Homeschooling Thoughts

It is easy to give a quick nod to lifelong learning, more difficult to consider what it really means, for the idea that people should study for about 12 years and then start living is more deeply seated in our culture than many people realize. Lifelong learning is more than an occasional adult education course. It is the expectation that someone will know more at age 40 than she did at age 30, the realization that it is never too late to begin learning another language, the belief that there are important new insights just over the horizon, no matter how old you are. But it is easy to forget these things, and a great deal of pressure on a homeschooler results from the perhaps unintentional assumption that everything a child will need to know during his life must be mastered in his first 18 years.
-Larry and Susan Kaseman, in "Taking Charge Through Homeschooling"






How do children learn two very difficult skills, walking and talking, without anyone's making a self-conscious effort to teach them? Could children learn other things, even "school" subjects like reading and math, in the same way, by imitating other people's behavior, making mistakes, correcting them on their own, and asking for help when they need it?
-Larry and Susan Kaseman, in "Taking Charge Through Homeschooling"







Many parents find that listening to their child is one of the most important things they do. It provides clues and insights into how he thinks, what interests him, what he has learned, what his concerns are, etc. It helps parents figure out how to help their children learn.
-Larry and Susan Kaseman, in "Taking Charge Through Homeschooling"