In a nutshell, Delight Directed Homeschooling is simply a method of homeschooling that uses a child’s natural interests and apptitudes to facilitate learning.
Delight Directed Homeschooling:
- focuses on a child’s natural interests and apptitudes
- teaches kids to intentionally find a passion
- takes learning styles into account
- creates lifelong learners
- is compatible with other homeschool methods
- a great way to share with your kids that you are interested in what they are interested in
- applies learning to real life situations
Delight Directed education, in my opinion, does not mean that your child is in complete control of their education. It means that you become a student of your children. You learn how they learn and what makes them tick. You allow wide margins in your homeschool to give the time and freedom to explore topics that interest your children.
I have a child who loves pandas. I mean LOVES them. Her dream is to become a panda hugger. This is an actual job that exists in China. We usually begin each school year with each of my kids writing down what they want to learn about in the coming year. Guess what is at the top of said child’s list… every year… yes… Pandas! Every. Year. You would think that we have learned all the things, but no… we have not. I get the beautiful challenge of directing her passion as she learns to research. She has learned to create a power point presentation. She has learned water color painting, collage making, photography. She has learned biomes, ecosystems, food chains. She has learned about China. She has learned about government. She has learned about engdangered species and extinct species and Panda rescue centers.
Delight Directed Homeschooling does not mean forsaking the traditional reading, writing, and arithmetic. It means broadening your framework and allowing time in your year to camp out in certain subjects.
How do you start homeschooling the Delight Directed way?
Simple… Lead with curiosity? Ask your children questions, pay attention to where they spend their time, what books they check out, what they build in minecraft… and think outside the box.