The learning home

Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Reading on 6 Jul 2009.

When we first explored homeschooling, we initially thought we would have to replicate a classroom in some corner of the house, complete with a whiteboard. Well, we did have a whiteboard, but that was as far as we went. I don’t want to knock the idea of a classroom-in-the-home because I have since heard that there are homeschoolers who think that’s the way to go.  (Pix: The boys in the study circa ’97)

More important to me is setting up a home that is conducive to learning. But what would such a home look like?

A home that values learning is one that promotes reading. When I was growing up, I had a dad who bought books and subscribed to news and educational magazines. I wouldn’t say he was a voracious reader, but he made sure we had access to reading materials. I remember devouring children’s encyclopedias and learning about Vikings and Valhalla, tales of the Odyssey, and the Roman Empire. How fascinating it was for a young boy in a small town to be navigating the seas with Magellan or riding with Genghiz Khan and the Mongol horde.

As children (there were 4 of us then) each had to wait their turn for the weekly TIME or Newsweek magazine, and that old family staple Reader’s Digest. We swapped stories, challenged each other to quizzes and ticked off the number of Enid Blyton books we had read. It was an easier time, with lesser distractions. No surprise then that I ended up a school librarian. The environment I was raised in had a profound effect on me.

To say reading is an important part of our lifestyle would be an understatement. Today many of the opportunities given to me to develop as a reader have been offered to our boys. As a homeschooling family, the largest space we can afford in our home is devoted to the activity that holds the highest priority – reading.

Books and reading materials remain one of the biggest expenditure in the Tan Family. If you’re homeschooling, invest in good strong bookshelves, and be prepared to fill them up quickly. Well, that’s what happened in our home!

It goes without saying that parents have to model what they teach. We are readers ourselves, and it would be a sacrilege if anyone in our family of four were found without a book in hand or nearby.

Next to reading, conversation is just as important to a learning culture. It has been reported that fathers spend 25 minutes per week (or 3.5 minutes per day) in genuine conversation with their children. I don’t know how they arrive at the figure but that’s 25 minutes too short. Fathers especially need to talk to their children and talk often (and I don’t mean lecture them). Meal time usually gets us talking about books we’ve read, movies we’ve seen, and sermons we’ve heard. Don’t just talk about things; don’t be afraid to include ideas in your conversations as well.  Since most of us get our news from the Net these days, issues and global events that make the news have increasingly become table topics. The key is to make conversation intentional and give everyone a hearing.

A couple of years ago we came up with the idea for a Reading Night. Each one of us would share a book that he or she was currently reading, and then pick a passage to read aloud. It allowed us to engage our teenage sons in stimulating conversations, get into books they were reading, and sometimes we’re challenged to address unfamiliar points of view. Now a planned event like this is tough on my weekly schedule and I must admit it’s been shelved as new demands eat into our family time (but plans are afoot to revive it soon!)

What I’m trying to say is, a learning culture flourishes in a learning environment. And you have to plan for it and make it happen. If you need to, get rid of the TV or restrict computer games. Our home went without tv for a season (ok, it lasted 5 years) while to this day, computer games are only allowed on weekends. Whatever it is, as parents you have to draw the line somewhere, and the sooner you do the better.

Of course not everyone will read at the same pace or at a similar intellectual level, and they don’t have to. Yet one hopes with sufficient encouragement, a child will learn to read well and read critically as the years go by. What we’re doing is to make lifelong reading and learning as natural as breathing. I can think of no better way for homeschool to succeed than to build an environment that nurtures this.

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