Carnival of Homeschooling

The Carnival of Homeschooling is up at The Lilting House. I haven't joined it for ages, but I joined it this week because of my extreme desire for unity the the homeschooling ranks.

I know that there has been an issue with a post being censored because the host didn't like the rest of that blogger's blog. But it has also been agreed that that person will not host again. I have always been impressed with the diverse views in the carnival, and the only way to keep it that way is for a variety of people to submit.

I can understand why non-Christian homeschoolers often feel overwhelmed by the number of Christian homeschoolers. I can understand why there is animosity and frustration, because of both homeschooling history and continuing exclusion. But, in my opinion, withdrawing into your own walled enclave doesn't make any more sense to me than they do.

And, yes, I am a Christian and I am a homeschooler, but I have never been comfortable with the dominant element in Christian homeschooling circles, preferring instead the company of those who prefer mixed company.

Textbooks, teachers, and unschooling

Things have been really busy the past couple of months and the IndianaHomeschoolers list has taken most of the time and energy that I have for writing about homeschooling. Mostly it has been rather mundane hand holding and question answering for newish homeschoolers.

I enjoy it when subjects come up that I can really sink my teeth into. Unschooling is usually good for that. Today someone on the list said that unschooling was using real world learning and that unschoolers don't use textbooks.

I can quite confidently state that unschoolers--in fact lots of them--use textbooks. My unschooled-until-college daughter had textbooks for algebra and geometry because she felt that she needed to study them for college admission and a textbook is the simplest way to do that. We have loads of textbooks in our house. The big difference between us and more structured homeschoolers is that the textbooks are treated more as resources. They are here to use if someone wants them.

Every once in a while I find myself starting to doubt our unschooling. It will seem that the boys are just spending too much time being boys. These are the times that I will "suggest" that they work on some particular thing. It never fails that instead one of them blows me away with something that he is learning pursuing his own agenda. We're better off when I stay out of the way.

The other supposed unschooling no-no is teachers. We like teachers. We have used piano teachers, spanish teachers and voice teachers. The boys take Greek and our pastor is the teacher. Unschoolers can use teachers and still be unschoolers if they are pursuing something that the child wants to learn.

(I almost lost my unschooler cred when it comes to Greek. Our youngest wasn't too keen on it after he started. You see, it was hard. But I had told them all that if I bought them the books they were finishing the class. He chose to have me buy the book. So he was in. Now he likes it.)

And really, truly, I don't care if anyone thinks I'm an unschooler or not. I am sure that there are radical unschoolers who would call what I do by a different name. But there are also those school-in-a-box folks who find my way of doing things worrisome. So I'll just keep on doing what works for us, which is at least pretty darn close to unschooling.

All the knowledge in the world

Last week as I spent a couple of hours just browsing the shelves in our new library, I was again overwhelmed by the vast amount that there is to know. I was caught between elation and discouragement, elated by the certain knowledge that I will never run out of books to read and yet discouraged that I will never run out, because this means that I will never know or understand all of the things that I could wish.

As homeschooling parents we often fear that our kids are not learning "everything." Of course they aren't. What we really fear is that there is some essential bit of knowledge that they haven't learned, and that this puts their futures are in jeopardy.

No one learns everything. Some people have an amazing, borderline-encyclopedic knowledge of a great many things. Many people don't care to have more information than they need to function in their daily lives.

There may be some essential bit that your child doesn't have. But that's okay. When he needs it, he can learn it. Think about the knowledge that you use in your daily activities. Did you learn it in school? I spend a lot of my day on the computer. I run email lists and blog. I have built more than one website. I upload, download, bank, shop, sell, balance financial accounts, create spreadsheets, brochures, and fliers, and can put together a mean Power Point presentation. All of this in spite of the fact that I never used a computer until I was a 28-year-old college graduate and mother of two and needed it for my job. I have learned the information that I have needed as I have needed it.

Yesterday my boys were talking and I was amazed at their knowledge of mythology. They made me feel really uninformed so I've added a some mythology to my reading pile. A relative was questioning the wisdom of them learning Greek. Why not choose something more practical? But knowledge doesn't all need to be practical. The value of knowledge can come from the discipline achieved in the learning or from the sheer joy of knowing something. It can come in the interesting late night conversations with friends or the essay exam for a history class that blows a professor away.

Best of all, for me, it can come from sitting at breakfast, with a child who is so excited by what he is reading that his pancakes are growing cold.

Whole lotta learnin' goin' on

We're having a good winter. All of the boys are reading great books. They're all doing their Greek, although not all with the same level of enthusiasm. The national and international news provides constant fodder for discussion and debate. Andrew has built a light box and is getting ready to start some tomato seeds for me. Watching past seasons of Gilmore Girls has led us to new authors. A little more progress could be happening in math, but we've discovered that it seems to come when it's needed. Since Patrick will be taking his SATs for the first time in the fall, I expect some intense math work to start soon.

Unschooling, success, goals, and gaps

Today I was answering an email on our state homeschool list. As I wrote I realized the the reply would make a great blog post.

Every parent, unschooler or not, has goals for their children. I think that part of the distinction is which of our goals and desires are important enough that we in some way require that our children achieve them. In our home, those goals which are requirements ultimately fall more into the realm of parenting than "schooling." Church attendance in our home is not negotiable, neither were catechism classes. Fortunately, this hasn't been a problem. All of my children will leave home understanding the basics of keeping a house clean, doing laundry, cooking, balancing a checkbook, and other practical matters. These are non-negotiables, as are courtesy, honesty, and respect. If my four children grow to be responsible, reasonably happy adults who contribute to their family, church, and society according to their vocations, then that will be success.

Beyond that, ideally, I want them all to go to college and if that is the path that they want to take I will help them, but they are setting the path, not me. It is *their* goals that will define success or failure, not mine. If they decide to choose another route, I will still help them and their goals will determine their success.

My daughter was completely unschooled from third grade on. She studied what she wanted to study. There were months when she did nothing but draw, read, play American Girl dolls, and play soccer. There were months when she did nothing but play the piano and read. She never studied grammar. She never had a writing assignment. She never had a test. In anything.

When she was 16 she decided that she needed to get serious about college admission requirements. She had kept a reading list and a journal so it was simple for us to see where we could give her credits and where she needed to focus attention. In one year she did algebra, geometry, and biology. She planned to do chemistry the next year. She took a class at the Fort Wayne campus of Taylor University in sociology for "practice." She got an A. She took her SATs and received scores high enough that colleges were pursuing her. She ultimately received a full academic scholarship. She tested into higher level math & English. She is now halfway through her sophomore year with a job, lots of activities, and a 4.0. She is achieving her goals. Am I happy about the path she has chosen? Ecstatic! She's even chosen to major in history and English like her mother. :)

Right now all three of my sons are taking a class in Biblical Greek. No one is making them do this. My oldest son has read great literature that many college English majors haven't made it through. (I'm trying to catch up with him!) My youngest son is pursuing math and botany with a zeal not often seen in this house for math and science. I wouldn't have chosen botany. He has. My two youngest both asked for acrylic paints and supplies for Christmas. This is their thing. I only paint walls.

As the mom/facilitator/committed unschooler have I snuck in some lessons because I think that there are things everyone should know? Yep. All my kids are great with maps and geography. When we take a trip they navigate. When we talk about news and world events--which is all the time at our house--it isn't unusual for someone to grab a globe or atlas, because that's what I've always done. Because of my background and our family discussions my kids tend to be very critical readers and listeners. They are always looking for the hidden agenda or story. They also love to proofread the newspaper. :)

I see a big part of my job to be exposing them to places, things, ideas, people. I surround them with books, movies, music. We don't limit TV or computer access, although there are specific shows that are not watched. We go to museums, zoos, parks, & concerts. We travel. They have opportunities to take part in music groups, sports, drama, whatever. We get out in the world and meet people. We talk LOTS.

But mostly I get out of the way. I don't assign, quiz, or test. I don't hover. When asked I give advice or information, find lessons, buy books. I am the mom. I am not the teacher.

I used to worry about gaps. The longer we homeschool the less I worry. I spent 19 years in school and excelled, but I have some huge gaps! So does my husband. I am sure that every single one of my children will have some gaps in their learning. Maybe they'll even discover a major one. But they all know how to find information and learn what they need to learn.

What do unschoolers do over break?

I've gotta admit, there's been a whole lotta loafin' goin' on 'round here. The past few weeks we moved from laid back to practically comatose. We watched TV, ate Christmas cookies, played computer games, read books, and slept in.

Of course, this was all more exaggerated than usual because Mom was sick and Dad was off work for over a week. Next week things will get back to normal. The Christmas cookies are gone.

Homemade gift ideas

If you like making gifts for Christmas--or other times--and are still looking for some ideas, Scribbit has some good ones on her blog.