OK, you'll have to check back later for an update on the schedule that I have worked on (see post below).  I do plan to fill everyone in on how that is going (or not going).  Also, I have much to say about the last week and a half or so of Joshua's schooling.  But those things will have to wait until the next entry.

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    Currently, though, for many days now I've been contemplating this thing called motivation.  From time to time, I guess, this bothers me about what I’ve seen in raising my children, and also in schooling my oldest son.  Motivation is actually one of the myriad of reasons I chose to homeschool.  It all goes back to graduate school—Auburn University, going for my Master’s of Education (with an emphasis in music).

     For whatever reasons, I really and truly did not love learning and my education until my graduate studies.  I guess all of a sudden I finally had a motivation to learn—I WANTED to be there, as opposed to being there because I had to.  And my favorite classes of all time were my graduate level classes.  It was during my time at Auburn where I slowly began to take a different perspective on education.  I didn’t even have children yet, and I was planning on being a music teacher—of some kind.  But ever so gradually during those 1 ½ years, I began to formulate ideas about education and teaching that told me that there was no way I could “teach” children in a traditional classroom setting.  Things I was learning in my graduate classes was solidifying in my mind the idea that the typical classroom WAS NOT the best learning environment.   So, when I became pregnant with our first son (he was born 6 months after I graduated), and I began to look at options around me—including MANY homeschooling families at our church—a picture of how I was to be teaching children came into focus.  Not only did I become aware of the fact that I could not and would not want to teach in the traditional classroom setting, but I did not want my children taught there either.

    So why did I feel so strongly about this?  What was it that I learned during my pursuit of my Master’s in Education—of all degrees—that pulled me away from the traditional, main-stream education mentality?

    Among the many classes I took and learned from, was the class Education Psychology (so affectionately nick-named by undergraduate education majors, Ed. Psycho.!).  In this class, we read three trade books (as opposed to text books—another reason against traditional schooling).  These were fantastic books. They mostly covered topics about how kids learn and what drives them to learn and about the love of learning and how to become life-long learners.

     One of the biggest things I took from this class was on the topic of motivation.  How are we motivated to learn?  Why do we learn?  What motivates us to learn?  I was awakened to the fact that most, if not all, of my schooling up until that point, had been completely extrinsic motivation; motivation coming from the outside.  Whether it was for getting the “right” grade, for “looking good” to others, or just simply because that was what I had to do, all my motivation was from outside my own self.  Then I moved on to learn that the best kind of motivation comes from within.  In this way you develop life-long learners.  You develop a love for learning.  You develop the intrinsic motivation that drives people with inward enthusiasm.

     And so I have tried to implement this concept into everything I do as a parent, whether it’s teaching the 3 R’s, teaching about loving God and others, doing chores, being a kind and caring sibling, or even eating ones vegetables.

     Of course, I have learned, too, that not all motivation can always come internally.  I know this as I have had to bride (on occasion) and have used different means to get the behavior that is acceptable.  But sometimes I worry about the overuse of extrinsic motivation.

     My biggest concern of late is Joshua’s motivation for doing school work.  I will say that almost 99% (seriously!) of the time Joshua wants to do his work because he likes it or he thinks it’s fun to learn, or he finds whatever the subject is intriguing and he genuinely wants to know more.  I can think of his math work.  He really seems to enjoy his math.  He enjoys going over the lessons and working out the problems.  He exhibits joy and pride when he gets his work done correctly.  He finds self-satisfaction in a job well done.  The same can be said about his writing and reading work.  He truly loves to sit down with me and read his stories.  I have to pull the book away from him when he’s done reading the one assigned story of the day, because he wants to read on, but we have more work to do (you know, I should let him do that a time or two, since he really wants to read the next chapter…we can always do the other work another day!).

      And his piano practicing has taken off these last few months.  I could tell last year that practicing was a chore for him.  He was only practicing because I was making him practice.  Well, I backed off and completely cut out piano work.  He would dabble a little here and there on the keyboard from time to time but we put aside formal lessons.  This year, I put a 5 minute practice into his daily “Independent Work” time.  Just slipped it in there and never said a word.  Do you know that he has been practicing on his own without my telling him to almost every single day, and it’s well more than the suggested 5 minutes?  He will spend more than 15 minutes a day on the piano and he has flown through Book B and is ready to move on!  I laid off and let the motivation come from within.  He is practicing because he enjoys playing and finds it rewarding!

      He asks for his Science lessons and me reading from the History text.  He also constantly reminds me to read our lunchtime read aloud.  These are things he wants to hear and learn and is motivating ME to move onward.

      Now I honestly know that there are going to be things we HAVE to do because it HAS to be done.  We may not like it or enjoy it one single bit.  I think of household chores.  I don’t particularly enjoy washing clothes and folding them, I don’t find it too much fun to do the dishes everyday.  But I have to do them because if I don’t, well, you know!  So my motivation for doing these things is from without.

    So I know that it can’t always come from within.  I know this.  But I struggle with Joshua’s learning.  Because I know he likes to learn and he loves to do most of his work.  But just over the last few weeks, I began to notice (ok, and now I come to the crux of this entire post—finally!!!!) that Joshua was wanting to do his work quickly just so he could get to his computer time sooner—and possibly have more time to play on it, I suppose.  So I was torn.  I was excited that he began working on his material independently (which he has done a whole lot more of thanks to the little dry erase board on the refrigerator) and getting them done in “record” time, but I was frustrated that he was doing it because of the desire to play the computer.

    You know, overall, this is harmless, right?  Not a real cause for concern.  I often do work because I know something “more fun” is waiting if only I get it done quicker.  But I don’t want this to be the sole purpose for him to work.  And it seems like it can start to slip in so gradually and then can begin to take over the entire mindset of why we do our work.  I guess because I am aware of this I can be sure and monitor it.

    I really am glad I wrote this out because I was a whole lot more worried about it than I probably should be.  Writing it out has helped me see that a little motivation externally is probably ok, but it must be monitored and balanced appropriately with motivation that comes from within.  That kind of motivation is the motivation that will last.

    Boy I sure did say a lot just to come to that quick and easy conclusion.  Now I just need to figure out how to put this balancing act into practice.