Research-based ideas
to help kids thrive
You Are Your Child's
Best Teacher
Nurture your child's intrinsic
love of learning -
in the preschool years and beyond!
Suitable for children old enough to ask questions through the end of elementary school.
Perfect for parents, caregivers, and even teachers & tutors - whether you are homeschooling, thinking about homeschooling, or attending school in person.
Whether your child is in school and you're looking to supplement their learning, or you're homeschooling - either short or long term - get the tools, support, & confidence to foster your child's intrinsic love of learning, while having fun too. It's easier than you think.
Suitable for parents with children old enough to ask questions through the end of elementary school
Brought to you by Jen Lumanlan (M.S., M.E.d.) of the Your Parenting Mojo Podcast and Parenting Membership
Whether your child is in school and you're looking to supplement their learning, or you're homeschooling - either short or long term - get the tools, support, & confidence to foster your child's intrinsic love of learning, while having fun too. It's easier than you think.
MADELINE: Supporting your child's journey is easier than you think... and fun too!
Do you want your child to have a life-long love of learning?
Most parents do.
So we buy them books (so many books!); special toys to teach them critical skills like coding
monthly subscription kits to teach them about STEM topics, travel, cooking…
We take them to museums, music classes, gymnastics...
we search in vain for activities that will keep them occupied
for longer than it took to set up the
activity in the first place, in a desperate attempt to keep them off screens.
And we teach them what we know
Do you want your child to have a life-long love of learning?
Most parents do.
So we buy them books (so many books!); special toys to teach them critical skills like coding;
monthly subscription kits to teach them about STEM topics, travel, cooking…
We used to take them to museums, music classes, gymnastics...if those are now closed, we
search in vain for activities that will keep them occupied for longer than it took to set up the
activity in the first place, in a desperate attempt to keep them off screens.
And we teach them what we know
But what if these things we've been doing with our children were not only not supporting their love of learning, but were actually working against it?
More than 80 years ago, renowned philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer John Dewey observed:
"The most important attitude that can be formed is that of desire to go on learning."
More than 80 years ago, renowned philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer John Dewey observed:
"The most important attitude that can be formed is that of desire to go on learning."
Yet two psychologists, Mark Lepper and Melinda Hodell wrote in 1989:
"The young child, outside of school seems blessed with a seemingly limitless curiosity, a thirst for knowledge, a will to learn...
Observe these same children a few years later, however, as they sit in elementary-school classrooms, and one sees a different picture. For many of these children, motivation is now a problem.
Attention strays; minds wander. Extrinsic sanctions are now required to motivate children to learn their assigned lessons..."
So What Happened
?
If we know that intrinsic motivation to learn – learning simply for the love of learning – is so important, why are so many of our students unmotivated to learn in school?
It turns out that parents may be at the start of this process, when we do three things:
1) We tell them to stop asking us questions so we can have a moment's peace
2) We continually direct their attention to things we think they should find interesting
3) We tell them everything we know about a topic, not what THEY want to know
It turns out that parents may be at the start of this process, when we do three things:
1) We tell them to stop asking us questions so we can have a moment's peace
2) We continually direct their attention to things we think they should find interesting
3) We tell them everything we know about a topic, not what THEY want to know
It continues in school, where children quickly learn that it’s the teacher’s job to ask questions, and students are rewarded for supplying the (correct) answer as quickly as possible.
Research has shown that by about second grade, most children have stopped asking questions about what interests them and instead just want to know whether they need to complete an activity and if so, how to do it.
It continues in school, where children quickly learn that it’s the teacher’s job to ask questions, and students are rewarded for supplying the (correct) answer as quickly as possible.
Research has shown that by about second grade, most children have stopped asking questions about what interests them and instead just want to know whether they need to complete an activity and if so, how to do it.
This has led to what researchers Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman have called:
The Creativity Crisis
While IQ scores are consistently inching up, we are becoming less and less creative
This has led to what researchers Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman have called:
The
Creativity Crisis
While IQ scores are consistently inching up, we are becoming less and less creative
While many of the careers our children will participate in haven’t been invented yet,
Drs. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Golinkoff say we do know what kinds of skills they will need to succeed:
Communication
Collaboration
Content
(this is where school focuses)
Critical Thinking
Creative Innovation
Confidence
While teachers try their very best in an environment where they get to make few real decisions, these are not skills that are taught or valued in school.
While many of the careers our children will participate in haven’t been invented yet, Drs. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Golinkoff say
we do know what kinds of skills they will need to succeed:
Communication
Collaboration
Content
(this is where school focuses)
Critical Thinking
Creative Innovation
Confidence
While teachers try their very best in an environment where they get to make few real decisions, these are not skills that are taught or valued in school.
How can we help our children to develop these skills?
We need to start early (when they start asking questions)
We need to learn how to truly listen to our children - not just to what they say, but to the unspoken questions that really drive their interests
We need to engage them in the dance of learning: offering encouragement and resources to propel them forward, while making sure they still ‘own’ the process
How can we help our children to develop these skills?
We need to start early (when they start asking questions)
We need to learn how to truly listen to our children - not just to what they say, but to the unspoken questions that really drive their interests
We need to engage them in the dance of learning: offering encouragement and resources to propel them forward, while making sure they still ‘own’ the process
CLAIRE: From a teaching mindset to self-directed learning
The Supporting Your Child's
Learning Membership will help you to:
Identify your child’s true interests
(not just the random ones they will announce if you ask)
Identify the theories that your child is building about their understanding of the world that underlie their surface-level questions and use these to scaffold their learning
Become a facilitator who connects your child with the resources they need to answer their own questions
Document your child’s learning so you can see both their and your growth over time (even when it might look to the casual observer like the child isn’t actually learning very much!)
Help your child to ask more questions that deepen their learning on an initial topic (so we can bring the knowledge, questions, and insights we didn’t have the first time around)
Communicate what they have learned to communities who care
Support your child in solving problems that have real meaning to real people (not just assignments whose sole purpose is to grade the child’s performance)
The Supporting Your Child's Learning Membership will help you to:
Identify your child’s true interests (not just the random ones they will announce if you ask)
Identify the theories that your child is building about their understanding of the world that underlie their surface-level questions and use these to scaffold their learning
Become a facilitator who connects your child with the resources they need to answer their own questions
Document your child’s learning so you can see both their and your growth over time (even when it might look to the casual observer like the child isn’t actually learning very much!)
Help your child to ask more questions that deepen their learning on an initial topic (so we can bring the knowledge, questions, and insights we didn’t have the first time around)
Communicate what they have learned to communities who care
Support your child in solving problems that have real meaning to real people (not just assignments whose sole purpose is to grade the child’s performance)
Iris has released a need to control her child's learning
"Being an immigrant in the country I live now, I don't have the wide network of support that I did in my home country - and I know I can't do this on my own.
Through the membership, I've slowly let go of my own agenda, follow my child's interest and give her the space and time for her own learning discovery. I feel confident that she will learn in her own time, in her own pace.
- Iris P.
Iris has released a need to control her child's learning
"Being an immigrant in the country I live now, I don't have the wide network of support that I did in my home country - and I know I can't do this on my own.
Through the membership, I've slowly let go of my own agenda, follow my child's interest and give her the space and time for her own learning discovery. I feel confident that she will learn in her own time, in her own pace.
- Iris P.
Here's How It Works
In the first two modules we cover core topics so you can understand what’s going on in your child’s brain when they’re learning, and set the stage for your first successful Learning Exploration, before moving on to advanced topics. You'll gain confidence that you're truly developing your child's love of learning - and having fun while you're doing it.
Here's How It Works
In the first two modules we cover core topics so you can understand what’s going on in your child’s brain when they’re learning, and set the stage for your first successful Learning Exploration, before moving on to advanced topics.
You'll gain confidence that you're truly developing your child's love of learning - and having fun while you're doing it.
- 5 easy steps explained -
1
2
3
4
5
Sign Up to unlock membership benefits
Receive a new module of content each month (or pay for a year up-front to access 12 modules at once)
Begin engaging your child in new ways of learning, by offering support rather than by 'teaching'
Get support through our private (not on Facebook!) community, video Q&As, small group peer coaching, and occasional 1:1 consults
Know that your child is developing critical skills: a love of learning, and knowledge about how to learn
Sign Up to unlock membership benefits
Receive a new module of content each month (or pay for a year up-front to access 12 modules at once)
Begin engaging your child in new ways of learning, by offering support rather than by 'teaching'
Get support through our (not on Facebook) private community, video Q&As, small group peer coaching, and occasional 1:1 consults
Know that your child is developing critical skills: a love of learning, and knowledge about how to learn
What will I learn?
Getting Started
Your First Learning Exploration
Using Nature as a Muse
9 Additional Topics
Help Be the Guide on the Side
9 Additional Topics
Help Be the Guide on the Side
Need more support?
There are lots of ways to get answers in the membership. You can post a question in our private community and I'll get back to you there, record a video answer for you, or invite you to a 1:1 consult for particularly tricky issues.
Join our monthly coaching calls (held on a weekday around the middle of the month at 11am and 5pm Pacific), or watch the recording at your convenience.
I'm a Co-Active Coach, and will work with you to offer the help you need in the way you need it: from brainstorming potential solutions to a conversation where we uncover your true needs and desires and how these influence your child's learning.
Need more support?
There are lots of ways to get answers in the membership. You can post a question in our private community and I'll get back to you there, record a video answer for you, or invite you to a 1:1 consult for particularly tricky issues.
Join our monthly coaching calls (held on a weekday around the middle of the month at 11am and 5pm Pacific), or watch the recording at your convenience.
I'm a Co-Active Coach, and will work with you to offer the help you need in the way you need it: from brainstorming potential solutions to a conversation where we uncover your true needs and desires and how these influence your child's learning.
I never want financial issues to be the only reason that people who want to work with me can't work with me...and I also need to pay my bills and my team to give you the support you need to make the changes you want to see.
The value you get out of the membership depends on the work you put in.
I invite you to select the price of the membership that feels like the best fit for your situation. Your experience inside the membership will be the same no matter what amount you pay.
I never want financial issues to be the only reason that people who want to work with me can't work with me...and I also need to pay my bills and my team to give you the support you need to make the changes you want to see.
The value you get out of the membership depends on the work you put in.
I invite you to select the price of the membership that feels like the best fit for your situation. Your experience inside the membership will be the same no matter what amount you pay.
I had realized that a traditional public school was not working for my son, and while we were lucky to find a much better alternative, I wanted to figure out how I could help to preserve both my children's intrinsic love of learning at home.
My children's creativity and excitement over learning has been exploding. Until COVID shutdowns, my only concern was that we would never get to all the projects we thought of based on their interests. Now we have no shortage of meaningful activities to fill our days for weeks or even months to come.
The membership has put me in a position where I can turn lemons into lemonade.
Sara N.
Yes - for your convenience, your subscription will auto-renew each month if you're a monthly member, and each year if you're an annual member. After 12 months of membership you'll automatically drop to the lower 'maintenance' rate of $20/month or $200/year without you needing to do a thing. Cancel anytime you like and retain access to the content, community, and group coaching calls until the end of your current billing period.
If you’ve read this far, it’s probably because something about this approach is calling to you, but you’re experiencing what psychologists call ‘cognitive dissonance,’ because of the difference between it and how you learned in school. Many current members did very well in school, and have a hard time reconciling their desire for their children to also do well in school with new ideas about this interest-led learning approach.
If you were my coaching client, I’d advise you to use the following ideas to help you make your decision:
Note: I'm indebted to Alexis Cunningham at Worts & Cunning Apothecary for her ideas on sliding scales that I have adopted.
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© Jen Lumanlan 2023 - All Rights Reserved
Your Parenting Mojo acknowledges the Lisjan Ohlone people, the rightful stewards of the land on which we live and work. While the Lisjan Ohlone people can never be fully compensated for the harms that the legacy of colonialism has wrought, we pay the Shuumi Land Tax as recognition that more than words are needed, and we encourage others to engage meaningfully (including financially) with their local Indigenous communities.