Learning

Over the last 2 weeks, Hannah has learned to draw the United States from memory and label all of the states and capitals, as well as a list of about 15 major land features (including the 5 Great Lakes, which I can never keep straight myself). She has been studying algae and protazoa, fungi, and wildflowers. She has written an essay on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. She has learned about the first declension of Latin nouns, the first conjugation present tense of Latin verbs, and a list of Latin vocabulary and rules. She has been reading and discussing a couple of books about the logic behind the Christian faith (the fallacies of evolution and the Big Bang theory, etc.). And math, math, math! We are going to be great mathmeticians in this house! She may think math is difficult now, but one day all of this hard work is going to pay off for her.

Nikki and Ryan are memorizing events on a history timeline, and they learned about Charlemagne and William the Conqueror. They are learning the parts of speech and what they do. Nikki has learned the 112 different classifications English sentences can be when their structure, purpose, and pattern are combined. She is memorizing more about verbs than I ever heard during all of my years of schooling. They learned about the seven biomes and the three different kinds of consumers. They drew the five basic elements artists use to draw and played with symmetry. Memorized the Latin endings of the first conjugation, present tense. In math, Nikki is working with fractions and Ryan is learning to draw his numerals and skip count by 2s, 3s, and 4s. Ryan is studying phonograms and learning to say and write them. Nikki is learning to use a thesaurus and dress up her writing with better words than go/went, say/said, etc. Ryan is learning to point to the continents and oceans and some bodies of water in Europe, while Nikki is tracing and drawing the maps. Nikki also has spelling, dictation, and penmanship, and she is reading Anne of Green Gables. Anything else? Probably. And yes, this has just been the first two weeks.

Natalie and I are hanging on for the ride. She is learning to crawl and eat table food. I think we could all just spend our entire day staring at and playing with her and be perfectly satisfied. But I'm so glad we're doing more than that. I am so tired by the end of the day, but I feel like we are all getting a fabulous education. A friend introduced me to Classical Conversations, and Hannah participated in their grammar and writing program last year. We absolutely loved it, and since I was pregnant this was our saving grace. If she didn't have to go to class every Friday and show her work, I know nothing would have gotten done last year! Since it went so well, and we all learned so much, we put all three kids in their program this year. We go to school on Tuesday every week where they have a tutor who introduces the new information they will be learning over the next week and review the work from previous weeks. I love how they make it a point that the mom is the teacher and I have the final say over assignments and work required. Their tutor is simply a resource. It is such a fabulous program!

When I first started homeschooling, I kind of thought talking about philosophies of education wasn't very important. I knew I didn't want to unschool, but for the rest I just wanted to make sure my kids knew what they were supposed to for each subject. The longer I do this, though, the more I realize what a product of public education I am! I did very well in school growing up, including in college (when I went to class), and I thought I had a pretty good education. Now I am learning how much I don't know! I must say the more I learn about the classical model of education, the more it makes sense. Proverbs 24: 3-4 states, "Through wisdom is a house builded, and by understanding it is established: And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches." Leigh Bortins, the founder of Classical Conversations, connects the learning stages of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom with how to teach our children. Anyway, that's a long way of saying that I'm finally catching on to the importance of a theory, and it is affecting how I want to teach my children.

Homeschooling is certainly not a path that I thought I would take, and after failing at it once when Hannah was in 1st grade, I certainly didn't think I would be traveling down this road again. It is not easy. I am exhausted, and I feel very inadequate. However, I can also honestly say I am so grateful that I can do this for my children. I have heard so many people say they could never homeschool. I'm not going to say they are wrong. Every family has their own path to take, but I don't believe any mother is incapable of teaching her child. They are learning from us all the time, maybe even when we don't want them to be. I don't feel capable of doing this either, but I also love Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." For my family, I feel called to educate my children at home, and the Lord is being so kind in guiding me in this path.