Interest Lead Education

I've discovered one really big problem with interest lead education-we have too many interests! I find myself constantly sidetracked from current studies by new ideas. I am a creative, scattered person by nature so it is all to easy for me to want to drop everything to learn something new. It seems like everywhere I look I see someone with a wonderful new book to read, a fabulous new topic to study or a great new project idea.

When you strive to teach your children based on their interests you are always looking for some indication that they might want to study something new. I find myself trying to turn every non-fiction book they glance at into a new topic of study. Then I'm perpetually frustrated that we never seem to finish anything, so I'm getting a jump start on the new year and I'm setting three goals to keep our learning on track.

1. We will start each month with a plan for what subjects we want to learn about, we will list key books, projects and field trips that we want to do and I will review the list often to make sure we are on track.

2. When I come across a fabulous new idea during the course of the month I will put it on a list for possible future study. I find writing things down helps to eliminate the constant swirl of ideas in my head!

3. I will not feel guilty about not turning every momentary interest into a unit study.

Reading back through my goals it sounds much more structured then I'm sure it will be but at least it's a place to start! Wish me luck!