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I’ve wondered many times if the things
I’ve posted on this board in the past have given a simplistic view of our
family’s educational life. Our school has never been structured like a
traditional school, but there has always been structure. Our structure has
been influenced by many learning philosophies. We don’t follow any of these
exactly, but we have been influenced by Charlotte Mason (no twaddle, real
books/great literature, art, classical music, nature studies, narration),
the Moores (relax, use the world around us as a curriculum, simplicity),
classical education (great books, ideas, understanding the classical influence
on our culture and filtering it through Biblical truth, developing thinkers)
I’ve also been influenced by some of the ideas in other methods, by articles
I’ve read, and by books I’ve read. So, we’ve come up with our own philosophy
and methods of learning, taking ideas from here and there because it seemed
natural for our family to do so. We have a structure, but not a detailed
plan. We have educational goals, but our methods of accomplishing them are
challenging and require a lot of energy because we work to motivate the kids
to learn for themselves in a deep and meaningful way. It’s harder to motivate
a child to read Plato than it is to assign him the
reading.
I see Christian unschooling as leading kids rather than driving them. I see it as kids taking the active part of learning by digging for themselves rather than passively acquiescing to my plans. I see my job as motivating them, rather than spoonfeeding them—challenging them to go above and beyond what we could ever accomplish with assignment sheets. Whatever methods are part of my philosophical structure—Charlotte Mason, classical education, relaxed unit studies—makes no difference. The challenge is to lead kids into a true love of learning that reflects the nature of the family. If a parent loves classical ed, the children will probably catch that and it will be natural for the family to lean in that direction. If a parent thrives on the ideas of Charlotte Mason, that will likely be passed on to the children and it will be natural to lean in that direction. It’s easy to be influenced by the latest inspiring book or article we’ve read, ready to gallop off in that direction, so we need to be careful not to be blown about by every wind, but to act prayerfully and wisely. We cannot give our kids a culture that is not really important to us because it will feel artificial. It will soon turn to drudgery. Kids are inspired by our loves—they catch them. I’m thinking of the CS Lewis essay that Laura recommended months ago—Lilies that Fester. He talks about culture—those that have it and those that want to have it. The second group gets all excited about having culture and moving in cultured circles (they are enamored with the "idea" of it). The first group (the truly cultured) does not think a thing about being cultured because it is truly a natural part of their lives. In our homeschooling, we need to be careful not to put on something because it sounds good or because we want to hang in certain circles. It’s a kind of sophisticated peer pressure. On the other hand, when we read something inspiring and mull it over for a while until the newness of it is no longer toying with our emotions, we may want incorporate it into our philosophy of learning. I do think children thrive on structure. I wouldn’t think of not having any structure, but it’s just the way that structure is set up and implemented that matters. A child can follow a classical course of study and love it if the parent ignites that spark and works to motivate rather than drive the student. Christian unschooling to me, is motivating the kids to learn for themselves whether that is in a Charlotte Mason framewok, in a classical framework, an eclectic framework, or whatever fits the family. |