“Just as eating contrary to the inclination is injurious to the health,
so study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that
it takes in.”
-Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

‘Nuff said!

-Mish

“It is almost a miracle that modern teaching methods have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiousity of inquiry; for what this delicate little plant needs more than anything, besides stimulation, is freedom.” - Albert Einstein

I just love this quote. I have an interesting opportunity to compare my oldest, who is now 16, and my fifth child, Jack, who is almost 4. I was so concerned as a first time parent that my child be able to do everything. I made sure that he knew his letters by the age of 3 - he was reading by four, knew his numbers, could write his name, etc., etc. I admit it, particularly in his younger years, I pushed and pushed. Mostly because he just seemed so smart that I felt if I didn’t I was neglecting my duty as his mother.

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I love large families. That’s probably why I chose to have one - although my family isn’t nearly as large as the Duggars. Because I have six kids and I am considered pretty crunchy by my friends (and most everyone else), I often get harrassed questioned about the social responsibility of having a large family. I’ve wanted to have a lot of kids ever since I was about 12. I was reading a lot of books on the Kennedys back then (I thought I was one) and I remember reading a book by Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy about raising her nine children. I thought that was just amazing! Even though she had lots of paid help and sent her kids off to boarding school - I still thought it was wonderfully impressive.

Let me say first, that I am a huge fan of the Duggar family. I think they are just amazing. I wish I had had their convictions about having a large family when I was young. I made a lot of mistakes and have allowed behaviors in my children (particularly my oldest) that I wish I had “nipped in the bud” years ago. I wish I had their conviction to homeschool right from the beginning, but as you have read in my other columns, I often fall prey to that “Back to School” mentality.

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I was reading a post at Natural Fatherhood about positive discipline and permissive - or non-permissive parenting, and it got me thinking. He cites this quote: “The world is full of followers, but you’re not one of them.”- JL Glass

I started thinking about this quote in a different way.

We are pretty unconventional people. We homeschool. We are self-employed. We are anti-TV. We only own one car (which is actually pretty unconventional where I live!). We use cloth diapers and make our own salsa and tomato sauce out of tomatoes we grew. We don’t really care about money that much.

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I am a subscriber to several homeschooling magazines - among them The Old Schoolhouse.

I was reading through their email newsletter this morning and found this from their editor, Nancy Carter:

“It’s so easy for us to see the absurdity of focusing on teaching a duck to climb instead of encouraging it to swim. But many of us are guilty of being so concerned that our kids are “keeping up” with where the other kids are that we focus more on covering our bases than allowing our children time to explore and develop their interests.”

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Each year before the official first day of school, I have a few doubts. I wonder, yet again, if I am doing the right thing by keeping my boys home and educating them here. It’s not so much that I doubt my ability to do it - I just feel a little bad that they miss the thrill of going to school - even though I know that thrill subsides very quickly.

Anyway, this year, when that feeling came around, I was fortunate to find “Homeschooling: A Family’s Journey,” by Gregory and Martine Millman to keep me inspired.

The Millmans have six children - all of whom they have homeschooled. Three of their children, at the writing of this book, are in college.

Sitting at the “Back to School” picnic last night (something we go to because it’s a community event and my oldest daughter goes to school), I was assured once again that I did the right thing. But wondered if my children would pay the same price I have paid for choosing freedom over convention. Fortunately, they have a loving family and lots of friends who understand the choices we’ve made - where I was not always so lucky!

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I will admit that I always feel a little guilty on the “First Day of School” in our town. We live in a very small town and all of the kids go to the local school, so all of my kids friends go there as well. The only homeschoolers we know live in other towns. So, there is a bit of a build-up to the “First Day of School.” Now, while most of the kids are lamenting their lives come the second day of school - I do remember how it felt to go to school on the first day when I was younger. I remember the chemical smell of the newly cleaned classrooms. I remember the note my mother would put in my lunch box. I remember the nervousness of meeting new teachers - and the resolve with which I went into each year, determined that this was the year I would not only be a straight A student, but also well-liked, neat and organized and very popular. What ambitions I had - and what a disappointment when, come October, I was back to my “sneaking a book under the desk, crap falling out of my locker, eating lunch alone,” ways.

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I have avoided writing about the “socialization” of my homeschoolers for a very long time. Mostly because I think it’s a dumb argument. Sorry - am I being too blunt? Just because I educate my children at home (I actually do not like the word homeschool, as it denotes that I would do something like a school - when I strive for the opposite), does not mean that they are unsocialized wild children. I do not keep them in a box, isolated from all of humanity.

In fact, my homeschoolers have more of a social life than I do - OK, that’s not saying much, but you see my point!

Once upon a time, when I first took my then-youngest child out of school, a teacher came to me and said “I can see why, academically, you’d take him out of school, but what about the social aspect?”
Um…excuse me? Did you just say what I thought you said? Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the original intention of school to educate children? To concentrate on the academic stuff? Oh, right, I forgot, the original intention of school was actually to help create good little factory workers and give a place to keep kids until they were “old enough” to work…but more on that another time.

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This was published last Friday, but I didn’t see it until this morning. This is good news for California Homeschoolers who were fighting a battle over whether or not homeschooling parents had to be certified teachers.

The appellate court concluded that “…California impliedly allows parents to home school as a private
school, but has provided no enforcement mechanism. As long as the local school
district verifies that a private school affidavit has been filed, there is no provision for
further oversight of a home school. It appears that the propriety of any parent’s home
schooling will arise only in dependency (or family law) proceedings, as in this case, or
in a prosecution for failing to comply with the compulsory education law.”

The whole decision is here.

If you have a half hour, take the time to read the whole thing - it’s very interesting.

Have a toddler or preschooler? I spent this past winter compiling 500 games and activities to keep them busy, learning and having fun! I hope you’ll enjoy them.

Want me to sign one and send it out to you? Just email me at michelle@organicallyinclined.org and I’ll send you the info to buy one or send me one you’ve already bought. By the way - this offer is good with any of my books!