I don’t know what’s going on lately, but I’ve had the hardest time getting motivated to do school work with the kids. Instead of them complaining, I’m the one going, “But I don’t want to do algebra! Do we really have to do biology? Can’t I wait to do the times tables with you?” Sigh. Of course, for some reason, this time of year tends … Continue reading Homeschooling Blahs
This week’s Carnival of Homeschooling is up over at A Pondering Heart. Thanks to Jocelyn for putting it together. If you have a chance, check out Barbara Frank’s post on interviews with women who tried to have it all and are older and wiser now. Continue reading The Carnival of Homeschooling Is Up!
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post on why parents who teach their children creation science or intelligent design in a way which elevates those teachings to a fundamental of the Christian faith are putting their children’s long term spiritual well being at risk. In the comments on that post (which were remarkably civil for this topic BTW, thank you to all who commented!), someone asked how I teach my kids to be faithful Christians while also accepting the science of evolution and geology and such. I think this is a good question and figured I would share how it works in our house.
The first thing I tell my kids is that God is always willing to meet us where we are. He doesn’t wait for us to get it all together or have a good grasp of life to reach out and reveal himself to us. Thousands of years ago the ancient Hebrews had no numbers for billions. They did not know what elements or atoms or DNA were. They did not know where sickness came from or what the stars were. It would have been literally impossible for them to understand a universe which was billions of years old, stars made out of burning gas shining many billions of light years away. They could not have comprehended that life was composed of atoms linked together into molecules which linked together to make macromolecules which worked together to create all the tissues, fluids and such of the human body. They could not have comprehended what DNA does, how it replicates itself, how it gets passed down from generation to generation while various mutations occur which can, over time beyond their words to even name, result in a diversity of life they weren’t even aware of.
In other words, it would have been impossible for the one true God to reveal his role in and purpose for creation to the ancient Hebrews in a way which reflected the scientific reality of this amazing creation. Continue reading “Raising Christian Evolutionists”
I’m still waiting to get my internet back on, so I don’t have time to blog properly about this, but I just wanted to direct everyone’s attention to an Outlook article from the Washington Post on homeschooling written by an actual homeschooling parent, no less! (I’m sure I’m the 5 kabilionth homeschool blogger to point this article out, but hey!) Continue reading Did you know that homeschoolers sometimes leave their homes?
This is awesome:
1 Please stop asking us if it’s legal. If it is — and it is — it’s insulting to imply that we’re criminals. And if we were criminals, would we admit it?
2 Learn what the words “socialize” and “socialization” mean, and use the one you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you do now. Socializing means hanging out with other people for fun. Socialization means having acquired the skills necessary to do so successfully and pleasantly. If you’re talking to me and my kids, that means that we do in fact go outside now and then to visit the other human beings on the planet, and you can safely assume that we’ve got a decent grasp of both concepts. Continue reading “The Bitter Homeschooler’s Wish List”
This is our 5th year homeschooling. I’ve been doing it long enough that I’m now considered “experienced”. New homeschoolers will often eagerly ask my advice when I first meet them. Of course, many of them don’t seem to like what I have to say. 🙂 We use a rather unstructured, almost unschooling approach which I think freaks some people out. But whether you are more structured or more free-form in your approach, I have learned a few things during the last five years which I think are probably helpful for most homeschoolers to keep in mind. So here’s my list of some of the things I’ve learned so far:
1. You have more time than you think. Continue reading “Things I have learned about homeschooling”
This week’s Carnival of Homeschooling is up over at Palm Tree Pundit. It seems to be a more managable size than some of the more recent carnivals have been, so you can head over there without taking up your whole morning! Still some good stuff, including my “Sibling Socialization” post. Continue reading Carnival of Homeschooling
I am the oldest of 9 children; 7 girls and 2 boys (poor boys!). We’re all almost grown up now and it’s kind of amazing to see how wildly different we all are in many ways. We have liberals and conservatives and people who don’t know which is which, there are introverts and extroverts, scholars and airheads, city folks and country lovers, Christians and new age-y types, and on and on. Yet there are a couple of things which we all pretty much have in common. We tend not to be particularly materialistic or impressed by names, titles or celebrity.
The other thing I think we all have in common is that we are profoundly tolerant of people. None of us really finds it that hard to say, “I disagree with you, but if that works for you, then have at it.” We all know how to deal with difficult people without going nuts. If you ever need someone to talk to who won’t judge you, even as they offer advise, call one of us. You can be diametrically opposed to everything we think is right, know that we do not agree with what you’re doing and still be friends with us. We’re not perfect, but we do know how to get along with people as a general rule.
One of my sisters and I were talking and laughing about our youngest brother who as a kid had a notoriously bad temper. She was telling me about the time one of the sisters called his Tae Kwon Do instructor to tattle on him for throwing hissy fits around the house. LOL Can you imagine having to take that call? Continue reading “Sibling Socialization – The Best Kind”
In my last post I kind of poked at those who use ridiculous notions of socialization to criticize homeschooling. Today, I’m going to sharpen my stick and point it in the direction of some of my fellow homeschoolers. It is my firm belief that an unfortunate number of Christian homeschoolers are putting their child’s future spiritual walk at risk in service to an idea which is not even necessary to the faith. I am talking, of course, about those who are teaching their children a from a creationist, anti-evolutionary POV. (Of course there are parents and churches who are teaching kids who aren’t being homeschooled the same things, but for the purposes of this discussion, I’m going to focus on homeschoolers who are doing this.)
Of course, one of the primary reasons some Christian homeschoolers teach their children that evolution, the big bang and such are wrong, is because they feel an obligation to inculcate a strong faith in their children. However, it is my very strong opinion, backed up by the experiences of many people who have been down this road themselves, that these parents are actually sowing the seeds of the destruction of their children’s faith in the future. Continue reading “Teaching Creation Science or ID? A formula for putting your child’s Christian faith at risk.”
You know how sometimes you hear someone express an opinion which demonstrates clearly that they actually have no idea what they are talking about? Like that poor girl from the Miss Teen USA contest whose answer to the question, “why do you think so many Americans can’t find the USA on a map?” became the stuff of youtube legend. That’s generally how I feel about people who express any of the following “objections” to homeschooling:
They won’t know how to function in the real world.
They won’t get the experience of dealing with people with different religious beliefs.
They won’t have to learn to deal with people of different races.
They won’t know people who are poor.
They will be exposed to only one way of thinking.
Anyone who has homeschooled, has already had to deal with this sort of ignorance posing as “concern”. Unfortunately, 9 times out of 10, what one finds is that the person isn’t really concerned at all, and nothing you say, no amount of reason or reality will shake them from their preconceived ideas. It is precisely for these sort of people that a variety of pro-homeschooling t-shirts have started to be made. I’m broke, so I won’t be getting any myself anytime soon (I do take paypal if anyone would like to help out with this situation), but I found them amusing and thought I’d pass them on. Continue reading “Beware the unsocialized homeskoollers!”
The Upside Down World 