Today, while I was editing the next podcast in the lineup--coming soon!--I heard Jill say of some fun math activities: "...kids don't even know it. They don't even know it's math. It's great."
This is a common sentiment from homeschoolers, especially Sonlighters--or maybe that's just selection bias talking <shrug>. I've heard stories over and over again about kids saying, "That was school?! It was way too much fun to be school."
These kids don't even realize that what they are doing is a secret plot to get them to learn something.
Lying to the children.
We should be ashamed.
But before I get sent to my room without dessert, you need to know that I wasn't the one who lied.
It's the idea of "school" that has twisted the minds of our young people. It is the institution of school, and the media surrounding it, that has lied to our students. Even we have been subjected to this lie. And the lie is this:
Learning must be boring.
Learning is pain
Nothing could be further from the truth. Learning is a blast! And homeschooled kids know it. Schools lie to children and tell them that to learn is to suffer, or at least a struggle.
To be fair, there are many teachers who do their best to make their lessons fun, engaging, meaningful and a joy. I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about the educational system that perpetrates the lie that learning is an arduous task.
It's not always easy, but learning is always a joy.
School isn't.
So please allow your kids to remain blissfully ignorant that what they are doing has educational merit. Let them slowly learn that learning is fun, and then perhaps, just perhaps, they'll think that school is fun as well.
At least, at home with Sonlight it is <smile>.
~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father
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