Tapping Into and Sharing our Learning

As a follow up to the previous post about developing retroactive credits for my high school aged son, I wanted to journal a bit of what happened yesterday.

We took the Basic Media Analysis credit and began backfilling on paper what he really did. We followed the format given to us by Clonlara, but found it was really just an jumping off point to help discover what learning occurred, how it occurred and what resources he used.

He talked and I typed. He explained the websites he frequents and the information he finds there. He also talked about the discussions he has online with friends and on public blogs, as well as with his friends and brother. He told me about the writing styles of the varoius reviewers on the main sites and his opinion of each. We talked about the bigger picture things he has learned, such as how companies operate and the overall strategy as well as the personal skill he has adapted, such as how he goes about understanding and reviewing a game and them developing his own rating system.

As we talked not only did I learn more about his passion and what he does in his free time but I think he learned a lot about it, too. Seeing his work translated into a concrete format seems to show him what learning he was doing, that it was valid and how it translates to the outside world through reporting, and also how these skill translate in his life of future learning.

At one point he asked if we should put down his personal method of analyzing games.

I thought about what he really was doing and realized ---what a skill this was he had developed! The method he is using, I told him, is one that will be used all throughout college and his life. I can remember when I worked for a dynamic start up high tech firm, for instance, they only hired people they felt could think outside the box, were self starters and had the skill to develop a thinking process to analyze situations- situations they have never come across before.

So, our exercise yesterday opened up several new worlds.

It solidified for me the real learning he is doing through his interest- video games, the companies involved and the world of discussion and debate surrounding them.

Also, it gave him a benchmark of the natural learning he is doing and how it applies to the outside world.

On the UC list .....Willa also brought up the idea that perhaps this sort of exercise is good, even if it is not just for college prep and transcripts. I agree. I have tried to find ways to tap into the boys, especially as they become older and more independent. This was a wonderful way to open up communication and help him share his world. I think in a large part, it validated what he did. Everyone shares more when they feel validated.

I know I do.

In line with this, I just started re-reading Soar With Your Strengths by Donald Clifton. The premise of the book is that one should not try and develop their weaknesses to match your strengths, but should focus on soaring with their strengths and manage your weaknesses.

Clifton says the goal is not to be 'well-rounded'. (Think the Animal School story.) But instead, if you have one passion it can be a jumping off point to all other areas of study. Though my son has other interests than gaming, that is his primary one at the moment. I can see, especially through this discussion yesterday, how this interest has taken him into all sorts of disciplines: business, media, marketing, personal management and discipline, composition, creative writing, graphic art, a bit of science and math and history and more.

Thinking of this is helping me see even more clearly how important interest-led learning is. And when I strew, I am becoming more careful to give my boys really good stuff. Some strewing is the take or leave kind. Find an inexpensive book and leave it around- share bits and pieces of new worlds.

But I am also introducing them to other areas I find valuable and would like to share with them. Things I love and want to share. Things I find important and want them to know, or at least be introduced to. Less and less am I doing certain books or subjects because I 'think I should'. If it is not interesting to me, it probably won't be interesting to them.

Recently as I was talking to my oldest about what he might want to explore in Science and History, (areas that are not as natural to him) he said he didn't care. Just wanted me to choose books on any subject, as long as the books were GOOD.

In other words, don't make him read something just because I saw it on a list and felt I should. This is a hard habit for me to break. I think pride is intertwined very heavily when I start going down that road.

This is working well here. And I know I am blessed with the time to preview the books first (via audio). I am going to start a Shakespeare study because I am just curious why so many people like it. I think I found a hook to introduce it to the boys, too. (Through LOTR- we will see how that goes.) But if they don't like it, we will survive. There is a lot of good stuff out there.

And to quote Lord of the Rings and The Merchant of Venice,
"
All that glitters is not gold..."