Adult Learning is an Important Part of Homeschool Teaching
“Do as I say, but not as I do” is the surest way to kill a student’s motivation. Moms and dads, you have to do better — and at Knowable World, we can help.
As our Anchor Fact series of mini-lessons and printables expands over the coming months, you have that chance. And with the Knowable World program, you don’t just have a chance; you are being given a power that homeschooling parents have NEVER HAD BEFORE: you finally have the opportunity to get the education you should have received, but never did.
All the most successful parents in the Knowable World program have one thing in common: they use the power of the Knowable World approach of present-centrism to rehabilitate their own minds, and embrace the power of a proper history education. They embrace the power of adult learning as part of helping their own children.
Where Did You Learn All That?!
I can’t tell you how many times over the past twenty years of what used to be called the “History At Our House” program — now Knowable World — I’ve had parents reach out to me to tell me how much they appreciate the approach that we take, and how history has become their child’s favorite subject.
The results speak for themselves. When Knowable World graduates go on to college, they dominate the subject, to the amazement of their professors.
“Where did you learn all that?” is a common question my graduates get from university professors.
“My son wrote me and told he didn’t even have to study for the test, because he knew it all already!” one mother wrote me.
“My child is making money tutoring his classmates,” because he is so far ahead of them, one mother reported.
Which is a testament to the kids involved, for sure.
But I’ll tell you why those kids succeeded so well: because those same parents were also my students.
And there are two ways they did it…
Two Ways to Learn History Yourself
One way is to study history yourself, as an adult, using the power of present-centrism, by reading The History of Now and its sequel The History of Tomorrow — both available on Amazon.
The combination of these two books is the manifesto of present-centrism.
It’s the place where you as an adult can reclaim the value of history for yourself, by using books by an adult, for adults.
To be precise: by an adult — who never got a history education, and had to spend his entire adult life putting the subject back together, for adults.
But there’s another way.
Watch the Knowable World lessons with your kids — and learn!
You can do it.
I know, because so many Knowable World parents have done it before you, and it was a part of their family’s success.
In an upcoming series of interviews on our Youtube channel, you will get a chance to see it. You will get a chance to see our students show off what they can do. Our first series will be about Chinese history, and you’ll see kids showing off what they know about Shun and Yu, about the First Opium War, and about Maoism. And you’ll get a chance to meet our parents too, who will tell you about the experience of being a Knowable World parents, including their own success stories as homeschooling parents.
“Where did you learn all that?” is a common question my graduates get from university professors.
Interested in “social proof”?
You’ll have it.
And then it will be on you.
Modeling by parents is probably the single most important factor in the success of children when it comes to education.
If you sit down with them for the lessons, how better can they learn that education matters?
You have to speak frankly with them about why you homeschool. I’m sure you have. Education is broken. But there are solutions out there. Knowable World is one of them.
This theme is so important that I will return to it repeatedly. You, parents, have to teach–by learning yourselves.
If you do that, you will see your children’s motivation soar.
If you just plop them down in front our videos, they might still succeed — our program is that good! — but that will be more a matter of luck.
We’ve got your back. You have to have your kids back too.
Read The History of Now.
Then read The History of Tomorrow.
Find out for yourself how powerful history can be. And make sure your kids know you want to learn too.
They will embrace it all the more themselves.
When it comes to our kids, for whom we hope to provide more and better than we got from our education, it is crucial that we embrace this approach. Kids naturally and rightly tune out when stories are merely about other people that lived a long time ago, somewhere else.
What does it have to do with me? That is the entirely proper response we once had, and which they continue to have, if we force-feed them a subject divorced from real life.
History is cognition. It is learning about reality. But why? If done right, it’s because what we learns matters. It is significant.
History Your Kids Will Love
You won’t have to take my word for it. Knowable World’s students will show you. As part of a new video blog series, I’ll also be interviewing my own students, and you will see what students at all levels of Knowable World are able to achieve. I am proud to say, there is nothing else like it.
And if you’re looking for just a taste of what it might be like for your family to participate, I invite you to find our Anchor Fact ™ series of printables and mini-lessons on Youtube and on this site. You can also join the growing community of parents in the Knowable World group on Facebook.
The revelation and explanation of the world we live in awaits.
Isn’t it time you made history your family’s favorite subject?
Scott Powell is a historian and teacher who has been teaching homeschooled students online for nearly 20 years (as “History at Our House”). He is the author of three books including “The 4-Hour Historian”, “The History of Now”, and the upcoming “The History of Tomorrow”. His present-centric approach was developed from the conviction that history is an essential subject that is vital for anyone who wants to live a fully engaged life and make sense of the world they live in.