Fun Learning Is Fun

The real challenge in American education right now is in making education interesting, relevant, and dare I say, FUN. I know that has become such taboo these days, we're so focused on getting ready for the test, that school should never be fun, right?

Well, if we're going to reach kids, and if we're going to teach them consistently for six hours a day, 170 days a year (that's 1,020 hours just in case you were curious), we need that educational experience to be enjoyable in order to sustain it.

Can literacy be fun? YES, in fact, it should be. They should learn through it, they should be challenged by it, it should force their way of thinking about the world to change, but it should be enjoyable. When I say fun, I mean enjoyable, not just like run around in circles until you fall down, save that for recess.

There's no book review this time, I'm not going to throw ideas out there, I just wanted to talk about this idea, that learning can be enjoyable. I see this huge focus on testing, on what it does to teachers, and on how it burns students out on the learning process at a young age, and it has to stop. Be looking for posts that have the label "fun learning" in the future for more on this topic. Or, if you have fun and interesting ways you've reached your students, please share.