‘In “How Children Learn at Home” we concentrated on how children learn school subjects informally at home. Our aim was to build up a general picture of learning at home. This time we are going to narrow the focus more specifically to reading. Having used the word “informal” already I must add that we are not just interested in the autonomous end of the scale here. Parents who deliberately teach their children to read using a standard reading scheme are still informal in the sense that they, and their children, had the freedom to choose this path and the freedom to choose when, where, how and why to go about their learning. ‘

What they have found so far about how children learn is fascinating and well worth the rad.  It is especially encouraging to those of us who have taken a more facilitation style of teaching our children.

First, for those who don’t know the above is an xkcd comic.  Perl is a programming language with many uses. The comic reminded me of my husband and got me thinking about the really important things and the things that are not so important.

As most of you know my husband is a self taught programmer who learned everything he knows about programming from his time spent working on his own projects at home NOT what they taught him at school.  School, in fact, proved useless for the most part since he didn’t learn to spell until he started using a computer and spell checker, nor did he learn higher level math until he needed it for a programming project (taught himself trigonometry when he was 22), reading you could arguably say he learned from school but only just since most of his actual reading and writing was done outside of school since he never did any homework or paid attention in class, just took the tests.  On the other hand, he has, in the course of his 37 years, taught himself to play the piano (and write music), taught himself to program in C, html, php, C++, Visual basic, and some other languages I have forgotten, written a full length novel–for fun,  written a gaming engine–for fun and to see if he could do it, designed multiple levels for other people’s games, taught himself how to do photography and then edit those photos, read multiple history, political, and religious books (the big heavy ones, not sweet little ones like Max Lucado) so he could better understand what he was reading about elsewhere and form his own opinions on the subjects instead of taking other people’s word for it, and a whole slew of other things I can’t think of right now.  I am not bragging on him I am just making a point (or reminding those who needed reminded or just possibly preaching to the choir.)

My point is that this man went to public school.  He was the kid who was always in trouble for not paying attention and not knowing what was going on around him.  He never did homework, never paid attention in class.  He was the kid who ALWAYS lost recess or computer or whatever the teacher thought might motivate him to do what the teacher wanted.  He was awkward, he was even in special ed because they didn’t know what to do about him.  He didn’t go on to college (well he tried, twice, but got so frustrated the first time that he wasn’t learning anything he wanted to learn that he dropped out after one semester, and then the second time he signed up to take one class, paid for the class, got the book, went a few times then someone stole his car and burned it, including the book and he never went back. )  He may not be successful as others consider it (he doesn’t make a ton but we get by) but he has worked as a programmer for over 14 years, writes a successful blog and web comic, and best of all he gets to do what he loves. None of this is because of his schooling, if anything he spent years afraid of trying because of his education and failing over and over.  All of it is because he knows what he loves and what he enjoys doing and does things with all his heart.

And who knows what experience in your (and my) children’s lives will most influence their future.  For my husband it was programming his best friend’s computer then saving up for his own.  In fact, for a lot of other programmers it was the same way. (The link is to my husband’s blog, read through some of the comments on this article to see what I mean.)

Only God knows what experiences may be most important.  For myself it was drawing lesson in Girl Scouts when I was 10–I found out I could draw–I hadn’t realized before that.  For my mom it was baby sitting as a teen, for my dad it was working with his excavator/workaholic dad as an 8 year old.  What experience most shaped YOUR life as a kid?

The other day the antique appraiser I help out, remembering how in the past I have needed to work less in order to spend time teaching the kids, asked when I needed to change my schedule and be less available.  It caught me off guard because I have gotten so used to our lifestyle of learning.  It took me a moment to come up with an answer that would avoid getting into this whole unschooling business but also satisfy her.  I said that the kids had, for the most part, taken over their own learning and listed quickly off all the projects they have done in the last few months, being careful to point out the expected learning that has occurred in this unexpected way.  She was satisfied and moved on to the project at hand while I got to be completely honest without going into a detailed explanation.

The funny thing is that it caused me to realize how comfortable it has become, so comfortable that I don’t even think about “school”  anymore.  For a former public school teacher and child of public school teachers this is shocking.  My brain has forgotten “schooly” things and is focused on life and relationships.  I no longer think of what the kids are doing in educational terms unless someone asks (though I have also learned to quickly sum up the most recent educational things going on).  It is funny how quickly it occurred and how easy it is to see all the play for what it is–God-given life training.

As I write my oldest is composing a song and has figured out how to record it on our spare keyboard.  She recently figured out a numbering system to write music notes, using the electric typewriter she bought with her own money at a yard sale, to see her through until she has taught herself how to read music.  My middle child was last seen reading a factual book about Russia and my son was building an articulated robot out of Construx and card board. This morning we spent an hour playing together on the newly floored living room–me showing them ballet from my childhood and them trying to hold each position then sliding around the room in break dance type action (which they learned from Youtube) in their footy pajamas.  Yesterday during an impromptu trip to IKEA my son and I talked about God and being thankful for ALL things, months, days, and the calendar, multiplication, telling jokes, and reading Bible names.  Earlier in the day Rachel and I watched my favorite fight scenes from several old Kung Fu flicks which prompted discussion of the culture surrounding those movies.   She has also been watching Jane Austen movies (her favorite being the 5 hour BBC version of Pride and Prejudice).  Esther showed up at one point with her favorite insect guide explaining to me her theory of why bee colonies are disappearing (she was reading about a kind of mite that kills honey bees.)  Rachel spent an hour reading Crafty Crow and Skip to  my Lou looking at and trying out various craft ideas, including making leaf people outside which turned into a game of tag.   The kids used the laminate flooring boxes to make robot costumes and sandwich board card costumes like those in Alice in Wonderland.

Who knows what they will be into tomorrow though I can predict to some extent because I know my kids and what each of their interests are.  Likely my middle child will draw some more pictures to add to the hanging art gallery she has developed on her ceiling over her bed (she gives “tours” and has it set up in rooms).  My oldest will probably add to the doll house she has created of small wall shelf she bought at a yard sale–the furniture is made of drawings on paper and bits of this and that from around the house. My son will come down and help measure the linear footage of trim we need for the downstairs (the girls will probably help–they love measuring and adding it all up.)

The thing is, this is WHO they are and who God created them to be.  Because they have plenty of materials on hand and the freedom to do and make they will run with it.  They are allowed to watch as much tv and play as many video games as they like–which they do (unless of course they have a job they need to do like their dishes or someo ther parental request) but it is not nearly as much as one might expect–they watch, in general, much less than they would if I limited the time spent.  Because they have freedom and materials on hand, they have TONS of movies and lots of video games, plenty of arts and crafts materials and the freedom to use scrap paper and other random bits of stuff they have much more interesting things to do than sit and watch DVD’s.  We are also blessed because we live in an old house where it is not the end of the world if someone draws on the floor  or forgets to use tape and glues their awesome drawing of a boy with a kite on a rope or hot air balloon to to the wall.  Sometimes things get messy (okay, usually–5 people at home all day means no house beautiful), sometimes too much is enough, and sometimes they fight, but in general it is a peaceful life overflowing with learning and activity, and we all are learning daily.

Issac waiting for a boat ride at the pond, investigating the metal loop that holds the boat to the dock.

I know this question well because we also struggled with it, and it is why we have been so slow to trust God on this whole unschooling thing.  Our conversations with God have gone something like this:

Us: “God, we know you are leading us towards letting the kids follow their interests but are you sure you don’t want us to have SOME structure? ”

God: “Do you trust me?”

Us: “Well yes but we really think they need to learn how to do basic computation on paper and a bit of spelling, and well, there are a few more things we really feel they should know.”

God : “Do you trust me?”

Us: “Well yes, but what about the boring stuff?   What about the stuff they hated doing when we did school the old fashioned way?”

God: “Do you trust me?”

Us: “Well yeah, but, what about all those battles that happened because they HATED the very things you are telling us to trust you about?”

God: “Do you TRUST me?”

Us: “Well, yeah, well, pretty much. Okay, well, yes, we trust you.”

God: “Then let go and let me lead them. Love me, love each other, show them your love for me, talk about me with them, talk to them about your interests, talk to them about their interests,  I will take care of the rest.”

Us: “Um, okay, if you are sure.”

God: “Trust me.”

Issac, despite owning multiple car ramps, built new ones from boxes he found and cut up.

We are trusting Him and it has been amazing.  While the kids still turn up their noses at the books and activities that we used for “school” they gather huge quantities of resources that they have not used before; text books, curriculum, activity books, how to books, language courses, whatever (many things I think are desperately boring).  Not only are they taking them but they are using them.

Issac using the Shark mini vac my grandma gave me to clean the ENTIRE downstairs floor, without being asked.

While cleaning the area we stored text books and workbooks the kids took ALL the educational books that they had not used for “school”  to their own rooms for further study–included in the books the kids secured are a high school math curriculum set which Rachel found fascinating and wanted for her own with promises of discussion of it with Daddy, several atlases and dictionaries in English AND Polish, numerous workbooks (Issac has been doing them at bedtime to fall asleep), lots and lots of blank notebooks for writing stories and comics in, lots of science books (which Esther confiscated and which I am finding everywhere–a sure sign she is reading them and leaving them where she finished them), word searches and other activity books, and a slew of other things I have forgotten.

Issac preparing to for a ride in the motor boat.

They are using those materials and others they have found around the house.  Rachel finished the first draft of her book and is waiting for me to finish her website before she edits it (she has decided that now that she can write by hand with no backwards letters and spelling mostly right she should learn to type.)  Esther wrote a short story and has been making me comic books ever since.  Then the kids each got a math kit (compass, ruler, etc.) from Target’s clearance back to school sale and started using them for drawing pictures and graphs and charts.  This prompted Rachel to get several math books on charts and graphs out of the nonfiction section at the library.  They started measuring everything in the house, including figuring out the area of the living room and hall so we could get laminate flooring.  They have been adding, subtracting, multiplying measurements.  Our household looks like “If You Give a Mouse  a Cookie” only with learning.

Issac building IKEA furniture

After that came the Polish curriculum I found at the thrift shop.  I spent a few months in Poland while in college and the kids love stories about that as well as about my grandmother’s Polish family.  I figured maybe I would use it to touch up on what I do remember.  Instead Rachel snatched it up and has been practicing ever since.  She has also  added the Rosetta Stone demo version of the Polish language lesson to her studies.  Esther has joined her in this study and they run around the house naming things in Polish.

Esther demonstrating her knowledge of boat safety.

And this is just the tip of the iceburg.  There is so much more going on than I can even keep track of.  Discussions have included: Scotland and Gaelic, square roots and cube roots, how mortgages work and the snowball effect, natural disasters and what causes them physically, how wind works, spelling and word order, reading big words and finding their meanings, adding and multiplying fractions (while baking), determining cloud direction, and a multitude of other things.  All of it has been interest led–the kids are running with this freedom to learn and explore, and are learning many things that I think are horribly dull and boring (but don’t tell them I said that.)

The girls often stay up in the evening working at their table, writing, reading, drawing, or in this case creating charts and graphs for the fun of it.

I think the problem, and the reason for the question in the first place, is found in ourselves and our perception of what is interesting or boring.  Any child that has been public schooled OR trained to think of school in those terms, will think that way as well–except for the odd geekling like my husband was, who at age 10, despite hating school,  spent hours and hours programming a friend’s TI because he wanted to, or like myself who at age 12 spent ALL my spare time reading and researching King Author or reading about whatever scientific thing I was currently interested in (though not what they were teaching in school.)

School trains us to think that school things, including math and grammar, are boring.  The thing is that they are only boring if you are not, at that moment, interested in them.  When, for whatever reason, something peaks your interest you are off and running.  Sure YOU may not want to learn about rocks and gems, but I was passionately fond of studying them–until I had a lesson on them in school which promptly struck that off my list of interesting things until I was graduated from college and got talking to some kids who found a cool rock and wanted to know.

Issac building a tunnel for his track.

So the question answers itself.  Don’t think of it as boring or hard stuff, talk about these things when you run into them.  Watch the kids cues.  Give them openings and opportunities.  If they show interest in something don’t get overly enthusiastic (that is one of those “school” things and will shut off that flow of imagination like nothing else), wait on them.  If you are just starting to move away from the “school” model it may take a while for them to jump in and take over.  Give them space.  Give them time to think of things without “school” or educational hanging over their head.  When you, as an adult, get interested in something you learn it because you want to, you don’t naturally think–”I am learning something, this is educational” you think, “This is cool.  I like this.”  Give your kids the same freedom, pray for wisdom, a lot, and let God open up their minds to multiple interests.  They may stick with something longer than you would expect or drop it in a matter of seconds.  Give them the freedom to do that (you would get nervous of showing interest in something if as soon as you did someone ran out and bought you EVERYTHING yo uneeded to do it–you want to test the waters first, see if it is for you–give your kids the same opportunity).  Find your own interests and passions and run with them.  The kids will learn to follow their passions from your example.  And with freedom to explore, resources at their fingertips, and the imagination and brain power God has provided them, they WILL learn–you won’t be able to stop them–even with the “boring stuff”.

Something I’ve really come to admire about T is how she’ll get an inspiration, an idea, and will go after it with gusto… whether it’s writing a story, making art, creating and researching an “experiment”, planning a project, or “training and showing” her animals. She keeps her eye on a goal and makes it happen, regardless of discouragement, doubts and sometimes a lot of waiting.

Here she is in 2005 (she was 6 years old, he was 6 months old!)  around the time that she first became interested in training and showing our dog… she meant business, whether we all realized it, or not.

…and another here.

For some time, she’s wanted to enter Samson in a local dog show (held just for fun and to raise money for the local humane society) during our city’s annual week-long “Fun Festival” celebration. Up until last week though, it hasn’t worked out, since for the past couple of years, Fun Fest has been during the same week as the annual week-long Summer Horse Camp that N and T’s riding instructor puts together and N and T have attended instead.

However, this year, we were able to attend Fun Fest’s Pet Dog Parade, and I do believe the timing was perfect for both T and Samson. She wouldn’t have really been big enough to handle his 100+ # self in such a public setting before now (and honestly, we even had our doubts last week, and went into it praying for them both) and Samson probably wouldn’t have had the maturity to chill out before this summer. But try and tell T that… the horse camps were a wonderful time in and of themselves, but also offered timely delays.

So, she had been working with him for months now, daily, entirely on her own, and had their routine all worked out. She’d been watching dog-training dvd’s, and reading some seriously mature books about understanding and training dogs. The big day came last Monday evening… and she was ready, but we wondered… was he? I’m sorry to have to say that even I cautiously discouraged her from going through with it, because I was afraid that Samson wouldn’t handle it well (visions of trauma, and her having to endure failure- he gets very protective and growly when we take him to the vet). She assured me that he would do fine, I relented- knowing that he’s a good boy, and I’m a bit paranoid- and we entered him into three different categories.

They did quite well together. Chris and I were so proud of T as she took him into the ring all by herself, answered questions asked of her by the channel 10 news man. We were also proud of Samson, as he went along so obediently, and played nice. We were all pleasantly surprised (except T, who’d expected it all along) with how well Samson did in such a public setting, surrounded by hundreds of other dogs, and people!

1. Handsomest Male: He tood 2nd place, out of 27 dogs! A dalmation took 1st, over him? Yeah, but YAY Samson and T!
2. Best Costume: Samson and T received an honorable mention in this category. The competition was steep, with extravagant costumes on dogs and owners alike. T was dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood, and Samson was the Big Bad Wolf, naturally, dressed up as Grandma. I thought they were absolutely adorable, T with her red cape that her Aunt Barbara made for her, and Samson with a scarf over his ears, definitely the cutest pair out there!
3. Best Tricks: Samson and T took 2nd place again! She did so good, competing against adults even. She had him sit and lay down by silent command, shake, do high-five/down low, jump up for a treat, and the clincher that made the crowd go “Whoooo…Aaaah” was when she balanced a treat on his nose, and he sat there with it, until she said “okay” at which point he tossed it up into the air and then caught it in his mouth (which she’s taught him to do). A little schnauzer jumped through hoops to take 1st place, literally. She belonged to another homeschooling family that are friends of ours, so it was fun to have them place before us. They deserved it!

As we left the show, N was triumphantly proclaiming, “Homeschoolers dominate!” Once again, T’s big dreams and tenacity have paid off, and once again, she has inspired her older brother… along with the rest of our family. N has now already started working with Samson for next year’s show, which he’s claimed showing rights for.

And speaking of big… I took T shopping for new shoes last week, because only her flip-flops still fit her, and I am fumbling over the fact that she- at 9.5 years old- is now a size 8.5 in women’s!  Our little girl is not so little anymore… *sighs* And it’s apparent to me that it’s not only her feet that are growing… I only hope that my own faith would someday fill her big-sized child-faith-shoes. Once again, she’s humbled me… and I am the one who’s learning here- from her. I am learning to step back and see her with fresh vision, through eyes of faith… to validate her dreams with belief.

If only I could maintain and apply that same amount of faith that she has in our dog’s ability to accomplish much… to believing more in her innate abilities, in her brother’s, in the effectiveness of our relaxed approach to schooling, and in God’s ability to bless my meager efforts to give and guide when and how I am able to in a meaningful way. If only I could dream that big with my husband today, and everyday, to joyfully invite adventure by taking more risks! Truly, to have the faith of a child… ‘twould be good. I must remember, as did my determined little big girl, that it simply begins with following through on an inspired vision, the committed work of giving a whole lot of little bits of daily efforts, and then ignoring all the smart big people voices that discourage, “it won’t work, you’re not ready, etc., etc…”

Some of the most beautiful accomplishments my children have made have been those that they’ve done of their own accord and inspiration. As they are getting older, I am finding renewed vigor and validation to relax and enjoy this adventure of learning together, all the time!

And He called a little child to Himself and put him in the midst of them, And said, Truly I say to you, unless you repent and become like little children, you can never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever will humble himself therefore and become like this little child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

~ Matthew 18.2-4

Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done to you”;

~ Matthew 9.29

My prayer today is this:

Lord, help my unbelief, touch my eyes that I may see and believe as a child does… and let not my lack of faith be a stumbling block to others. Help me to inspire and come alongside my children in meaningful ways, that I would never stamp out their sparks of interest, nor squelch their faith to go after big dreams, and stunt potential accomplishments. I know that you can do this… I do not want to get in the way.

I have been thinking a lot about homeschooling and our style lately. Because of Stumbleupon I have met a lot more homeschoolers than I typically meet in Bloggyland. It is fascinating how meeting all these lovely ladies (because so far they are all ladies sharing their experience) has caused me to redefine our style–not because we have changed our style but because I have met more and more people who school like we do. I didn’t know that we weren’t the only ones who avoided curriculum, who did what worked with each child based on when they needed it instead of on set standards. I have always considered us Charlotte Mason with a twist, or maybe eclectic. I have come to a realization, however, I realize that our lack of formal studies except where needed (for instance Rachel desperately wants to learn piano so I am working through a book with her, she found she needed to learn to spell and do multiplication so we are studying those, and Issac desperately WANTS to read–so Hooked on Phonics works for him) makes us not quite either of those. We do have a school room but that is for Rachel’s sake–she needs to know it is there so she can focus when she needs to. But really and honestly, if I am being totally truthful with myself, most of their learning comes because they are interested and they choose what they are interested in. There are a few things we require and otherwise we go with the flow.

Dare I say that we, despite our plans and ideals, are unschoolers?

I am not sure I am ready to give it such a name but judging from the unschoolers I have met I am finding that they are the ones I am most comfortable with, they are the ones who train their kids the way I do, and I have an inkling that maybe, just maybe, that is where we fit in. I say this with trepidation–because, you know, I am a former public school teacher and I never would have thought I would consider myself an “unschooler”.

That confession out of the way, I would like to share something with you, some of our experiences which may explain what I mean. Over the last few days, since I have been under the weather I have allowed the kids freedom from their few workbooks (what they call their official homework but which is only a tiny bit of their school day.) Saturday they don’t do those books anyway unless they want to (sometimes they do). However this Saturday they opted not to. Instead they had an elaborate game of dress up and some other pretend play, played with Only Hearts Kids, watched daddy play a computer game–discussing physics and how it work sin the game engine and solving elaborate puzzles that stump adult gamers, they then went with me to pick up some paint brushes at Michaels. While there they discovered a lady demonstrating cake decorating with Fondant. They stood for 45 minutes watching her and asking all kinds of questions about how she was doing what she was doing , what fondant was made of, etc. They then planned to try the experiment with Play-doe and later to get some Fondant to try it on. They were the only ones in a full store interested in stopping and learning. They were so interested that after helping me pick the best brushes for the best price they went back and watched her work while I checked out.

After we finished there we headed to Target to buy a new CD player for them –they had saved up and decided to go together–trying to choose the best one for their money (they listen to audio books anytime they are in their room, that and Beethoven or swing praise). Instead of going for the fancy ones they went for a better one and chose some cell phone decoration stickers to decorate it (Target had them on sale). When that CD player didn’t work they decided to try the cheaper one instead of buying the same one or one of the cutesy ones.

Sunday they played all day after we had church together, doing many pretend games, so many that I couldn’t keep track of them all. Today they helped me clean up the yard (we are supposed to get snow tomorrow and needed to get all the summer toys into the basement.) When my mom showed up needing help (her car battery died) we stopped, ran her to Walmart where we returned the broken CD player (Rachel explained to the lady what was wrong with it and asked for their money back so she could decide on a different one) and chose a new cheaper one and some more cell phone stickers. We also perused the 75% off Halloween stuff looking for Christmas presents for each of them (cheap dress up clothes are a great Christmas present).

When we returned home we attacked the back again, burning all that needed burned and putting the rest of the stuff away. This prompted an impromptu lesson on fires and how they burn. The kids spent most of the afternoon trying to figure out how best to keep the fire burning without making it blaze. If you recall earlier this summer our neighbor died in a huge gasoline fire that took his house-sized garage as well as all the equipment he stored there. Since then the kids have had a great fear of the house burning down (they saw the fire–they couldn’t help it, our yard was full of onlookers and the firefighters were everywhere). However, they used this fire to experiment, testing to see how long it took different types of sticks to catch fire, what worked best, what caused a blaze, what smothered it, how to put out a fire (kick sand on it–just like on Rescue Heroes where they learned quite a bit about fire safety including how forest fires worked–you wouldn’t believe what they explained to me about forest fires during the California fires). They collected fire fuel from from our yard, from our garbage bins, from the neighbors yards, from the collection of cardboard boxes they had stored in the basement (they used them to build all sorts of buildings, race cars, whatevers). They kept at it for several hours until it started to pour down rain and thunder. Now they sit drinking hot carob and listening to Adventures in Odyssey and eating some supper they made themselves. I know Rachel plans to work on her Young Nanowrimo this evening, as does Esther. They also paused a bit to peruse the Target toy gift catalog, found a doll house that was perfect for their Only Hearts Club dolls and called Grandma, telling her they had a $10 off coupon and would she consider getting it for the two of them as their only Christmas present from her and Pappap–they knew about how much she usually spent on them and that if they shared it would be about right. They had already made a request for another Cabbage Patch doll to add to their collection from the other grandma.

They also played several board games, including Scategories, Blockus, and Perpetual Notion in there somewhere, built several projects with their wooden marble game, last night we practiced swing dancing to Benny Goodman, read part of a Wishbone book and part of William Bennet’s Treasury of Heroes, and they did a whole lot of drawings and wrote several letters to friends. They also carried clean and dirty laundry to where it belonged, sorted the laundry, helped put the clean laundry away, cleaned up the kitchen, and did several other normal chores. These kids lead busy lives.

Occasionally it is tempting to feel bad that they aren’t doing “real” school, that our classroom in the basement sits unused. If they are working in their books they would rather do it by the fireplace or on the floor of their rooms. And when they aren’t, they are learning to use real money, to cook real meals, to buy groceries, to clean up after themselves, to love the Lord, to love each other, to serve one another, to help their neighbors, to deal with uncomfortable situations maturly, to perevere if they want to learn how to do something, how to get over their fears and solve problems. It might mean the house is messier than it would be if they spent their time working at the school desks doing “real” school, but all of our lives are richer and fuller because of it, they get to learn by living and grow in the process, they learn things you can’t get out of books–especially problem solving, how to be social in different settings, and develop character. They learn how to stay out of smoke, how to smother and build a fire, how to serve one another. Is my house a mess, more than likely. Is it worth it, absolutely.

First of all, thank you for the question. I LOVE questions, because it helps me know what to write about. My kids did go through spurts in doing school-type things and that would make me feel better, but that didn’t mean they weren’t learning the other times too. Some days were just watching PBS or playing dress-up. I’d get nervous and try to whip up some school-like activity, but really, that’s not necessary. That’s me trying to control the learning that’s going on all the time anyway.

On days I felt compelled to do some “real” learning, a trip to the library would do the trick. Browse the shelves and let the kids bring home whatever they are interested in. Since mom gets to bring home books too, I’d think through topics I thought they should know about. I’d get ideas from a book called The Core Knowledge Sequence.It’s a list of what kids in each grade are supposedly learning. This is all theoretical because we don’t have a nationalized curriculum, and I don’t believe education is “filling a bucket” anyway, but it was helpful to be reminded that kids in 3rd grade probably know all about the Pilgrims and Plymouth Rock. Why not get Who’s That Stepping on Plymouth Rock?I love everything by Jean Fritz. Read aloud time with her booksbecomes a whole elementary school history curriculum!

I also like Kathryn Stout’s Design-a-Study series. It’s the same idea as the Core Knowledge Sequence because it has content listed by grade level, but it has more suggestions on how to teach the different areas. I like both these resources because they cover all of elementary school in one shot. The books might look expensive, but think “eight years of schooling.”

Some Specifics on Fostering Interest

When one of my kids was in early elementary school I thought she should know about the periodic table of elements. So I set up a lab with a big periodic table poster, science lab materials, experiment books, and one of her dad’s white shirts as a lab coat. Then I left it to see what would happen. She spent a lot of time in there and learned a great deal (it was actually set up under her loft bed). And when she lost interest, we put it all away.

That science lab was really a learning center. These are simply table tops or plastic tubs or drawers that have everything you need to dive into your topic. We still have the dress-up chest and the drawing desk. But you can be more specific and have a rocket science corner with library books, toys, videos, Lego’s, or whatever you think you need to introduce and explore that topic. A geography area would have a globe, map, workbooks, map puzzle, etc. These are simply little places of hidden treasure. And when they are no longer interesting, put them away and try something else. The goal is to learn about your child and what he loves, then provide what he needs to go that route to the fullest.

I always had a read-aloud book going at bedtime, and I’d purposefully choose books to follow some historic period. I also had a time line going around the bedroom, so when we read, I could point to the spot on the time line and if they wanted, they could write or draw what they learned on it. I usually found some sort of visual for them to attach too.

Mom’s enthusiasm can go a long way in fostering interest in something. I personally love biology, so one of my favorite memories is doing The Body Book.The book’s description says, “easy-to-make hands-on models that teach.” You make card stock copies of the skeleton and organs, and with some scissors and tape you have a model of the human body. We did various parts of this book over several years. The kids loved it too since it was like doing crafts with mom.

In a nutshell, remember your main job is to foster a love of learning and their natural talents. If you have to resort to threats or yelling to get them to “do school,” you should just let it be. If your child would love to do workbooks all day, let her. If your child is emotionally mature and wants to go to public school, let her (gulp. That’s my situation now). If your child wants to play video games all day, let him. Seriously. If he sees you’re not hassling him, the fun will die away soon enough and his natural survival instincts will kick in, like maybe when he’s 16 and has to get into some college. But let’s hope he’s had something to spark his interest before then!

A View from the Down the Road

Yesterday Melissa came home from her third day of public high school and commented about her English class. She said, “It must be hard for some kids to write stories. What if you’re not creative? Anyone can learn grammar or punctuation, but how can you learn creativity?” I told her I was glad she had all those stress-free elementary years to play, pretend, make up stories and develop her imagination.

Meg, my learn-at-home high school junior just finished watching a Netflix instant documentary and was disappointed. “I didn’t really learn anything. I think I’ll try to find something educational to do,” she says as I sit here typing this.

My homeschool graduate has another month until he leaves for college (they are on the quarter system). He just ordered The Brothers Karamazov, an 800 page Russian novel, because he’s listening to online lectures from the UC Berkeley that talk about it. Is this how most graduated seniors spend their last weeks before college?

And 90% of their lives has been unstructured and interest-led.

Have hope.

A is for Apple

Only one child suffered through recreating school at home. My oldest had to sit in a desk and raise his hand to speak. Anxiety pushed me and he resisted. His own perfectionism collided with mine.

Wobbly letters on tear stained pages remind me of those first steps into homeschool. I regret squelching my son’s excitement for learning those first weeks.

Thankfully, I spoke with the teacher who taught me Writing Road to Reading after the first fits. She admonished me to slow down. I thought I was doing everything right, but the book led me and fear drove me. Her words spoken with the confidence of experience brought peace.

It will come with practice. Relax. School shouldn’t be so hard.

Those words come back to me often. It has taken me years to relax, but I’m beginning to understand. Slow, steady progress is difficult to see when you sit next to it day after day.

A few years earlier, when Bug was still toddling around in a diaper I asked that same teacher how to prepare for school. Images of flashcards swirled in my mind. Her words scattered them.

Play with him and read a lot. That is the best foundation you can give him.

I took her advice. We did not work on numbers or letters. We just built blocks and talked while reading books.

Formal lessons began with Bug learning phonograms, the sounds the letters make, not the A,B,C’s. I taught him how to form the letters, how to say the sounds, and mentioned spelling rules, such as q is followed by u. And when he knew alphabetical order without any further instruction, I realized some things don’t have to be written in lesson plans.

Children learn far more than we realize by playing, listening, and living.

“First off, let me say that I like classical education. It’s a lot of fun reading what brilliant men of the past had to say, and it’s often illuminating to learn the origin of the ideas we all accept.

That said, I have a serious problem with groups who claim that studying the classics is a panacea for our (undeniable) educational malaise. We need better education, of course, but only a very narrow conception of education could conclude that our main goal should be to get kids to read Euclid.

Everyone knows that the Italian Renaissance was a time where classical scholarship was prized above nearly anything else. Therefore, we would expect the world’s most brilliant men to come from that time period, right? Wrong. They actually wrote very little worth reading. They were so focused on studying the past that they forgot to think for themselves. It took the anti-classical movements of science and the Enlightenment to do anything to increase the world’s knowledge.

We know far more about the world now than we did even a hundred years ago. Science is the most obvious example, but even in fields like philosophy we find great strides in, for example, formal logic. An education that ignores this plain fact will produce students more fit for the Middle Ages than the 21st Century.

“But,” the aspiring classicist might rebut, “didn’t Thomas Jefferson learn in exactly the way you’re criticizing? I wouldn’t be too disappointed if I ended up like him.” Of course. But there are many things to consider when comparing yourself to Thomas Jefferson. First, he was a brilliant man. There were many people in his time who had the same education and didn’t have nearly the success he did. I have no doubt that he would have been able to succeed with any form of decent education.

Second, he lived in a time where knowledge hadn’t progressed much beyond what we would call “classical.” In fact, many people we now consider The Great Authors were nearly contemporaneous with him. Jefferson called John Locke, Francis Bacon, and Isaac Newton the “three greatest men the world had ever produced,” yet Locke and Newton wrote their great works well under a hundred years before Jefferson would have studied them. If we want to emulate Jefferson, we’d better study Dewey, Russell, and Einstein, not Plato, Aristotle, and Pythagoras.

So, is studying the classics useless then? Not at all! As I said in the beginning, many of the world’s great authors truly were great. Also, since we live in a world with classical roots, its fascinating to learn where our ideas originally came from. But that’s only a beginning. A true education has to progress beyond the classics, just as the modern world has progressed beyond the classical world. Sure, study Aristotle’s logic, but then read some modern criticism of Aristotle’s logic, and study modern formal logic. Read Freud, but then read what modern psychologists have to say. Appreciate the genius of Newton, but then appreciate the genius of Einstein, Schrödinger, Feynman, and the people working on the cutting edge of string theory, loop quantum gravity, solid-state physics, and all the rest.

Read the classics. I guarantee you’ll learn a lot. But don’t stop there. We have more knowledge today than we have had at any point in the past. It would be foolish to limit yourself to the knowledge of our ancestors.”