they're interested in computers, they will be bringing home old computers from random places, pulling them apart and putting them back together again.

So how do we encourage this interest and help them develop the interest?

If self directed learning is a goal we desire for our children, then we need to teach them the steps involved and the discipline it takes to arrive there.

Like to read about creating a rich environment, time, discussion ....More on how to encourage self directed learning at this page.

How do we encourage self directed learning?

Self Directed Learning Contracts

One way to encourage self directed learning is to set up independent or individualized learning programs. These can also be called self directed learning contracts.

An individual learning program or contract is a Course which is individually designed by the parent or child or both to develop certain skills and abilities according to their interests. It is reviewed monthly to include other areas of interest.

It is a unique program, because you are the co-author with your child and you choose materials which will help you develop a skill set in any prepared course.

More on Self Directed Learning Contracts here.

How does this work? Would you like to learn how to set them up in your homeschool and see examples of Independent Learning Programs?

The Individual Learning Program Ebook helps you to develop Individual Learning Programs in your homeschool.

In this ebook, I guide and encourage you to design your own and be creative!

Special Price for First 25 Ebooks!

Be Quick! The first 25 ILP ebooks will be sold at $4.00US, not the usual $7.50US.

Over the next two days, the Individual Learning Program will be selling at $4.00 and you're the first to know!

Read about how to create a tailor made curriculum for your children, according to their strengths, helping them in their weaknesses, guiding and encouraging them to take charge of their own education. The ILP Ebook is your guide to design courses to suit your family!

Enjoy!

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