UNSCHOOLING

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Parenting/unschooling-homeschooling-book-tests-classes/story?id=10410867&page=2

( above is a link to a report on unschooling)



I've been enjoying the process of looking into how I'll educate my kids. It's a huge process and I feel that I am just at the beginning of this all. I am seriously looking into the pros and cons of home, public, private school and which one I'll end up choosing for my family. I came across the idea of unschooling a while back and wanted to share my thoughts on it.

I am not going to dive deep into my thoughts on the topic of unschooling. Basically the concept is let children direct their education and parents only facilitate that. This is a concept I don't embrace nor will look into much further. I think this is the harsh reaction to dislikes of public education and levels of structure. I see some valid points in their arguments but to crush concepts of structure and discipline all together for the "happiness" or "will" of the children isn't a good idea either.

This isn't how the world works. Imagine if an NFL team instructed players to play how they want, decide their own course, and practice however they want just as long as they show up. You just learn by getting on the field and running around. It would be disastrous. Or if a small business told it's employees to only work on what they like, the end result would be a failed business.

Disorder doesn't create order. Never has never will.

It's my view that all education ( or child rearing in general) has to be parent directed. I think that is the God given role of parents in the wider Biblical mandate. That is what God has done with his children. (mankind) If I study the scriptures correctly bad things happen when man decides his own direction or is wise in his own eyes. Shouldn't we apply that to raising our kids?

Notice the below translations of Proverbs 22:6....look at the mandate to parents with words like...."teach, train, or direct."

Proverbs 22:6 (New International Version)

⁶ Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it.

Proverbs 22:6 (New Living Translation)

⁶ Direct your children onto the right path,
and when they are older, they will not leave it.

Proverbs 22:6 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

⁶ Teach a youth about the way he should go;

even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Imagine the course of western civilization if it had been....."let your children direct their own paths" or "children must teach themselves what's right." etc. In the Bible it constantly talks about getting wisdom, seeking wisdom, etc. While curiosity may be built within, wisdom is not. Acquiring wisdom takes direction, instruction, teaching etc.

I am not saying we shouldn't incorporate our children's desires, pursuits and interest within the context of a well rounded education. If my son is interested in history you better believe I am going to facilitate that. If my daughter loves biology or reading I am going to facilitate that desire. However just because a child may hate a subject doesn't mean we should avoid that.

I am just saying that education based on the inclinations of your kids isn't a good idea. Children need structure, guidelines, direction and with that being a base........the freedom to explore creativity, the ability for parents to foster their interest etc. Unschooling seems like an incomplete idea. One that I think would fail most kids at the end when its time for them to fly out of the nest. This is an idea as a whole I don't support.

Homeschool Curriculum

So my "education blogs" are devoted to honestly investigating all 3 options of educating my kids. Lately I've been researching home school curriculum. Finding a curriculum isn't the problem, it seems like a bigger task to find any authority on these curriculum's. I can find sources for reviews but where is a GOOD PLACE to find valid reviews with any authority? Are there websites that allow you to dig deeper in curriculum's?

An encouraging quote

"We've educated our three children in virtually every possible setting over the years-- home school, private school, and public schools. My husband and I determined long ago that our family will march to the beat of our own drummer. We refuse to be victims of snobbery by those parents who insist that private schools are the best. We won't allow ourselves to be shamed by well meaning parents who insist that if we don't home school then we are less committed to our kids than they are to theirs. And we absolutely reject both the conventional wisdom that public education is the answer, and the notion that all public schools are failing schools. We have never forced all of our children into one educational mold out of a desire for convenience. It makes life a little more complicated to actually have to evaluate what situations are best for your kids, but it is absolutely worth it." - Rebecca Hagelin ( "30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family")

I think this such a great quote. We have to evaluate and re-evaluate this choice.( How we educate our kids) Just because we choose one system doesn't mean that will be the best down the line for our kids. This quote just encouraged me that this is not an all or nothing issue. I knew that but it's a nice reminder. It is also a reminder that we shouldn't base our families decision solely on the bias of other people who may have negative feelings towards another system.
The particular chapter this quote is from is called "Direct Your Child's Education." I think that is the key.....all education should be parent directed.....part of that parental direction is to make adjustments when necessary. All in all it's my aim to seek the Lord's wisdom in this process and not the overall biases of whichever party. This is not to say people don't have good things to say in regards to their choices but I am saying the end result will not be solely on the merits of human wisdom.


Proverbs 2:6 (NIV)
⁶ For the LORD gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

"Helping your Child Succeed in Public School" By Cheri Fuller

The Grade - B + ( 89%) This is a book I highly recommend for Christian families navigating through public school. Again I got this book from the library but I would buy this book.


The Good: I think this is a must have resource for every Christian family who lovingly chooses public school. I say lovingly because I think public school can be a loving and proper choice. Just like home school and private school. So long as parents are purposeful, and their home is a faith-filled loving Christian home.

The book stresses how important it is to be an involved parent. Properly noting that it's the parents who make all the difference in their child's education. That parents need to take ownership in large part for their kids education. The author offers great tips to help your student develop a great student teacher relationship and for parents to build a great working relationship with their teachers. Great tips are provided for the oversight of your children's education and how to take proper action when their is a problem. I genuinely love the encouragement for Christian parents and how they should relate with school officials.......expressing how much more your concerns are heard when you are actually serving your teachers and kids school. Because you aren't just viewed as a annoying complainer every time there is an issue. The book offers great tips on just about everything....how a parent can be better involved with their kids school, study tips, organizational tips, supplemental educational experiences, how to enrich their public school experience and the like. Not to mention tips for helping the learning style of your kid.

In regards to faith there are two great chapters devoted to helping your kid have strong faith, and that it does start with the home. That is where discipleship takes place. There is another great chapter on praying for your kid. There are also great examples of parents who are raising Godly kids by implementing Godly practices at home. Stories of how God has worked through/for kids at public school.


The in between: It offers some great resources in several Appendix pages in the back. Resources from implementing character education, working with school officials, religious rights of students, supplemental reading at age appropriate levels, video and audio resources, further reading on public school and parents etc. The problem is some of these thing may be outdated or non existent today so you'll have to research a bit.


The bad: While it does address the high school and middle school years and offers some great tips it's fairly silent on the issue of peer pressure. Which is a huge huge issue at those ages. I work at a middle school I see that on a regular basis. In general I think the book is properly geared towards elementary years and setting them off to a great start. However I would've like that topic to be addressed.

The book was written in 1994 and updated in 1999 so it's a bit outdated in regards to modern times. However it's not to far out of the loop in regards tips and strategies. I
would've loved a more in depth look on issues of faith, not that it didn't do a good job, just wanted more detail from the author rather than what felt like summary in some areas.

The Impact: In a sea of books that discourage the choice of public school, its nice to see a Christian author equip and empower parents for this choice. It would definitely be used as a resource should public school be our final choice.




* the next two books I'll be reviewing on this issue are..... "Going Public" By Kelli and David Pritchard and " Two Trees of Knowledge" by Dianne Dekker.

First book review - "Family Driven Faith" By Voddie Baucham

The Grade : If I had to grade this book I would give it a strong B. ( 85%) I have a lot more likes than dislikes in this book. I got this from the library but it is a book I would own and use as a reference.

The good : This a is book that if you pick up will sound the alarms and give you a desire to seriously disciple your family. Incorporating family worship, devotions, and the teaching of important christian doctrine. It rightly puts this issue on the family, mainly the father of the family. It offers some great ideas in how to incorporate the above mentioned. Noting that you don't have to be a seminarian to accomplish this just an authentic father who gathers his family around God's word. It rightly breaks down many of the fallacies the world offers on topics like love, spirituality, and the overall secular worldview. It rightly expresses how those views ravage the culture. If parents aren't purposeful about teaching the faith then someone else will fill that gap with other philosophy.


This book highlights the fact that men need to be careful what they invest in at the expense of their family. At the end of the day sports, work, politics aren't lasting but investment in family is. You only get one chance to raise your kids.

The In between : Bauchman supports a concept I have never heard about. Calling it the " Family Integrated Church." In most part I didn't like his ideas. In general I liked some of his concepts though and I think universally the church at large needs to take a look at how exactly it honors/views family. Culture has rubbed off on church families or at least how the American church views family. For example many people cringe if a young married couple has kids, or if there is a family past 2 children. He rightly points out that you don't a lot of times hear anything mentioned on the pulpit about birthrates, multi-generational faithfulness etc Also that the church can be very kid unfriendly sometimes. While much of what he says about youth ministry I disagree with he does point out that parents are hardly involved in their kids youth ministry I would love to see that integrated a bit more. I also think it would be a cool idea to have or encourage younger people ( teens) to have Sunday school classes with older people. I have some agreements in my own church about how the youth seem so separate from the wider church and we do as a church wonder why its hard to plug kids back in once they graduate from high school.


Bauchman does also call for churches to start holding men accountable for how they are leading their family ......if at all. I think this is huge! This needs to be done among men in churches. So I love that idea.

He offers great reasons to homeschool, he makes a very biblical case which does make me want to investigate about school options and seek the Lord's guidance on it. I think he correctly points out that the church should be a friendly place for homeschoolers as well. In some churches they simply aren't.



The bad: He fully supports a church model of family integration. In his book he simply suggest that nursery's in church are just places to drop off our kids and forget about them. I disagree with that whole heartedly. I think nurseries are crucial for a church. I view it as my daughters way to worship Jesus for starters. I talk to her about that just about every Sunday. I think it's a healthy service to offer as a church and for the parents, and for the teaching of God's word in service. In his church there is no youth ministry or nursery. He says that family integration is biblical and I won't really argue with him on that, but he says other models that have a nursery system and youth groups are unbiblical yet he doesn't Biblically make the case for that. I would like to ask him how he could justify his belief against youth ministry but how God calls people into the youth ministry? Or children's ministry. Vacation Bible School for example has brought several youngsters to Christ.

He starts off the book on how family really makes or breaks mulit-generational faithfulness and then kind of switches to the importance of church model to support that idea. I think discipleship among parents is the key for the passing on of faith. We are losing younger generations because Christian parents are failing to equip their youngsters at home and rightly said by Bauchman we are relying on the church to that. I agree it's not the churches job to do that, simply equip the Saints for that.

I don't 100% agree with him on the homeschooling front. As with other authors today he tells a stat that 75% of kids of public school students lose their faith by the end of their freshmen year of college. I think that's a correct stat, however I just cannot yet be convinced it is the public schools fault , but rather it goes back down to the parents fault. They didn't "train their kids in the way." So naturally when kids are out of the nest they fall away, they never learned to fly.
I tend to think of all parents as homeschool teachers, they are their kids primary influence. Now homeschooling I will concede offers a softer ground for a faith filled environment and more influence during the day. Being a public school parent offers more challenges along the course no doubt. But regardless if a child is not being discipled by his or her parents they will lose any bearings come time out of the nest.

I want to see the stat of how kids keep their faith after their freshmen year if prayer, family devotions and worship, talking about the important doctrines and worldview training in general were applied. I think it would be vastly different. That to me should be the churches first mandate to parents. "We're losing them because you aren't training them." Now the flocks reply should be "equip us."


Impact: It gives me greater pause to seriously look at my kids education from a biblical world view. My wife and I are taking this issue very seriously. Even more so it stirs me to rise up and be a Godly man, to train my kids, be a great husband, and the best spiritual leader I can. I recommend any man or woman serious about keeping faith in Christ central for their family should read this.



* my next book review will be over a book called " Helping Your Child Succeed in Public School" By Cheri Fuller

Stupid in America

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx4pN-aiofw&playnext_from=TL&videos=FF282I8gbqA

This was a 40 min report about public schools in America. I can't say this gives a full view of public education in America, but I think this does give an accurate view of many urban schools across the country. It also seems to portray many problems in northeast and west coast schools. It makes little reference to suburban schools other than just making a statement that there not doing good. Yet it doesn't show facts about that claim.

I do think it highlights a great point on just how hard it can be for school districts to fire teachers. As well as how rabid teachers unions can be. I work at a public school and trust me there are some great teachers. However there are teachers who have no business teaching as well. Teachers have been made to feel special by politicians and the like so much that some teachers think they don't have to work really hard anymore. ( note I said some, but that environment paves the way for laziness/entitlement ) The school I work at is more of an urban school. The schools can't reward excellence and there is not merit based pay.

I am critical of some of the parents on this documentary when they are frustrated to know that their kids aren't doing well. Are you kidding me? These parents haven't been monitoring their education? That to me is a cultural disconnect, somehow down the line we've sent our kids to school and have lost any sense of parental oversight. ( not to mention parental involvement) The news report fails to accurately display parental fault.

Stossel I think accurately reports that it's not money that we need to fix many public schools. It does highlight the Kansas City school district and how when money was boosted by 2 billion dollars. They built new facilities, added new computers, bused "white" kids" in and by 2000 they lost their accreditation. I do believe some public school on many fronts could use an EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY change. He also points out how charter schools are popping up, getting kids from problematic homes but producing great results and 1/3 to 2/3rds the cost of traditional public schools. ( again this is in urban communities) To be fair classroom size is smaller in public Charter schools.

Stossel goes on to report that in wealthier neighborhoods the public schools are much better. Which confused me a bit because of the claim from earlier in regards to suburban schools aren't much better than urban schools.

The report highlights the Belgium educational system. I think this is misleading. I mean yes we can learn something from Belgium's strong educational system. However it's hard to compare countries. They have an estimated population at just over 10 million, America is now over 300 million. Our big country has many more social problems than that tiny little country. He opens this up to school choice and how they're is a lack of good public school choice in many school districts. ( To be fair this isn't the case in all states, cities, or districts) I agree that school choice and competition would make public education better. As competition in the private sector drives down cost and boost service quality.

I think Stossel accurately points out that the status quo isn't the best. We need to change many things in our system. Like the idea of summer. It's outdated it was placed there a long time ago so kids could help on the farm. I think year round school with breaks would suit education better. ( 6 weeks on, two weeks off as an example)

At the end of this report my inclination towards my local public school isn't changed to much. Now if I lived in an urban community I would probably home school or send my kid to a proven charter school. I think Charter schools are wonderful things....giving teachers and administrators the ability to choose strong curriculum and teaching methods that work.

Educational Choice

Lately I've been talking with my wife in regards to our kids education. Actually the last couple years educational choice for my kids has been a huge area of interest with me. At one point I had decided that either home or private school was right. Then I swung the other way that public school is okay for our family. I've read some great encouraging books for Christian families that choose public school. At one point I could tell you that I was 99.9% sure that public school was our best route.

Today I can say I am about 90% inclined toward the public school direction. At least to me this is a huge issue, it's my kid(s) future I am talking about. Within some church circles this is a hot button issue that at times is really divisive. I just really wanted to take an honest look in all directions, even if I am inclined towards public school. My goal will be to read books,blogs, reviews, etc. about the options out there....public,private, homeschool, and even charter. Looking at home school curriculum's. Parental blogs about families who've made one choice or another. Look up stats, state education standards, etc. Most important I will be praying about this decision. I do believe at the end of the day my kids are God's, so I will be praying for wisdom.

I hope to have guest post by Christian families who've chosen one of the options and how they handle it, the blessings, the trials, etc. I want to take honest looks at public vs private, public vs. home school, etc. I even want to do interviews with willing subjects that I can report on. Looking into the "socialization" arguments/myths. Myths about public school and private school. And valid claims of all three systems. Also the gaps in the systems.

I'll be blogging about my experience and at the end of it report what my family will be choosing. I will not be going negative, hateful or insult anything out there but I will blunt towards all angles of this issue.

Simple family devotions

It's my view that a father and husband is the spiritual leader of his family. ( note I didn't say spiritual dictator) I believe it's my job to foster the spiritual climate of my home. To lead my wife and kid(s) spiritually, specifically this blog I'll be mentioning what we do as a family in regards to our daughter.


Let me first say Family Devotions did seem daunting to me. I never did see or experience them growing up. So naturally I assumed they had to be really complex. A while back I was encouraged when I listened to a sermon series by Chip Ingram about Christian Fathering. He gave me a simple idea....

Do a family devotion once a week, maybe on Wednesday. Read a verse or two, talk about it, pray about it. So literally that's what we as a family do. We either do devotions after dinner or before bedtime.

We've been doing devotions the last couple of months ( I've missed a few weeks as well to demonstrate my imperfection). Here's how they go.

One thing I want to teach my daughter is that "God made everything." So our first devotion was about that.

I read these verses

"Psalm 19:1-5 ( NLT)

¹ The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship.
² Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known.
³ They speak without a sound or word;
their voice is never heard.
⁴ Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
and their words to all the world.

God has made a home in the heavens for the sun."

So it went alright. I read the verses, all the while my daughter is singing her "ABC's." I talked just shortly to her saying that God made everything we see. The sky, the birds, the grass, the animals etc. Then we prayed about it as a family, just a short prayer acknowledging and thanking God for everything he made. Throughout the week I talk to her about it. During "rocky" time before bed, or on a car ride where we can see tree's, grass, the sky etc. Simple as that.

My second devotion I really wanted to let her know that God made her. So I read this passage.

^{Psalm 139:14-16}

¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

¹⁶ your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be


So after the verses I simply said God made Selah. We prayed about it. And all week we talk about it. Now one night I asked her this....I said...."Who made Selah?" to which she replied " Poopy." ( all the while giggling) We all laughed about that. However she also responds correctly sometimes with the answer " God."


In short one other verse I went over last week was Exodus 20:3 ³ “You must not have any other god but me." Told her we aren't to have any other God's, nor anything about him. Also told her that there is only one God. So we prayed about it. We still talk about it this week. I asked her...how many Gods are there? She replies....two.

So you see it doesn't have to long or complex. There is room for silliness. With little kids it's not going to be hugely in depth and most likely they won't pay attention for very long. Nonetheless talk about it with your kid, make it normal and not awkward, faith is just a part of our family, not something we pour in. It will stick with your kids.

One thing I always say to my daughter, and I have taught this...... I'll ask her with my Bible in hand when I am reading it...." What's this?" She replies. "Da Biba" ( biba = bible) Then I'll ask "What's the Bible" she replies "Ga Wor" ( God's word). That is something I want to instill in her.

My child knows that the Bible is important to mom and dad. She knows that mom reads her Bible during her nap time, or at night. She see's that it is important to dad. As it's said...."values are caught, not just taught." So it's important to practice what you preach. To your kids most especially.

These are a few verses down below referring to teaching your kids the faith. I love the beginning of Deuteronomy 6:7 where it says....."impress them on your children."

Deuteronomy 6:6-10 (New International Version)

⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.

Proverbs 22:6 (New International Version)

⁶ Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it.

I have to live my faith in a way that it will make an impression. I know there aren't any guarantees to how your kids turn out. But I want to raise my kids in such a way that I tried my best. To me passing and instilling Christianity ( my faith) is of utmost importance. I want them to have a good home, nice things, a good education, health care,good experiences, and have good character but teaching them about Christ triumphs.

Books I am excited to read

I've got these on my reading list. I've read one of these books already but think it's worthwhile to re-read it. I'll try to post a review of each book as I get to reading them. As you can tell they have to do a lot with the theme of my blog. Faith, family, and manhood. Some have to do with engaging the culture and apologetics.