🍎 The OpenEd Daily: Confession – I played with LEGO instead of doing math

I have a confession to make.

I was homeschooled (no, that’s not the confession). The confession is that between the ages of 4 and 13, roughly half of my time on any given day was spent playing with LEGO.

My mom used to feel guilty about this. Frankly, so did I. I was always a little worried that “real school kids” would be far ahead of me in their knowledge and skills. But that day never came.

Don’t get me wrong – my mom wanted a highly structured and rigorous curriculum for us. She’d assign us math work through the Saxon Math textbooks (even the name was ominous). I remember sitting at my desk and moving through “Algebra 1/2” as fast as I could, not caring or comprehending it. I’d grade it with the answer guide and fix errors, but mostly, I was staring out the window at the excessively fat squirrels of Milwood, Michigan (who I’m pretty sure were running some kind of animal cartel).

Memories of Saxon Math came rushing back last week when a colleague brought up Nicole the Math Lady, an on-demand add-on designed to make the popular math curriculum more interactive. It sparked some reminiscing among our team. Some swore by Saxon, while others (like me) couldn’t stand it. The whole conversation reminded me that there’s never been a better time to pursue an open education for your child. The wealth of resources available today means you can tailor your child’s learning experience like never before.

Some kids will love the structure and speed ahead of their peers in math. Others might need a different approach. The beauty of open education is that you can keep trying new combinations until you find what works.

And here’s a comforting thought: even if your kids don’t follow your chosen curriculum to the letter, they’ll probably be fine. Looking back, it’s amazing how valuable my hours of “unproductive” LEGO play were compared to the formal instruction I received.

A few years ago, I wrote a longer piece about why I think playing with LEGO was more valuable to me than pretending to learn algebra. It gets into things like:

• How building with LEGO taught me about confidence and value creation
• Why “solving for X” is more fun when “X” is an X-Wing spacecraft
• The unexpected lessons in freedom and change that come from constant creation and destruction

If you’re curious to read more about my Lego-filled homeschool journey (and why I’m so grateful for it now), check out the full blog post.

Lastly, I’d like to know: how do you balance structure and free play in your child’s education? Any unexpected learning experiences you’ve encountered? Write a comment and let me know.

– Isaac

P.S. Oh, and thanks, Mom. You never had it in you to be an authoritarian task-master, and that has opened up the world to me.