smithically schooled - the end of winter...

smithically schooled

Feb. 17, 2009 - the end of winter...

we're beginning to be able to go back outside and play. this week, the boys run around outside for half an hour or so, and then come back in, ready for some learning. i'm thankful to be able to see the grass again.

we're breezing right through the weekly unit studies in our curriculum, and i have to say that we're all bored. the exercises that are provided for reading are getting too easy and the boys both breeze through them quickly. schooltime is only 15 minutes a day!

while i'm all for boys their age being able to run around and play for the majority of the day, i'm finding that they're bored a lot. they enjoy schooltime, and are surprised when it's over so quickly. so we're currently on the hunt for a new curriculum.

My Father's World came at such a high recommendation, and perhaps it will be a good curriculum for adam when he's ready for kindergarten. i think we liked it for the first two or three lessons, and then it all got monotonous, and not challenging enough. homeschoolers might argue that i shouldn't be challenging my 4- and 5-year-olds so soon in their early life. but why not? they have plenty of time for imaginative play and exercise during their days, why not give them something to really exercise their brains? especially when they crave it? it's not like i'm forcing them into suzuki music lessons (which i'm not against...it's just not a style i think fits us).

kenny and i are attending a classical homeschooling convention this weekend and i can't be more excited about it. i'm excited to talk to the curriculum vendors, to listen to a defense of classical education, and to have lunch with kenny while the kids play all day with their grandparents. :)

for the remainder of the year, i hope to incorporate much church calendar learning in our days. with lent upon us next week, then easter, and then the early stages of ordinary time, i think it's the perfect time to do lots and lots of family activities revolving around the church calendar.

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Comments

Feb. 17, 2009 - challenge?

Posted by Jon Daley

I suppose there must be some people who thinking challenging your kids is a bad thing, since there are lots of people with lots of opinions, but it seems hard for me to fathom (except in the bad connotations of the Suzuki methods that you referenced).

I would have different things to say if instead of "challenging", you said, "forcing", "pressuring", etc.

I guess perhaps all of this is a given since the way I see all of my life is a challenge or a puzzle, and try to figure out the "best" way to solve it.

That is how I didn't get bored in school, and I think, enjoy life more now as well.

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Feb. 17, 2009 - Untitled Comment

Posted by smithical

you're right. i meant "forced into" a learning method.

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Feb. 18, 2009 - Challenging your kids

Posted by SursumCorda

Oh, you have hit a hot button here for me, as Jon will confirm.

First of all, here's a family that's using My Father's World and loves it. You have to realize, however, that her child is only two years old. I imagine he'd be awfully bored if he were normal kindergarten age, so no wonder you are. Maybe it would be appropriate for Adam sooner rather than later.

http://domaninspiredparenting.blogspot.com/

Of course you should be challenging your kids, and I don't know any homeschoolers who would say differently -- not that I know all that many homeschoolers these days. This is the time of life when children crave learning -- it IS their life. It's not till later that many (I would say most, but Jon would challenge me) learn to think of learning as something unconnected with real life, something that happens to them rather than something they, themselves, do. This is prime time, time to introduce your kids to as much as you can about the big, wonderful world they live in.

I think unschoolers are misunderstood. There is a HUGE difference between sending a young child away from home to fit into the schedule, procedures, and plans of a stranger -- or even re-creating that same regimented atmosphere at home -- and challenging him to learn as much and as fast as is mutually enjoyable for all concerned.

Enjoy your classical homeschooling convention! I have seen that approach misused, just as I know unschooling is also sometimes misused -- but there's a great deal of value in it. And they have tremendous resources.

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Feb. 18, 2009 - Untitled Comment

Posted by ~liz

i appreciate your take on this, linda. i guess i've heard from many homeschoolers (i think it's from the charlotte mason camp?) that especially boys should as much play as possible before you enforce book learning on them. while i believe the unschoolers approach is a warm, learning environment from birth, and then delight-driven, parent led learning as the child grows, a lot of book schoolers think that 6 is the age in which to begin learning. i'm not of that approach at all, and allow the boys to do imaginative play all day long when they want (oftentimes, school time is pushed to a later time because i can't bring myself to interupt the wonderful world they've created and are playing in).

i'd like to hear of your experiences in which a the classical model has been abused. only because i fear that i may absue it by not understanding it! i think i'm always going to be feeling out what "style" of schooling is best for us. i can't pin it down just yet....

and thanks for the link! i'm enjoying reading through it. :)

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Feb. 18, 2009 - Classical education

Posted by SursumCorda

The negative experiences I have had with the classical model have to do with so-called Classical Christian Schools and their particular implementation in a couple of cases. I could tell you more by e-mail if you want, but it's not really relevant in your case. What little I know about the movement among homeschoolers is more positive. I have a lot of respect for Susan Wise Bauer, who has done much more than any of my teachers did to make history interesting to me. :) The Well-Trained Mind surprised me by how much I liked it, given that one reviewer called it "ultra school at home"! You can read my review here: http://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/archives/2005/11/11/the_well-trained_mind

I do think it can be abused. I don't have the book now to check -- I gave it to Heather :) -- but I remember disliking the formality and regimentation I saw in it. But it doesn't have to be that way. Do you know why I'm sure you will do fine with whatever concepts you choose to take from it? Because you said, "i think i'm always going to be feeling out what "style" of schooling is best for us. i can't pin it down just yet." That's what homeschooling is all about -- and parenting, too -- constantly trying, learning, and revising. We'd like to find one thing that works and stick to it, but children will keep changing!

Many people have to worry about their kids getting enough opportunities to play, especially outdoors, but I don't think that's a problem yours are going to have!

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Feb. 19, 2009 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Anonymous

thanks. i'm hoping we're a success story. :)

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Feb. 20, 2009 - Classical unschooling

Posted by Jon Daley

The formality is what I see as the bad things of classical families that I know of. One family is particular is *very* rigid, and perhaps they would be the same no matter what curriculum they are using. I talked to their son at one point, when he mentioned being stressed (at the age of 13 or something). I wondered what a homeschooled 13 year old could have to be stressed about, and it turned out it was the amount of work he had to do, and how far behind he was, etc. etc. ICK.

The articles I have seen about unschooling show students going slower in their education, not faster (except maybe in one area). And I don't just mean starting late, but seeming to never finish, though perhaps I just don't hear about those families. I guess I like the unschooling approach, as long as there is a minimum level that is required. I think it is fair to say that most of the older homeschoolers I have met in Pittsburgh struggle with college or high school, if they go to a public high school. I guess you could say they just are good test takers or something, but it seems like worrying about keeping a 2.0 GPA in order to keep a scholarship is more than that.

(I'll need to see if this blog has a comment-rss feed, otherwise, it's hard to stay up with the conversation)

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Feb. 23, 2009 - Classical unschooling

Posted by SursumCorda

"Classical unschooling" -- Jon, that says it very well! I've had enough people I trust talk about homeschoolers who don't do well in school/college that I know it must sometimes be the case, although as you know I have Exhibits H and J as counterexamples. From the "old days" there are also folks like the Colfax boys (http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=132239) and Ishmael and Vita Wallace (http://www.orfeoduo.com/bio.html) who were a good part of our inspiration. I think perhaps back then people only homeschooled if they were seriously interested in both children and education; now that it's easier to do, and more people do it, you're bound to get a broader mix.

"Classical unschooling" sounds like a good label for an approach that is low-stress and responsive yet well disciplined (note "disciplined," not "regimented") with parental leadership and high expectations.

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