Posts Tagged ‘homeschool’

How can teachers use their curriculum to train leaders for the future? How can parents encourage their children to lead when they grow up? The first place to start in raising your students into leadership is to change your own education paradigm.

“Why is there a need to change from your paradigm right now?”

Most of us grew up in a public or private school, which can be likened to a factory. All the students come to the factory or the school. They start in kindergarten and move on to first grade, down the conveyor belt. At each stage of the conveyor belt (or grade level), the student learns the exact same information as everyone else. The students are told what to think. Even though the school may be using tools like classics, the school’s approach to education only teaches students “what to think”.

Most of the time, the information is given to your kids on a silver platter. Ready to serve and no need to think through the issue at hand. It’s not bad, but your kids don’t get to use their brilliant minds to think over these things. They simply have tests to assess them. But it does no good because it only tests their knowledge and not their capacity to think. John Gatto best tells this in his book.

After you fall into the habit of accepting what other people tell you to think, you lose the power to think for yourself. John Taylor Gatto, A Different Teacher, 2002

When you are continually being force-fed with information, you start to become dependent and have difficulty in thinking for yourself. To become future leaders, it is important to modify your education paradigm that you use with your children.

Do you see education as teachers having textbooks for every subject out there? If you do, then you are gearing your kids to become followers, not leaders. Everybody thinks that people don’t think enough, so they depend on the books to teach them. Just by depending on the author’s conclusions, your children become only good in following; they “learn what to think” kind of people.

Stop and think for a while. Schoolbooks offer questions. If your child can answer them, he can go on to the next grade level or conveyor belt station. These types of learning do not promote thinking outside the answers. You become highly trained but not highly educated.

Leadership education takes a different approach to curriculum. One of the essential elements of leadership education is teaching how to think. I don’t think your children should complete their education and not know how to think on their own. Shifting your educational model from “what to think” to “how to think” can be a major change in your life. Below are some practical ways to set a foundation for this type of education by starting with yourself.

One lifestyle change when teaching your children “how to think” is that it unifies the family into one whole. You, the parent, at first take time to be involved in learning and the development process. It’s not just about handing over to your children all the textbooks. It’s true they learn something with textbooks, but these books can’t teach them “how to think” for themselves.

Where should you start? Begin by reading a classic. That is one way to start your learning as a parent or teacher. Find something that interests you. A young adult classics list is a good way to find one if you are not sure what to read. After reading one, get another. Continue doing this four or five times. This is a good way to begin your own education.

Your kids will have a different view on what education is if they see you studying and learning. Plus, you will eventually want to share what you’ve learned because you will be so excited with what you are learning.

After you finish five classics, read another one and add a writing activity. As you read this classic, keep a reading journal. In your reading journal, write down your thoughts about the story. Share your thoughts with someone else.

On to your own children! When starting with your kids, read aloud a classic together. The first one should be for enjoyment purposes only. If they are not used to it at first, its better to read several before going to the journal making and discussion part.If you think they are ready, request them to write in their special journal after each reading. Next, start a discussion about what your children wrote.

Francis Bacon said, “Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.” Reading, writing and discussing is foundational to developing students who think for themselves. If you want your children to be leaders, they must think on their own and classics are the best place to start.

Kerry Beck has been featured in magazines and podcasts and would like parents to discover the best leadership education homeschool curriculum by giving parents a free mini-course, ” What Is Leadership In Education “?