Today's "Starting to Homeschool" Webinar #3 - What Will We Do Now That We’re Learning at Home?

Starting to Homeschool" is a series of six Webinars for those interested in starting the journey to homeschooling, or just learning more about homeschooling. Each Webinar will be a half-hour presentation by Patrick Farenga, followed by a half hour of questions and answers with attendees.

This is a reminder that our third Webinar, "What Will We Do Now That We’re Learning at Home?" will be broadcast live from 3 - 4pm US-Eastern Time on Friday, May 1st. Those who are able to join the Webinar live will be able to ask questions in the chat during the Q+A period.

Each Webinar, including this one, is free to watch live and for the following 24 hour at startingtohomeschool.com under the "Recordings" link (the first, introductory, Webinar is always free to watch). There is information on the site about purchasing the series as a whole, which will allow you to watch all of the Webinars for free at any time.

Please let others know about this Webinar series by directing them to http://www.startingtohomeschool.com.

"One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is a vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child." - Carl Jung

There is an exercise I like to do with people or groups.

It starts with the question: "Can you remember a specific experience when you felt like you were really learning--when you were deeply engaged and growing as a learner?" (I usually have to say, "inside or outside of school" for a school audience, as they may feel they are supposed to pick an academic moment when that is often--even usually--not the case.)

Just talking about those experiences typically evokes really good feelings. They are usually stories that have become scaffolding for how we see ourselves and our lives. Or they are touchstone or "velcro" (have stuck to us) stories by which we measure other experiences we have.

These experiences almost always involve feelings: feeling supported, or challenged, or trusted, or encouraged, or inspired. And these feelings almost always have come from one other person, in a very individual interactions that respected our agency and our desires for self-direction. Someone took the time to really help me understand how to do something, or someone understood what I needed, or someone believed I could do something, or someone cared enough to take extra time to help me...

As you can imagine, the answer is never "that test I took in fourth grade." Maybe it was a challenging class assignment, but it still had a caring individual who understood how the challenge would help you.

The exercise can stop there, just with the sharing of those experiences, since in and of themselves they provide a really valuable lesson in how we actually influence others.

But there is a very good follow-on question:  "What were the conditions that led to that experience?" For deep learning and growth to take place, and for human interactions that support, challenge, or inspire others--how can we create the conditions for those kinds experiences and interactions?

Whether we're talking about a family, a class, a school, a community, or a work environment, thinking about the conditions for real learning and growth remind us that influencing others authentically is about touching human feelings and creating opportunities to do so.