In the first part of this series, you were introduced to the concept of interest-led learning. In this post, you will learn three simple steps to help you incorporate this approach into your homeschool.
PART TWO: HOW TO START INTEREST-LED LEARNING
You can integrate an interest-led approach into any method of homeschooling—traditional, classical, Charlotte Mason, unschooling, or eclectic.
Here are a few simple steps you can take to incorporate interest-led learning into your homeschool:
1. Study and make a list of every one of your child’s interests. (Yes, even video games
and YouTube.) Keep a note handy to record their “why” questions.
2. Decide how interest-led learning will fit into your routine. There are countless ways
to do this depending on your method of homeschooling. If you use a traditional or
classical approach, you can designate blocks of time for your child to pursue interests
daily or on a looping schedule. If you use a more laid-back or multi-disciplinary
homeschool method, you could gather resources for your student to explore
independently, or create unit studies to incorporate multiple subjects based on their
interests.
My six year old was curious about the moon, so I found a free unit study online that
included science, art, and writing activities. For a couple of weeks, we watched videos,
read books, and did projects related to the moon and its phases.
3. Make the connection between your child’s interests and the subjects you want to
cover. If your child loves video games, they may enjoy coding classes or coding
programs such as Scratch or Khan Academy to help them create their own programs.
If your child loves Minecraft and you’re studying Ancient Egypt, you can invite them to
build pyramids using the game (hello, math and social studies).
I have a teenager who isn’t particularly drawn to science, but she loves to bake. I
created a YouTube playlist for her with food science videos and baking tutorials that
explain the science of baking in an engaging way.
With a bit of research and creativity, you can find classes, activities, mentors, and other
resources to help your child pursue their goals and interests.
In the final post of this series, you will learn how to create a detailed record of your child’s activities for reviews and transcripts.
Author Bio: Kathryn Charles is a homeschooling mom of four and content creator. You can find her online at www.momlifeonpurpose.com, where she writes about living a life of purpose over perfection. You can also find her on YouTube at Mom Life on Purpose.