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I have been reading, praying, observing my children, and thinking (good combination don't ya think)? Anyway, I have noticed something that has given me some insight and help to give me strength to bite my tongue to not make schoolish suggestions to my 7 1/2 year old daughter.
I have observed that my 5 1/2 year old son, who has not had any institutionalized schooling of any type, nor have I ever gotten around to actually using that expensive curriculum I bought, has no notion of waiting on me to give him an education. He plays games ("Look Mom, I can say all the months of the year without looking at a calendar!" and then precedes to do so correctly) he explores numbers (how many Legos will it take to make a tower as high as me?) and on and on.
Now my 7 1/2 year old daughter has had a year of private school, and one year of "Mom doing basically the same using curriculum." Even if I used it in a relaxed way, she still was "dependent" on me to say when, what and how we would "learn" each day. When I first started unschooling (in Nov), I kept straddling the fence wondering if I could use the, ackummm, curriculum in some further relaxed way. You know, me looking it over and just making, ackummm, "suggestions." Well, through much prayer, I realized that straddling the fence only gave me a wedgie, (Much discomfort.) So once I abandoned that idea altogether and totally "jumped off the unschooling cliff," I decided to just see how long it would take my 7 1/2 year old daughter to "get with it." And it was taking awhile, but since I now had the realization that she really needed deschooling even from "mommy," I had the strength to bite my tongue! This was hard for me, but with prayer, God enabled me! It helped that we began to be busy with the holidays (Thanksgiving, then Christmas) but every time the "uneasy thoughts" came, I would just pray, pray, pray, and observe, and read some more, and to begin to "think out" my own unschooling convictions. It is like faith in the promises of God, you can hear about it working for others, but unless you work out your own conviction and stand on the Word with your own faith, it does not become "real to you" and you do not reap the benefits thereof. I began to observe which books my child picked up to read, (The Young Children's Encyclopedia by Britannica!! -- a yard sale find), and last night she climbed into bed with me and asked me to read aloud from the book I was reading (by Max Lacado). Now this morning my husband, (who has been asking me "do they get any schooling?" to which I replied they "they get learning!") has informed me of his "bedtime conversation" with her. She "told him" that China was having a wage war with our country to make toys and asked why they only paid their workers in a year what USA would pay their workers a week! This has convinced my husband that they do indeed get "learning"! For everyone that is new and still unsure about will unschooling work for you, pray, pray, pray, observe your child, think out your own convictions, and trust God to direct your child and to enable you! -- anonymous |