pattern block creation Elijah constructed in his free time
Getting the hang of this delight-directed thing is still hard for me. I don’t know if I make it harder than it is, or if I just like to agonize over my child’s education. Probably both! But, I’m learning. Here are some of the things I’ve gleaned from the past few months.
1. My son has great ideas.
It’s okay to let go and let him lead the way. He is choosing great things to learn about. He is also learning how to fill his days with profitable activities.
2. Delight directed learning goes slow.
We don’t "cover" as much as we did before, but he’s exploring and learning things I would’ve never introduced. These things are really sinking in. Slowly, but surely! It’s better to go at his pace than mine. 🙂
3. I have to keep a journal in order to feel accomplished.
In the midst of the day, I feel like Elijah does a lot. But at the end of the month, I feel that we’ve done nothing unless I keep track of what he’s doing. My friend, Helen, suggested I keep a journal, and it has made a huge difference. When I look back through a written record, I don’t feel anxious about his education.
4. Delight-directed doesn’t mean my hands are completely off of my son’s learning. He will come to me and tell me what he wants to learn about. He determines the subjects and topics, but I put different options on the table. He chooses what he likes and we go from there. It’s kind of like this–
Elijah: Mom, I’m hungry.
Me: What are you hungry for?
Elijah: Potatoes.
Me: Would you like them mashed, baked, boiled, or fried, OR do you just want to eat them plain?
And he decides.
And we go from there.
5. The Delight-directed approach is not the same as unschooling. Elijah doesn’t determine what his entire day looks like. We still do math and language lessons daily. Elijah is still memorizing scripture and has critical thinking exercises to do. Someone asked if we still use workboxes. We do. I don’t fill very many, but the must-dos are in his boxes (usually 3-6, depending on the day).
I am certainly not an authority on this type of learning, but I do want to share my experience in case in might help someone else along in their journey. We’re just going to keep cruising through our adventure.
i learned this stuff this year, too! I felt like i leaned toward unschooling, but i knew we weren’t technically unschoolers. A friend said we’re delight-driven, so i looked it up, and Bingo! That’s us!
It is a lot of fun, but you’re right: it can make me anxious at the end of the week/month/school year that we haven’t covered enough! My kids are in 4th, 1st, and preschool, and we may not know this or that thing in history, but they know a LOT about things other kids haven’t even heard of. Just find out what they like, or listen to their questions, and then RUN WITH IT!
My kids have learned to say, “let’s Google it, Mommy!” 🙂 Oh, and having an extensive home library is quite helpful… instill a love of learning with a love of reading, and they can and WILL learn about anything they can find in a book.
Have fun, and happy homeschooling!
So excited to read your update Ami 🙂 Glad to see you blogging again as well.
While I still do some FIAR with Parker, we are more and more delight-directed these days ourselves. I typically just try and keep FIAR conversational, offering up some ideas of things we can do and rolling with what sparks his interest. We actually do far more this way than we ever did when I tried to plan.
I noticed a comment on the HSS message board about your plans for next year, and your change of heart about homeschooling. I would love to learn more about this when you have a chance!