Homeschool Help: What Does a “Lifestyle of Learning” Look Like?

 

Again, the Boyer's advise on homeschooling our talented children have been very helpful.   My very adventurous girl will do her homework in the great outdoors and actually do it!  she is one of those who would hate to have to sit and be stuck indoors, rain or shine.

Here is Marilyn again  (here is the last post about A Life style of learning)

We must remember that the school classroom functions as it does NOT because that has been found to be the superior method of education, but because that is the only option for mass-producing students. It contradicts, in fact, the evidence that children learn best in a realistic, life-like setting, with hands-on experience.

As John Taylor Gatto reminds:

“It is absurd and anti-life to move from cell to cell at the sound of a gong for every day of your natural youth in an institution that allows you no privacy and even follows you into the sanctuary of your home demanding that you do its ‘homework.’

‘How will they learn to read?’…When children are given whole lives instead of age-graded ones in cellblocks they learn to read, write, and do arithmetic with ease if those things make sense in the kind of life that unfolds around them.”  From Why Schools Don’t Educate

So, what does a “lifestyle of learning” look like from day to day? Different for every family. But, upon many requests, I thought I’d offer some practical ways to encourage your child to utilize his curiosity about his world. The ideas are really endless. I’d love to hear YOURS!

• Simply expose them. To books, to conversation, to places, to people, to animals, to cooking, to building, to nature. We simply cannot underestimate a child’s ability to take in, process and store information–something inherent at birth. This begins at birth and the fewer distractions like TV or phones, the better for motivating them to learn about their world.

 

• Listen and watch. A child learns things best in the context of what interests him. Find out what that is, give him experiences around his interests and then look to see the learning opportunities. For example, my 8-year-old son loves building things and he loves large machines. And by “love” I mean he’s obsessed. We have let him build a playhouse (with a little help from Sis), supervising his use of the saw and nail gun. It has taken quite a bit of thought about measurements and angles and my husband has been able to really show him the importance of “squaring” the frame, etc. It’s an excellent exercise in problem-solving. That geometry makes sense to him whereas if I handed him a geometry worksheet right now he wouldn’t have a clue.

• Bait the house with books. This is my favorite. I leave books on art, science, animals and other subjects lying around and sometimes an older child will pick it up and become absorbed and even begin to read and explain it to a younger one. Or when someone crawls up beside me, I open it and start reading. I just ordered a set of “Nature Friend” magazines from Ebay and I’m excited to see how they like those too.

• Let them learn from other people. Do you have friends or family who have a particular trade or skill? Would they mind some of your children hanging out to observe? If that isn’t an option, there are great videos that teach different skills for children who show interest.

• Build vocabulary naturally. Being intentional about the words we use with our children is the best way to build their vocabulary. Random words on a worksheet are much harder to memorize than if they learn the word in context of life and language. Conversation is the best way to improve communication skills. Something, in our technologically-filled lives, that takes deliberate attention.

• Focus on the traits that matter. Any time you research for “most important qualities of a successful person” or “qualities employers look for”, or something similar, the results that turn up always focus on character and NEVER include test scores or degrees. Do we take that to heart and intentionally teach and train character? Communication skills, problem-solving, and integrity rank at the top of almost every list.

LIVE. That’s the way to a superior education. Here is part of our check list, academically speaking:

1. Can they write well, speak well and convey their thoughts well? What are some activities that will facilitate these?


2. Are they numerate? Do they know how to handle numbers, do they understand fractions and how to work out number problems? As they get older, do they know how money works, do they understand debt and interest and budgeting? Very important.


3. Can they type?


4. Do they have a good grasp of history and the workings of the government? We especially want them to read biographies from great men and women of the past.


5. Are they exposed to art in a variety of forms, and music? (If they show giftedness/interest, are we doing what we can to help them excel?)


6. Do they have a heavy dose of common sense?

Charge ahead with confidence!

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A Different Way To Homeschool: A LifeStyle Of Learning

I have a daughter who loves to learn just about anything.  Here she is flying an airplane in this plane simulator.  Life is so interesting to her except when she is sitting down on a desk and asked to do some copywork.  Well, when you're 7 or 8 years old, who wants to do that, when you can be out on a beautiful day learning about how a goat births her kids?  I went to Government schools where I was very good at sitting down and doing everything my teachers said.  Now, I have had to unlearn that this is the way you learn things.  Not so, most children are naturally explorers and are given to us with a natural love for learning.  We must be careful to not spoil it by purchasing all these expensive homeschool curriculums and expecting they follow the rigid schedule and not miss a day because they might not learn or be at the same academic level as public school kids.  Take a big breath.  Aaaahhhh, teaching has never been so much fun with my older daughter as I dropped continuous assignments.  Every year I got more and more flexible with the homeschool schedule that I don't even have it scheduled. 

Our homeschool rule is:  If there is nothing more exciting or interesting going on, then we'll sit down and do some school work.  Well, this is hardly the case.  There seems to always be something more educational going on like, attending to our vegetable garden, picking up two little birds that fell from their nest, watching the goat birth twin kids, talking to visitors, walking to a creek, building a little boat, doing art, selling craigslist items, acting out Bible stories, writing letters to Christians in Prison, cooking, excavating for dinasour fossils, singing, playing piano, helping Dad, working on our family business.....When we are not doing this, my kids favorite time indoors with Mom is to read real living books about historical biographies, God's creation, inspirational stories and of course The Scriptures.

Here is an excellent guide by the Boyer family who have gone before us and from whom I have learned a lot:

(Guest post by Marilyn Boyer of Character Concepts)

One thing I have learned?from one of my struggling learners is that unless some children?want?to learn, they just won’t apply themselves to do it. Unless they?have a desire to learn something, it’s extremely hard for some of them to be able to concentrate and focus.

Some kids are motivated and know what they have to do, set their own goals and get it done.?Other children, however, need to understand why learning is important in order to apply themselves.

If you have a child like this, train yourself to study him and see what matters to to him the most. Then, look for a way to apply what you are trying to teach him to something that he cares about.

For instance, if you are trying to teach handwriting skills and your child just doesn’t care if he writes neatly, let him write something that’s important, like a letter to the editor of the newspaper.

Letters to the editor are one of the most highly read sections of the newspaper, and we found editors love to publish letters written by kids, because it’s so unusual to have a child care enough to write.

Have your child read about an issue and write a letter to be read by thousands of people he can potentially influence. Suddenly, he will care about handwriting, grammar, spelling and communication skills.

If he struggles with math, find a use for that skill you are trying to teach. For example, if you are teaching percentages, go to a sale, let him figure out how much off you are getting on deals, or let him bake a pie and cut it up to learn fractions.

For a boy who loves to build, buy him some wood and let him use measurements to build a bookcase or birdhouse. If your child is interested in airplanes, but not in geometry, let them see the plans the Wright Bros. drew up to make their first glider. These examples are examples of projects I have actually done with my kids.

Find creative ways to apply what you teach, by connecting learning with your kids’ passions, and see if that doesn’t make a huge difference in how they learn.

If you are teaching skills for writing a paper, let your child choose the topic, whether it is about the Tuskegee Airmen or hunting white-tailed deer.

Let your children make bread and sell it, raise chickens, sell the eggs and learn about accounting and small business.

This is the beauty of home education- being able to customize your teaching to your unique child!?I admit, it takes some reprogramming on the part of you, the mom, because we do things the way we’ve seen them done, the way they were taught to us in school. But remember, if there is a better way for your child to learn, climb out of the box and train yourself to enjoy learning with your children!

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The Home Is A Place For Continuous Learning- Part 4

Most of us are pretty familiar with the words in Deuteronomy 6:6-9. “And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up…Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”   This scripture is recited everyday in Jewish homes and weekly in the synagogue, yet, those reciting it have yet to understand it or begin to obey it.  God is clearly charging parents with the education of their children of both knowledge and Biblical truth.   It doesn’t mean that parents are to be the sole teachers of their children.  But, we are responsible and have complete authority to choose what kind of education and who teaches our children.  I would advocate that it is a great advantage to have the children, especially the young ones, being home educated because parents would be more able to shepherd the child’s heart than only seeing him a few hours a day.   Deuteronomy does say to teach our children throughout the day. 

In fact, due to our present controlling government, home educating our children can have the greatest impact to how our government and country changes in future years.   Making our homes a center for our children’s education will give a big blow to the “socialist agenda” our government has planned to go.

Nothing is “free”

The idea that public education is free is a big lie.  Every time something is said to be free, we become very discerning, especially if it comes from the government.  Public school, including charter schools, comes with a price tag, your freedom and your children.  For the last 200 years, people lost sight of how important freedom in education is.  We have given our children away to be indoctrinated by a humanist, atheist and immoral system of education.   One of the most important documentary films that clearly explain the indoctrination in the public schools is Indoctrination.  Get it. It is absolutely to be in our home library.  I have given it to neighbors and they have immediately made the decision to home educate their children just by watching this documentary.

Best Time To Home Educate Is Now

Like never before in history, we can home educate our children and be able to teach them anything we want under the sun.  Information has never before been so readily available with technology, like the internet and all the books available for free.  Seriously, who can’t home educate?  When my children ask me a question that I don’t know the answer,  I tell them, “let’s research it”.  They are learning that there are no limitations to learning.  If the Wright Brothers could invent the mechanics of flying, with limited resources available, and the countless of inventors and discoveries made, we have no excuse.

Advantages of Home Education

I will give just a short list of the benefits of home educating because they are simply many.

1. We have the privilege of being our children’s main teachers.


2. Learn to love to explore and make discoveries in
   God’s creation.


3. We can better shepherd our children’s hearts.  And have their hearts.


4. We indoctrinate our children in Biblical Truth and how to love God.


5. We can teach them what they are interested about instead of insignificant or unwanted material.


6. The whole world is their classroom instead of being locked up in a school campus.


7. Experience the blessings of God by obeying this command.


8. The subjects to learn together as a family are limitless.


9. Build stronger faithful generations as our children also home educate their children and continue.

10.Our churches and government will be stronger and more godly as we raise our children to lead in the world and take dominion.

11.We teach and learn from living an adventurous life with our children.

12.No time restrictions and no wasted time:  We teach while cooking, cleaning, gardening, home birthing, shopping, eating, at every moment and opportunity.

There are so many more.  These blessings are not easy either.  There will be things we may need to sacrifice to have our freedom.  I don’t believe anyone has obstacles in this area that can’t be overcome.  I speak from experience.  When you weigh the cost, the obstacles are worthless.  The souls of our children are worth more.

Is your home a place for education?  If you wish to home educate what are your fears?

The Home - Part 5

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Our Winter Family Schedule

[caption id="attachment_1251" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Winter Family Schedule[/caption]

A great relief about homeschooling is the flexibility in the every day schedule.  Every year our life changes.  We have new needs to meet, children are growing, a new baby, budget change and the list goes on.  I am constantly restructuring our daily schedule for me and the children.  I have had  a couple of months with no schedule when Liberty was born and we were moving.  Our day was all over the place.  Since I am a structured person by nature, days like these help me to create a balance, grow in patience and do what is more important.  When I had boxes all over the house, a newborn, I barely got to breakfast and it is almost noon, I would sit with my Bible open and gather the children around.  Then, we would spend some quality time in Bible discussion, prayer and worship.  My favorite passage to study and discuss when these days come, is the story about Jesus, Mary and Martha.  I would explain to the children, "...only one thing is necessary, Jesus said, to be at His feet, to delight in Him, to listen to Him, to learn from Him."  What precious moments we can have with our Savior and our children even when all else around fails.  Somehow, these moments are more meaningful.

Having said that, it is not to excuse lack of organization in the home,  we are after all, the keepers of the home.  As soon as possible, even if it takes one whole day, I would put the new schedule up.  Immediately, I would feel a relief.  The whole family is once again a team toward a goal.  Our schedule changes for various reasons throughout the year.  It could be the arrival of a new baby, first trimester of pregnancy or the change of seasons.  During the winter, we stay indoors most of the time.  So this schedule seemed to work smoothly this year.

I would make a big schedule and place it on a wall that is most visible.  Since we downsized greatly in wall space during our move,  I put the schedule on a manila folder and hung it on the refrigerator which is the best place for it.  Everyone can see it all day.  It goes like this:

1.  Get Ready for the Day:  I explain clearly what this means, very, very often.  It means, make bed, get dressed, do your hair and come for breakfast.

2. Breakfast.  During breakfast, we memorize Scripture.

3. Circle Time:  We gather around for Bible reading, discussion and prayer

4. Learning:  This is when we do homeschool academics, math, reading, writing, history, science etc.

5.  Lunch

6. Quiet time:  On a good day, both, baby and toddler go down for a nap.  The two older do quiet play with an activity we rotate weekly.

7. Children's Hour:  After Noah falls asleep, I read to the two older ones.

8. Daily activity:  Everyday we do a different activity when Noah wakes up from his nap.  I get a snack for everyone and we either do, music, art, tea party, go to town, dance or practice time.



7.  Daily chore:  This chore also changes every day.  Monday is laundry day.  Tuesday is Kitchen day, so we clean the kitchen, refrigerator, floor, areas that I don't clean daily.  And I spend all day cooking and preparing for the week's menu. On Wednesday, Danielle has music lessons, so we go to town and squeeze as many errands as I can, buy groceries, go to the library, etc.

8.  Free time:  I am changing this to Practice Time.  Whatever they choose to do, they are to practice love and selflessness.

9.  Afternoon chores:  Tis is a quick pick up around the house before dinner.  I put a praise song and everyone goes around with a basket collecting  misplaced things and putting them where they belong.

10.  Dinner time:  Everyone takes a turn sharing what they did during the day or learned land a "high" and "low" of the day.

11. Family Worship:  Dad leads the family in a study of God's Word and prayer.  This is my favorite part of the day!

12.  Get ready for bed:  this means brush teeth and put on pajamas.

This schedule ran smoothly, when we followed it.  Like with any schedule, it is a guide and a tool to help us.  We never followed it religiously.  this schedule allowed for flexibility with in each block of time.  For example, during the Learning Time, before lunch, if the weather was nice, we were out for an exploration walk or or other adventure.

How do your winter days go?  Do you follow a schedule?

 

 

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