Delight, Passion, & School ~ WHAT?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DELIGHT, n.
1. A high degree of pleasure, or satisfaction of mind; joy. His delight is in the law of the Lord. Ps. 1. 2. That which gives great pleasure; that which affords delight. Titus was the delight of human kind. I was daily his delight. Prov. 8. 
Delight is a more permanent pleasure than joy, and not dependent on sudden excitement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 DRIVEN, pp. Drivn. [from drive.] Urged forward by force; impelled to move; constrained by necessity.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Are there things in life that you delight in?  Things you are driven to accomplish?  Activities that you wish you could just linger over for hours and not have to switch gears?

Could it be reading? Playing bass or guitar or some other instrument?  Do you like to linger in the yarn section of a craft store?

These activities are so much more enjoyable than other activities because they do bring a certain amount of pleasure and joy.  I'd venture to say that even when there is a difficult aspect to something we delight in doing, we are able to keep at the task for longer and see the task to completion.  The challenge does not seem insurmountable.

 It stands to reason, then, that delight driven, when applied to a school setting, would be an urge or movement toward seeking out those things that bring a satisfaction of mind; that which affords pleasure.

If you've heard of "unschooling", you might wonder what the similarities and difference between the two is.  To me, the distinction is very subtle.  Both are similar in that there is a passion, an interest, a desire to learn or figure something out.  Both still have some degree of parental input and help!  It is this degree that is subtle difference.

In delight driven, the parent may be asking question such as "What would you like to read and learn about?", "what is the most unusual thing you can think of to research and write about?", "what will get you excited to read?", or "how about we brainstorm to come up with some fun things to investigate?".

It's my understanding that, in unschooling, the child directs the learning, the passion, what to read or do next.  Wikipedia, says something similar (check out link for more info):

Unschooling is a range of educational philosophies and practices centered on allowing children to learn through their natural life experiences, including play, game play, household responsibilities, work experience, and social interaction, rather than through a more traditional school curriculum. Unschooling is controversial.^[1] Unschooling encourages exploration of activities, often initiated by the children themselves, facilitated by the adults. Unschooling differs from conventional schooling principally in the thesis that standard curricula and conventional grading methods, as well as other features of traditional schooling, are counter productive to the goal of maximizing the education of each child.

Here at Oak Creek Academy, we are leaning more toward the delight driven.  We take advantage of the public library, the internet, the folks we know, and the boys sheer curiosity to help them learn.  We try to read up, so that we can answer their questions that seem to come out of left field.  We'll admit when we don't know, but will do our best to find the answer.  When they struggle with something in math or grammar, we do our best to get it figured out and apply it to the real world so that our kids will have a better understanding of why said topic is relevant to learning and life.

Parting thoughts ~ regardless of where your child attends school, is there something they are crazy curious about?  Is it something you and your child can investigate together?  Is it a small spark you can ignite and let the flame grow into a huge passion?  Could this passion direct their choice in careers alter in life?

Just a thought!