So, we’ve talked about what Delight Directed Homeschooling is and we’ve talked about the logistics of actually having a Delight Directed Homeschool. Today, I want to give you a little bit of an idea as to what a day in the life of a Delight Directed Homeschool might look like. (I will give you a newbie version and a full-tilt version, so you can see where you can start and where you might end up.)
Let’s suppose you have a child who is interested in music. You’ve seen from a very young age their love of rhythm and melody, you are already giving them music lessons, and you know they would love to be doing even more.
A parent who is not naturally musical might have a difficult time seeing where to incorporate music into their child’s studies. This is where the internet becomes your friend! You can Google just about anything and find amazing resources you could never come up with on your own.
For instance, Mary from Homegrown Learners uses something called SQUILT (Super Quiet UnInterrupted Listening Time) and even provides a FREE notebooking page to get you started. She also has some great resources for doing a Composer Unit Study. Barb from Harmony Fine Arts has a FREE downloads page full of music resources she’s put together. She also has unit studies for sale that are equally wonderful.
I would highly recommend starting with something simple like a unit study or a more concentrated study of music itself if you are just starting out on the Delight Directed path. These are already put together for you and can easily be added into your homeschool week. There is no need to do a music study every day, and the resources I mentioned above are a great place to start if you need help getting started.
Note: If it’s not music you child loves, simply take these same principles, Google a few key terms (I’d recommend adding in the word “blog” to your search as blogs tend to be more helpful and friendly than your average website), and find something in your child’s area of interest that can be incorporated into your day or week or even month.
Now, let’s move on to what a full-tilt Delight Directed Homeschool day might look like for a child who is passionate about computers…
First of all, I would highly recommend you work hard to direct a child’s love of electronics toward useful applications. Do not simply give a child an electronic device and free rein. They need guidance and their time on the computer should be wisely spent. One product we really love that is extremely useful to the techy child is Homeschool Programming. You can read my review of this program here.
For the child who enjoys technology, be sure to teach them to type. From there, teach them to research. (I have a 14 year old resident researcher. Trust me, this is extremely useful to the entire family!) Download Google Earth and have them map out any geography you run across in your lessons. Allow them to type out many of their lessons, add graphics to their pages, and create worksheets for the other children.
Also, there is nothing wrong with allowing a child who is naturally inclined toward understanding technology to do much of his/her school work on the computer. Be careful of their eyes and how much screen time they are actually accumulating throughout the day, but as long as your child is not disappearing into a virtual world, schooling via the computer can be quite helpful.
A techy child will also do well to learn HTML, graphic design and even web design (a great book on design is The Non-Designer’s Design Book by Robin Williams). You can have them start their own blog to chronicle their educational studies too! And don’t forget to put them on Tech Support when Grandma calls because her computer has mysteriously crashed!
Another fabulous resources is your local library. Most libraries hold FREE computer classes from beginner to advanced. Think outside the box when it comes to these classes. Have your child take a Power Point class and then create presentations on their latest Science project! Have your child take a spreadsheet class and then put together a Family Budget using their spreadsheet skills for Math.
And again, these ideas can be applied across the board for any interest a child might have. It definitely takes some thinking outside the box and some research, but it is absolutely one of the most exciting things about homeschooling in my opinion! You have the flexibility and resources to tailor your child’s education to THEM! How awesome is that?!
I hope this has sparked some ideas for you and how you can create a Delight Directed Homeschool! On December 31, I’ll bring this series to a close by offering you some help on actually planning your Delight Directed Curriculum, so stay tuned!