Striking a Balance

Striking a Balance

One of the greatest challenges we are facing as new homeschoolers is figuring out an educational philosophy that fits with Lucas' learning style and satisfies my need to feel like he is learning what will be necessary in the future to be well educated and successful.  I have read a lot about the idea of unschooling, and I am really enamored of the concept. The unschooling philosophy is based on education pioneer John Holt's 1964 book "How Children Fail." Put simply, Holt wrote that living is learning. He believed children should follow their innate curiosity and passions rather than being forced to learn hordes of information they will never use.

I've read countless stories of families who have used this philosophy and have kids who grow up as capable adults, and ending up in jobs which reflect their personal passions.  What better way to define success than to be able to make a living doing something you love and have a passion for? 

This model of self education of course relies on a child's innate curiosity, and the idea that nurturing this curiosity and providing them with the support and structure they need to pursue their interests fully will allow for a well rounded and well educated child.

At the same time, I feel like in this time of transition from regular school, Lucas needs a certain amount of guidance and school-like structure.  He, for example, would never voluntarily ask to learn math, but I feel that there are some major concepts such as multiplication and division which are introduced in 3rd grade that I want him to learn and feel proficient in by the end of the school year.

So, we are trying to find a balance between the two.  I'm trying to help him explore things he's naturally curious about, and take what learning opportunities we can within those subjects.  For example, with his current bug obsession, we read about bugs, to practice reading skills, draw them, learn about their life cycle, which is science, and I have had him write stories about what it might be like to wake up and find he had been turned into a spider.   We also use Google to look up whatever questions he might have pop up, like how long does a scorpion live, or where is the Ivory Coast, where Emperor Scorpions come from.

We also do a more structured curriculum for math and language arts, which although not his favourite thing, allows me to feel that he is learning the important concepts that he should be at this age.  I also am making an effort to incorporate math vocabulary and concepts into everyday life, such as talking about percentages we may hear on TV, and what they mean, or look like represented on a pie chart, and also fractions, as in when we follow a recipe to make something.  Making him aware of these concepts allows him to start to see the patterns of math and how they apply in the real world.

In this way, I see learning happen organically, and I see him gain confidence in his ability to learn about the world around him.  This learning sticks, unlike most of what is being taught in school, which, unless the child has a genuine interest in what is being taught, is quickly forgotten.  I'd much rather have 2-3 hours of "school time" (which includes math and language arts) and have meaningful learning take place, than have him waste 7 hours at school and come home unable to tell me anything he'd learned that day.  This also leaves plenty of time for the physical pursuits that he really loves, such as soccer, hip hop dance, and tennis, all of which he's able to do as a part of various homeschool sports programs.

Hopefully this style of school, with some structure, but plenty of time focusing on what interests him as well, will continue to work well for us as we go along. I

The Adventure Begins...

So, it all begins with an idea...and mine was a crazy one.  I had the thought that perhaps I could bring my son, Lucas, home from school and become the teacher in his world.

I knew it wouldn't be easy, as nothing with Lucas ever is.  I knew it would not be boring, or like any of the scenarios in any other homeschooler's houses.  And I was right, it is none of the above!

Lucas has hated school since Kindergarten, and I've always felt a sense of helplessness when seeing him struggle with teachers he felt didn't understand him, endless days of needing to sit still when he wanted to be running around, and ridiculous amounts of "busy work" that all teachers throw at kids.  Ostensibly, the idea is that if you throw enough of this work at the kids, some of it will stick, hopefully the stuff that they will be tested on by the state, since these test scores determine everything from school funding to area house prices.

Over the last three years, I've seen the light go out of his eyes as far as school and learning are concerned, and the endless homework meant that he had very little time or interest in learning anything for its own sake.  The times I did see a spark were when he was on summer vacation, and he would spend his days and weeks learning about whichever insect he happened to catch that day.

After months of regular tears and begging me to homeschool him, I decided that I would give it a go.  I would see it as a grand experiment, and take it one day at a time, rather than think of where we might be 10 years from now educationally and emotionally.  And so, we said good-bye to the public school system this past June, and here I am, questioning my decision daily, trying not to be too hard on him, or myself in these early days. I know everything is trial and error right now, and it will probably always be this way to some extent, but I still feel positive and justified in my decision to try and help him rediscover the joy of learning....

I won't lie and say that the first two weeks have been a breeze.  Frustrations on both sides, and unrealistic expectations on my part have made me take a step back several times, to think about what I really want to achieve, what I want him to achieve, and how we will get there with the most fun and least tears.

We have had some great high points, though; a visit to Insectropolis, a bug museum in Toms River, NJ, where we got to touch several creepy crawlies, and even purchased a lovely framed assortment of bugs as a souvenir, and my favourite so far, a homeschool art class at the Montclair Art Museum.

At the MAM, the theme for the class was Katsina dolls (also spelled Kachina in the past), as can be found in native art in the Southwestern areas of the United States.  These dolls are given to their children, and are representations of the costumes used by adult members of the tribes during Katsina dances and rituals, which are generally prayers for things such as a bountiful harvest, rain or healing of a sick member.  We got to see several examples of authentic Katsina dolls, and then had a chance to make our own.

Here are a couple of actual Katsinas

And here are ours

 

The one on the bottom is Lucas' and mine is obviously the one on the top...

At some point during the project, I decided that my Katsina doll would be representative of my personal prayer as a homeschooling mom.  It goes as follows:

Please give me:
Ears, to really hear what's being said
A sunny disposition on the rainiest day
Wise eyes, that see the best in him
A smile on my face, and an open heart
Arms to hug, and hold my belly in laughter
Wings to help this endeavour take flight...

Let's hope it works!!