Update and, er, teaching styles?

I got this link from a friend's blog, and I couldn't resist posting it here. Too funny.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/28/obama-supporters-adopting_n_109788.html

I promise a *real* kid-centered blog post soon. With pictures. There has been so much going on with our little family around here since we got back from Ottawa. Ramadan, preschool, Eid, Lamb's birthday...

Taking the kids back and forth to school all week (4 out of 5 weekdays) takes up a lot more time than I had originally thought, but it's worth it. I am still happy with the program they are in, and extremely happy with their teachers. It's great to watch them make new friends and settle into their own relationships, outside of my 'influence'. Watching them take their tiny little steps of 'independence' is so incredibly satisfying for me. Once a week Teacher M sits down and shares with all the parents what their kids were up to at preschool etc. I was surprised to hear the Lamb is taking charge quite a bit , including rallying other kids to do big group projects together in their class time. I feel blessed that she will have had 3 whole years of preschool to gain this confidence with other kids and find her social identity (that sounds so Psychology Major of me, doesn't it? But studies show that it's at 4-6 years old that children develop a sense of who they are as they relate to other people). As for the Lion Cub, I think she was born with a strong social identity. She pretty much prances into the preschool room and searches out her little friends, very happily indeed.

In our last chat with Teacher M, she talked about inquiry-based learning, which is the philosophy she practices in the classroom. Basically it's what it sounds like, learning based on inquiry - that of the student. She follows the interests of the class and tries to supply information/supplement their learning of those particular interests. She also believes that children often already KNOW the answer to a lot the questions they ask us. Or at least they should be encouraged to try to figure out an answer. (critical thinking/problem solving, etc etc etc... This explains to me why she always answers every question with a question, which I've been wondering for the last 2 years, lol.)

So, to give you an example, the children last year had this thing where they played 'airplane' a lot. She went to the library and brought back more books about aircraft and flight to supplement her classroom library. As they got more interested she asked a pilot to come in and talk to the kids and answer questions. Then an aerospace engineer. When the focus switched to construction and buildings the books switched too, and the Professor went in to answer questions (and draw funny things for them on the chalk board, standard practice). And the children really seem to respond well to it. I think it creates a discussion, one in which they are actively involved. They may ask "why?" or "how?" and instead of just providing an answer, she asks first "what do YOU think?" or "how do you think we could find that out?"

Anyway, I thought I'd throw that out there for all you homeschoolers in the fam. I'm curious to know, is this something you practice? I mean, CAN you practice this sort of approach past a preschool level? Wouldn't you run the risk of creating giant gaps in what your children are learning? I mean, what if they are never really "intrigued" by math? I really enjoyed the things she said and the more I thought about it the more it seemed like the very best way to learn. Start with a question. And GO. More questions come. More answers too. Food for thought.

Sweet dreams!