2 Types of Boredom

When you first start homeschooling, you need to take some time to deschool. Deschooling is letting go of your preconceived ideas about education. Let’s consider two types of boredom that we bring with us from our “schoolish” mindset.

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The schoolish mindset says that we need to tell kids what to do. We need to force them to do learn, or they won’t. Let’s consider a couple aspects of “boredom” that come from this idea of forced learning is what really counts.

Schoolwork Boredom

We are conditioned to think that schoolwork is supposed to be boring. Education reformer, Ken Robinson, said that our kids are doing boring clerical work all day. This has become the expected norm for education. And it should not be this way.

When you come to homeschooling, you get to pick your course of study. It often feels comfortable to stick with the traditional model of education that is primarily textbooks and workbooks. You are inclined to set a daily schedule in order to finish all that seatwork and book learning before you can go do something more fun.

My kids had never been in a traditional school, and somehow they knew that school wasn’t supposed to be fun. One day, we spent the whole day doing newspaper projects. We read about how newspapers are made. We read various parts of the newspaper. Took it apart and re-assembled it. Made our own newspaper. It was a fantastic day of learning activities.

When their dad came home, he asked, “How was your day? What did you do today?” They gleefully replied, “It was the *BEST* day. We didn’t do *ANY* schoolwork. It was so much fun!”

Honestly, that’s the best kind of learning—when it’s so much fun and you get lost in the activity. But, I was kind of embarrassed that they didn’t know they had actually learned anything. I muttered under my breath that if they didn’t think we did school today. Just wait till tomorrow. We’ll be doing worksheets till their eyes bleed.

Why?! Why do we think that learning needs to be boring…or else it doesn’t count?

That’s the point of changing your mindset to see that education can be fun. Indeed, it’s supposed to be fun.

Time Boredom

On the other hand, we worry about scheduling the learning activities so that there’s always something educational to fill the time. We worry that kids will get bored and not know what to do. So, adults are supposed to tell the kids what to do. All the time.

But, it’s actually beneficial for people—even kids—to have unstructured free time. Down time. Unscheduled time.

This is where creativity and innovation happen. No one is productive all the time. The brain needs time to ponder and mull over ideas before there’s a burst of inspiration.

It’s also the norm for adults to evaluate when children are “wasting time.” As if childhood is some sort a race to hurry thru it. And it’s a competition to see who’s winning the race.

Why?! Why do we think that kids are never supposed to have a spare moment…or get bored?

That’s the point of changing our mindset to see that education needs unstructured time. Indeed, it’s ok to be bored sometimes.

Rethink Learning

What if we let go of those schoolish mindsets? What if learning is actually fun? It’s really not such a bad thing when kids lose themselves in a learning activity and have so much fun that they didn’t even realize they were learning. That’s the magical portal where real learning occurs.

What if we leave unstructured free time in the schedule? Let the learner carry some of the weight of responsibility for what to do with their time. Sit back and watch what they actually accomplish during those times.

You’ll be surprised, I think. It should also be a relief that you can trust the child to learn without being forced.

Childhood is not a race. It’s absolutely ok to “waste time” along the way. Let’s all take the time to be bored for a while. It’s actually the way to enjoy learning.

Also try the Learn Nothing Day Challenge: