So another school year is upon us...and many of you may be wondering what's new with us? We started our home school journey 7 years ago and during that time we've walked many paths while learning what approach to learning is the best fit for our family. Thankfully, there are so many methods and approaches out there that families can find something that fits their unique features and learning philosophy! Because many of you aren't familiar with our journey so far, I'll give you an overview.
Our journey started with a more traditional approach, although right from the start my heart had a very different picture of what I wanted our school to look like. A traditional approach felt "safe", was easier to explain to family and friends, and made you feel like you were accomplishing something as you worked your way through workbooks. Both the kids and I shed many tears that year as we made our way through this approach.
Unfortunately, traditional home schooling wasn't a good match for the kids that God blessed us with and I looked back this fall and saw that I had posted this graphic on Facebook which summed up what I had learned in my first year of home schooling my kids. It's like God was working on my heart about interest led learning already long ago.
And so, we looked into doing another approach, to see if we could find a better fit...
The next few years we tried a few Unit Study approach curriculums. It was definitely a better fit for us. I loved how it tied in more than one subject and showed how the world isn't divided into subjects but all aspects interact with each other.
We had some wonderful bonding times doing various projects and learning activities over those years and especially enjoyed our year of exploring countries and cultures together. But still, it wasn't a good fit...it was still too textbook-y for our family.
The next approach we tried was the Charlotte Mason approach. While I won't get into the particulars of the whole approach, one of the features that appealed to me was the use of "living books"! We read many books that brought our subject matter alive and we enjoyed nature study and Shakespeare, artist and composer study, and many other aspects.
And yet, as time went on...God continued moving in my heart that this approach was not a good fit for my "you can lead them to water but can't make them drink" child. One principle that Charlotte Mason emphasized was that "children are born persons". The more I thought on that, the more I believe God worked in my heart to see how God made and wired my children.
All these experiences led me to begin researching a different approach. It is known by many names, and has a very wide spectrum. And it looks different for each and every family. You may have heard people use names such as unschooling, relaxed homeschooling, child led learning, life schooling, radical unschoolers, interest led learning. Since we are a Christian family, I wanted Christ to remain the center of our lives and education, so I particularly searched out information about Christian unschooling. What does it look like? How do they teach their children character? Is it supported by scripture?
While researching, I came across Deuteronomy 6:6-7 which spoke to my apprehensive heart, that my kids education should take place as we travel through life. God knit my kids together with all their unique personalities, qualities, strengths and weaknesses. He has a plan for their lives to do specific things that he uniquely designed them for.
I feel like at times, with the various approaches we've tried, that I have fought against who God has made my kids to be. I have fought against where He was trying to lead me. I was making control of my childrens education an idol and not wanting to give up the sense of control. And so this spring, I decided to stop fighting against God's call for how to educate my children, and we stepped into the unknown. It has brought life to our family, and peace, and respect for one another...and character issues that we had been fighting against for years have melted away.
People often think that "unschooling" is just parents doing nothing, which is one reason I generally avoid using that term to describe our learning approach. But I can attest to the fact that it is not...in fact, I would say it demands more of me than other styles!
Firstly, it takes trusting God. I have no little boxes to check off any more to quell my anxiety of whether they are successful in learning. I have to trust that God has a unique definition of success for each of my kids.
Next, I have to trust that my kids God given interests and curiousity will lead them to learn about all that they need to to meet their God defined measure of success.
It also takes me being an active partner and facilitator of their learning. I help them find resources for their learning and opportunites to try new things as they continue to grow into the people that God has created them to be! This means I really have to have my finger on the pulse of what their interests are! I also have to model learning by having interests of my own.
And so we have made the switch to embark on a life schooling journey. Life IS school here.
Its been beautiful to watch how this is playing out with each kid. Megan really thrived with Charlotte Mason style and so what she is choosing to do for her education looks a lot like it--but the biggest difference is that she's making the choices of what to include.
She wants to learn to play guitar, discuss current events, take some drawing courses, read 1984 and a myriad of other books, and learn about world religions.
It's not surprising that Carson spends most of his time learning while working on creating his own video game. Some of the skills he is honing are geometry related to course contruction, computer and keyboarding skills, writing/spelling/grammar when blogging or creating YouTube posts, creating music for the game, and he's working on some soft skills while working on some group projects with friends and relatives.
He got a recipe for strawberry pie with a video game pack recently, so yesterday he (with my assistance and explanations) made us all a strawberry pie and really enjoyed doing so. Don't worry...I will blog about the pie making in a future post.
I look forward to seeing all that God in working on in them during their high school years and who they are becoming!
The "littles" are working on various preschool/kindergarten skills as they show interest and have attention to do so...and at this point its pretty much all play based learning.
And so, I have shared what's new at Wiebe Academy of Life and Learning! We are excited for this new path and to share all that we are learning with you!
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