Oh SweetPeach/Tricia, Would you mind sharing more about your experience in Finland?

[LN in WI]

And how you use what you learned in your homeschool? :bigear: I would like to go the route of more self-satisfaction than completed to please the teacher.

 

However, I have found my dd(7) does a much better job if she knows that daddy or Grandma will be seeing her work. There is a night and day difference in her work when she is being held accountable to someone and when she is not.

 

Any thoughts for me?

 

Thanks!

Ellen

[Sweetpeach]

And how you use what you learned in your homeschool? :bigear: I would like to go the route of more self-satisfaction than completed to please the teacher.

 

 

 

I continue to piece together our hs experience, but unquestionably, my time in DK has a current impact on how school happens here.

 

High school students in DK were highly motivated to do a good job with their academics; they knew what was expected of them and were internally motivated to perform. I lived with three different families during my year abroad, and never once did I hear children being reminded about homework, independant reading, etc etc.

 

The younger children were not asked if they had completed yesterday's assignments - they were taught from a young age that doing the work was a reflection of their internal ability to motivate themselves.

 

How does this reflect in our daily hs? Mostly, it reflects in how I see the long-range academic plan for our children. I only learned in my post-DK days that school was my joy, not my bondage. The Danish students went above and beyond in their schoolwork because they were proud of what they could accomplish.

 

I want that same thing for my kiddoe's, and I'm willing to take the time to ground them with that same feeling of accomplishment. I don't want them to do their schoolwork properly because of my standards . . . I want them to work to their own highest common denominator.

 

If they work to meet my standards and not their own sense of accomplishment, I wonder how long it will be before they begin to resent their increasing workload as they get older. The work piled on Danish high-school students was insanely heavy, compared to what I knew, but they didn't chaffe under the workload. It was a very different mentality.

 

The other aspect of Danish life that I remember clearly was that home and school were the most important parts of a child's life. DK kids were not over-scheduled with activities. This has been a real stretch for me, because I was a classic over-scheduled child, and I loved the busy of being on the go.

 

Granted, as Momof7 spoke to on a different thread, Scandinavian students are sifted and directed into different educational streams at a younger age. DK students probably felt the pressure at a younger age to make sure they were managing their learning environment/landscape.

[LN in WI]

Thank you for your insights!

 

Ellen