But... How Do You Know?

Every time someone starts asking me questions about homeschooling, there is one question that always - ALWAYS - comes up.  Something to the gist of...

"But how do you know your kids are getting what they are supposed to?"

I was recently in the middle of one of those homeschool conversations, and the person was genuinely interested.  Questions were coming one after the other as they reconciled their own school experience with what I was telling them, but the question eventually came.

"But how do you know?"

I gave my usual about how I'm with them all the time so I know what they do and don't do, their strengths and weaknesses, yada yada blah blah blah, which is all entirely true.  But it wasn't until the car ride home that the real answer came to me.  What I should have replied with is,

"How do YOU know?"

Doctrine and Covenants 88:77-80 states:

77 And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom.

78 Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand;

79 Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms—

80 That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to magnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the mission with which I have commissioned you.

The way I understand this, if I am teaching my children, I will be blessed to understand the things I need to to perform my mission as their mother and as their mentor.  Likewise, in doing my part, I will help them learn what they need to know and understand for their missions as well.

I can't tell my children what their mission is any more than the school can.  But there's a difference - at school they have all these tests of what kids at certain grade levels are "supposed" to know at that point.  At home I may not have all the state tests, but I am with my children daily, I know and love them as individuals, and what the schools say my children need to know isn't important to me.  What is important to me is that I know that each of them has a mission in life to fulfill, and that I have the amazing opportunity to help them prepare and work towards that mission.

When my second son was struggling with math one year, the daily homework was a variety of review problems.  I talked to his teacher about getting practice problems on things they were studying in class so I could help him learn and review it at home, and was surprised at how mystified the teacher was by the idea.  Turns out, the regular daily homework was getting them ready for the end of year test.  Rather than focusing on mastering what they were learning right then, they were worried about preparing the kids for the test.

I know what my children are getting because I can take all the time I want to help them master the things they are learning.

At school, also because of those tests, the teachers teach less and less of the "extras" that don't fit in the realm of those tests.  My children have time to learn any of the extras they like, and they want to, and they do.

How do you know what your children are being taught?

I am in my children's classroom every day. I know what their textbooks teach.  Did you know that because of theophobia, plenty of textbooks teach that the pilgrims came to American because they were mad at the king, or just because they wanted to?  The fact is, they came because they wanted to worship God as they chose, because in England, they couldn't.  It was a religious decision, pure and simple, but in schools, religion isn't allowed.  I can testify about God's hand in history or science or literature or anything anytime I want to.  I can share the testimonies of the Founding Fathers and Christopher Columbus regarding God's hand in their efforts.  I can compare scripture stories and principles to other things we learn.

I'm not sharing this to say our way is better than sending your children to school every day, but so you can think about the same question every homeschooler gets asked.  I believe it is equally important for all parents.

So... how do you know your kids are getting what they are supposed to?

Lifelong Learning

Jamie checked out "The Book That Changed My Life: 71 Remarkable Writers Celebrate the Books That Matter Most to Them" from the library a couple weeks ago. He finished it pretty quickly and passed it off to me. I was flipping through it the other night, reading about some of the books I recognized, when I happened upon one by Da Chen writing about "The Count of Monte Cristo." In it he talks about growing up in China and not being allowed to read anything that wasn't written by Mao. When a book happened into the village it was torn apart and shared around so everyone could hand copy it. I won't go more into that, but he talks about how with no books around, storytellers were revered. At the end of the day everyone would gather round the village storyteller and listen to his stories, doing whatever they could to keep him going. Da Chen became the storyteller for his generation, all climbing a big tree together where he would share stories he had heard from the village storyteller. He said that when he ran out of stories, people stopped coming to listen to him.

I didn't think much about that until today while I was cleaning out a closet and listening to a recent talk by Robert D. Hales on "The Journey of Lifelong Learning" (sorry, can't link straight to it but you can search for it here.) I don't know exactly what it was that bridged lifelong learning to Da Chen the storyteller, but I had an 'ah ha' moment. Of course learning makes anyone a better person, but for a person to be able to inspire those around them and continue to be inspiring, it is necessary to continue to become better and to share what you learn.

This is a huge concept in the homeschool philosophy we try to follow known as Thomas Jefferson Education or Leadership Education (more info about that here). I'll post about a fun way that lifelong learning works into what we do soon.

Discovery

Sammy came up to me today and asked if we get to choose our jobs. I told him yes, of course. He said, "Then when it's time to tell the guy what job I want, I'm going to tell him I want to be an archaeologist." I chuckled to myself then asked him if he would like to hear how people get their jobs. "Yah!" I walked him to my bedroom so we would have a quieter place to talk, then I told him how when I was young I wanted to be a teacher, a writer, and a mom when I grew up. That I went through elementary school, junior high, and high school learning all the things they wanted me to there, then when I went to college I could study things that would help me get to those goals. I told him how I started by majoring in education but decided that wasn't for me, moved to computer science, then literature, then finished off in technical writing, and told him that I was able to choose what I wanted to study.

His eyes were shining the whole time, but he got even more excited when I told him that since we homeschool if archeology is something he is interested in, we can start learning what he needs to know and study about now instead of waiting. We got on the library website and put 8 books on hold, found a kids archeology magazine he's thinking about using some of his birthday money on, and some interesting looking kids archeology websites.

This was all brought on by Indiana Jones, though we read on a website several months ago that he's a treasure hunter more than an archaeologist (because he's just trying to make his museum better than everyone else's). I don't know how long it will last, but we'll run with it while we can.

Speaking of discovery, I'm working on some fun ways to keep Carolyn and Erin entertained while trying to have even 5 minutes of conversation with the older three. Today I dumped a bag of mixed soup beans into a plastic container, gave them some little paper cups and some spoons, laid a tablecloth on the table knowing there was going to be a mess when they were done and hoping that would make clean up easier. For the hour it kept them busy, the clean up was nothing. Next time I think I'll put the tablecloth on the floor and let them play there on it. Less droppage.

The Power of Play

This afternoon I (don't be surprised) watched a TED.com talk by Freeman Dyson on looking for life in the outer solar system. Before he dives into that topic he shares a few thoughts on history and then on biotechnology. He makes the statement, "As soon as computers became toys, when kids could come home and play with them, then the industry really took off." Freeman said only half jokingly that that's what they need to do with biotechnology.

I think it's key that Freeman didn't say that when schools started teaching computers they took off. When they became exciting and fun, maybe even a little off limits at times, computers took off.

Play is a powerful way to learn! I try to use playing as much as I can here at home with the kids. Melanie learned most of her math skills last year sitting next to me at the counter adding up 6 and 12 sided dice while I was working on something else. Carolyn learned all her letters in about the same way, sitting next to me at the counter where she had climbed up to talk or color while I was doing something, and I would ask, "Do you know what this letter is?" and draw it out for her. I would quit after just a few so she wouldn't get bored. After the first few were introduced, most letters were pointed out while we were cuddled up reading.

I helped Adam create a blog for himself because he wanted to write about baseball and whever else he felt like writing about. I jumped at the chance thinking, "Ah ha! Typing and writing practice!" He's had it for several months and hasn't written too much, but I just helped his friend create one too, so maybe that will get a little blog competition going.

Sammy has played with animating his Legos a bit using my camera to take the pictures then scrolling through them, but this week he went to town and has done some really cool things. To take that further, now I plan to learn about Stop-Motion Animation so we can take all these pictures from the camera and make something with them. He doesn't know that's the plan because I don't want to get him too excited until I know we can do it, but he asked about starting his own blog to show off some of his Lego creations and animations so we did it earlier today.

The kids are also teaching themselves to play the piano. Melanie used to tinker all the time on it, till one day she played a few notes and realized they were the same notes in a primary song. I helped her figure out the rest, then after she got that down, showed her some simple left hand notes to go with it. Now she plays parts of 4 or 5 songs, one that she figured out the left hand entirely on her own. Jamie got Sammy started on the Indiana Jones theme. Adam hasn't jumped on the bandwagon... yet.

Play is probably why I'm so excited to really get back to school this year. We just keep having more and more fun! Did I mention I plan on hiking the kids to Ensign Peak for the first day back to school?

TED.com Addict

Hi, my name is Marni, and I am a TED.com addict.

I had watched some of the videos here and there, but while Jamie was out of town last week I realized how I can watch them while I work on bracelet orders, and make boring chores like folding laundry and doing the dishes more exciting (the laptop fits on our windowsill, sweet!).

I've been working on some posts to list some favorites or those that speak to me (I think I will post those today and keep adding the more I watch), but I must say that every talk I've watched has been interesting and educational.

A brief intro about TED: "TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

"The annual conference now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).

"This site makes the best talks and performances from TED available to the public, for free. More than 200 talks from our archive are now available, with more added each week. These videos are released under a Creative Commons license, so they can be freely shared and reposted."

Isn't that nice? FREE!

Some of the talks have expounded on questions I've wondered about. Some have made me want to be better. Some have made me wonder if I could do something similar. Some have amazed me at the medical advances and technology being worked on. Some have introduced me to ideas I never would have imagined.

It's making my world bigger.

"If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."

It's a good addiction.

Rereading

Love today's google Daily Literary Quote:

"'Tell me what you read and I'll tell you who you are' is true enough, but I'd know you better if you told me what you reread." --Francois Mauriac

I've got a stack of books I love to reread, and was actually staring at my bookcase just last night sighing to myself over the fact that there are so many new things I want to read now, that it's harder to find the time to reread the favorites.

April is National Poetry Month

I learned about poetry month from Farm School a few days ago, so I'm keeping my eyes open for poetry to share with the kids. Yesterday during our morning devotional I read the kids this poem that I found in one of our library books.

This Is Just To Say

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

--William Carlos Williams

They had me read it three or four times, they thought it was so funny. The simplicity tickled them, and they enjoyed the wording, especially "and so cold."

We also read Oliphaunt (at the bottom of that link) by J. R. R. Tolkien and The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost.

The Farm School post lists a bunch of poetry sites and talks about the poem "Keep A Poem in Your Pocket." Periwinkles and Pines has a cute poetry post on clouds, including a few other poetry links.

Carry It With You

This was my Daily Literary Quote from Google for the day. It thought it was very nice, and reaffirms some of my decluttering goals.

Only own what you can always carry with you; know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag.

Alexander Solzhhenitsyn
(Russian Writer)

I'm appreciating more and more the value of a good education, and being educated. I'm sure that will bring different ideas to everyone's minds, but to me it means being well-read and continually learning, delving into the great minds of the past and present and learning the lessons they have to share. There are plenty of intelligent people out there, but it's interesting to me that being "well-read" is always a very admired quality. Yet how many people take the time and make the true effort to be "well-read?" Maybe that's why it is so admired.

Learn, Write, Do

Far too many times I've been talking to someone and said, "I heard something great recently, can't remember where I heard it, but it was something like..." and then I do a fine job butchering whatever it was. I love to listen to uplifting podcasts and talks, then can't remember later why I loved it so much, and all the time while I'm reading I'll come across something that reakly touches me. A few months ago I bought a notebook where I started writing down great things that I hear or read, and while reading through some the other day I thought I should share here and there. Coincidentally, the first one I wanted to post goes right along with everything else I've written.

"Throughout the reminder of my life, I will seek to learn by what I hear, see, and feel. I will write down the important things I learn, and I will do them."

(Richard G. Scott, "To Learn and Teach More Effectively," 2007 BYU Education Week)

Feed vs. Inspire

Since Adam had been through 5 years of school when we decided to homeschool, the school way of 'education' was a lot more ingrained in him than the rest of the kids. The day school started, he parked himself at the kitchen table and said, "What are we learning today?" "What do you want to learn about?" I asked. "I don't know," he replied.

Thereafter came a discussion of how homeschool is different than going to school. They don't show up for me to feed them new knowledge every day, the educational meal being entirely decided for them. A lot of what they would like to learn about is up to them, and I am delighted to help them along that process. I'm happy to introduce topics, new flavors if you will (to keep the metaphor going), but if interest isn't there, we'll put it away until another time.

I'm sure this idea is entirely baffling to many, and truth told, several months back I was highly skeptical of this approach myself. The more I've learned and the more I've thought about my own education, I see this as at least another way to go about things. Superior? Could quite possibly be.

For instance, I've always done very well at English, grammar, and the like. It all came very easy to me, and I enjoyed it. I was also introduced to computers at an early age by my dad. They were always available in our home, and he had lessons in computer programming available to use if we would like (well, we were told that to play we had to give equal time to the learning, and yes, there was a time log). Compared to other kids I went to school with, anything computers also came very easily, thanks to the many opportunities at home. Fast forward to my college degree, and though it took some discovering on my part, I ended up majoring in Techincal Writing, which is basically English and computers. You know what they say, hindsight is 20/20.

I had been fed many other things through my years at school - biology, geometry, physics, calculus - some which has stuck, others, not so much. I mentioned a portion of my history education in my last post, but besides those two high school classes I had been taught history from elementary school to college. With all that teaching it stands to reason that I should have done much better than 65% on that test. I wasn't a poor student - through all my junior high and high school years I had a 3.9 GPA and if I remember right I received an A in my college American History class. But the fact remains that I was being fed, not inspired. Not that the information wasn't interesting, but I had apparently learned the fine art of learning to the test, then clearing space for the next bout of information. No time to dig for more depth and understanding. Sad how it all works, isn't it? And yet, we keep doing it.

Whether the kids and I homeschool to the end or for just a year or two, the biggest thing I want my children to learn is that education is their responsibility and life-long. If we wait to be fed, more often than not we'll end up with not enough or of a variety that doesn't sustain.

I still feel like we're going through the deschooling process, but starting to become more... something. (Not sure if structured is the word I want to use.) I'm still learning about homeschooling myself, so I'm glad we haven't jumped too quickly into anything, but so far it's been very cool. We find an interest and run with it. For instance, last Wednesday we thought we would do some science with hot and cold water. I introduced it using the freezer, showing how the cold air goes down when we open it, but steam of course, rises. Cool, but let's do more. I remembered an experiement I had seen at some point during my education with red hot water and blue cold water, showing how when the hot starts on the bottom the two mix very quickly, but when the hot is on top they stay separate for a very long time. They were totally wowed. (Even the Star Wars dudes had to come in to check it out - see the pic.) That led us to try similar experiments with water the same temp, but some with salt and some regular, and even Melanie hypothesized that the salt water should be on the bottom to keep them separate longer based on the science we learned from the other experiments. And from there we made salt volcanoes which applies the same science in an even different and cooler way. I should have counted how many times we refilled the salt shaker they enjoyed that one so much.

Sammy, by his very nature, was never so ingrained in the system even though he had been there for 4 years. Thank goodness his curiosity wasn't lessened by the methods, especially since I think his brand of creativity would suffer more from it. Or maybe it's that his teachers would suffer more from trying to break him down, LOL.

Right now on his own Adam is learning about baseball and hunting, and I'm good with that because one, he's a MANIAC when it comes to reading about that stuff so he's learning good study skills, and two, we go in other directions as well so he's not left entirely to his own devices. In our history reading he's realizing how dumbed down it is at school because the Founding Fathers mention God and religion so much they can't even be quoted. Bummer, because they've got a lot of great advice regarding our country.

I have to keep wondering where this all will take us. I'm looking forward to the 20/20 backview someday.

P.S. Do note, this is the first picture I've included on my blog. It is a special, special day. :)