Unschooling-Unchristian?

I had a homeschooling friend tell me a while back that after thoroughly researching unschooling, she decided that she could not do so because “ A child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. " Actually the whole verse states: Pro 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. That is fine and good. Just because God leads one family a certain direction doesn’t mean he will necessarily lead every family the same way. Only God knows the particular training and circumstances each child will need to fulfill his will for their lives. I judge no one.
Perhaps she was nicely trying to show me the “error of my ways”, I don’t know. At any rate, I have since prayed and given much thought to this verse. I am quite convinced my children are not left to themselves. (Just ask them!)
Firstly, this verse, when taken in context is clearly talking about moral training and duty and perhaps even gross neglect- not necessarily the choice of academic style.
Now admittedly, I sometimes wish that I could leave them to themselves for even 30 minutes (for a break), but the truth is they do still need constant supervision (even my 14 year -old). If you are a parent with more than one child, you know that seldom is there a 10 minute time frame when there is not some infraction committed that needs judged, corrected , discussed, and brought to light of God’s truth. This of course, is very time-consuming and tiring, but absolutely necessary to the Godly training of children. We strive to not allow any bad habits of character, especially those hurtful to others, to be formed or to remain, thus searing young consciences and leading them even further down a path of destruction. It takes much diligence, truth be told. We never throw up our hands and say, “ Whatever! Let them fight it out!” Some may disagree with this, but we have seen that children when left to themselves to work out their disagreements will resort to the flesh, and the world’s way of solving problems. That is, the one that is strongest calling the shots. And they are usually not mature enough to put themselves last and do the righteous thing (unless having been thoroughly, and painstakingly trained for many years to do so.) Most often the strongest uses his strength or cunning to get his /her own way. Manipulation. Many cruel words are spoken and fuel keeps getting thrown on the fire until perhaps if not arrested, tempers can flare so hot the disagreement becomes physical. This certainly is not healthy for either or the relationship. Now, the temptations to deal with are triple. Unforgiveness, revenge, unrepentance, future judgementalness, not to mention developing ungodly behavior patterns where one child is continuously victimized emotionally and left helpless in their anger to the forming tyrannical bully, leaving neither to be able to restore their relationship to God or each other. It is a huge trap of Satan that I see them fall into over and over. We try hard to address and correct every cruel or unkind word spoken, every manipulation, and every unforgiving, unrepentant and angry attitude.

However, this is not what I was going to write about. Back to unschooling and children left to themselves. Now I cannot vouch for other unschoolers, but we do not allow our children to call the shots, make their own schedule, or all their own choices. They do not have unlimited free time to do whatever they will. We know that even a small amount of time allowing it makes them extremely willful and unsubmissive, complainy, and uncooperative. This environment allows for self to have full reign making them extremely self-centered and self-motivated. This would be very counterproductive to the Godly training we strive for.
No, our children have a basic daily schedule, that while not set ridgedly in stone, allow for a fairly consistent time frame for their day. They know what to expect, and what is expected of them and this gives them a certain amount of security and flow to our lives. We wake at around the same time daily. They have an hour to be fed, rooms/beds straightened, and dressed. (This includes teeth hair, different clothes-particularly undergarments, deodorant , etc. You may laugh, but this actually is asked every day, and takes quite a bit of training for 6 children of various ages.) They then must gather in the living room for family devotion and prayer time. This of course, is more training in simply being attentive and still ( especially for the younger ones) and we hope for participation. Next, we have a 30 minute cleaning spree we call “morning chores” usually assigned for a 3 week period. By then, if all goes well and there are no major crisis (injuries, fights to work through, spills or general devastation) They have an hour or two before lunch to pursue their own interests and learn about whatever they will. They know that this is more academic learning time and not movie time unless it is educational. All time, every day is learning in some way or another; the character training being more of a priority. But we have found that other “academic “ learning falls naturally within the flow of our daily schedule in certain places. Or you might say that they are free to learn in that way when it doesn’t interfere with set times of meals and chores. All this of course, is flexible to a degree. I mean I am not going to cut off the flowing juices if they are in the middle of a project that they are very excited about , or doing MATH( which is rare enough) just because it is bedtime. After lunch, the next time marker is 4:30 when any remaining chores must be finished before dad returns and we have family suppertime at anywhere from 6:00-7:00 depending on when dad gets home. After meal clean-up, that we do as a family, they usually have some time to play read, or finish whatever interest or project they were doing. A lot of times we read as a family, ( last night, Dad took them for a walk in the snowy night-cause mom was not feeling well.) Then we usually join for devotion/prayer led by Dad. This is also a time for everyone to reconnect and share with dad all of their day. So we have found that this relaxed structure with certain daily landmarks works well for us.
Now granted, there are times, that if I used my eyes only, it would appear that they weren’t doing much learning- and I will start to give nudges, ideas and suggestions or sit down with a child to play a learning activity- try to get the juices flowing. But I try not to worry and trust God ; these times usually don’t last very long. I’m starting to see that people naturally learn large amounts in spurts (I do as well) and then the brain needs time to digest and rest from academic learning. As long as we can still see and gauge tangible improvement /advancement, and most importantly a desire and love of learning, we are satisfied. We trust that God will equip, lead and guide them for His purpose in their lives.
Another negative remark I have heard about, is the statement that God is a God of order and structure and therefore unschooling can’t possibly be His will. But whose order? God’s order is not necessarily our idea of order, and certainly not society’s idea of when and what every child should learn. Every child is as unique as God’s plan for their individual lives, and only the Holy spirit knows what and when they are ready for something. We allow God the freedom to do this, and truly, I don’t see how He could otherwise. We have since seen an excitement and joy for learning, even the basic academic subjects, return slowly to the children. They are all reading many more books on various subjects (unprompted) and best of all their talents and gifting and callings are becoming apparent. We still feel confident that this is God’s will for our family.

Higher Standards

The Lord is drawing us to higher standards in our educational choices for our children. Basically, if it is not from a Christian source, it is not for us. Yes, that even means no National geographic or other educational dvds from the library. This is kinda hard as you can imagine; we depended on the library for a lot of our resources. We haven’t completely weaned off from the library yet, and sometimes we bend our own rule- but we are trying. There are still a few decent selections (diamonds in the rough )there, but they are getting increasingly harder to find and all the junk one has to wade through to find them! There are so many great Christian based resources/curriculum out there (not free of course) we need not worry about not getting great educational material. This new standard is forcing us to invest more money into the really good stuff out there, which is a good thing. The kids are excited to each get to choose some new, dvd, game, book, manipulative, or science kit each month. Dad and I are excited too! First on our list will be Diana Warings Ancient Civilizations package.

Another Week At A Glance

Yep, another update so soon. As I said, when it rains it pours! The kids have been getting quite a few lessons with Dad lately. He is always sharing with them some new and interesting thing, usually a video on the computer. This past week they learned/watched how cornflakes were made, about immigration and world poverty, and Eugenics. He also gave them a lesson on making coffee, which developed into where electricity comes from, and different types of energy, which also led to a lively discussion about what happens to people when they get electrocuted or struck by lightning. We then took them down to the laundry room to show them all the processes for doing all the laundry (I admit, I had been keeping this chore to myself-well actually Nathan was my helper and knows how to do it all.) German machines are different. They studied and talked about condensation, and about the electrical and plumbing lines down there as well. James is planning some survival excursions in the forest for next spring and a scavenger/treasure hunt using coordinates and a compass. I think we are going to take the kids on a letterbox adventure at a castle nearby. The homeschool group had planned it and then had to cancel- so we might do it as a family. Should be fun- that is right up Jacob’s alley.
Learning time with dad is a wonderful treat, as he doesn’t get to do it as much he’d like because of work. The kids are very responsive.

They also love to listen to preaching or teaching tapes while we are driving as a family. We just started Diana Warings History Alive series- it is truly fascinating, always prompting lots of questions and discussions. We are ordering her Ancient Civilizations package next month- can’t wait!

Friday, Jacob self initiated doing a lesson of math out of his Abeka textbook (instead of using all the myriad of manipulatives and games we have-hmmpf! go figure!) I guess I won’t get rid of all those textbooks after all- they keep getting them out and using them! He had the lesson completed (which was 100%) before everyone had even finished breakfast and getting ready for the day. I think he actually enjoyed it too! I told him it was like detective work, using the clues to solve a problem or mystery. He checked out some Hardy Boys books at the library yesterday. I think he is taking a break from the Circle Trilogy. He has also been writing in his detective journal.

Micah and Jacob made some cool, elaborate paper blow guns that they had learned how to do on youtube. They have quite a bit of force and distance- had to buy a lot more tape yesterday. Micah even attached an ammo box full of shrapnel on his and Jacob’s has a scope.

Nathan and Hannah have worked in their vtecs quite a bit this week, doing some of the games they hadn’t learned yet. Nathan is surprising me more and more with how many letters and sounds he knows. He goes around sounding out words all the time. The other day he was attempting to write words- he knew what they said, anyway. His favorite thing is when it is his turn to sleep with me, and we draw letters on each other’s backs. This is something I have always done with all the kids, sometimes with shaving cream on their backs while bathing. If I’m not mistaking the signs, he will show a real interest in reading soon. He and Eden did some painting this week, and made noodle necklaces and then painted them for the letter N. (I had a hard time keeping Eden from eating them later.) He drew some fabulous drawings of cats, tigers, zebras and other animals with quite a bit of detail, which would be something a much older child than 4 would do. I was quite amazed. He and Hannah got some new puzzles, and they were very excited to do them. Nathan only required a little help. His was a polar bear, and Hannah’s was a horse of course. Nathan picked out several books from the library of various animals, and even a large, thick animal encyclopedia. He also got some books on space and some magic school bus books. These he loves because when he was younger we had a few MSB videos.

Eden is going through a book phase. She has to carry a few around with her EVERYWHERE she goes. Upstairs, downstairs, to the potty, to the car, to bed-gets kinda annoying actually, especially when she screams when they are out of her sight, she drops them, or she thinks that someone is taking them. (We are working on her screaming habit.) She chose a couple at the library yesterday, and every person in the family had read them to her twice I think before the day was done. She barely let go of them to have them checked out. And what a fit she threw at bedtime when I wouldn’t let her sleep with them! Still, I’m glad she is taking an interest in books. She also goes around trying to sing her ABCs and sounding out words like Nathan does. I’m pretty sure she is just mimicking though-but maybe not, she is quite bright, and quite a drama queen! Her favorite thing is having me sing every song I know to her when it is her turn to sleep with me. And playing duck duck goose! She has also taken to wanting to give me massages lately and always wants someone to scratch her back. What a toot she is!

Hannah completed her doll and is so proud! This past week, she has been reading and drawing a lot! Quite frequently she asks me to help her spell some word, so I know she is writing too. Mostly I have been reading On the Banks of Plum Creek, which we just finished and she is so anxious to start the next one that we checked out from the library yesterday. She just loves this book series! I plan to buy her the whole set for her very own soon. Jacob and even Micah also conveniently shows up and hangs around for most of the readings and pretends to not like it by making fun of it a lot. (Jacob got mad one time when we read a chapter without him- and oh how he loathes Nellie Oleson being mean to Laura! That’s the hero in him.) They all go around quoting the books frequently. It has been a lot of fun and great learning!

And what has our aspiring writer been up to? A lot, as usual. When Micah is not working on his book, he is playing guitar, yo-yoing, making weapons out of paper, watching ed. youtube videos or reading. He has also independently been working in his math and grammar books this week. He went to a German church service with his German friend the other evening and was quite moved by the beauty and music. He also allowed me to read some of his book, which is quite fabulous and we had a long discussion about developing character, using similes, and plenty of 5 senses description to help the reader really be there. I was privileged, that he asked me to be his editor! He must have thought I knew what I was talking about. It is great to see him so motivated about writing. His talents and potentials seem to be unlimited. He is also after only two days of yo-yoing, an amature professional- amazing all of us with his death-defying tricks. I say death- defying, because he has come close to whacking a few of us in the head a couple of times. Still, he’s good!
Well, they will be trickling down from the bedrooms soon, so I should go start breakfast.

" I'm So Proud of You!"

The other day Eden( age 2) was mimicking how Nathan has been sounding out words. ex. b b b ball. She thought it was a great game. She made the d sound three times, then yelled out Dog! I thought I would join in and encourage her and said d d dDad! She clapped her hands and said, "Good! I'm so proud of you! You did it!" I quickly realized that she was being the teacher teaching me phonics!

Backwards Day

The other day I declared "Backwards Day" We did everything backwards. We stayed in our pajamas and didn't get dressed till that night. We ate in our rooms instead of at the table. I cooked pasta, rolls, and corn(no salad of course/ nothing healthy, that would be bad)in the morning for our "supper". We likewise had cereal and toaster strudles for "breakfast" that night. Poor James, didn't know what he was walking into when he got home. And the kids personal favorite-No chores or any responsibility!, and video games(nice educatioanl ones of course), during the week( gasp!) After each playing around of 20 min. however, the ugliness springing out of them put a stop to it pretty quickly. My point was to have fun in making a point, not to actually cause them any harm. They did not like however, when I said," Now, since we don't do structured"school" like the rest of the world does, normally, today we are! We will sit at the table with textbooks, and do every unrelated subject over the next 8 hours straiht, only breaking for lunch. I will cram as many facts into your head as I can whether or not you are ready developmentally for it and expect you to know them for the test later." Oh the look of horror and shock on their faces! Of course I did not follow through, like I said I did not want to harm the children, only make a point, which was made well enough by just proposing it. And what was the point you ask? Was there method and meaning to this madness?
Yes, actually.
The whole thing was an object lesson on Isiaih 5:20,21. Where God says " Woe unto them who call evil good and good evil, who call darkness,light and light darkness."(not exact quote)
We discussed many of the things the world says are good but showed scripurally where God says it is bad. Some examples were having lots of money( that's a biggie and sooo pervasive in our society) Getting lots of education so as to get the most amount of money and glory. Woman's rights, for ex.( not that I am for woman being abused wrongly by their God given authority,namely men)Rights such as abortion, equal ability/standing and pursuit of "fulfilling careers". Society implies that being a"barefoot and pregnant" housewife and supporting and being in subjection to your man is shameful. When in fact, the Bible teaches that we are to be keepers at home, submiting to our husbands, bearing much fruit(which the bible calls a blessing for women) and raising and training that fruit in the ways of the Lord. This is the highest calling one could ever hope for(and the most challenging and personlly fulfilling, I might add) These lies perpetuated in the world are a big part of why the infrastructure of the family and consequently society is deteriorating so fast. Women's selfish needs and ambishons for personal fulfillment have replaced there sense of duty to the detriment of there family. Some even put there kids in daycare as babies although they don't have to go to work, because as one woman told me, she "needed a break and didn't want to get burned out", as if children are a terrible burden instead of the most incredible joy that they are. Same said woman even said that the doctor, at her childs check up, and the child's psycologist advised her to keep her child in daycare so the child wouldn't be clingy, although there was known abuse to several children there, that even this woman admitted to me she had seen the adverse effects of in her child! Wow! talk about backwards! I hope my words had an effect on her. And we wonder why there is such vast rifts in parent/child relationships-duh!?! I didn't really mean to get on a soap box, but I guess I take it personally where the essence, purity, nobility, beauty and purpose of a woman is so perverted and destroyed and the children suffer for it.( And I daresay the woman too!) ( breathe, smooth red hair- If I were a preacher I'd be wiping the spittle off my chin and the sweat off my brow!-hmmpf!)
Let's not forget immunizations and modern medicine, especially the whole corrupt cancer racket. DON"T get me started on that- research it yourself!
There are more subtle things too, like industrialization and pasturized milk.

Things that the the world says are bad, that God declares "Good" are homeschooling(self-righteous wierdos), religion(what a crux for a weak mind!),rural living(how uncivilized, just a hand laborer), living simple with few possesions, and large families(gross,what's wrong with you? Are you ever going to get fixed" ie, willfully sterilized?!?!)I guess lots of kids would be bad if you viewed them as estranged, burdensome, little monsters(product of society and public school). Ouch that was harsh.(What's wrong with me today?)

Anyway, we know that human nature and the carnal mind is enmity against God, but woe unto them. It is our duty as parents to keep our children from falling into satan's traps though these false, anti-scriptural worldviews. Enough said. I think it was a very effective and eye-opening object lesson for the kids, who admitted that although some of these things might be fun for a day or so, eventually they would be sick of it, and not to mention run out of clean clothes and dishes. So although we may seem backwards to the world, it really just depends on where the front is and which way you are facing. So go and live a "backwards" life!

From a Poetic Genius

Wanted to share Micah's first real poem.(Even though he is a romantic visionary/entertainer, he is after all, still male) This is his first unrevised/unedited draft. Enjoy!

Monday, November 15, 2010Pipe Monkeys
This poem was inspired when my dad and I were doing laundry in a hotel we were staying at.
My dad pointed out a strange, taping sound coming from one of the sinks. I imagined that it was a monkey hitting the pipes with his hands like it was a bongo. Enjoy!


Pipe Monkeys

In the cabinet of the kitchen in the hotel where I am,
Some monkeys gather round and one begins to jam,
They all crowd around him and he hits the pipes,
Make'n a beat,
I move my feet and it feels so sweet,
I start to wonder, "who is this guy",
I love how he plays those pipes but why
I have to meet this dude,
But first,
I need to get some food.


So, after my snack,
I plan my sneak attack,
On knowlege,
My quesions fill my mind like a forrest is filled with folige,
I opened the cabinet under the sink,
Out seeped a horible stink,
"The monkeys!" I thought,
I was so happy I cried,
When I finished,
I stepped inside,
It was dark, there was no light,
Then suddenly it was bright!

The room was lit by srobes,
And red and blue probes!
Then the monkey's beautiful beat rang out,
It began with tap tap tap boom!
Then exploded into a flowing river of impressive piping moves'
That rang through the room,
"Wow, he's good!" I marveled,
I pushed through the crowd and stood at the front of the stage,
The monkey who played was a dark shade of beige,
He wore a blonde surfer's wig,
And a pair of sun glasses that Elvis would really dig,

All eyes were now on me,
The music stopped and the room was in a strange hush,
The monkey took out a combe and gave his wig a brush,
Then he spoke,
"Hello Mr.Mcgee. May, I call you Micah?"
I was shocked. Finaly I spoke "Sure" I said,
"Good. Now come on up here, and give these pipes a slide."
"Really? I can?"
"Yeah! I really like you human folk. By the way my name is Dan.",
So, I climbed on stage and played a beat that I learned,
I found the music gave my heart every thing for which it yearned,
Dan joined in and the monkeys were dancing again,
Then, when it was 2:10 p.m,
I played one last flop!,
Then the music came to a shattering stop,
I said I had to do chores,
And was met with a lot of "what ifs" and "ors",
I said I really must go,
and my departure was slow,
Then after promising to come back tomarrow for the last time,
I heard my cell phone chime,
I told my mom I was on my way,
As I left I told myself I would never forget that day,
When the pipe monkeys taught me how to play.
-Micah Mcgee


NOW I know why it takes him so long to do his chores!lol!

Aquadrom

We all went to the Aquadrom today for a field-trip with the homeschool group. All I can say is "WOW!" The Germans really know how to do these indoor swimming resorts. I think I counted 6 indoor pools and 3 outdoor ones- all heated, not including the suana. Indoor slides and diving boards, kiddiepools, and wading pools; there truely is somthing for everyone. Everyone's favorite was the outdoor circular, heated, saltwater therapy pool. Hannah especially swam like a fish here, even in water over her head, because she was so buoyant. Nathan used floaties and loved being independant. There was a whirlpool-like current around the outer edge, that you could ride around on. It also had a lounge area in the middle, sauna benches here and there, a massage waterfall, and bubbling geyers that spring up periodically. It felt wonderful! All our friends were there and it was so great for everyone to have an outing! We ended the day with a stop to the PX to get yoyos and pizza! They are all currently practicing yo-yo tricks in their rooms while waiting for lights out.