See Ya 'Round
Dec. 5, 2006 at 12:44 PM
Homeschooling
Thanks again for making the last two years so much fun!
Blessings,
Spunky
P.S. No, I'm not dying, getting a divorce, or God forbid putting my children in public school!
Here's a brief explanation as best as I can give one.
I talk very little about my personal life on this blog. That has always been intentional. Unlike other blogs I'm not the subject of the blog that bears my nickname. Education and family life in the world are the subject. I'm just one of God's messengers among many others to spead the Word of Truth. When one writes a book you know when the last page is approaching. Blogs of this sort don't have an ending, the discussion will continue long after me. And it should. Perhaps that's why this may seem more abrupt and sudden. There will never be an end until Jesus returns, thus no time to leave will ever seem appropriate. But know that the decision was made in obedience to the Lord not from malice or disrespect toward anyone.
Please accept as I have, that at times it's necessary to end one activity and move on in order to continue to walk with the Lord and in His ways.
That's all. There isn't a reason for leaving, but a calling to go forward. What that is will unfold as I obey and take the first step in leaving this behind. Is that being secretive? No. It's telling the truth as I always do. If there were more to tell I would tell it. You deserve that from me.
Talk about making it tough to leave, I've just been informed that I'm a finalist in the Weblog Awards 2006, for Best Education Blog. I'm humbled to be in the same category with Joanne Jacobs and Education Wonks, two blogs that I read before I began my own and would highly recommend to you. Thank you for your nomination, if you would like to vote here's the place. ( This award allows you to vote every day until Dec. 15.)
Many thank again for making this blog what it is. I am truly humbled that my daily writings have impacted so many. More than I could have ever imagined and in so many places. Thank you and God bless you all.
In The News
Dec. 4, 2006 at 1:13 PM
Homeschooling
A Florida dad, John Daynard, has decided to give up his job teaching art in the public schools to teach his own children at home,
He left his job as a Pinellas County teacher and pulled his sons out of public school because he found the environment chaotic, even threatening, he says. In his short stint as a Pinellas County elementary teacher, Daynard says he saw a student take off her clothes and streak, another slam a student against a wall. If he intervened, he was chastised for not following policy, he says. But he also failed to follow the credo of teachers everywhere: Don't whine. Deal.His wife now works the night shift so he can homeschool their two children. (HT: Izzy)
Thankfully, they live in the United States where they are allowed to homeschool. Germany just said "no" to a homeschooling family. It is so very sad and it makes my previous post Schools for the 21st Century even more important to read and think about. (HT: Dewey's Treehouse)
And while you ponder schools of the 21st century what do you think about gender-neutral schools? How are schools supposed to handle children who are not sure if they are boys or girls? The New York Times is looking at Supporting Boys or Girls When the Line Isn't Clear.
At the Park Day School in Oakland, teachers are taught a gender-neutral vocabulary and are urged to line up students by sneaker color rather than by gender. "We are careful not to create a situation where students are being boxed in," said Tom Little, the school's director. "We allow them to move back and forth until something feels right."A society segregated by color, that's so much more appropriate. "I have a dream, that one day children will not be judged by the color of their sneakers, but the content of their character." If these were my kids, the whole school wouldn't feel right to me. (My humble apologies to Martin Luther King.)
News from my e-mail,
Judy Aron, a frequent commenter here a Spunky Homeschool has informed me that she has started her own blog, Consent of the Governed. She's a wonderful homeschool advocate and a great addition to the blogosphere. Welcome Judy!
Blogger Shannon Entin emailed letting me know that she will be on BlogTalkRadio Tuesday evening at 10 pm ET discussing homeschooling. It's a call in show, so if you're available she'd love to hear from you. (My children are at orchestra until 10 so I'm not sure if I'll get to listen or not.)
News from my mailbox,
Blogger and homeschool dad Steve Sensenig's new CD, Christmas Solitude, arrived this weekend. It is absolutely beautiful. Our whole family enjoyed listening to the familiar songs of Christmas played in Steve's warm and inspiring style.
Ann Voskamp sent me a copy of her book, The Glorious Coming. It is a great Advent devotional leading up to Christmas Day. We're a few days late, but we plan to start our Jesse Tree today.
A heartfelt thanks to Steve and Ann for their unsolicited generosity.
Related Tags: home school, homeschool, homeschooling, education, parenting, New York Times, public school
Schools For the 21st Century
Dec. 1, 2006 at 6:55 AM
Homeschooling
School leavers should know how to cook a meal, handle domestic finances, take part in a debate, enjoy the theatre and use the internet.
Our programmes are shaped around creating "a better and more peaceful world" with a core determination to develop students who can create this better world through intercultural understanding and respect. In essence, IB programmes are "fit for purpose" for the 21st century!
The Bush administration has begun issuing grants to help spread a United Nations-sponsored school program that aims to become a "universal curriculum" for teaching global citizenship, peace studies and equality of world cultures. The U.S. Education Department has issued its first $1.2 million grant to implement the European-based International Baccalaureate (IB) program in middle schools...
Mr. Hill, a former school administrator from Tasmania, Australia, said the role of international education and culture, is to fulfill the vision of UNESCO's constitution in its opening words: "Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed."
The goal of education is no longer to teach the kind of literacy, wisdom and knowledge we once considered essentials of responsible citizenship. It is to train world citizens--a compliant international workforce, willing to flow with the storms of change and uncertainty. These citizens must be ready to believe and do whatever will serve a pre-determined "common good" or "greater whole". Educators may promise to "teach students to think for themselves," but if they finish what they have started, tomorrow's students will have neither the facts nor the freedom needed for independent thinking.
All In The Family
Nov. 30, 2006 at 7:56 AM
Homeschooling
In the 18th century, schools played a small role in the lives of its students -- unlike today, when school and school-related activities take up the bulk of students' time, Ball State University professor Jill Miels said...
Because schools have a large number of children in one location, the job of teaching children character, proper nutrition and providing health care services -- things that previously might have been dealt with by families, churches or the community -- has been bestowed upon schools, Randolph Eastern Schools Supt. Cathy Stephen said.
Is Ten the New Fifteen,
Kids look and dress older. They struggle to process the images of sex, violence and adult humor, even when their parents try to shield them. And sometimes, he says, parents end up encouraging the behavior by failing to set limits - in essence, handing over power to their kids....
It's an age-old issue. Kids want to fit in - and younger kids want to be like older kids.
On the flip side, parents and especially Christian homeschooling parents need to guard against making the family more than it was intended to be. The end goal is not just a wonderful family life.
Worshiping Idols, Family Style,
When we get ourselves backwards and pursue as our primary goal the family-integrated thing, the homeschooling thing, the patriarchy thing, the breeding thing, the modesty/home-baked bread thing, or the "making sure our boys are tough warriors and not wimpy" thing, instead of God's glory, idolatry is just around the corner. Don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with any of these things I have just mentioned. But they are means, not ends.
Finally, a few days late...
The Carnival of Homeschooling is up at The Common Room.
Related Tags: homeschooling, home school, family life, parenting, public education, culture, family
The Unschooling Conspiracy
Nov. 29, 2006 at 6:46 AM
Homeschooling
If a 6-year-old wants to play with a box on top of her head for an hour, that is as qualitatively beneficial a learning experience as an hour of Latin, according to unschoolers-perhaps even more beneficial...
My hunch, however, is that very few parents are practically equipped with the teaching skills necessary or the stores of information required to help a child build a strong foundation in grammar, history, physics, biology, languages, physical education, math, etc. For that, it seems one must attach some sort of structure to intrinsically unstructured unschooled learning. It's an entirely larger question whether "unschooled" kids can enter the real and highly structured (or schooled) world and succeed without the requisite navigational skills.
I wish unschoolers well and hope these children become the creative, individualistic thought leaders their parents are preparing them to become. But if they don't, it should be the parents, not society, who cover the cost of teaching them to function productively in society. That is, if unschooling fails to prepare them for life in a structured world.
And then last week while everyone was busy preparing turkey, a step-mom in turmoil over unschooling decided to perform her own experiment -- one day of "unschooling" her two step-daughters. She posted the results in what I can only assume to be a lame attempt at humor in the Nashville Scene. It's not worth clicking over to read how it all turned out. Suffice it to say, her children were too cool to homeschool and think the word homeschooler is a synonym for "nerd." The mother's conclusion was predictable, unschooling is just an excuse for lazy parenting. Thankfully, her attitude reflects more on lazy research than anything else. (No offense Lindsey, this is all "tongue in cheek.")
Even bloggers who follow education trends more closely can't get a handle on unschooling, calling it "basically homeschooling without the religious focus. "
Like it or not, unschooling is getting some attention.
I'm not an unschooler, but I know many readers are. Unschooler Jeanne left this comment on my previous unschooling post:
I think it is probably wise to look at unschoolers as "canaries in the coal mine." If they will come for me (regulate me; prohibit me from customizing my children's education), an unschooler (who lives a very organized life), because *I* am not using a standard enough approach, then "regular" homeschoolers are also at risk.
This includes anyone who decides not to pressure a six or seven year old little boy to read because he's not ready -- but he will be just fine given a little more time to develop, anyone whose children do not perform at a certain minimum on standardized test, etc. And, to prepare for those tests, you'll have to use a prescribed (by guess whom?) curriculum to cover the material. There goes your homeschool freedom.
The truth is, I know few homeschoolers who are not influenced in some way by some of the ideas of unschooling or who do not develop or already possess, on their own, a responsiveness to their children's needs and interests and learning styles that is related to the ideas of unschooling.These homeschoolers act on this responsiveness they feel in wonderful ways, even tho' they may continue to basically use a structured curriculum -- but I think they would find they are far closer to unschoolers than many of them realize, if our educrats and legislators begin to look for ways to limit unschooling.It sort of reminds me of that phrase, "We are all Berliners" -- well, in many senses from the freedom/legal point of view, "We are all unschoolers." If my unschooling is prohibited/limited (and that really was a chilling statement the one authority made in the NYTimes article), then a non-unschooler/homeschooler may find her ability to choose curriculum and customize for her kids limited.
And, I will take the opportunity, one more time, to say that "unschooling" does not mean un-everything. My husband and I provide guidance, discipline, structure to our household -- we just happen to find that it works well to follow our children's interests as far as their learning goes, and we find that respecting their little selves is a great way to teach and model respect.We are not too different from "regular" homeschoolers.
I doubt seriously that there is a conspiracy in the media, but it is time we help these overly sheltered opinion-makers think outside the school yard fence. The reason they cannot comprehend the life of a homeschooler or unschooler is because they themselves have been institutionalized to think learning only happens when a child sits at a desk coloring ovals until a timer beeps. It's time someone told these columnists to stop, put your pencils down, turn in your article, and get outside for a dose of the real world. And if that doesn't help, try putting a box on top of your head and playing for an hour. Your children will love it, but do close the curtains first, your neighbors might think you're a nerd.
(HT: Gary for directing me to US News)
Other bloggers with something to say:
Nancy
Shannon
Related Tags: home school, homeschool, Dr. Phil, education, public school, home-school, unschooling, New York Times, parenting, homeschooling
It's Big Brother's Job
Nov. 28, 2006 at 10:57 AM
Homeschooling
From a recent article on getting children ready for kindergarten,
Henderson said sometimes the parents' high expectations, such as wanting them to know the alphabet, tie their shoes or count very high, could hold the child back since it's the kindergarten teacher's job to help them learn these things.Contrast this teacher's thinking about whose job it is to help them learn, with that of my 16 year old son.
I was busy brushing and flossing my teeth the other day. Into the room walked my son, Jason. Quickly, he grabbed a string of floss and we both faced the mirror contorting our faces to get all the teeth. The next thing I know my 3 year old daughter toddled into the room and invited herself to the impromptu dental party. "I want some too," she said. So my son pulled out a string of floss and handed it to her. She proceeded to wad the string into her mouth and chew it like gum. My son laughed and said, "She's just getting the habit down now. I'll teach her the finer points later."
My daughter wasn't the only one learning a new habit that day, so was my son. He was developing a habit of responsibility as an older brother. He recognized that it was his responsibility to teach his little sister; not just how to floss her teeth, but tie her shoes, and know her ABC's.
On a personal level, one of the best rewards of homeschooling is that "ready to learn" takes on a meaning beyond kindergarten and academic achievement. My son is ready to learn what it means to be a husband and father. In part because of the spontaneous interaction that happens in our home as he teaches his siblings. That is something no school room will ever be able to manufacture or duplicate.
Perhaps if a few more children had these sorts of "big brother" experiences, there would be no need for the other "big brother" to take over and provide the parenting classes we all missed growing up in a school rather than in our own homes. And maybe a new generation of young men will grow up knowing that the freezer is NOT the best place for an infant with a fever.
Related Tags: universal preschool, home school, homeschooling, education, parenting, public schools, teachers
Unschooling
Nov. 27, 2006 at 9:56 AM
Homeschooling
"As school choice expands and home-schooling in general grows, this is one of those models that I think the larger public sphere needs to be aware of because the folks who are engaging in these radical forms of school are doing so legally," said Professor Huerta of Columbia. "If the public and policy makers don't feel that this is a form of schooling that is producing productive citizens, then people should vote to make changes accordingly."The Constitution was established to create a "more perfect union" not a more "productive citizen." It said nothing about education. That's because the writers recognized that parents have the natural right to direct the education of their children. The idea of subjecting a parent's educational choice to the state or another citizen out of fear that they won't produce a "productive citizen" is absurd. (By that standard the public schools are producing far more unproductive citizens than homeschooling or unschooling ever will and at taxpayer expense!)
Homeschoolers are not the only unschoolers either. The Brooklyn Free School is an unschooling private school operating under a provisional charter in New York.
The Brooklyn Free School isn't quite "free" either. Tuition is $11,000 a year. (Why not just do the same thing at home for a lot cheaper?)One recent day at the Brooklyn Free School, the "schedule" included the following: filming horror movies, chess, debate, and making caves for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Not that the students had to go to any of these sessions.
At this school, students don't get grades, don't have homework, don't take tests, and don't even have to go to class -- unless they want to. Students are required to show up for at least 5 1/2 hours a day, partly so that the school can meet legal definitions, but what they do with their time is up to them.
Whatever the location or cost, I think some educators find it a little unbelievable that there are children out there who are motivated to learn without being constantly prodded along. I know when I was in school, "Why do we have to learn this?" and "Is this going to be on the test?" were heard countless times. For most children, the joy of learning seems to end around fourth grade. That's why schools need to offer incentives to learn. Textbooks are not what most kids (or adults) consider "good reading."
Homeschoolers typically believe that given the opportunity and freedom, most children find learning new ideas worthwhile for the information gained and the pleasure of learning it. A curious child cannot help but learn. They are motivated by a purpose beyond just passing the test or getting a grade. Unschoolers allow learning to be completely determined by the desires of the child. It may not be for everybody, but then no one method or structure works for all children.
The state, however, promotes uniform standards and conformity in education. They have to. Conformity produces a controlled order that is necessary to teach the masses. However, the benefit of homeschooling is that order can still be achieved without sacrificing the individual interests of their children.
If we, as a nation, believe that the parent has the natural right to direct the education of their children, it must include forms that others will find radical or even objectionable. Otherwise, the right is meaningless and the state becomes the final authority in a child's education. And that's an idea that all parents should find objectionable no matter how they choose to educate their children.
(HT: Laura A.)
Update: Gary pointed me to an excellent article in The Washington Times, Nurturing learning takes many forms by Kate Tsubata, a home-schooling mother of three. Here's how she describes learning,
I like to think of a young person's brain as like a plant or a fruit tree. Situating that tree in a good spot with rich soil and plenty of sunlight and water, and feeding it the minerals and elements it needs to develop into maturity will ensure years of continued good harvests.Update II: The most grievious example of "unschooling" producing "unproductive citizens" may be this school district in New Jersey (reg. req'd),
The tiny borough here elects three school board members to keep records and divvy up its $261,887 budget. Yet Teterboro has no schools and only 10 students, who are sent to neighboring districts.Update III: In a related topic, The Deputy Headmistress talks about the importance of giving children the gift of free time.
Related Tags: unschooling, home school, home-school, education, New York Times, parenting, homeschooling
Did anyone watch Dr. Phil?
Nov. 25, 2006 at 10:24 AM
Homeschooling
Unschooler Dayna, the guest that Dr. Phil criticized for her method of homeschooling, left a comment on my blog earlier this week. Here's part of what she said,
You can read her whole comment here.To me, Dr. Phil's questions and beliefs just represent and speak for the greater majority of our culture. It was so amazing to be able to share this perspective, even in the face of adversity!
Honestly, it was exhilarating and I really enjoyed the actual experience because I enjoy debating something that I am so passionate about, my children and the respect that they and other children deserve in life. Regardless of Dr. Phil's opinion, I feel that by being on the show we helped to get some gears turning toward change. Baby steps. The first reaction to a new idea is adversity. I did my best to smile in the face of it because I trust the process. Acceptance of our lifestyle will slowly brighten our culture.
Here are a few snippets of thought from bloggers who watched the show:
Valerie at Families.com
"But my true disappointment in Dr. Phil today is that they are using the same old arguments against homeschooling: socialization and teacher qualifications. Apparently there is mysterious research that "they" did that says that kids who are homeschooled past 8th grade are not socialized well....Show me the research."
Four Willows Christian Academy
"I particularly disliked the last segment. There was a 26 year old woman who claimed to be "socially retarded" because she was homeschooled. From what was aired, it seemed to me that she didn't have a problem with socializing, rather she was mad because she didn't have a chance to be a cheerleader. It made no sense. She didn't seem to be the least bit shy or uncomfortable."
Christine at the Thinking Mother
"My own opinion as an experienced homeschooling mother is….The show was not as bad as I imagined it could have been..."
(In my post earlier this week, I had a round-up of links from various audience members and guests giving their perpsective prior to Friday's broadcast.)
Did you watch?
Related Tags: home school, homeschool, Dr. Phil, education, public school, home-school
