If you’re like me, you love learning alongside your kids and getting in there with them during the school day. However, I doubt there are many among us who aren’t also enjoying or looking forward to having more independent learners. I mean, let’s face it, at some point, our kids are going to have to learn to work independently and just imagine the things you could get done if you had an hour or two a day in which all of your kids were working independently.
*sigh* Okay, I’m back. I slipped off into a beautiful daydream of working on writing my “someday” book and keeping caught up on housework.
My oldest does almost all of her work independently now, usually only joining us for Bible study, writing lessons and science labs. I’m working on getting my younger two to that point within the next two or three years – about middle school age is when I really like to start really encouraging independent work.
In addition to the benefit of more time for the teaching parent, independent learning also allows for a more personalized education for the kids – they can more easily follow their own interests when they’re working independently. So, how do you encourage independent learning?
