the brew*crew adventure

I haven't participated in this meme before, Blogger Friend School, which provides a weekly "blogging homework" theme. As I was browsing through some of the amazing blogs listed over at the HSB Awards, I clicked onto this week's theme for the BFS, and was totally inspired to join in, since it goes hand in hand with thoughts and observations I've been having here in the last couple weeks anyways. Technically, I believe that the "assignment" is supposed to be posted on Tuesday?, but in my natural way, I'm posting mine a day two days late!

 

The passion to sing, the passion to draw, the passion to build, the passion to ride, the passion for reading, the passion for nature… the list is endless. Some children exhibit their passion from day one, others need an experience to spark that passion.

Assignment: Share a field trip/lifestyle learning experience where you really felt you were bringing good things to life for your children, where something came alive for them, or ignited a passion.

This is something I've been thinking about a lot lately... the facilitating of that passion to learn, to build and to creatively express ones self; that desire to grow and to become something great that's within us all, my own children specifically, manifesting itself in so many various talents. As a parent and my children's primary instructor, it's important to me that I culture their God-given abilities and desires, bringing these good things to life, if you will... while at the same time realizing that I truly am not taking the lead... in that it's not all up to me to conjure these up in my kids. Rather, I'm watching, listening, and waiting on the Holy Spirit to show me their intrinsic giftings, and praying for His guidance as I plan our studies and their activities.

As I'm doing my best to daily immerse our kids in an engaging learning environment and introducing them to a variety of inspiring subjects, I am delighted to be discovering their passions with them, and comforted in the remembrance that these precious soul stirrings and that ultimate quickening of their spirits towards Him are all individual workings of His Spirit within them, as we're learning to walk out His Word in our lives together, and therefore not solely dependent upon me, nor anyone else. I need but tune in to them, and especially their Creator, while keeping my eyes wide open to the opportunities abounding in each moment as we journey together each day, lest I miss those small sparks that would ultimately kindle their passions and thereby could someday even dictate their very livelihoods.

I have found that with our oldest daughter, 9yo T, who is my "go-getter", this is an easier thing to recognize; her passions. She talks about it, and initiates doing stuff working towards that end on her own. When she's inspired, the results are much more extravagant and obvious than when our 12 yo son, N is impassioned. He tends to discover passions (like writing, dance, reading a certain book, horse riding) after I've suggested he try something out. Lately I have been fascinated over the inter-connectedness of their blossoming personalities with the opportunities they've been offered thusfar in their young lives. I'm left to wonder over how beautifully it has all worked together... and question which came first, a specific passion or was an experience the catalyst of curiosity turned to desire? I've been musing over what the ramifications of these truths could be, not only in my kids' lives, but in my own as well.

And we know that for those who love God, that is, for those who are called according to his purpose, all things are working together for good.

~ Romans 8.28

It's certainly a mystery profound how the Sovereign Lord choreographs our very lives, nurturing those seeds of talent He placed within us, even as He knit us in the womb, while simultaneously allowing the free-will of our individuality. It's caused me to consider the weighty responsibility Chris and I have as parents to introduce our children- His children- to a wide array of possibilities, directing them toward His truths, and presenting them with an assortment of rich ideas for their minds and hearts to grow upon. Gradually, I am learning to recognize when the "education" is doing its work within them, and to therefore not snuff out the tiny flames which seem yet so insignificant by my own lofty unrealistic adult-perspective qualifying standards, set mostly by pre-conceived ideas of how learning "should look"... Meaningful learning does not necessarily mean a finished *project*. I'm learning to look with my child-eyes again.

For instance, the other day when T showed me the language she's creating for the characters in one of her stories, my first teacherly-Mom thoughts were along the lines of, "well, that's not a real language... why should she be wasting her time and all of that good language interest and energies with this when we could be working on our Latin or Hebrew?" Thankfully, in the next instant, I realized that I was witnessing a beautifully genuine representation of this child's love for language and passion for writing. And so the thoughts I expressed to her were those of encouragement and "why not?, how clever!" and musings over the inceptions of various languages.

But that was not the only challenge along these lines that either one of my kids have thrown at my feeble mind in the last couple of weeks. Last month N, who's been taking guitar lessons for just over a year now (that was his own inspired idea, which he faltered in when it came to the monotany of daily practice), announced to me that he'd like to come up with his own song to play at our co-op's end of the year student presentations ceremony... I immediately had to shush my overly-conservative, doubtful-of-his-being-ready-to-do-that thoughts right up. After months of laboring resistantly through daily practicings on his guitar, he's made it over some kind of mental hump, and now usually plays daily (without my having to tell him to!), and tells me he absolutely loves it. He was also greatly inspired by the movie August Rush. As we're driving home from his lessons, he often tells me excitedly of what he's learning, and how encouraging his guitar teacher is. Just last week his instructor told him that he could play his own songs without having any music written out(?!), and could even learn to play chords he hasn't yet formally learned, just by intently listening to a piece of music and then copying what he hears. Imagine that... I am so thankful for the many wonderfully inspiring people that have been God's vessels of instruction for our kids  (and myself) over the years, what evidence of HIS faithful provision! On so very many levels, this whole parenting/homeschooling business has been such a growing experience for my own faith levels.

And I know that I've mentioned here before of how my daring daughter gets these crazy inspired ideas to do things that are much bigger than any goals I'd ever set for her. I've seen how God has been faithful to send others into our lives to facilitate dreaming and passions that I could not... but I'm apparently a slow learner. Usually my first (natural) impulse is to caution her and help her to pare her visions down a bit, set her sights more realistically... but her fervor and insistence that she can and has already counted the cost of a conceived endeavour has once again inspired me, and as I've let go of the reigns I had moments before fearfully rationally tightened my grip on, I've been further delighted to see how God has sent others to come along side of me/us to see that her fans are flamed and help set her on the path to accomplishing these fantastic goals that I couldn't have orchestrated or provided for on my own, let alone have even decided upon.

Once again, this week it seems that another request, prayerfully offered up by a girl with bigger faith shoes than I can fill has been fulfilled by a generous Father.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows...     

~ James 1.17

T has praise in her heart. She loves to put on worship music and dance before the Lord enthusiastically. It's something that I've enjoyed doing with my kids since they were babies in my arms, twirling together with hands lifted high. T told me on Monday that she'd like to choreograph her own dance to a Third Day song and perform it at the aforementioned homeschool co-op student presentation ceremony. I gulped down my doubts, astonished at her brevity, again. She proceeded to explain her plans to me, and I just nodded along as I listened, knowing better than to discourage her resolve. "I'm going to ask Mrs. Jamie (her dance instructor- that's another testimony we have of His great provision for us- scholarships for dance lessons) to help me with my moves and figuring it all out." "That's a good idea." "Okay then, you'll have to wait for me a little bit longer after class so that I can talk to her about it." I agreed. And after her dance class ended on Tuesday, I watched as she gingerly approached her teacher, holding her passion close, encased in a dream that she proceeded to share with a trusted confidante. To my great surprise and delight, Jamie agreed to help her and meet with her a half hour before her class, every week- for free! I went back and checked with her myself after T told me, just to make sure it was really alright! Is that crazy-generous, and just like God, or what?! Needless to say, T is so excited about it that she's on fire now, and has asked a dancing friend that we carpool with to join her in the dance! She's been busily drawing and dancing up her choreography plans. Here's what she's got so far:

I tried getting some pictures of her dancing, but she wouldn't cooperate.

She did, however, allow me to take some pictures of her practicing on her violin. This - her opportunity to play the violin this year- is another story of her aspirations met by the willing Hand of Providence.

T has wanted to take violin lessons for years. I believe that the desire was probably first sparked sometime in her toddlerhood, when we spent a great deal of time with friends, whose then highschool daughter played the violin beautifully. She would watch and listen to her play intently every chance that she got. She began asking for lessons a few years ago, but we couldn't afford private violin lessons, and neither Chris nor I can even read music (something which both of our children are now learning to do quite well -without us!).  As I do, I told her that I would join in her praying that if it be His will, that He would provide an avenue for this opportunity for her. Then last year, we were blessed with the means to pay for N to have the private guitar lessons I mentioned above, and she so wanted the same. She confided to me of how she was struggling with jealousy and I reminded her that he too had been waiting for years for music lessons. Her time would come... and to be patient. Meanwhile, she decided to master her recorder and used the book that it came with to teach herself to read music and play quite a few folk songs. She joined a class offered at our co-op for the recorder, and took heart in my reminder not to despise small beginnings.

Then, to our delighted amazement, a wonderful lady decided to teach a strings class at our homeschool co-op this year, specifically violin and cello. T was beside herself with excitement over this opportunity to finally learn to play her instrument of choice - the violin. Now... if only we had a violin. I prayerfully sought the Lord, trusting Him to provide this too, knowing that with Him in it, it would all come together. Chris and I knew that it would have to happen cheaply to be feasible for us. Then towards the end of last school year, it came up at our Bible study with some friends that T was so glad to be looking forward to taking a violin class at our co-op, and since this friend had played for years, we asked her for suggestions concerning our finding a used violin for T. To our thrilled astonishment, she offered to loan T her own beautiful violin for as long as she needed it.

Time and again I have been blessed to see God's orchestration of timely provision for our children's passions, in both their inceptions and continuity. As their Mother and primary instructor, I find rest in knowing that it is not up to me to bring all these good things to life in their worlds,

      ‘ Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’
Says the LORD of hosts.

~ Zechariah 4.6

but rather I am just an open conduit of His loving kindness and purposes for each of them, His unique creations.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Memory Verse: Philippians 4:8

In conclusion, brothers, focus your thoughts on what is true, noble, righteous, pure, lovable or admirable, on some virtue or on something praiseworthy.

My blog here was actually nominated in the HSB Awards for "Best Unschooling or Eclectic Homeschooling Blog 2008"! so if you feel so inclined, I'd really appreciate your vote! ...though I hardly feel worthy to even be listed among so many wonderful homeschool blogs! There are some really GREAT homeschooling blogs listed there in ALL of the categories so be sure and check them out! You WILL be inspired and encouraged, I know that I certainly have been subscribing to some new favorites! Be sure and check them all out, and then VOTE for your favorites!

Today I was inspired by this meme over at Heart of the Matter Online:

I know that there are those that have amazing and elaborate school rooms dedicated to housing anything and everything related to homeschooling. There are also those who have mad skills when it comes to organizing and integrating the school into the home rather than having an ‘area’. We then have homeschoolers that pride themselves on the world being their school house and the couch being their desk.

Where do you school? If you are one of the super-organized mothers what tips can you share? If you are more laid back, what encouragement and insight can you offer?

...and so I'm sharing a post here about our "schoolroom". I thought that it'd be fun to show you around a bit. As many of you probably already know, we are definitely not in the first group there, but rather somewhere in that second and mostly even the third description. Super-organized lesson-plans-wise I am not... although I do have journals full of yearly plans, notes to myself concerning various goals for our kids, endless book-lists and all three of our kids' entire 12 years worth of homeschooling careers entirely mapped and tediously re-mapped out (yes, even the baby's!). Yeah, planning is playing for me... it's what I obsess over for fun in my spare time. Funny thing though, we have  yet to have a week go as I'd *planned*, much less a year! Ha!

Our days are generally pretty relaxed and free-flowing, and I'm always open to the unplanned and unexpected, which I just cannot help. It's a good thing too. I've learned that I simply cannot even foresee, let alone plan out the best learning experiences, yet I do try and have our direction and goals laid out which we work towards within the framework of daily routines and habits. If we don't accomplish or finish something one day, there's always tomorrow.

Homeschooling is such a way of life for us that it just IS all the time, everywhere... in my mind, it all *counts* as valuable learning time anyways. Over the years and through three interstate moves within a span of three years, and then some, our home has been through many upheavals changes and therefore what I'd envisioned at the onset of our homeschooling journey was certainly different than how things have turned out. Fortunately I've grown accustomed to our relaxed eclectic approach to homeschooling, else I probably would have lost my mind! Ha!

With that said though, I do believe that it's important to facilitate appropriately structured routines and accountability when it comes to responsibilities for our children as they're discovering and learning in their every day lives, and especially so as they're getting older. This does not come naturally to me, lots of structure I mean. However, realizing that there's basic stuff they definitely need to know, facts to master, skills to learn and just so much wonderful history, literature, etc. that I want to share with my kids (and much of it I'm learning for the first time myself), that we'd most likely never get around to without scheduled, concerted efforts, I'm striving towards making the most of these precious years with our children.

There have been times that I thought having an actual schoolroom- a space set apart- might help us to stay more focused with our studies during the day... but then I've thought, we'd probably not end up spending much time in there anyways, practically speaking. So as a family, we've all pretty much decided that when and IF we ever have an extra room, it would better serve as an art and crafting studio! Anyways, I know what you're thinking, "Enough talk already, ON with the show!" Okay, c'mon then, let me show you around our world *(un)school*room(s).

First off, I'd like to show you just how organized I am trying to be with all of our schoolerish-type stuff, which yes, we do use regularly and yes, it's mostly great literature, maps, paints, crafting stuff, papers, pens and other notebooking supplies. Here we have our giant "books closet",

which was already lined with shelves on two walls when we first moved in here. That metal caddy on wheels is full of my scrapbooking stuff...

I stacked two bookshelves against the third wall, one...

on top of the other, and then filled them all right up!

This giant closet/mini-room is indispensable to me now. I keep the books we're reading and studying from for a given year lined up and accessible on these shelves. Of course, this doesn't include our library books, nor the kids' free reads, etc.  

N and T each have their own shelf this year, since they're now doing their own AO years and individual studies in other areas as well.

You can see here that T has all of her horse study stuff lined up together, but her favorite classroom for her horse study is definitely still the barn...

Then we have our indispensable crafts/notebooking supplies caddy which I like to keep pretty-well organized. You can see it here in this picture, next to T as she's sitting here at our dining room table playing with cuisenaire rods.

or wooly worms...

The kids each have a crate for their notebooks, papers, copywork books, and various other books they're using, which are kept in this big wicker chest, also found in the dining room, under the window, right beside the caddy. This works well because the kids can clean up their messes off the dining room table fairly quickly.

We also have lots of bookshelves in the living room, where we like to spend many hours reading and discussing all that we're learning.

In the living room is our favorite table, our "coffee table" which is rugged and tough as they come. Chris and I found it many years ago in a thrift store, without the glass. We bought this great piece of artwork that someone spent a lot of time building and welding for a mere $10!and then we paid $40 to have thick glass cut for it to lay in the inset, under which we placed a map of the world, which makes for easy referral. This table is used for eating at, gaming and sitting on (and dancing on if your a little person), drawing, coloring, writing, and mathing on too.

And there behind N, you can see our couch, which is our favorite place to cozy up with books to share...

Well, our favorite place next to the field behind our house.

The other littler couch/loveseat is usually where laundry sits waiting to be folded, next to whomever happens to be sitting there reading a book, or on the kids' laptop, or where I like to sit and blog (like now) while Chris and N are watching something on tv.

Sometimes the kids like to do their studies outside with the goats and chickens...

Oh, and let's not forget the kids' favorite place for their late night studies, their Mom and Dad's bed!

Of course there's so many lessons always waiting to be learned in our favorite classroom, the great outdoors as well, like when Dad wants to read to them under the open sky, or when he has big jobs to do with them,


or when a perfect day beckons them outside to build forts... like today.

No matter where, when our how we're learning, I like to remember the concept expressed in this quote from William Butler Yeats...

Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire.

Be sure and visit HOTM online's Friday meme for today if you'd like to visit some more schoolrooms. That's where I'm headed now! Happy homeschooling!

There's some great posting going on over at the *shiny-brand-NEW* Christian Unschooling website. I am so honored to have been invited to actually contribute articles to this project now and then. The purpose of all the homeschooling writers that are contributing to the site is simply to offer:

Encouragement and resources for Christian unschooling, relaxed/eclectic home educating families–living in freedom in Christ.

I pray that it does so...

Heather at An Untraditional Home wrote an article recently posted, Confessions of a Homeschool Mama, in which she concedes,

Dare I say that we, despite our plans and ideals, are unschoolers?

Heh. And I just had to smile when I read it, as I could have written the same line. It seems to be the story of our entire homeschooling career! Me- planning like mad each summer and Fall, and then life happens, days slip into weeks, and my plans and schedules are trumped by one unplanned event, unkempt day, or wonderful learning experience after another... *LOL* Guess I'm learning to roll with the punches... Still can't help myself from making extravagant plans from which to pull from as we study over each year, but I'm also relaxed enough in our approach to enjoy those many inspired moments and days of unexpected delight-directed learning that the Lord and my children's beautiful minds bring our way regularly.

I have continually been amazed at what my kids have learned and accomplished over the years, without my supervision! I remember being caught quite off-guard and a bit worried when T basically taught herself to read at age 4/5, and I had yet to teach her phonics! We still went over the phonograms with games and workbook exercises that she begged for, but wow, I sure didn't see that coming! There have been numerous similar instances of budding minds blooming on their own around here over the years. Spontaneous nature studies abound, experiments, art projects and research from inspired questions asked, etc.

However, I’m also encouraged by how much they love great literature that I’ve carefully chosen and suggested, even to their own surprise. I cannot tell you how many times now they’ve groaned over beginning a book I suggest, only for me to find them still snuggled up with it like an hour later… it’s become a running joke around here when I pull out a book from our shelf of required reading for the year. Even hours of seeming aimlessness have turned into some pretty interesting projects, games and memories that simply would not have even been discovered had the kids not had plenty of uninterrupted time on their hands... to think, improvise, and to create.

Yeah, “learning in freedom” (love that term), aka. "life-long learning", aka. "delight-directed learning", aka. "relaxed-eclectic CMing" (as I like to call it) is definitely a balancing act here for this Mama, to discern how and when to direct or when to just stand back and not interrupt their groove~ simultaneously. When done with thoughtful intention, both approaches can and will facilitate growth and certainly do complement each other in playing a meaningful role in learning. But I’m finding that it’s easier to know *how* to accomplish this the more that I really tune into the kids’ interests and needs.

That, after all, would truly be the heart of good teaching, would it not? To inspire, and then to come along side of one with helpful direction and guidance, but only as needed. I guess that figuring out the “as needed” part is where it gets tricky, and probably even varies from one child/family to the next… It truly is a matter of understanding, something the Lord promises to give to those who ask.

My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,

 turning your ear to wisdom

and applying your heart to understanding,

 and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,

 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,

 then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.

 For the LORD gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

~ Proverbs 2.1-6

When I was over there at the new site this morning, I happened to notice that the quote for today, generously provided by Jena at Yarns of the Heart (another fab contributor to the said new site), seemed particularly fitting to these thoughts as well, naturally...

Education is understanding relationships.

~ George Washington Carver

This last year our 8 year old daughter, T, has mentioned to me a few times that she'd like to "try out school", and "what's it like?"... I guess the novelty and mystery of it have intrigued her. And so I've told her about what it's like, and assured her that she'd most likely much prefer homeschooling if she were ever to experience the other (though she won't, since for Chris and I, it's not even a considerable option- to send our kids away to school all day, for most of the year- no way!).

Fortunately, N has never really gone through that like she has, and whenever she's mentioned it in his hearing, he's gone on about how much better he thinks it is to be home schooled. But I have just spoken candidly with her, when she's brought it up, which has only been a few times, though in earnest. And after explaining to her that she'd just have to take my words for it, and trust us on this, I've prayed for her to be content, and that the Lord would give me wisdom in relating to and with her about it. And then it's been forgotten...

Well, as I've mentioned, the kids have been going to this day-camp all week, waking up first thing in the mornings to do their morning chores, pack their lunches and drink their fruit smoothie breakfasts, finishing just in time to be picked up at 8:30 by a friend of mine who they've been carpooling with. She's brought our kids to camp in the mornings, and then I would bring them home in the afternoons, which worked out great for both of us.

Anyways, the last few mornings, T has asked me to please sit outside with her while they waited for their ride, and then yesterday morning she asked why I couldn't just bring them to camp myself. When I reminded her that Mrs. N and I were taking turns driving, she explained to me, "But I miss you, and I just like having my Mommy first thing in the morning. I really don't want to leave you..." How my heart did melt, and as I wrapped my arms around her, holding that moment close, I explained that it was only two more mornings, reminded her of how much fun she's having and that I'd see her at 2:30! She smirked at me in compliance, kissed me numerous times, and hugged me a few more times before trotting down the hill with N when their ride was in sight.

I wondered to myself, is this the same little girl who could hardly wait to go to an out of town horse show just last month, where she'd have to spend the night with her friends, some other Moms and instructor, without me since I couldn't make it? I knew that it was important to her, so decided to send her anyways, and it turned out to be the right decision. She did great, without me, had a blast, won Grand Champion of her division even (yes, I at least got pics from another Mom, and have made all of her other shows). And what about the last two summers, when she and N have attended a week-long horse camp, hosted by their riding instructor?

So, what's so different about this week (besides it's not being all about horses, maybe)? Well, now that I think of it, I was there at the horse camp, though she wasn't with me the entire time. I taught the Bible class portion of the camp, and was around taking pictures too. I was within her reach, sharing the event with her (though this year I won't be). So really, I guess that this has been the first time she's been away consistently for an entire week, doing something that I had no part of... well, besides staying with Grandma and Poppa for almost a week last Fall (but that's different, right?). And maybe our parting first thing in the morning over and over again? I'm not sure really, but something got her thinking, and feeling sentimental... which was very sweet to see, since she's usually so very independent.

Then this morning, same thing, she was so clingy and said she really wished that I could bring her, and would I come outside and wait with her again. "Of course, honey..." And as we were standing outside, me talking excitedly about their upcoming performance for all of us parents, T looked up at me very pitifully and proclaimed quite emphatically, "Mom, I don't think that I want to go to school anymore. I really just want to stay here with you... I would miss you too much."

"Really?!" I exclaimed, "Oh YAY, because I sure would miss you too!" And so, we stood there embracing, and I thanked the Lord for bringing contentment to her heart, as I was reminded that of all the good reasons that we have for homeschooling, the most important and precious reason is really the simplest one, the one that all of the other benefits merely flow from... and yet it's so easy to lose sight of sometimes... our TOGETHERNESS! That has been the greatest gift we've received from all of these years we've chosen to keep our children close to us, to live and learn with them daily...

We have a comradery and a tie that only comes with time spent together, keeping in touch with eachother every day, knowing eachother and enjoying eachother's company, sharing our lives so completely. Yes, of course there's been plenty of moments and days when I've lost my patience, felt inadequate and depleted, frustrated at my lack of good time managment, priorities getting out of whack, nights I've been kept up with that creeping anxiety over whether or not I was doing right by my children (with methodology/ how we spent our time, "homeschooling" versus "unschooling", etc. not in having them home in general- that I'm sure is right). But I was reminded this morning of what really matters overall. And that is that we have been together, and that my children like to be together. And though T hasn't mentioned going to school in some time, apparently she was reminded of how much our togetherness means to her as well.

In the years to come, as they grow naturally into the adult world and branch out into more and more independence, I'll be okay with that, and forever thankful for the childhood they have each shared with me... for this time together, which is passing so very quickly. I'm enjoying encouraging their uniqueness, and seeing them grow into such wonderful individuals. I'm also thrilled at the idea of starting over with another little one, from the beginning again, and sharing this experience with our older two.

And so tonight, when T called to me from her bath to come and wash her hair for her, because she likes the way I do it, I had to smile. And I walked in the bathroom, thankful for the call, welcoming the inconvenience. I enjoyed the fact that she still relishes these moments, and will remember them later, knowing that one day she won't ask me anymore. Yes, she can do it herself, and often does do it herself now, yet I'm realizing more and more that it's these special, seemingly small moments that bring us together, and I'm finding myself more and more determined to capture every single one of them... storing up treasures.

The Hebrew word for parents is horim, and it comes from the same root as moreh, teacher.
The parent is, and remains, the first and most important teacher that the child will ever have.

~ Rabbi Kassel Abelson

Dad, children flee Germany which banned practice under Hitler

Last Thursday the German police arrested Katharina Plett, a homeschooling mother of twelve. Yesterday her husband fled to Austria with the children. Homeschooling is illegal in Germany since Hitler banned it in 1938. The Plett family belongs to a homeschooling group of seven Baptist families in Paderborn. We wrote about their case last year...

Click here to read entire story.

Dana has recently written a post on Germany, Homeschooling and the Seperation of Church and State here. Spunky also recently wrote about Homeschooling in Germany here.

I cannot imagine going through the persecution these families are enduring, and living under the constant threat of such invasive government intrusion into our private lives. What a tragedy! I am so thankful for our own freedoms to homeschool here in the States... and Chris and I have talked about "what would we do" if it came down to facing the reality of homeschooling's one day becoming illegal where we are... would we continue? Yes. If it meant moving, or having to go "underground"... would we still? Oh Yes, most definitely. Why? Because our children are our most precious inheritance and blessing from the Lord, and we take their discipleship so very seriously. No way are we going to hand them over to state indoctrination centers, ie; public schools.

Would you, continue to homeschool I mean, if it became illegal in your state?

Reverence, etc.––As for reverence, consideration for others, respect for persons and property, I can only urge the importance of a sedulous cultivation of these moral qualities––the distinguishing marks of a refined nature––until they become the daily habits of the child's life; and the more, because a self assertive, aggressive, self seeking temper is but too characteristic of the times we live in.

Temper––Born in a Child.––I am anxious, however, to a say a few words on the habit of sweet temper. It is very customary to regard temper as constitutional, that which is born in you and is neither to be helped nor hindered. 'Oh, she is a good tempered little soul; nothing puts her out!' 'Oh, he has his father's temper; the least thing that goes contrary makes him fly into a passion,' are the sorts of remarks we hear constantly.

Not Temper, but Tendency.––It is no doubt true that children inherit a certain tendency to irascibility or to amiability, to fretfulness, discontentment, peevishness, sullenness, murmuring, and impatience; or to cheerfulness, trustfulness, good-humour, patience, and humility. It is also true that upon the preponderance of any of these qualities––upon temper, that is––the happiness or wretchedness of child and man depends, as well as the comfort or misery of the people who live with him. We all know people possessed of integrity and of many excellent virtues who make themselves intolerable to their belongings. The root of evil is, not that these people were born sullen, or peevish, or envious––that might have been mended; but that they were permitted to grow up in these dispositions. Here, if anywhere, the power of habit is invaluable: it rests with the parents to correct the original twist, all the more so if it is from them the child gets it, and to send their child into the world best with an even, happy temper, inclined to make the best of things, to look on the bright side, to impute the best and kindest motives to others, and to make no extravagant claims on his own account––fertile source of ugly tempers. And this, because the child is born with no more than certain tendencies.

Parents must correct Tendency by New Habit of Temper.––It is by force of habit that a tendency becomes a temper; and it rests with the mother to hinder the formation of ill tempers, to force that of good tempers. Nor is it difficult to do this while the child's countenance is as an open book to his mother, and she reads the thoughts of his heart before he is aware of them himself. Remembering that every envious, murmuring, discontented thought leaves a track in the very substance of the child's brain for such thoughts to run in again and again––that this track, this rut, so to speak, is ever widening and deepening with the traffic in ugly thoughts––the mother's care is to hinder at the outset the formation of any such track. She sees into her child's soul––sees the evil temper in the act of rising: now is her opportunity.

Change the Child's Thoughts.––Let her change the child's thoughts before ever the bad temper has had time to develop into conscious feeling, much less act: take him out of doors, send him to fetch or carry, tell him or show him something of interest,––in a word, give him something else to think about; but all in a natural way, and without letting the child perceive that he is being treated. As every fit of sullenness leaves place in the child's mind for another fit of sullenness to succeed it, so every such fit averted by the mother's tact tends to obliterate the evil traces of former sullen tempers. At the same time, the mother is careful to lay down a highway for the free course of all sweet and genial thoughts and feelings.

I have been offering suggestions, not for a course of intellectual and moral training, but only for the formation of certain habits which should be, as it were, the outworks of character. Even with this limited programme, I have left unnoticed many matters fully as important as those touched upon. In the presence of an embarrassment of riches, it has been necessary to adopt some principle of selection; and I have thought it well to dwell upon considerations which do not appear to me to have their full weight with educated parents, rather than upon those of which every thoughtful person recognises the force.

~ excerpted from The Original Homeschooling Series, by Charlotte M. Mason, Vol.1 ~Part IV. Some Habits Of Mind - Some Moral Habits

Oh, how I am enjoying reading the writings of this learned teacher of children, and teachers, alike. Charlotte Mason had such a way of enunciating the most elusive of truths... I've known the the above stated to be true, and I've found myself intuitively doing just as she recommends at times:

change the child's thoughts before ever the bad temper has had time to develop into conscious feeling, much less act

I am thankful for the Holy Spirit's leading me in my dealings with my children thusfar, and for the affirmation and encouragement of teachers like Miss Mason to press on, who help to renew my vision when I am growing slack.

I am thankful for His Grace that covers the times when I have fallen short as well... for His Restorative Power, for His Help as I surrender my own doings, falterings and teachings ever to His ever-guiding Hands...

Lord, help me to teach aright and to be teachable as well~

prayerfully~

I believe that no teacher should strive to make others think like he thinks, but to lead them to the living Truth, to the Master himself, of whom alone they can learn anything, who will make them in themselves know what is true by the very seeing of it. I believe that the inspiration of the Almighty alone gives understanding. I believe that to be the disciple of Christ is the end of being, that to persuade others to be His disciples is the aim of all teaching.

-George MacDonald-

Discovering the Character of God, p. 270.
Unspoken Sermons, Third Series - "Justice"

If I could but make others see with my eyes how much this saying should mean to the educator! How habit, in the hands of the mother, is as his wheel to the potter, his knife to the carver––the instrument by means of which she turns out the design she has already conceived in her brain. Observe, the material is there to begin with; his wheel will not enable the potter to produce a porcelain cup out of coarse clay; but the instrument is as necessary as the material or the design. It is unpleasant to speak of one's self, but if the reader will allow me, I should like to run over the steps by which I have been brought to look upon habit as the means whereby the parent may make almost anything he chooses of his child. That which has become the dominant idea of one person's life, if it be launched suddenly at another, conveys no very great depth or weight of meaning to the second person––he wants to get at it by degrees, to see the steps by which the other has travelled. Therefore, I shall venture to show how I arrived at my present position, which is, from one of the three possible points of view––The formation of habits is education, and Education is the formation of habits.
~Charlotte Mason, Home Education, p.97

This week I've been busy doing some deep cleaning, sorting (getting rid of stuff), organizing and gleaning from the teachings of Charlotte Mason. I've also been prayerfully considering my own lack of habit in so many areas. I am so glad to finally have gotten my huge "book closet" in order though (major accomplishment). This is one of the two oversized hallway closets we have, which is lined with built-in bookshelves. It's where I keep all of my teacherly-type stuff... and it's also become a *catch-all* type closet over the last year, whenever I was doing those quick company's coming de-clutter clean-up type jobs. SO, it needed some serious help! And it's about done! Now I pray that I shall get my days in the right order, fully realizing that this will forever be a fluid (changing) work in progress!

I've also finally been able to sort through stacks of papers from over the last year, and we're now actually putting them into their appropriate notebooks! Now that this is getting done, I'm beginning to come out from under that defeated and overwhelmed feeling that's basicly held me back from accomplishing much lately in the way of our notebooking endeavors. The kids are having fun going through all of their previous and forgotten work/drawings etc. They've been inspired and happily working on new illustrations for their Bible notebooks. We're now aggressively planning to keep up with it weekly (filing), putting our papers/projects into their appropriate notebooks each Friday.

This leads me to my next determination. I recently finished reading A Charlotte Mason Education, and was greatly encouraged and challenged by it on many fronts. It's a light and enjoyable easy read. One particularly potent chapter for me was ch. 20, "The Formation of Habit". I've been working on this area of habit forming in my own life... and do see that I have long ways to go, realizing that my habit-forming efforts with my children will only be as effective as what I've first established within myself. And it is with this in my mind that I will require a bit more routine/scheduling around here. I'm not speaking of a rigidly structured, timed schedule (no, that would never work for me/us), but rather simply a more consistently recognized/written down and followed routine. I need it, Chris approves, and the kids need it... So, I've been writing out our weekly routines/ schedules in an MS Word doc. I downloaded here, from ToG.

Something that really struck a chord in me as I read A Charlotte Mason Education was the truth of the following. Catherine Levison writes;

To summarize, she (Charlotte Mason) saw the will of children as weak. Some examples are how they are given to be idle, tell fibs, and dawdle. The problem for the educator is to give the child control over his own nature. She teaches us that thoughts defile a man and thoughts purify a man. That we think as we are accustomed to think and we get into ruts. The outcome is that we do not deliberately intend to think these thoughts. She says the child is "immature of will, feeble in moral power, unused to the weapons of the spiritual warfare." (Vol.1, p. 109)

Charlotte's belief is that habits of thought will govern the man, even his character. You will find her often likening habits in the human life to rails for the train. The same way it is easier for the train to stay on the rails than to leave them, so it is for the child to follow lines of habit carefully laid down than to run off these lines. It is the very serious responsibility of the parent to lay down these tracks.

Habit is so powerful according to Charlotte that it will rule 99 in 100 of our thoughts and acts. This will happen whether you formed the habits or not. (emphasis mine)

Right now, I'm designing two seperate charts for us, one for weekly lessons and one for weekly chores, which I'll print out for each of the kids to have in their own notebooks. That way they can SEE what's expected of them each week, and actually check it off as it's done. They say that they'll appreciate this. Now that they're getting older (N will be 10 next month! T will be 7!) I'm wanting to establish more structure in their/our days... I'm finding that without a plan for us each to literally see and go by each day (and be accountable to), it's been so hard to stay on track, regardless of all of my/our good intentions.

I've fallen way behind in our AO scheduled readings for Years 1 and 2, mostly due to our spontaneous library finds and our following personal interests instead of doing AO first. But that's okay, I'm not going to sweat it... you know? I can't bring myself to tell N, "Put that book you're reading (and thoroughly absorbed in) down, and read this one instead!" Lately he's been immersed in the three Usborne history books we have, has nearly read them all cover to cover.

And so... I'm thinking that if I can get an *earlier* start/routine each day (rather than my usual late start), so that we can finish our "lessons" soon enough that the kids will have plenty of time still for all of their playing, own reading and interests, then our days will flow better. *sighs* ...begin, and begin again...

I have been greatly encouraged though, by the fact that our family has actually stayed on schedule with our Bible reading plan for this year so far. Yes, the most important habit is well established once again, as we're together reading the Word, listening to it and talking about it daily. So, maybe there's hope yet for our homeschooling/daily routines as well. I plan to have us on track for starting our other lessons next week.

I'll see if I can get Word pasted in here, and post our routine schedules as soon as I get them finished... Also, I'll share more about what notebooks we're keeping, and our Book of Centuries (we each have one of our own) too.

Moral Benefits of Wisdom

¹ My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,

² turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,

³ and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,

⁴ and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,

⁵ then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.

⁶ For the LORD gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

⁷ He holds victory in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,

⁸ for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.

⁹ Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair—every good path.

¹⁰ For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

¹¹ Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.

¹² Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,
from men whose words are perverse,

¹³ who leave the straight paths
to walk in dark ways,

¹⁴ who delight in doing wrong
and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,

¹⁵ whose paths are crooked
and who are devious in their ways.

Click the below title to view a pro-homeschooling article featured alongside an article of opposing view, with over 200 comments following, some of which are quite good. The first comment is a rebuttal to the liberal columnist, Diane, by Gwyneth, a self-proclaimed "liberal, secular home school parent". Anyways, it's an interesting discussion...

Does home schooling do a disservice to kids?

Shaunti Feldhahn, a right-leaning columnist, writes the commentary this week and Diane Glass, a left-leaning columnist, responds.

Maverick education reformer JOHN TAYLOR GATTO advises today's ambitions young people to cut loose from convention, drop out of college and tune in to America's greatest export: creativity.

On Feb. 28, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates challenged the governors of America's 50 states to make college preparation a priority for everyone in public high schools. Anything less, he said, would condemn millions of poor children to lives denied of opportunity. It's an equation we've all heard many times: College graduates make more money, therefore they are happier, therefore send more people to college to find better lives for themselves.
The day after Mr. Gates delivered this heartfelt appeal, I left for Guangzhou. The day I landed, my Chinese hosts were eager to discuss the Gates address, so intimate has the linkage between money and college been made to appear after a century of steady propaganda.
Not a single press account I read or heard bothered to point out that Mr. Gates himself dropped out of college after a single year. Or the even more provocative detail that he hasn't bothered to go back. Not even $40 billion or so in the bank represents security enough for him to take time off from the office to improve himself? Hmm.
Without dropouts like Bill Gates, America wouldn't have a dominant global position in computers at all. We owe a great deal to dropouts and record government subsidies during the development period. College had very little to do with it.
Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, was a dropout, too. He never bothered to go back for a degree either.
Steve Jobs, the big man behind Apple, dropped out of Reed College after one semester.
In all the years since, a pressing need for a diploma hasn't surfaced yet. Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, abandoned college and never looked back.
And whatever Michael Dell of Dell Computer owes his dazzling success and his billions to, it isn't college. He, too, dropped out.
Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle ... you guessed it!
Some measure of the gross disinformation peddled on high can be guessed at if you realize that nobody in the computer business believes that high school or college training has much to do with success in the design or operation of the things.
Attention to things in school is the best advertising the computer business can get, of course, and schools are the biggest customers of all. But you can acquire enough facility with the things in 60 days outside school to handle anything MIT is likely to throw at you.My daughter Briseis told me that. She graduated from MIT, a computer wonderland, and to my dying day I'll never forget her outrage about the considerable number of MIT students who don't bother to wait for a diploma but drop out long before for lucrative jobs.
At corporations that couldn't care less that they have no degree.Fast-food ChinaWhen I got to my hotel in Guangzhou, encomiums for Mr. Gates were still echoing in the international press, whose presence in China is puzzling until you realize that half the people in China seem to speak English. After a few days I came to see that nearly universal Internet access in a dazzling array of businesses - gift shops, tailor shops, restaurants and so forth, as well as abundant Internet cafes - was the reason for this startling language facility.
It had nothing to do with colleges. Which didn't surprise me. Computers in all their lucrative manifestations weren't the only American dropout businesses cutting a huge swath across China. Block after block revealed a density of fast-food franchises, which boggled my Pittsburgher mind. And each Taco Bell, each KFC, each Golden Arches, was jammed wall-to-wall with Chinese.Here in a city with the most exquisite and affordable Chinese food on Earth, those killer french fries were winning the day. Good for America, good for Chinese medicine, a good deal all around.
Back in the United States, burger-flipping is becoming a principal source of employment. It is also a business exclusively created by high-school dropouts. According to the best-selling Fast Food Nation , every single founder of every major fast-food chain is a dropout. All of them.Imagine how horrific our balance of trade would become without this enormous business created by high school dropouts.
More school isn't the answer, Mr. Gates. Too much school already is our problem.The other dream team China is now so perfectly encased in a bubble of American entertainment that I'll be dumbfounded if much serious all-Chinese culture exists in 30 years. Right under their noses, we're colonizing their minds.
I was having tea at an outdoor cafe where every single patron - about 50 Chinese men and women, of all ages - sat entranced before a TV set showing the Minnesota Timberwolves pro basketball team have a go at the Detroit Pistons. Then the thought struck me: It won't be long before these people are hooked on everything American. Soon they'll want to participate in the American imagination.Not America's bad schooling, but its imagination.It turns my stomach to say this, but we owe more than we know to our dream team: David Geffen of Dreamworks (flunked out of Brooklyn College), Yoko Ono (dropped out of Sarah Lawrence), Blockbuster founder Wayne Huizenga (logged only three semesters), Ted Turner (kicked out), Bill Murray (dropout), Sharon Stone (dropout), Brad Pitt (dropout) - hey, I could go on until Christmas.
The Gates approach could bankrupt our native genius by locking away even more of our young people - at the zenith of their creative power - into sterile classrooms.Why would he do this? If he thinks the jobs will be there to absorb these millions of new college graduates productively, then he: knows nothing of the deadly disease of capitalism called overproduction; doesn't realize the lesson of his own life and Ray Kroc's and Walt Disney's and Louis Armstrong's; and doesn't understand the lessons of British India or post-World War I Germany about what happens when too many people trained as clerks for the bureaucracy - for that's really what our colleges are about - suddenly find themselves underemployed.Our economy has prevailed against all comers for several centuries because it has allowed resourcefulness, inventiveness and imagination, along with courage, to dominate. The American juggernauts sweeping all competition in Guangzhou owe nothing to college training.All are erected out of nothing but imagination: imagination and lines inscribed on sand grains; imagination and ground-up cow parts; imagination and visual and auditory recordings of people pretending to be someone they aren't - or singing their hearts out.We need to realize with pride and exhilaration what these things mean. We need to follow the lessons of our unparalleled jazz domination of the world, not the interlude of factory slavery - even in the factories of university life.
Try to understand what it really means to embrace the American dream of liberty and how very rich that has made us and will make us again if we're willing to turn our backs on the promise of corporations to make us safe.We need to demand that our schools locate our own American genius once again and learn to know and appreciate it. We've had about a half-century now with schooling in the service of government and corporation, instead of serving families, free enterprise or God.Fifteen years ago, Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor told graduating college seniors, "Your challenge will not come so much in breaking new paths but in deciding to choose among many paths open to you."But 200 years earlier, at the beginning of America, Thomas Jefferson told an American audience a much different story. He said that only bad citizens train themselves to fit the reality they inherit, but good citizens make the society they live in.
Are you listening, Mr. Gates? My friends tell me you're investing in another project to transform secondary schooling called "To Make Citizens: Seven Propositions Toward a Course Correction in Education."Citizens? Sounds good, as long as you don't forget that citizens learn to argue with power. They aren't yes men. They don't memorize what society says should be taught in colleges. They make the world they live in.
The Jeffersonian ideal of citizenship isn't Justice O'Connor's, and I don't believe it's yours at the moment. Only one is fit for free men and women.The secret of jazzThe Apostle Paul wrote again and again that salvation isn't about following the rules. We aren't going to find secular salvation today through observing the rules of yesterday. Alas, they are mainly what colleges teach. The best clue to what path to follow is hidden in our jazz.Apple Computer is jazz, McDonald's is jazz, DreamWorks is jazz, the Super Bowl is jazz, comic books are jazz, block parties are jazz, bass-fishing derbies are jazz, the Williams sisters are jazz, Tiger Woods is jazz.
Over in China, the revered Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuous music school on the planet, can't even believe the principles of jazz are real! That with enough courage and trust in yourself, you can hear a piece of music once, and ring dazzling changes on it forever and ever. They can't duplicate our jazz. But everything else we make doesn't worry them a bit.
David Ricardo, the great capitalist philosopher, would understand at once what I'm saying: The road to wealth comes from understanding yourself. Doing what you do best, not what other people do best. America faces an emergency, and vested interests - including the interests of colleges - have to be set aside for the common good. The biggest obstacle blocking American progress is forced institutional schooling; the next biggest is forced college training, which promises far more than it can deliver.

Young people, don't be afraid. The future depends on you. Take your lead from Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener, and say to Mr. Gates: "I would prefer not to."

John Taylor Gatto is a former New York State Teacher of the Year and the author of several books on educational reform. He was the keynote speaker at the Australian national Educational Leadership Conference in 2004 and has spoken in every American state and 12 foreign countries. You may contact him through johntaylorgatto.com. Copyright 2005, by John Taylor Gatto. All rights reserved.

EDUCATION REFORMER JOHN TAYLOR GATTO'S Recipe for Empty Children;
1. Remove children from the business of the world until time has passed for them to learn how to self-teach.
2. Age-grade them so that past and future both are muted and become irrelevant.
3. Take all religion out of their lives except the hidden civil religion of appetite and positive/negative reinforcement schedules.
4. Remove all significant functions from home and family life except its role as dormitory and casual companionship.
Make parents unpaid agents of the State; recruit them into partnerships to monitor the conformity of children to an official agenda.
5. Keep children under surveillance every minute from dawn to dusk. Give no private space or time. Fill time with collective activities. Record behavior quantitatively.
6. Addict the young to machinery and electronic displays. Teach that these are desirable to recreation and learning both.
7. Use designed games and commercial entertainment to teach preplanned habits, attitudes and language usage.
8. Pair the selling of merchandise with attractive females in their prime childbearing years so that the valences of lovemaking and mothering can be transferred intact to the goods vended.
9. Remove as much private ritual as possible from young lives, such as the rituals of food preparation and family dining.
10. Keep both parents employed with the business of strangers. Discourage independent livelihoods with low start-up costs. Make labor for others and outside obligations first priority, self-development second.
11. Grade, evaluate and assess children constantly and publicly. Begin early. Make sure everyone knows his or her rank.
12. Honor the highly graded. Keep grading and real world accomplishment as strictly separate as possible so that a false meritocracy, dependent on the support of authority to continue, is created. Push the most independent kids to the margin; do not tolerate real argument.
13. Forbid the efficient transmission of useful knowledge, such as how to build a house, repair a car, make a dress.
14. Reward dependency in many forms. Call it "teamwork."
15. Establish visually degraded group environments called "schools" and arrange mass movements through these environments at regular intervals. Encourage a level of fluctuating noise (a periodic negative reinforcement) so that concentration, habits of civil discourse and intellectual investigation are gradually extinguished from the behavioral repertoire.

-from "The Underground History of American Education" (Odysseus, 2000)