Tuesday, July 30, 2013

A Reality Check

I suddenly began to ask myself why I was waiting.

It goes like this.  I was sitting and thinking and feeling, which for me is a really good way to get things done. And I thought, which would I rather be doing, the job that I am doing now, which is a meaningless office job, or teaching children how to learn independently? And the answer was: teaching children how to learn independently.

So, I thought, well.... how can I do that right now?

And the answer that came was: teach them one on one, in a tutorial format, rather than trying right away to create a learning centre. Let the learning centre evolve while you are doing what you love to do and want to do ....

So, yesterday I was in Sutton village at the bank and walked a block down to the whole foods store to look for any postings about homeschoolers on their bulletin board. There were none. But the store owner noticed me looking and asked if I had found what I sought. I told her that I was looking for homeschoolers and I told her why. Homeschoolers are, for the most part, already committed to teaching their children to learn independently or they are at least open to new ideas and are committed to their children's learning. So they are a good place to make a connection.

The store owner kindly offered me a space on her bulletin board. "Write something up and we can post it there and see if people respond." Late July into early August is a good time to be doing this as well, because people are just beginning to really focus in on the start of the school year coming up in about 5 weeks.

This morning I wrote up a text which I will paste into here in a moment. I will have it translated into French as soon as possible. Then, I will have it up in that store, hopefully by this time next week if not sooner.

I also have to find a space where I can give tutorial sessions to children. I'm on the lookout for it and have already begun to network as best I can to find a good space.

Here is the text:


Empower children to independent life-long learning.

I teach children how to teach themselves so they can become confident self-directed learners for life.

For homeschooled children, my support and instruction help them to make the most of their homeschooling experience. The goal of self-directed learning comes closer when the child has all the skills and knowledge needed to proceed with confidence. There is also the possibility of my support with organized small group learning projects for homeschoolers, if homeschooling parents would like to see such an opportunity for their children.

For children enrolled in school, my support and instruction help them to succeed as they build skills for independent learning, whether they like their teacher or not, enjoy the subject or not, they have the skills to make their way through the school curriculum.

For children of all ages and in any schooling or unschooling situation, learning how to acquire knowledge, build skills and measure their own progress is empowering and profoundly enabling.

I have a Quebec teaching certificate and 20 years of experience in traditional, remedial and democratic,  child-centered classrooms.

My approach is currently through one on one tutorials (there is the possibility of a learning center for group learning projects in the future) and my rates are very affordable as I intend to make this life-changing work accessible to all families.

Explore my passion for independent learning at www.teachkids2learn.wordpress.com. There you will find a lot of information about what I do and how I do it.

Lu Emanuel

Independent Learning Facilitator




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