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A True Self Directed Learner
Madison is a software developer. She writes about self education and learning how to code. She is a self taught coder and is a living example of what happens when you own your own learning. Madison grew up unschooling. She is a self directed learner.
What I love about this episode
Hearing Madison’s personal experiences on self directed learning and growing up unschooling. Her personal life answered so many of these questions that you get when you are home educating.
1. Do you follow a Curriculum?
Growing up, Madison’s parents believed that learning should never be forced. They would wake them up each morning and ask their kids “what do you want to learn about today?” It could be anything. For Madison this meant playing a lot of Neopets online. I love this example and I have started using this question in our unschooling life. Not only with the kids, but on myself too.
2. Are they learning if they play on their screens a lot?
Madison told me that she had pretty much unlimited screen time. Her parents did not restrict it. She feels that what she learned from that time online is what she uses most in her life today. Her favourite online game to play was Neopets. And today so much of that spills over into her career as a software developer. That was my introduction to Madison. I read her blog post about unschooling and Neopets on the Alliance For Self Directed Education website.
3. What about grades and tests? Why Self Directed Learning?
Madison’s dad is a teacher and he was the one that suggested that they try home education. He felt that there must be a better way to engage in self directed learning. So their family journey started homeschooling.
Madison and her sisters never learned to get a grade or pass a test. They learned for the sake of learning and gaining knowledge. Learning was in their own hands. Self directed learning was always encouraged.
4. What about high school?
Madison did try high school. She attended grade 12. It was her choice to try out high school. She says the experience left her even more grateful that she unschooled. She made a ton of friends, she completed AP level courses and went to prom. But she quickly saw what school was really about. Learning and socialization? No, it was about fitting in. Not about learning. And the learning was only about passing the exam.
5. What about University?
Madison attended college for a year and a half but chose to leave. Again, learning was a tedious task. It was about passing the test, not about learning the material. I loved her example of how students would cheer when class was cancelled. Aren’t they all there to learn? She felt she could speed up her career by learning on her own. And that is what she did.
Madison’s older sister did attend a 4 year college. She talks about how she gained admission as an unschooler.
6. How do you get a job?
Today Madison works as a software developer. She did not study coding in College. She studied English. To be a software developer she taught herself completely through online resources. And she is still an advocate of teaching yourself and becoming a self directed learner.
7. How do you learn Math as an unschooler?
Madison says that she was never forced to learn math growing up. She uses math in coding but that is not what it is all about. She picked up everything she needed to know that was math related on her own. Because she WANTED to learn it and found it interesting. When she was growing up if she wanted to learn something she would choose to learn it. Coming to a career where math is important, she credits the skill of learning how to learn. Learning how to learn has made it easier for her to pick up math today along with many other skills.
Madison currently works as a programmer for Conversio, an ecommerce company. She is also creating a curriculum on coding and how to teach yourself online.
Madison shared so many more insights in this interview. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
If you would like to learn more about Madison you can find her at madisonkanna.com
References
Colfax Family Book: Homeschooling For Excellence
Alliance For Self Directed Education
For more episodes on Self Directed Learning
