If you Google the word "education," you'll get 2 definitions:
the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university.
an enlightening experience.
We move to strike the first in favor of the second.
A real, robust, worthy education is not something you sit down to consume in a classroom. It is a lifestyle, a way of being, and it is born out of curiosity.
Fostering the curiosity that leads to well-educated, kind, and confident children must be done intentionally and consistently. Here are a few ways to ensure our children are having consistent "enlightening" experiences:
Exposure
The number one way to enlighten our children is through exposure. This means that one day, they may be perusing a fine arts museum, and the next, they might spend hours exploring the forest and bringing specimens back to copy using watercolors. Filling our children's spaces with rich stories in different genres written by voices from all around the world and exposing them to foods and music from other cultures are ways we can intentionally open pathways to new ideas and experiences for them. Introducing them to community leaders, entrepreneurs, and trade workers will show them that success comes in many forms and is attainable. Rote paperwork in a classroom for 6 hours per day can never replace real creative engagement with the world around them.
2. Modeling
As adults, it is important for us not to try and be the expert in every situation but to model learning as a life-long pursuit through asking questions, exploring, reading, and remaining curious. Modeling love, curiosity, and openness is essential to raising kind, cultured children. The adults our children spend their days with are the models by which they learn how to exist in the world. Let's show them that education does not have a finish line.
3. Freedom
Have you heard of "snowplow parenting"? This parenting style "seeks to remove all obstacles from a child's path so that the child doesn't experience pain, failure, or discomfort" (WebMD). As you can imagine, it can be detrimental to a child's development. Children need the freedom to try and fail. They need time outside of a top-down educational model encouraging them to aspire to numbers on a report card. They need unstructured time to follow creative passions or find answers to questions independently. When we remove their free time and freedom to try and fail, we kill their curiosity and crush their spirit. It's how we end up with classrooms full of students looking blankly at their teachers, asking, "What do I need to do to pass?"
At Lucas Literacy Lab, we have created a school model that centers around the children, honoring their freedom and supporting their curiosity. We know that children have their own wisdom to impart, and following their lead will inspire us as much as it empowers them. We ensure that our classroom sizes are never more than 10 and that each student can work on individual lessons at their own pace with teacher guidance. We take our children outdoors every day for at least an hour and spend all day at the farm every Thursday. Our students are encouraged to follow their passions, and they are read to every day. Most importantly, our children are taught who they are in Christ through daily prayer and worship.
We are now enrolling in our lower school and middle school for the 24/25 school year. Please join us for an info session with founder Amanda Lucas this Thursday, where we will discuss how we can revolutionize education together.
Here are some books you can read on the topic of trusting our kids to follow their own curiosity:
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