Child-led versus Parent-led Learning

Sofie and Michelle are two parents who used no curriculum at all and both of them had always homeschooled their girls. Their backgrounds and educational credentials differed, as did the lenses through which they viewed learning. But they both chose a learning style without a structured curriculum.

Sofie’s girls attended a number of classes like theatre and homeschooling co-ops, but they had no curriculum to speak of, not even textbooks. Sofie’s philosophy of learning for her girls pretty much explained why there was no curriculum:

I’ve become even more comfortable and trusting in the process of them exploring what is meaningful and interesting to them. At this time of year, when kiddos are going off to school, I’m really happy that Taney and Rae have the opportunity to have more of a free childhood and life to develop their potential because they’re not having to do things that are being set for them to do, that they don’t have any interest in.

This family provided a context where the learning was almost entirely child-led.

Michelle is a teacher. She had a carefully thought-out approach to learning that appeared to discredit ‘learning from a book’; even more, learning from a highly structure curriculum that described how and what to learn. She wanted her girls to immerse themselves in their world and figure things out within that context:

When we’re walking down the street and I see a word on a van, I say Let’s try to figure out this word. It’s right there. I want them to realize that you can learn anywhere, you can learn while you’re sitting in the backseat of the car, whether you look at billboards or license plates. You can be at home and find anything on the dining room table and learn about it. My philosophy is I want my kids to not just open up this one book to page 17 and be able to read it and answer the question…I want them to look at someone’s shirt and know that man traveled to Hawaii based on what was on his shirt.

Anything in their life became their “curriculum.” Michelle’s kids participated in post card exchanges. She encouraged her children to read newspapers. They learned about writing letters to the editor of newspapers and even composed a few. They also took field trips to the local theatre, shows and dance. The dance company provided packets of information and Michelle might use that as a word search for her younger children or have her older girls write up a summary. She might provide an interesting picture and have them write a story about it. Their family wrote collaborative stories. Michelle played a crucial role in structuring the learning environment for her children.

While both families avoided curricula, their approaches differed, Sofie’s being child-led learning and Michelle’s being parent-led learning. I’m interested in examining the progress of Sofie’s children, leading their own search for knowledge. Infants and toddlers are so successful at learning, and they are primarily self-led. At some point parents and teachers take over and guide them along. As a culture we have come to rely on that approach, the well-established trail that educators have created. I am also interested how Michelle's children’s progress, with Michelle doing much more of the guiding, but along such a different track than traditional schools.