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Welcome to these regular musings, meanderings, wonderings and wanderings by Wendy Priesnitz.    Whose Learning Agenda Is It? – August 1, 2007 I had a phone call today from a mother wanting advice – ostensibly on behalf of her preteen daughter – about learning a foreign language in an “unschooling” environment. She spent the first part of the phone conversation telling me what she wanted, what she had researched, what she was so her daughter could learn French. She had figured out her goals for the exercise and her expectations for the outcome based on want she wanted her daughter to do regarding the language (speak and write it fluently). She had reviewed a number of courses and programs but none of them met her criteria, she said. The word “I” must have been used a hundred times in five minutes. “I’ve sent away for information from all the language curriculum companies.” “I’ve looked for books in the library.” “I’ve been keeping my eyes on newspapers and magazines for references that I can pursue to pique her interest….” When the woman finally stopped talking to catch her breath, I asked her what her daughter’s goals were for learning this language and why her daughter wasn’t doing the research. Well, said the woman, her daughter just doesn’t seem that interested. Aha. I told her, as gently as I could, that unless the girl was interested enough to research ways to learn French, she wasn’t interested enough in learning it. And, I said, perhaps the woman herself was interested in learning French and that wasn’t a bad thing because while she was doing it she would be a good role model for her daughter. There was a big silence on the other end of the phone, followed by the woman hanging up as soon as she could. I can only hope she thinks about this and doesn’t waste her money, her time, her daughter’s time and their relationship on French lessons that won’t work. Posted: 2007/08/01 5:58 PM Return to current blog Comments? Suggestions? Email Us copyright © Wendy Priesnitz 2004-2009

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