Have you ever met a young child who did not like to dig? In the dirt, at the beach, on the rock pile, to the bottom of the bucket of blocks. They have a natural sense of discovery and curiosity that cannot be quenched.
So, I say, “Let them DIG!”Β Yes, digging in the dirt can get messy, but it’s what they live for! It’s what makes them happy. It’s how they explore and learn in their world. We have eight children and only one really did not like getting dirty. Still, given a shovel or spoon or stick (insert tool of choice) that child loved to dig. There is something about the possibility of unearthing a treasure, or discovering some never-before-seen species of critter, or maybe a long lost favorite toy might appear from the depths!
All this is well and good when they are young. Some children may continue digging in the dirt on into later childhood (or even adulthood?) but very few of our children will be finding themselves on an archeology crew later in life. What does digging have to do with how we homeschool?
The concept of ‘digging’ is directly related to how children learn. First, they explore the world God created for them. They dredge moats around their sand castles, they dig holes in the back yard trying to reach China. What about those earthworms and nightcrawlers for the upcoming fishing and camping trip? Or maybe it’s mudpies baking in the sun on the hot driveway. There’s more going on there than just a hole in the dirt. There are plans and dreams being formed, skills being honed.
Then, we tell them to sit down, pay attention, be quiet, listen up — so we can spoonfeed them everything they’ll ever need to know. Well, ok, so we know that we’ll never be able to give them every bit of knowledge they’ll ever need in life, but isn’t that the way we often approach education?Β “I’m the teacher, you are the student, here’s what I want you to know.” That may not be the best way to teach, or to learn.
Instead, let’s give them room to continue digging. It came naturally enough when they were small. Why not let them use those digging skills as they grow? In our homeschool, we want our children to . . .
. . . Dig for information. Teach them to use reference materials. Have you ever sent your child to look up a word in the dictionary when they didn’t know how to spell it? That’s digging!
. . . Dig for inspiration. Is there an event in history or a person they admire? Let them dig for information on the topic using the library or trusted sites on the internet.
. . . Dig for needed services. Do you need a plumber or a tree trimmer? Let them use the phone book or check with others who might have connections, even making the phone calls themselves.
. . . Dig in order to acquire new skills. What would it take to begin a wood carving craft? What recipes are out there for a boy who dreams of being a chef? How does a young hunter tan a hide? Let them dig to find the answers and then put those answers into practice!
. . . Dig for the sake of digging. Sometimes, it’s satisfying just to find the answers. Even better if they find those answers on their own, coming to conclusions and opinions that have not been handed to them by well-intentioned parents or teachers. There’s a thrill in the discovery.
Our main goal as homeschooling moms is really not to just get them through grade 12, or even to get them into the finest colleges, but help prepare them for life. Helping them acquire the tools needed to find what they’ll need, whatever that may be, is one of the greatest gifts we can give them. We will never be able to teach them every little fact they’ll ever need to know in order to succeed in life, but we can direct them in such a way that they’ll dig until the have what they need to succeed.
Join me as I blog through the alphabet, sharing thoughts to encourage the homeschooling mom in her own homeschooling journey. Join me every Monday as we work our way from A to Z! You can click on the image below to see all the posts in the series.
Meredith D. says
Love this post! It’s so important to let kids be kids – to get dirty and learn all at the same time. When my son was much younger (he’s 18 now), he and my father-in-law would don hard hats, would pull out the shovel head and the Tonka trucks and dig for worms for hours every week. My in-laws had a circular part of their driveway that was covered in shade from the elm trees and they would dig and tell stories in the shade of those great trees. Such sweet memories. Thank you for sharing this post!
Linda says
I’m happy you enjoyed my post, Meredith π Tonka Trucks and digging for worms make for very special memories indeed! What a blessing your father-in-law is to your son. Love hearing about times like these!
annette @ A net in Time says
I love that thrill of discovery “MOM! Did you know________________????” Just love it. though admittedly I thought you were going to tell me about all the holes your children were digging in the backyard.
Linda says
awww, sorry Annette, to disappoint! Our children grew up in the middle of a large family farm, so I cannot even begin to tell how much dirt they moved over the years! Arrowheads, rocks, crockery, rocks, old glass, rocks, not-so-old glass, rocks . . . these are just a few of the treasures they found π I can relate to that thrill of hearing about the children’s discoveries – it’s wonderful!
Melissa says
Love this! My friend and I used to make mud pies endlessly, and my girls do that, too. My oldest is now into the other type of digging that you mention.
Linda says
Gotta love those mudpies! And how great it is that all that digging as a youngster prepared your oldest for bigger things π
Barbie says
I love this! I am sharing.
Linda says
thank you Barbie π I hope you and your son get plenty of time to ‘dig’ in the days ahead!
Renee K. says
Love this post thanks for sharing. It’s good to teach our kiddos to dig and not just literally.
It makes me think of my garden at our old house. Don’t think I’m going to start one this year.
Linda says
Life is full of opportunities to dig – both literal and figurative, right Renee?
Writing this post made me homesick for my garden. We moved to a more urban area and will not have room for my large country garden – but we’ll be finding alternative ways to grow good things!
Thanks for stopping by and leaving your sweet comment π
Kirsten West says
I love this! And I agree completely! My kids have dug up everything in our backyard at one time of another. They have done everything from gardening to creating dragon traps over the years as they grew.
Linda says
Dragon traps! Every backyard needs at least one! Your children will go far in life with those digging skills π
Mother of 3 says
I had to click over and read; my oldest son has dug up a huge portion of our side yard. He has all sorts of construction trucks and equipment and pretends that he’s working in a quarry/ mine. It’s been so great for him.
Linda says
Love hearing how your son digs in the dirt! I hope you were not disappointed, my post was not so much about actually digging in the dirt, but if you’ve watched boys dig, then you have a good picture of what I’m talking about!
Farming runs deep in my boys’ veins, and so you can be for sure and for certain they’ve moved plenty of dirt in their growing up years π
Happy Digging!
Kirsten West says
This is a fantastic post! I so agree with you about digging! My husband has an old college friend who is now a child psychologist who told me a story once about how boys, especially, learn experientially. He said that when a boy tries to learn about grass, he wants to taste it and roll in it and feel it and that is how he learns what it is. I think girls are that way also to some extent but looking at my own kids, my son is much more so. That said, my kids grew up digging in our yard. Here, there, and everywhere. And now that they are older they dig for information and connections and new concepts to learn. Thank you for linking up! I really do love reading your posts! π
Linda says
Thank you, Kirsten, for your kind words π I’m so glad you enjoyed this post! I do agree with your psychologist friend about experiential learning, especially when it comes to boys. That’s one big reason we started our homeschool journey way back when – our son really learned by experiencing the world around him and we didn’t want to interrupt that.
It has laid a marvelous foundation π
Lee @ Dragon'sEyeView says
Love both the literal digging (I’ve got a “garden to be” space in which my son digs a daily hole for the compost!) and the figurative digging (we’re doing a lot of that as a family for diet-related chronic illnesses such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, Type 2 Diabetes, etc!) concepts!
Linda says
thank you, Lee π I highly recommend ‘digging’ in the literal and the figurative sense! You never know what you’ll discover π I hope all your digging is fruitful.
Lori H says
That freedom to just be and to dig for whatever is driving their little minds is so important. This is a wonderful post.
Linda says
Thank you Lori π I agree, it is important! I hope you and our family are finding great treasures as you ‘dig’ through life.