Delightful learning can happen in high school. It is just a matter of looking for opportunities to creatively follow your teen’s interests. Here are a few ideas on how to incorporate delight-directed learning into the high school years:
Let them choose their courses
As a child enters high school there are more requirements than grade school imposed. However, as your teen moves through the four years more opportunities arise for your teen to choose what they want to study. By the junior and senior years, most teens have knocked out many of the state requirements for credits. You can begin to allow your teen to choose the courses that interest them the most. For example, in my oldest son’s senior year we sat down together and discussed what interested him. One of his choices was psychology. For our state, psychology is considered a social studies credit. So not only did my son get to study a topic that interested him, it also served to fulfill one of his social studies credits. Be creative on how you can take your teen’s interests and fit them into his or her high school requirements. It can be done. Not all the courses your child takes in high school have to be dictated to him/her. Give your student choices based on his or her interests.
Find jumping off points
Even within the courses your teen is doing you can find places where his or her interests peak. If your child comes with questions about part of the coursework or expresses interest in a certain topic it’s time to take notice and maybe take time to explore For example, while studying American history you notice that your child has a plethora of questions about the Siege of Petersburg. This may be the time to take a few days to delve deeper into the siege to satisfy your teen’s curiosity. Another place to add in delightful learning is through life experiences…field trips, a summer job, or a vacation can bring up topics that spark your teen’s imagination and a desire to explore them deeper.
Use discussion to pursue knowledge
During the high school years, discussion is an invaluable form of teaching in our homeschool. We explore many topics in this manner before having our sons formally study them or write about them. Here’s one example of how this works: Earlier this summer we took our youngest son to the Scottish Highland games in our state. It sparked questions in him. He began to ask all kinds of questions about not only Scotland, but the other surrounding areas {England, Wales, and Ireland}. The questions came fast and furious…Are there highlands in Ireland? How are each of the groups the same/different? What does Welsh sound like? Why were the English the ones that became more powerful than the Irish {or the Scottish}? We didn’t know all the answers to his questions, but with the help of the internet we got most of them answered. An impromptu lesson occurred that explored history, linguistics, and culture that wasn’t even planned, yet sparked my son’s interest and curiosity.
Bring it all together
After spending some time discussing the topic of interest, you can then set up some activities or assignments to further learning. For example, your teen could write a paper about what you discussed adding in more research that he/she did. Notebooking pages could be created. He or she could interview an expert in the topic. Or how about watching a documentary? Or possibly a lapbook? There are a myriad of ways to bring all the learned information together. It is just a matter of being creative.
This school year why not try delightful learning? You may be surprised at what you and your child learn! To help you on the journey towards delight-directed learning, Marcy has created Delightful Planning: A Unit Study Planner for Every Homeschool. This is an excellent resource to help you get started on teaching your kids to love learning! I love all the planning sheets and resources she provides. Her planner will walk you through all you need to create “delightful” learning in your home including a section on high school!
Debbie lives in central Alaska with her husband and two teen boys. She loves to read, write, and spend time with loved ones. She homeschools her sons and runs an in-home business offering Spanish lessons to other homeschoolers. She blogs about faith at The Architect and the Artist and about teaching Spanish at Debbie’s Spanish Learning.
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Are you looking for more tips besides what is being shared in the Delight-directed Learning series? 25 of my blogging friends are sharing their own 31 Days of Homeschool Tips.
I would also love to invite you the community inspired by this series, as we strive to inspire, encourage and empower our readers in everything homeschooling.