The subject of autodidacts came up today on a homeschool loop. An autodidact is a person who will learn independently, usually as they become interested in a subject. Training this type of learner is imperative in homeschooling.
My family has come full circle in this area. I purposely made my kids independent learners by making them research questions, and weaning them off of dependence of me to learn. My son taught himself Trig and will begin Calculus soon, so I know it works.
However... it hasn't worked for us for all subjects. If the kids is not interested in the subject, it's just not going to happen. You just can't make a person self teach a subject that makes them want to poke their eyes out. Sometimes you can help them find a connection to the subject that might pique their interest, but it is a difficult task.
So this year I am actively teaching Biology (which both kids wanted to skip) and US History and monitoring language arts closely. They love math and foreign languages so they are free to study those subjects on their own.
I have rearranged our schedules so that I work with them in the morning, and they do independent study in the afternoon. This allows me to still work.
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