Learning in the Absence of Education
Essays on Homeschooling
© Beverley Paine
Index
Homeschool
Australia
A Lego Curriculum
(continued)
I can easily see where Lego has been used to develop my children's skills and understandings in each of the areas prescribed by the education system. They have developed their social skills through Lego play, through learning cooperative behaviours, organising their time, developing decision making and problem solving skills, evolving communication skills to suit need and situation, both in familial situations and with friends. The understanding of safety issues is paramount to any plaything or tool. Lego is no exception, and the children are well aware of playing and using Lego safely in all situations. This includes play with much younger friends, developing cooperative and empathetic attitudes when playing, and the awareness of the needs of self and others.
They have exercised and developed information skills, the ability to find information from many sources in effective and efficient ways, learning to ask and pose questions, to choose strategies for locating information and also to use it in an organised way. This has given them an incredible body of knowledge about their favourite 'toy', but has spun out into other areas of learning, enriching their lives immeasurably.
Lego construction would be extremely frustrating if it did not innately develop planning and design skills, with the ability to initiate and interpret ideas, test solutions to problems encountered or imagined, and evaluate the final construction. From the initial desire to build a toy to play with, to the final breaking up stage, the children actively use complex planning and design skills, generally in their heads, but sometimes mapped out on paper first, or afterward in the case of recording instructions for their models.
This is followed closely by the development of technological and work skills - the ability to confidently manipulate materials to achieve a desired product or goal. This confidence with fine motor control and manual dexterity skills is demonstrated in other areas, and is evidenced when the children come to other craft or work projects. The degree of skill they show has often been favourably commented on, as have their attitudes to working on specific tasks and projects.
Some people might think that the sound understanding of mathematical concepts, particularly space and measurement, that the children demonstrate could be contributed to the fact that they grew up with houses being built around their heads! Even if this were true it is obvious to me that playing with Lego has complemented and enhanced their developing understanding of these mathematical basics. Again, it is quiet, background learning, simply absorbed unconsciously as the children engage in play.
In our house there are many toys, most of excellent and lasting quality. They are all selected for the educational benefits that can be derived from play, and include collections of dolls, little role playing animals, miniature cars and tracks, wooden blocks, board games and puzzles, computer games, percussion and musical instruments, and 'teddies'. I am sure there are more. When the children were young an essential component of this play collection was our box of dress ups and drama props. Although I consciously selected toys I knew would have some educational benefit I was totally unaware of just how much play with these things was 'teaching' my children many of the things I believed they must learn from contrived learning activities or books. More than any other 'toy' Lego has shown me the value of play in the home learning environment. I believe that because my children are home they have an educational bonus schooled children cannot have - my children can play more!
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Excerpt from Learning in the Absence of Home Education: Essays on Homeschooling
© Beverley Paine, 1999
