5 Steps to Developing a Lifelong Learner

Hey, that’s the point, right? We all want to be able to learn anything for ourselves. And we want to keep learning our entire lives. So, as educators, how do we encourage lifelong learning? Here are 5 simple steps — things to focus on when developing a lifelong learner:

1. Exploration
2. Reading
3. Researching
4. Thinking
5. Creating

1. Exploration

Lifelong learners are explorers. They are curious and interested.

When your child or student expresses an interest in a topic, feed it. That is the surefire way to encourage and develop someone’s curiosity. Let your student work at his interest until that interest wanes.

This means that you will be using the content of his interest to practice the skills (or tools) of learning. (Learn more about skill subjects vs. content subjects.)

You’ll find plenty of ways to continue to feed the fire here:

2. Reading

Home educators instinctively know this. Must be in the genes or something. We began reading to our firstborn around the age of 2 days old. No kidding. And we never stopped.

Begin by reading aloud to your children. Do this early. And often.

As they learn to read provide them with age-appropriate books: books that challenge them…just a little.

Then they will be ready for chapter books, after which, they are off and going.

Other tips:

Create an age-appropriate reading list. Our list started with the Bob Books and progressed through Paradise Lost, and books on economics.
Continue to read aloud — even after your children can read to themselves.
Make time in your schedule for reading. If you don’t schedule it, it will not happen.
Make reading the basis for many of your content studies, such as history.

3. Researching

As you feed your child’s curiosity you’ll be amazed at how much they learn about their favorite subject. When they (or you) don’t know the answer show them how and where to find it.

Provide your student the tools he needs to find out anything for himself.

4. Thinking

Thinking takes time. It falls in the be category rather than the do category. For this reason it can be deceptive. It takes deliberate effort to encourage those who will sit and think. It takes focus to create a time for just being — thinking.

Again, scheduling this time is crucial to the process. All children need time to just be — unscheduled time that they can spend with their own thoughts. This is when all of this information and curiosity form into thoughts that can be told.

Making Time for Room to Think

5. Creating

What goes-into will goes-out of. Telling, writing, narrating, creating — all part of the lifelong learning process. And one that is a natural expression of the other four processes.

Creativity finds its way into many, many different outlets: words, performances, drawings, mechanical devices, and simple conversations.

Think out of the box. In other words, don’t expect a written report every time.