Trust Your Kids with Natural Learning: Leah McDermott

Natural Learning is an Idea Whose Time Has Come

Somewhere along the way, we began collectively believing that kids wouldn’t learn unless we strongly intervened. Even though we see them natural learning in all areas of life, we believe that in literacy and numeracy we need to intervene and drill from early.

Remarkably, nobody seemed to foresee the unintended consequences of this adult meddling in the natural learning capacity of the child. My guest on the podcast, Leah (like Princess Leia from Star Wars) McDermott saw these unintended consequences first-hand in her 5th grade classroom.

She had migrated to teaching fifth grade after many years in kindergarten. The first thing she noticed was that the vast majority of students had hardened and closed themselves off to learning. And current studies on the topic confirm Leah’s experience. The majority of students in the public education system, by grade four, have decided that they hate school.

Unfortunately for those students, and for society as a whole, there is also significant evidence that the majority of those who’ve identified that they hate school by that age will never change their mind.

Seeing these jaded fifth graders was an eye opener for Leah. She had just left kindergarten where students were still bright-eyed and excited to learn. When she invited her kindy students to listen to her read, they came running. The fifth graders knew they were in for an interminable period of testing, leveled reading, and cramming.

This radical change in the kids’ learning attitude was what informed her educational philosophy and mindset more than anything. When she had kids of her own and started home educating them later, her beliefs were only confirmed.

Today, Leah is one of the strongest advocates for natural learning that I’ve come across. She teaches natural learning to both home educators and schools both in person and online. Her website is an incredible resource for all things natural learning, and this podcast episode reflects her wealth of knowledge.

I absolutely loved this one. We talked about so much, and I learned enormously from her. If you’re at all interested in natural learning, this episode is a must listen. Leah will put any fears you might have about natural learning to rest, and you’ll learn much about how to do it at home.