When I was in high school, I was fascinated by astronomy. I didn’t know much about it, but was curious to learn more about our universe. My school offered a program that allowed self-directed learning, where students designed and followed their own curriculum under the guidance of an advisor. I spent my senior year taking traditional math and science classes, visiting observatories, researching, writing, studying star charts and the night skies, and attending lectures. The most memorable was one taught by the late Clyde Tombaugh, discoverer of Pluto. This all happened before online learning was available and the first exoplanet was discovered.

Adults are self-directed learners. When your boss asks you to take on a new project, you don’t toss up your arms and say, “I can’t do it.” Rather, you develop an action plan and get to work. If you encounter something of interest, you learn more by reading, watching videos, listening to podcasts, or interacting with others in person and virtually. You have learned how to learn.

Knowing how to learn is an essential skill in our lives as adults, so shouldn’t we empower our students and children to do the same? Given the right tools, guidance, and motivation, the potential for student success is limitless.

Encouraging Self-Directed Learning

Babies and toddlers are natural self-learners. They’re constantly putting together information to come up with their own conclusions about how the world works, but once children enter school they lose a bit of that self-motivation and instead focus on teachers and parents to show them the way. Self-directed learning places adults in the role of a manager or an impartial counselor rather than a teacher, asking questions and setting up activities to help children make discoveries on their own.

1. You can encourage children to participate in self-directed learning activities by:

2. Having students set learning goals at the beginning of the school year

3. Encouraging students to self-evaluate and monitor their academic performance

4. Setting up self-paced lessons for students to work through on their own

5. Assigning research projects where students choose the topic

6. Posing questions for students to answer

7. Presenting problems for students to solve

8. Letting students teach the class about something that interests them

Teaching students to ask “Why?” and to not accept “I don’t know” as an answer

For students to be truly successful with self-directed learning, you must provide them with tools to help keep them on track.

When students first start learning on their own, they’ll need a lot of support and encouragement. For students to be truly successful with self-directed learning, you must provide them with tools to help keep them on track. For example, they must have strong study skills and know how to set effective learning goals. As they develop these skills, you’ll be able to move further into the background and set them free to learn on their own.

Benefits of Self-Directed Learning

Whether you are looking to supplement your child’s education, find a new way to introduce or review content, or create a classroom culture of “can,” here are just a few of the benefits of self-directed learning.

Increase Ownership of Learning

With self-directed learning, students must be active participants in their education. At its best, this means students have the opportunity to wonder, ponder, and be creative. Students control the pace of their learning, allowing them to spend more time on what they need and want to learn. Students can focus on topics that fascinate them, then cast wide nets and explore topics they know little about.

Foster Metacognition

Becoming a successful learner involves understanding how you learn. This can be difficult for students of all ages as we must confront our weaknesses as well as our strengths. Part of the self-directed learning process should include setting goals and reflecting upon how well we achieved those goals. Through this process students come to understand the strategies that make them successful learners.

Develop Career Readiness Skills

Time management. The ability to work both autonomously and collaboratively. Problem solving. Strategic planning. Decision making. These are all skills required in the workplace and components of a well-planned, self-directed learning model. We ask our students to apply what they learn in the classroom to real-world situations. Self-directed learning can help students develop the real-world skills they will need once they leave the classroom.

Nurture an Appreciation for Learning

Ultimately, perhaps the greatest benefit of self-directed learning is gaining an appreciation for learning, turning students into lifelong learners. Some 1,800+ confirmed exoplanets since high school later and I am still learning about astronomy, albeit using more powerful technology. I didn’t go on to become an astronomer, but I still gaze at the night sky and marvel at the beauty of it.

Sites with FREE lessons: Help Teaching, Khan Academy, CK-12, PBS Learning Media, YouTube EDU, and TED-Ed.

Today’s students have access to a wealth of online resources for self-directed learning. Get started by checking out the Ultimate Guide to Free Online Self-Learning which includes great sites that feature free lessons developed for students.

This summer, while you were on vacation, spending time with your kids, and prepping for the new school year, our content creators at HelpTeaching.com were busy creating exciting new resources in all of the major subject areas. Our new offerings range from NGSS-aligned reading passages for grades K-2 to self-paced math and science lessons for higher grades. Read on to discover some of the new features on our site.

English/Language Arts

Grade-Level Spelling Lists

We’ve added grade-level spelling lists from grades K-5. Each grade features 30 individual spelling lists with 10 words each (5 words each for kindergarten). The lists were compiled using Dolch sight words, Fry words, Tier II words, and Marzano’s subject-area words for each grade-level. Each list is accompanied by a word search and 1-2 additional worksheets.

Writing Prompts and Worksheets

Our writing page has been expanded to include writing prompts for all grade-levels through grades K-12. Prompts are organized by grade-level (grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12) and type of essay (opinion/persuasive, informative/explanatory, and narrative).

Also, on the writing page, you’ll find weekly writing worksheets for grades K-2 and grades 3-5. Each worksheet features 5 short writing prompts related to a common theme (for example, students may write about the town they live in) for the week. You can use these prompts as bell ringers, short journal prompts, or homework assignments to encourage students to write every day.

For something a little more fun, you can also check out our collection of “Would You Rather?” prompts for students. These prompts feature funny scenarios that encourage students spark discussion, inspire creative thinking, and give students something fun to write about about. Some questions include:

• Would you rather only eat pizza for the rest of your life or never eat pizza again?
• Would you rather wear socks without shoes or wear swim flippers everywhere?
• Would you rather use an old-fashioned phone or never talk on the phone again?

Prefix and Suffix Lessons

On our vocabulary page, you’ll find worksheets that cover the most-common prefixes and suffixes in the English language. You can also find short self-paced lessons related to each of the worksheets.

New Grammar Resources

If you’re looking for ways to help students boost their grammar skills, look no further than our daily grammar worksheets. These worksheets are designed to help students in upper-elementary and middle school learn to identify and correct common errors related to grammar, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. Worksheets are labeled by passage topic. You’ll find worksheets about celebrities, historical events, sports, and other high-interest topics. For example, check out this daily grammar activity related to the former capital of the U.S.

We’ve also re-organized our grammar page by part of speech and skill to make it easier to find the content that you need. Worksheets are also organized by grade-level within each part of speech or skill.

NGSS-Aligned Reading Passages

Our ELA and science areas have come together to develop NGSS-aligned reading passages. This summer, we added a set of kindergarten reading passages and questions. Teachers can read these passages aloud in the classroom and ask students the questions or send them home with students to help reinforce NGSS content outside of the classroom. Keep watching our site throughout the fall and winter for NGSS passages for other grade-levels.

Coming Soon!

The work started on our ELA content this summer is far from over. Stay-tuned this fall and winter as we add:

• Research worksheets
• More daily grammar worksheets
• Phonics worksheets
• Self-paced writing lessons
• Worksheets related to popular books

Math

Self-Paced Math Lessons

We’ve grown our library of high school algebra lessons this summer! Each lesson includes a topic overview, Help Teaching original video lesson, and practice questions. Use these self-paced, online lessons with your classroom math curriculum or supplement your child’s math instruction at home. With Test Room, assigning lessons and tracking student progress couldn’t be easier! Get started with our new lessons on Solving for Variables or Polynomials 101.

Daily Math Practice Worksheets

Supplement your lower elementary curriculum and reinforce essential math skills with our new daily math practice worksheets. Each week features a two-page worksheet designed for front-to-back printing while providing space for student work. Use the four days of math problems for morning work or weeknight homework. Separate fifth day quizzes are included for optional progress monitoring. Worksheets are Common Core aligned and offer spiral review of previously covered standards. Try Week 1 for kindergarten or grade 1 and check our elementary math page frequently as more weeks are coming this fall!

Science

Self-Paced Science Lessons

New physics and chemistry video lessons are here! We have updated many of our high school science lessons with Help Teaching original videos and added entirely new lessons. Whether you are a teacher looking for high-quality content to supplement your science instruction or a high school student looking to learn more on a topic, our self-directed lessons can help. Check out our lessons on Kinetic Molecular Theory and Resistance and Ohm’s Law as a starting point, then visit our science lesson page for more!

NGSS-Aligned Content

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) provide a progression of crosscutting concepts, practices, and core ideas for today’s science students. Here at Help Teaching, we have begun adding NGSS aligned content including lessons, worksheets, and assessment questions. If you are looking to supplement your science curriculum with NGSS aligned content, then check our lessons, including:  Why Does the Sun Look So Bright?, Introduction to Biogeology, and Wave Speed. NGSS worksheets like Sorting Materials By Properties,  Push and Pull Reading Passage, and Earth Event Timescales are noted with (NGSS) in their link names and standard alignment is provided. Search for NGSS questions to see all content available and to create your own custom assessments. Look for more new NGSS content at HelpTeaching.com during the upcoming school year!

Subscribe to the Help Teaching newsletter on our homepage to stay up-to-date with all new lessons, worksheets, articles, and features. Be sure to use our seasons worksheets for back-to-school and fall to help kickoff this new school year!

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Joe Pizzuto-Pomaco is an educator, writer, and editor who has taught in public and private schools 15 years.