February 21, 2008
Homeschooling Myths
Home l Organizational help l Homeschool Planner l Encouragement
Welcome to the 21st edition of A Living Education E-zine! We have had a very busy few months with all of our children’s birthdays happening from the end of December until March. Our oldest daughter turned 13 and it was due to a comment she made to me with regards to the teen years, that I came up with the theme for this month’s E-zine.
It is not until we begin a process of renewing our minds that we see how entrenched certain beliefs, attitudes and ideas are in our thinking. These myths can be anything from “When my child turns 13, we start the roller coaster ride of the tumulus teen years” to “Because I am homeschooling my children, they will not have the same problems as school children.”
Other myths that surround the homeschooling movement are that all children naturally excel in this environment, mothers are completely fulfilled homeschooling and parenting all day, the family is all that you need and other such remarks.
For a homeschool mom who has a child that IS struggling or a mom who is not feeling content with only homeschooling her children or has a husband that is not only into the “family thing”, these kinds of ideas can become a noose around her neck.
What homeschooling IS about at the end of the day is that God wants to use the process of training and educating our children in our homes as a refining process in our lives. What He does not want is for us to force a system or belief on our families that places us all into bondage.
What then for the mom who is battling with a struggling child or a husband who is not a believer or that she herself is discontent? Drawing closer to the Lord, not getting involved in more activities outside of the home, and learning to discern His voice from all the others who surround her, is the first step. The second is to act in obedience to what He tells her.
Often the way is so clouded due to books we have read, chat groups we belong to or homeschooling support groups who follow one school of thought. It is so very important that we diligently seek God’s will for our families, learn to live in the circumstances we are in and pursue change that God opens in our lives.
Believing a homeschooling myth, which can be anything from how many children you should have to what program you should use, can be one of the most damaging ingredients in a homeschooling mom’s lifestyle. Following God’s perfect plan for your family is the only thing that will bring the right fruit in your life, your husband’s life and your children’s lives.
Charlotte Mason
The age of myths…not to be dispelled but for idea food for our children! One of my sons favourite story books from his younger years is the Usborne Book of Greek Myths He played out many heroic tales from this book along with great heroes from history.
Charlotte Mason says that we should allow our children to learn about the past when “giants roamed the land” and part of that is allowing our children access to stories like fables, myths and legends.
There is often some concern from Christian parents that children need to rather learn these things later on when they are more fully grounded in the truth from the Bible. This is indeed a concern for some families, but we have found that our children have always been able to discern the difference between mythical stories and Biblical truth as has been taught to them and as they live alongside us and see our faith being worked out before them.
Myths, legends and fables are wonderful idea food for children’s play times. For young children, dressing up and role play is one of the primary tools for learning in a homeschool home. Allowing children access to this genre of writing before they are in the self conscious older years and no longer keen on dressing up, is a great way for them to develop relationship with the characters they have learnt about.
Family and Sibling Relationships
There is such a large spectrum of homeschool methods and philosophies amongst us homeschoolers. It is no wonder that I often get very confused mommies emailing me not having an idea where to start with homeschooling. There is also a tendency in those who are completely “sold out” on the philosophy that they have chosen to become judgemental of the choices of others.
When questioning folk like this they will all agree in the uniqueness of each person, adult and child, and that each person is free to choose what works for them. But often on further listening you often find a deep seated self-righteousness in their choice that prevents them from freely entering into relationship with other homeschoolers who are choosing a different path.
When we realise that homeschooling is less about curriculum and philosophy but is more about the hearts of our children using the tool of education as one more way to train our children in orderliness, neatness, perfect execution and academic knowledge, then we see that our curriculum that we buy or philosophy that we follow, is just a stepping stone towards a future goal.
Organizational Tips
Do you ever feel overwhelmed with all that you need to do in your home? I do! I find that if I don’t keep on top of my clutter collecting areas each day, after a week I feel so overwhelmed that I do not know where to start. I have a spot at my desk that collects papers, and well, they make babies over night!
To prevent this from happening I devote a few minutes each day to throw away, put away or deal with. Accounts I place in a folder for pay day, items to read get read, and filing gets done. This way I don’t have a pile of papers growing next to my desk. Read more...
Another spot that collects stuff is above my microwave oven. It seems to be a gathering spot for my children’s artwork, my keys and bag, broken toys and my husband’s wallet. My last chore in the kitchen at night is to sort this spot by hanging up my bag and keys, determining whether the toy can be mended and then placed in the mending draw and to put the art work in the school room.
Do you have a few minutes in your day to deal with your clutter collection points?
Your Marriage
When talking about dispelling myths I cannot help think about the pictures we create in our mind about what a perfect husband looks like. This varies widely from group to group depending on what has fed their mindset and worldview. For many years I believed that my husband needed to leave the corporate world and become a salt of the earth farmer, working alongside his children, building us a farm house and living off the land.
Boy…was I in for a surprise when we climbed the corporate ladder for 17 years instead! Yet in the back of my mind I was constantly measuring my husband to a hopelessly false expectation of what my “perfect” husband and father to our children would be.
Slowly as God removed the scales from my eyes I have been amazed to see this transformation in my husband...seeing him for who he is, loving him right here, right now and not waiting for the farmer to come driving in on his tractor.
All joking aside, do make a conscious effort not to measure your husband to another’s, rejoice in who God has brought alongside you and allow Him to transform and grow your husband.
Quote
“…children come into the world with a natural [appetite] for, and affinity with, all the material of knowledge; for interest in the heroic past and in the age of myths; for a desire to know about everything that moves and lives; about strange places and strange peoples; for a wish to handle material and to make; a desire to run and ride and row and do whatever the law of gravitation permits. Therefore. . . we endeavour that he shall have relations of pleasure and intimacy established with as many possible of the interests proper to him; not learning a slight or incomplete smattering about this or that subject, but plunging into vital knowledge, with a great field before him which in all his life he will not be able to explore." Charlotte Mason
Living books
After our recent trip to London and seeing Britian's rich historical heritage, I bought Our Island Story to read with our children. What a wonderful chronological portrayal of the history of England and full of “idea-food” for our children.
Jim Weiss has a series of audio books for parents who would like to grow their children’s knowledge base with regards to Shakespeare, Myths and Legends. Audio books are great for days if children are sick, mom needs a little time out, indoor winter days or you have a long car trip planned. Our favourites are:
Egyptian Treasures & Stargazers
The Three Musketeers & Robin Hood
Homeschool Curriculum For Life News!
Homeschool Curriculum For Life is undergoing a facelift! The homepage has been redesigned and I will slowly work through the rest of my site as time permits to transfer my existing information to this new style.
The reason that I have done this is two fold – one it furthers my education in web design and second, it creates a faster loading page for my visitors as well as a more memorable visit to the site. SiteSell gave me the training wheels that I needed to get this website off the ground and now they are helping me further with tutorials on how to make it even better for you!
I do hope you follow the updates and that you enjoy the new format. For those who have been subscribed to my E-zine for a long time I am sure you noticed the new format for this E-zine too!
Take care until next time,
God’s richest blessings to you as you homeschool,
Wendy
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