I used to think all learning had to be structured and systematic with a grand over-arching scope and sequence. But that’s before I learned about The Great Wall of Questions…
It’s just a regular day for us as we gather in our family room upstairs. In winter we cuddle up in blankets with a fire burning. In summer it’s a cool, dark respite from the afternoon sun. But whatever the season, we usually have a picnic lunch to feast on while we do one of our favorite traditions – GWOQ.
The “Great Wall of Questions” or GWOQ as we affectionately call it, is an idea from The Brave Learner. In our home, this is what it looks like: an empty wall in our homeschool room with a pail of bright-colored sticky notes nearby. Anytime we have a question we don’t know the answer to, or a topic we want to learn more about, we write it on a sticky and stick it to the wall. Then once a week (or every day sometimes), we pile all the stickies together to look up the questions on YouTube.
So enjoyably rich and fulfilling is this time, that before we know it, an hour or so has passed and it’s time to get back to our day.
We’ve been doing this tradition for over a year now, and the longer we do it, the more I love it. Dinner conversations are sure to include the latest and greatest learnings and discoveries from our most recent GWOQ. Without a doubt, they are retaining their learning. And all of the children compete for airtime to share their favorite findings.
I guess that’s why my perspective on learning has lifted. Scope and sequence have their place in education, but there’s so much more to learning than just sitting at a desk with a thick textbook. When we’re willing to crack open the treasure chest of curiosity, a whole new vista of wonder opens up before our eyes.
What can be better than that?
