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I found this quote at Stressless Homeschool and had to share it. For me, this is probably one of the biggest reasons to homeschool. In general, teaching our kids that learning takes place for a lifetime is one of the most important things we can teach. For kids to want to be life-long learners, they need to fall in love with learning. Or at the very least, learn how important it is.

Why Create a Love of Learning?

It makes me sad to see so many kids (public and homeschooled) that feel learning is for certain times of the day and only certain times of the year. It makes learning seem like a job to get out of the way.

Treating learning like that isn’t going to create life-long learners. Kids will be so happy at the end of their school years to pack away the books and be done with it.

So, WHY do we need kids that love learning???

Kids that learn to love learning will have SO many advantages in life. It may be more job opportunities because they are always willing to learn more and grow. They may be more educated and critical thinkers because they are always learning about things in the world around them. Kids that grow up to be life-long learners may find more satisfaction in life because they are pursuing new things in life and learning all they can to develop new skills and hobbies.

How to Creat Life-Long Learners

Just for a minute, think about something you do all the time. Something you WANT to do all the time.

Is it reading? Is it building things? Maybe gardening?

Whatever it is, why do you do it?

Probably because somewhere along the way, you discovered you loved spending time doing these things. However, think about WHY you fell in love with this activity.

Is it because someone teaching you this skill encouraged you? Someone taught you how fun it could be? Maybe you discovered it on your own, and the people around you encouraged you because of your skills.

The point is we are apt to do things over and over if we:

1. Enjoy them.
2. See purpose in something.
3. Or both.

If you hated these things, would you WANT to keep doing them?

Probably not.

This is why we need to create a love of learning in our kids, and we can do this by teaching them to love learning and see the value in it.

We can create life-long learners in a few ways.

1. Make learning fun. Be excited about teaching things and find ways to make it fun for your kids. When kids see your excitement, it can’t help but rub off on them. Plus, if you find engaging ways to learn, they will be enthusiastic about learning something new. Check out some tips on how and why to add fun to your homeschool day with this link.
2. Make learning meaningful. Now, I know some things just won’t seem fun. Honestly, most of math isn’t fun for me. I’m not bad at it; I just don’t enjoy it. However, I know it is important. So, if you can’t make something fun, make sure it is meaningful!. Show WHY you need to learn something. Project-based learning is a great way to make learning meaningful. Kids learn through real-life situations. They see how to apply their learning to life.
3. Teach how your kids learn. One important way to create life-long learners is to teach kids how they learn. Often kids don’t like learning something because it isn’t taught in the best way to grab their interest. For instance, if you are a hands-on learner and all you do is workbook pages, you will probably not enjoy learning something. However, if that same work involved building or creating something, you may love it. So, figure out the best way to teach your kids, so learning is fun.
4. Explore your child’s interests. One of the number one ways to get kids to love learning is to explore their interests with them or let them explore their interests on their own. You can use Project-based learning projects, unit studies, or free exploration of topics. It is a fabulous way to create life-long learners.

Final Thoughts on Life-Long Learning

When looking at this quote, there is another key point to it all. Our children have a lifetime of learning. So remember, as a homeschool parent, you don’t have to teach it all. Teach your children to love learning, and they will continue to learn all they need to throughout their lives!

Thoughts? I’d love to hear them.

Happy Homeschooling!