Are They Really Learning?
Sometimes while homeschooling we question whether or not our children are really learning.
They read books, take classes, do a project or two, and meet up with their homeschooled friends, but in the absence of traditional measures like grades and tests, we wonder: are they learning?
Regardless of the specific interests of your child, before we can answer whether or not they're learning in homeschool is to think about what learning looks and sounds like in everyday life.
Curiosity
Curiosity is often where signs of learning begin. It can look and sound like:
Wanting to know more
Asking questions to clarify what they've heard or think that they know
Looking for more information to deepen understanding
Surfing for related videos to watch
Researching related local events to attend
Reaching out to friends and family who can share skills and experience
All of these are strong signs that a child's interest has been piqued and learning is happening.
Engagement
Engagement is the next major sign of learning and often stems from curiosity. It isn't limited to simply being "on task", though that can definitely play a part. Engagement is really about a child displaying sustained interest and attention with a topic or activity.
Engagement can look and sound like:
Sharing/ discussing new information
Experimenting/ tinkering with new ideas
Making connections between new information and owned information
Practicing skills and techniques
Solving problems along the way
Strategically inviting others to join them in their learning pursuits, or not
When a child is actively engaged for long stretches of time without distraction, it's called flow and can support large amounts of learning.
If you want to help your child have more time for engagement and experience more states of flow in their everyday lives, try doing less. By lightening their overall schedules, you open up more opportunities for sustained and engaged learning.
Application
Application refers to when children take new knowledge and use it in connection with other areas of their lives. Its basically learning in action.
Application can look and sound like:
Connecting new information to information already retained
Recalling new information as it relates to other topics and areas of interest
Applying theories and ideas in new ways to see if they work the same way in different scenarios
Recognizing similarities, contrasts, and/or patterns between information from different topics or activities
Using their creativity and imagination to envision new scenarios for learned skills and knowledge
With younger children, a great way to look out for applied learning is during free play. Free play is a magical time for younger children where their thoughts, ideas, and new information learned has room to bounce around their brains and pop out to make new connections in all sorts of wonderful ways.
For older children, applied knowledge often comes out in “aha moments” or epiphanies of understanding where suddenly a lightbulb turns on in their brain as they realize a piece of new information has helped them to understand something they previously didn’t or helps them figure out a new solution to an existing problem.
When I was in high school, I was once able to answer a detailed AP Biology test prep question using applied knowledge from a blockbuster movie that I had watched the weekend before. While taking the test, I realized the question was asking me about the same science process mentioned on-screen. The bit of knowledge I learned from the film felt random in the moment but when my brain recognized a valid connection, I was able to successfully apply it…and use it to pass my test prep. =)
In addition to all of these signs, an important part of the learning process is one that doesn't often look or sound like learning at all. I call it Digesting.
Digesting is the quiet, in-between time that children can take to absorb ideas and information before they can be ready to "do something" with it. Their brains are active in processing, generating thoughts, and making connections, but their bodies are not yet ready to talk about it, answer questions or produce related work.
Think of when you pick up your child from co-op or a homeschool class. You know they were active and participating in multiple activities, but when they get in the car and you ask them about what they did, they say, "nothing much." It's not that they didn't actually do or learn anything, but their brains just need time to digest and process the new information and experiences.
Digesting after a bout of active learning can look like:
taking a break with a completely unrelated activity
vegging out for a bit of time after a long day
not wanting to think or talk about what they just finished learning about right away
journaling, brain dumping, doodling, or drawing pictures to help clear their minds
If your children are showing curiosity and engagement, if they’re digesting and applying concepts later on, have no doubts about it, they are learning!