How to Facilitate Child-Led Learning in Your Homeschool

It was 11 p.m. on the night of the Royal Wedding, and I was standing in a hotel hallway in my pyjamas with a ten-year-old who refused to sleep. My daughter had become so captivated by British history — a perfect example of child-led learning in your homeschool — that she wasn’t going to miss Kate and Will’s wedding for anything, not even a full day of homeschool conference ahead of us.

That moment, bleary-eyed and laughing in a hotel corridor, taught me more than any curriculum guide ever had. When a child is truly interested in something, you don’t have to push, plan, or persuade. You just have to get out of the way.

But I didn’t always know that. For years, I tried to do it the other way.

There are things I want to impart to my kids, no question. But learning doesn’t necessarily happen because I said something out loud, or because the kids read through a passage, narrated it, did the math worksheet, completed the lab report, or watched the video.

Why I Started Rethinking How My Kids Learn

There were some days I expected them to be like little computers that could receive a daily upload. (I did this because it made me feel that their education was being created and measured.)

If I could do the work to research a topic, buy the book, plan the lesson, and teach it — once, twice, then reinforce it — the kids should learn, right?

Alas, with many kids and many years, I’ve learned that most learning does not happen that way. So how do you actually facilitate child-led learning in your homeschool?

Feeling like your homeschool is still running on “school-at-home” autopilot? Grab the free Deschool Your Homeschool Checklist and find out exactly where to start letting go. Get it here →

Download the free checklist here →

What I Learned the Hard Way About Child-Led Learning in Your Homeschool

In my early homeschool years, I often tried a classical teaching approach — readings, lectures, narrations (aka homeschool mama testing) — and I was utterly surprised, and often frustrated, that they couldn’t regurgitate what I’d taught.