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Homeschooling is Life! ~ Unschooling At Its Best

2:30 AM, Aug. 17, 2006

Arghhhh! I just sat down here to write my column for today and the dog came up and licked my elbow! Don't you just hate it when that happens?

I thought I would write about some "Unschooling At Its Best" moments, but instead, here I am starting out with (excuse me) dog slobber. Time to get a new perspective!

Now that the errant dog has left the office, let's talk about Unschooling.

We hear a lot about "Unschooling At Its Worst" and that is a shame......but if you have read my posts before, you know how I feel about judging someone else and how they have decided to homeschool. Another family might seem like they are slackers to an outsider looking in, but how can you truly know? "Were You There?" (To borrow a phrase from Ken Ham, and no, if you are on the outside looking in, you aren't there.)

Unless we are the proverbial fly on the wall, we don't know. We just don't know! And in most cases it is none of our bees-wax. Think about it.

So instead of getting off any further into this tangent of the worst, let's talk about the best!

When I can wake up in the wee hours of the morning and find my children dressed and smiling and the car packed and ready to go on an adventure; that is the best. When the children are reading books like "Back To Basics" and have tucked away bits and pieces of information such as how to dig a well, and how to store potatoes for the winter; that is the best. When the youngest child can explain metamorphosis to me and identify a caterpillar; that is the best. When my firstborn can tell me many details of the life of George Washington (some that I never knew myself) then that is the best. Why is this the best? For us, it is because we have chosen a style of teaching and learning that comes naturally to us. I may or may not have taught them these things. They have an amazing ability to learn, in spite of my best laid plans!

Sure, we love books and even do workbooks and read textbook material at times. But we learn and use the information in context. At least that is our goal. What good is information for the sake of knowing something? To be filled with pride? It isn't how much you know, but how much you can use what you know, for a pure purpose. There are many people who know much, but fail to use it. And there are those who know all about the plough, for instance, but do not have the practical experience of putting their hand to the plough. They can't translate from the knowing to the doing. Knowledge for the sake of knowledge is useless. Do you think that is true?

Knowledge is contained in us for a reason. Personally, we believe that God is the giver of all good gifts, and therefore, the knowledge of God is for correction, reproof, and instruction in righteousness. I know, the Bible says that of "scripture." But we believe that scripture reveals the knowledge of God.

There is also much knowledge that we can pick up every day that does not enhance our lives, does not teach us right, and does nothing to correct us or reprove us. Such knowledge can taint us, mislead us, and take us directly away from the truth. We have a choice as to where we get our information. We choose good, real books, life experiences, relationships, exceptional reference material and research, creation itself, and the Creator first and foremost. And we choose to "impute" what we believe that our children need to learn in the most natural way possible; through their senses, through conversation, action, reading, touching, tasting, doing, and being. We don't have to lecture (although sometimes we do,) and we don't have to cram for exams. Life is full of enough pop-quizzes. We believe that they will know what they need to know, when they need to know it. Or if they don't, then we will look it up together and find the answer.......or they will have gained the necessary tools to do it themselves.

It has been wrought by prayer, sometimes tears, and inspires awe; this thing that we see unfolding. But whatever we call this method (or non-method as it may be) it's not the result, it is the journey. That is why we say it is "Unschooling At Its Best!"

Nancy Baetz is a homeschooling mother of four amazing kids, who, by the way, are probably no different than your own! Her life is a work in progress, and she can see that hand of the Lord each and every day. She would like to encourage you to seek God and follow your heart when it comes to your child's education. Don't give away those precious gifts you have been given. Enjoy!

You can stop by her blog at www.homeschoolblogger.com/byhisgraceincolorado and say hello anytime. She is having a contest right now that you can enter; how you would write advertising copy for The Bible?

Posted in hsingislife, 8 comments, Link
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Untitled Comment

9:42 AM, Aug. 17, 2006, posted by drewsfamilytx

Those are definitely the best days! Every time I read about someone's homeschooling "style", I think-- Hey, that's me! We don't do tests or quizzes either...and you are right about pride. Knowledge for the sake of knowledge is useless...and quickly forgotten!

Untitled Comment

10:07 AM, Aug. 17, 2006, posted by SandBetweenMyToes

Hey Nancy! We don't do tests around here either. We also don't sit down with a textbook and divide it by the number of "days we plan to do school" to find out how many pages we have to do a day, nor do we ever feel like we have to "catch up." I know many parents who feel they need this structure, and it works for them. But, we have learned so much with our freedom to learn. My girls absolutely love history, and can tell you things I didn't, and still don't, know. But, we never picked up a history text. They learned it all through reading, which made them fascinated by history, which made them pick up reference books to learn more! That kind of learning is real and fun! Thanks for this post. Because having said all of that, I am wavering with knowing what "school" should look like with #3. I want her to have the same love, but we both need structure.
Letitia

Homeschooling

10:27 AM, Aug. 17, 2006, posted by

I am new to HSing, but think it's counterproductive to label the different styles of teaching and learning - it only tends to draw a rift between all of us. We all want the best for our children, and I've never heard of a HSer who WANTED to damage his/her children with a lack of knowledge! So there are different ways to homeschool. There are different cultures, colors, languages, learning styles... I could go on, but will spare you, LOL The main point I suppose I'm trying to make here is that we're ALL schooling our children at home, no matter the approach, which makes us all stand on a common ground apart from "mainstream public education" right? Appreciate the differences! I agree with you!
Hugs~
Toughmutts

p.s.- I know where you're coming from with the dog slobber! :D

Edited by toughmutts on Aug. 17, 2006 at 7:30 AM

Thanks for the comments, you two!

10:31 AM, Aug. 17, 2006, posted by ByHisGraceInColorado

You are right Leticia, a more structured approach does work for some people and that is super! Sometimes I am overzealous in my "free" style of homeschooling. But each family is unique and we all must find our niche, and what works for us. It does flow though, and things change so we have to be open to flexibility. I do know some amazing homeschool Mom's who would put Martha Stewart to shame with their organizational skills though.

Thank God that He made us all so different and unique! The world would be an awfully boring place if were were all carbon copies!

Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by to comment! It always blesses me to have visitors. :)
Nancy

Me again

10:36 AM, Aug. 17, 2006, posted by ByHisGraceInColorado

Hello Toughmutts! Thanks for leaving a message. You must have been doing that at the same time I was :)

I agree that sometimes the labels do cause a rift, and we don't want that. The funny thing is that we really have a much broader description of our homeschooling style than just "unschooler" and i don't think we could even be called that in it's purest form. You are so right! Every Mom is a homeschooler from day one.

It is so neat that you are just starting out on this journey and I will stop by your blog and say hello! Blessings on your day!

Nancy

Untitled Comment

1:33 PM, Aug. 17, 2006, posted by maggieraye

Kudos! Well said. I am an educator by profession and a home educator by choice. I'm always amazed at what my kids know that I did NOT teach them or at least what I did not set out to teach them.

I always feel like such a slacker compared to my homeschooling buddies with their nicely outlined and followed through to the finish curriculums. At the same time, I enjoy home education so much, because we do it all year long. I enjoy the summer the most, when we have freedom from record keeping. That's when we seem to learn the most.

Thanks for sharing. The longer I home educate (going into my sixth year) the more of an unschooler I become.

Blessings, MaggieRaye

Untitled Comment

3:19 PM, Aug. 17, 2006, posted by Vmayo

I know exactly what you mean when you say you learn more during the summer when you don't have to keep records. Some days we take a break just so I can catch up on records that prove we are schooling. Seems ironic, doesn't it.

I do think that unschooling can actually be harder than getting the box of curriculum and all the teacher plans and textbooks. You have to be intentional with what you are doing each day with your children. When keeping records, you have to get creative with what you call things so it "sounds" more (public) schoolish. ie..can going to the dentist, learning to use mouthwash and getting a new toothbrush count as a health?..is baking a cake with mom math, science or home ec or interpersonal communication?...

Where unschooling gets a bad rap is from the homeschoolers that are really just lazy. I have found very few that fit this description, but they are out there, and they use the title "unschooling" to defend what they are not doing. I have a dear friend who is one of "those homeschoolers". They take the kids to the office, which I think is great. What a wonderful place to learn to interact with people of all ages, to learn proper phone etticate, appropriate conversation topics....the list goes on and on of all of the possible learning opportunities that happen in a business office. However, they don't happen with this family. The children stay in a back room that is full of toys and a tv that the oldest keeps going with a steady stream of videos. (Yes, I do know that this is what goes on there because I have visited often and this mom is a friend and we talk about these things).

She was so excited this summer when she first heard the term "unschooling". She is using the term as a defense for doing nothing. The majority of unschoolers do not fit this discription of school, but how does that go?...The squeeky wheel gets the oil? The very few who say they "unschool" to justify not "teaching" anything are making it that much harder for the rest of us. They are the ones who get the attention of a community, the media and the courts. Not all homeschoolers are the same, but we all get lumped into the same group of "homeschoolers" as the ones who are portrayed in the media, the extreem characters.

I'm sorry if I rambled or seemed like I am on a "soap box", but this is a topic I deal with often. I think unschooling is wonderful and our family loves it. What a truely great way to learn!!! I struggle at being organized, but there are areas of life that require organization, so we do balance unschooling with some more structured "lessons" and I meet the homeschool requirements of our state. But, it is very frustrating when others lump me in the same group as this friend when I say we homeschool.

Sorry if none of this made much sense,
Vanessa

It made perfect sense, Vanessa

5:48 PM, Aug. 17, 2006, posted by ByHisGraceInColorado

Thank you for writing!

Just as it may seem easier for some Mom's to use a boxed program, it is easier for others to be more free. We sometimes forget that our own learning style, or teaching style as it were, (meaning the parent), plays a huge part in how we go about homeschooling. We have to figure out what works for us, for each child, consider the family situation, dynamics, etc.

I know another unschooling Mom who goes to great lengths to journal and name all of her activities so they exceed the "standards" descriptions. She is so organized and creative, and busy. She also "blew away" her homeschool evaluator with her child's achievements and documentation this year. Very funny to me, that she considers herself an "unschooler." That is another example of "Unschooling At Its Best!"

You are right, though, some unschoolers can be "lazy" or so it seems, and it can make the rest of us "look" bad. We all are works in progress though. We must remember to build one another up, and when we point a finger (and I am guilty of this at times) we have fingers pointing back at us, and hopefully that can be a good thing! It should make us stop and think this: Are we without reproach? Are we doing all we can? Are we serving our children's needs--educational, etc., because we will stand before the Lord someday as the consummate Judge. Will He tell us "well done?"

We must remember to be all we can for our kids and while we do have the scrutiny of our state laws to be aware of and comply with, we can't worry about what Jane down the street thinks. We DO want to give homeschooling a good name. We DO want to be looked on in a favorable light.....not just to look good, but because character matters. And if Susan the unschooler down the street doesn't look right to us, we can pray and uplift her.....and be there to encourage her when she needs it, and IF she needs it. We can't truly know what someone else needs to be doing. Otherwise, we need to work on our own homes first. It's that splinter/board in the eye scripture principle. :)

The cultural media is always going to jump on homeschoolers as some kind of freaks---especially those with labels they don't understand, like "unschooling." If we just keep on doing what is right, they won't have any fodder for their "news."

I think that the all homeschoolers are very different from each other, and in a way, we are all on a journey to "self-conform." We are just finding out who we really are and who we and our children were meant to be all along.

Happy Homeschooling!

Nancy

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