Actually, I think "independent learners" means that the child takes
initiative to learn on his or her own, instead of waiting to be directed
by a teacher or a parent. That is what we practice in our home, and since
we home school, in our school. We cover the basics, but let our children
learn at whatever pace they want in whatever subject they want.
My oldest son, who is now 11, was an early reader, at 5 yrs. He fell in
love with Civil War history at that age, and now moving into 6th. grade is
reading popularly written adult level history, the sort which the History
Book Club sells. Does he understand it all? Not yet, because he has not
the breadth of reading and learning yet. For example, it is difficult to
understand the American Civil War apart from the economic, social and
political history of the prior 50 years in the United States. His
interest has expanded to other eras, and subjects. If he reads something
in the paper, doesn't know what it is referencing, he goes to the
encyclopedia and finds out. His initiative is born from loving to learn.
He is still captivated by the Hong Kong Handover.
Our other son, who is 7, very different in personality, wasn't interested
in reading. When he finally learned, at the end of first grade, his
interest and initiative took off. Now he is the one in the family more
likely to stay up to all hours reading. He likes natural sciences,
especially oceans and fish.
My point is that independence is probably a misnomer, because it doesn't
really mean separated from other learners or teachers. It does mean that
they sense a responsibility for their own education, and love to learn.
And the most important ingredient is the ability to read well. The other
side of this which is important for encouraging initiative is the ability
of the child to express and articulate their thoughts and feelings. While
they may not have words to describe, their pictures do. I seem to
remember Robert Coles using children's pictures in one of his books. So
we try to provide opportunities for our children to talk about what they
learn, and express it through their drawing. The detail and complexity of
the vision of what is going is rather remarkable.
And the beauty of this is that as their parents, we learn as they learn.
Too bad we can't draw our email.
Ed Brenegar
Leadership Resources
brenegar@circle.net
--"Edwin R. Brenegar III" <EdB3@msn.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>