Diary of a Home Educating Nobody

April 2009

‘Be quiet’. ‘Don’t interrupt’. ‘Will you just listen’’ ‘I’m not interested in what you think’.

How many of these statements are you guilty of saying? If I’m honest I’m sure I’m guilty of saying all of them at some point or another. But I console myself with the fact that my children probably haven’t heard them nearly as much as they would have done had they been in school!

For these are the kinds of statements teachers resort to as a strategy to cope with trying to deliver a syllabus to far too many children in a time framework that really doesn’t leave any room for anything else.

But what a waste! For this ‘Be quiet’ approach misses out on a great educational opportunity and one of the most effective learning tools at our disposal – talk!

When we think of talking in relation to learning we tend to think of adults talking and the children dutifully listening. And ‘talking’ on the part of the learner is often deemed a crime in a classroom setting. Yet talking about a subject aids learning and development enormously. Not only does it increase understanding of the subject, but it also develops a wealth of other valuable life skills.

Here are some of them:

Thinking – the biggest and most valuable of all life skills a child could have is the ability to think. Allowing a child time to talk about a subject is one of the best ways to get them thinking. Thinking is where our intelligence is gestated. Thinking about a subject is the only way to develop understanding.

Understanding – this only begins when a child can look at a subject in various ways and think about it for themselves, putting it in their own words. It happens most when a learner is experiencing something first hand. Perhaps like identifying birds on a walk, talking about families of things or classifications, for example. It’s only through talking about something that children really begin to have their own understanding of it. Encouraging talk develops thinking and understanding. And a good way to encourage talk is through questioning.

Questioning – it’s vital for the development of thinking. I don’t mean the patronising questions adults ask of their children when they already know the answer like ‘and what colour is a tree?’ I mean thought provoking questions like ‘I wonder why…?’ These kinds of open ended questions encourage children to see questioning as a natural part of their learning and understanding. Encourage them to ask their own intelligent questions and they’ll really be developing their learning skills. Through talk they learn what questions are appropriate and the time they are appropriate! I’m not suggesting you respond to every single ‘why?’ question when sometimes they’re just doing it get your attention! I’m suggesting you just make questioning a part of your learning chatter. Questioning also helps develop other vital learning skills – their ability to observe and analyse.

Observing and analysing – develops intelligence. Encourage them to be observant and analyse what they see. For example; ‘Look. What’s that insect? What’s it doing, do you think?’ Simple observations in with the chatter helps develop their thinking skills along with the ability to discuss, argue, reason, and disagree without falling out. You will need to be talking in order for these processes to take place. And while you’re talking together you’ll also be helping them to be engaged.

Engaging - children in a subject is the way to get them learning. Talking helps this happen. Children who are talked at quickly disengage. You need to watch for the times when they are getting switched off, overloaded or bored and then shut up! Recognise it in yourself too – they don’t want to see you glaze over. Sometimes you have to be honest and say that you need to leave this for another time. It’s important that you talk with not at. And that you listen.

Listen – you cannot have a discussion about something without listening. If you don’t listen you cannot expect them to do so when you want your say. This is part of respect and other very important social skills.

Social skills – you cannot have well developed social skills if you cannot hold a conversation. You cannot develop conversational skills without talking and listening. Simple! And tied in with all that is the use of language.

Language - and vocabulary can be developed more through talking than it can through writing. It is a precursor to writing. Talking is the original medium through which language grows. But we tend to forget that when we’re obsessed with written language more than spoken. You only have to listen to some school children to understand that the level of their conversations hasn’t done a lot for their language development! That’s because most of the language they hear is from other children. As home educators we have the opportunity to develop our child’s language skills with a higher ratio of adults. It is all down to example.

Your example - the way you use language and chat about things to help you learn and understand will become the way they do it. If you talk, listen, talk, listen, observe, think, analyse, question, discuss, and chat then so will they.

So whatever your schedules always make sure there’s time for talk and don’t worry that your child is talking when they ‘should be learning’. Talk is an essential part of your child becoming educated, developing their intelligence and a multitude of life skills. Don’t be afraid to make best use of this advantage home educators have over schools.

Then, when all’s said and done, give yourself time for a nice quiet cup of coffee; because alongside talk you’ll also need to encourage personal quiet time for mental digestion, not to mention help you cope with all the incessant chatter!

Ross Mountney.

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