Higher Learning void Planned Teaching

Three things happened today that proved my point in this argument and is what I'm getting at when I tell people that we "unschool" to a degree.

1) Geography

We went to IHOP for breakfast with Oma this morning.  We spent some time doing a crossword puzzle on the states.  I found, to my utter dismay, that I wasn't sure which state was the "Badger" state though I did know that Delaware was the first state and Missouri was the "Show Me" state.  "Lincoln" state. Illinois, of course. "Lone Star" state. Texas, duh!  I also knew Louisiana was the "Pelican" state but they didn't ask us that 10-point question.

Kayleigh corrected me that Florida was not the "Orange" state, but rather the "Sunshine" state.  There is no "Orange" state.  Okay then. I don't remember so much sunshine going through Florida in my childhood memories. I do remember Dad and PawPaw stopping on the roadside and all of us (adults and children alike) scambling out of the car to go into an orange orchard to pluck Florida oranges off the tress. If I were Governor of Florida I would surely rename it the "Orange State". So there! I've justified my education.  :)

I also see Oma and I both miseducated my 10-yr-old by telling her that Mount Rushmore was in North Dakota. Wrong! It's in South Dakota.  Okay, so even in our 40s and 60s we can stand to be corrected. I'm just glad there wasn't a teacher nearby to swat my hand with the ruler. Dear me!

So I didn't have Geography on my first-day-of-school-to-do list but we ended up doing Geography at IHOP all the same? Rats, another out-of-the-classroom learning opportunity. Who knew?

2) Science

We didn't do Math today. That was on the first-day-of-school-to-do list. We didn't do it because the DVD/CD door on the computer got stuck and wouldn't open.  I looked at Garrett with my best motherly "What did you do to the computer?" look.  Garrett looked at me with his best child-like "Gee, Mom, the door's stuck. Looks like we can't do math. Bummer!" look.

I suspect my computer genius could have gotten it open but his intelligence regarding this seemed to be blocked at the moment.  He claimed he didn't want to "break" anything. Yeah, right.

We waited until Daddy got home. After Daddy worked his magic, he took the opportunity to get the pure-air duster can and completely de-dust the insides of the computer. I heard him talking to Garrett about air pressure and all these scientific terms found on the back of the can. It was gibberish to me until I heard Garrett ask, "Would it freeze my finger?"

Dad: "Well, yeah, if you keep it on there long enough."

Garrett: "Can I try it?"

Dad: "I don't think so."

Mom: "Garrett, do you know what frostbite is?

Dad: "You know, they won't sell these cans to teenagers because of the crazy stuff they do with them.  Here, let me show you what it does."

So we gathered the children around the kitchen sink and Dad did some more magic.

Mom: "I really wouldn't want to see a brain after it's been on that stuff."

Science for the day.

I didn't have Science on my first-day-of-school-to-do list but we ended up doing Science all the same? Double rats! science happening outside of that precious "instruction time". Who knew?

3) Then there was reading...which we clearly did follow today. One book I pulled off the shelf to flip through with my 15-yr-old while the girls enjoyed their ice cream treat was The Teenage Liberation Handbook***.  Of course all teenagers want to know "why" you are having them learn something or study something or read something or watch something.  It starts at 3 years of age and lasts through their twenties. So I explained to him that we would be reading parts of the book here and there this year because I want him to claim his education. No one can do this for him.  You're in high school now, I told him, and the next four years are the prime time to learn to make your education belong totally to you. It's up to you to decide what you're going to do with the mind God blessed you with and the knowledge He gives you. This book will help you sort things out.

And the paragraphs we read and discussed today underlined more clearly my defense for learning at large:

(page 51-52)

"School won't answer the door when real chances to learn come knocking. There's nothing wrong with planning and setting goals---they help us to accomplish big things like writing books or pulling off a bike trip across Turkey. But life is unexpected. Sometimes it offers us something more glorious than what we'd planned, and we lose if we're not ready to let go of our agenda. Christians call it surrendering to the will of God. Eastern mystics call it letting go of ego, floating in the flow. Whatever you call it, school has little room for it.

"For example in Washington, D.C. our self-imposed schedule demanded that we visit the Capitol for a predetermined length of time and then proceed directly to the next attraction. This schedule left no time for what might happen on the way into the Capitol. What did happen was that on the steps, five students and two teachers stopped to talk to a Vietnam vet fasting for U.S. reconciliation with Vietnam. He'd swallowed nothing but juice for seventy days. We listened to him with awe. At one point he asked, 'Do you know what constitutional amendment guarantees me the right to sit here and talk about this?' Young, who always had the answers to all the questions, said, 'The first!'

" 'Very good,' pronounced another teacher, who at that moment had arrived on the scene. We all jumped. What did 'very good' have to do with anything? She continued: 'And which amendment prohibited slavery?'  'The thirteenth,' answered Young. 'Exactly! And with that, let's be on our way,' suggested our chaperon brightly. These rest of us looked at each other in vague incredulity; the disruption of learning was more awkwardly obvious than usual.  Then we trudged up the steps behind her."

In our discussion, I reminded Garrett of a trip we took two years ago to Dallas, Tx.

Does this building look familiar to any of you? Do the words "Texas School Book Depository" mean anything to you?

Based on our schedule for the day, we toured the book despository and looked out the window where it is believed Lee Harvey Oswalk shot President Kennedy or, at least, we got as close as we could. No one is allowed to go directly up to the window. 

Today I don't even know that my children remember being inside the building itself. The museum was just black and white pictures, a few television flicks, newspaper clippings, and silence.

It was strange to walk out of the dark, dank building and into blinding southern sunlight. We strolled along the roadway hoping to see the spot where President Kennedy's motorcade was passing at the time of the fatal shooting.

No one directed us there. No one in the museum told us where to find it. No one spoke to us about it. We were tourists on our own.

I don't remember if there were signs or not. I'm sure there where. What I do remember is the kindly black man who approached us with a Texas, "Howdy, folks!" Keeping his distance, he pointed out a wooden fence to us, telling us that we might like to see this landmark where it is also believed another gunman hid. I believe the fence has been rebuilt but the duplicacy gives the visitor a surreal feeling of authenticity. Understanding the inevitable dynamics of termites, storms, construction, etc., we appreciated the presence of that fence.

As we were looking and scouting around the fence itself, the black man (still keeping a friendly distance) began talking to us. He claimed that he, a very young boy at the time, was present that memorial day in Dallas. He pointed to where he was standing when the shooting occured.  He showed us newspaper clippings we had not seen in the museum. His friendliness, his knowledge, his zeal, his passion for his subject was contagious.

My children were entranced.

Mark and I were warily impressed.

Was this man for real? Or was he just hitting on a bunch of naive tourists?

By the end of his friendly, enthusiastic presentation, we didn't care.

He might have just been an excellent historical storyteller but we knew enough of the story to know that what he told us was based on firm research. The air tingled with the effects of a good story.

When goosebumps raise-up on your arms and a shock ripples down your spine, that's good story-telling.

As I turned to my husband I saw he already had his wallet in his hand. I read the question in his eyes with a nod. I didn't care whether this man was really on that grassy knoll that day in 1963 and witnessed the chaos or whether he was just a gigolo for our money. It was money well spent. I had never had a history class so good and he was the best teacher I ever paid.  His time, his passion, and his effort in making history come alive for us and for our children was priceless.

I asked him if he accepted donations and allowed pictures.  With a very gentle, kind smile, he nodded at me. We had one of children give him our donation. 

After we left the site, we discussed our monetary decision with the children because that's a huge part of learning in the world of travel and the world at large as well.

But this man had clearly earned his pay. What the museum offered us paled in comparison to what this man gave us.

Today I reminded Garrett of this man and our experience with him. And I asked Garrett to think about how the students in this passage learned best, by going from site to site to site because the agenda required it? or from having stood on the steps of the Capitol listening to a war vet tell them his story?

Read the passage and ask your child.

I'm thinking again of the comment I read in the newspaper: "Every minute of instruction a child misses will never be made up."

Bah! Humbug! Fiddle-de-dee!

You didn't learn Spanish or Geometry in high school? Learn it now.

You didn't read Dickens in college? Read him now.

You didn't appreciate poetry in your childhood? Appreciate it today.

You didn't do volleyball in high school? Do it now.

You didn't play the piano when you were younger? Play it today.

You didn't take debate in college? Debate with your teenagers today.

You didn't thank your teachers, your parents, or God yesterday? Thank them today.

I remind my children every day that their education is not up to the teachers, to the school system, to the government. It isn't even up to their father or me.  We can expose them. We can set the stage. We can put the tools in their hands. We can even get other teachers and mentors to present it to them. Still, their education is what they make of it and what they take away with them. I hope, if nothing else, they at least learn this.

                                           * * * * * *

*** I want to give a warning to parents that there are some cautions with this book. I did not put it into my 15-yr-old's hands and say, "Go read." I told him there were some questionable information in it based on the author's opinion. And I told him alittle about my concerns so there would be no questions about why Mom was on her guard.  Other parents can read it for themselves at the bottom of page 69.

At the same time, I've never been one to throw the baby out with the bathwater. I believe in soaping the baby completely down, rinsing off the crud, dumping the water, toweling the baby dry, and setting him on my lap for my children learn from and enjoy. You can learn so much from a baby. True?

Comments

[Dana]

What an amazing amount of "unplanned learning" took place! I love the story of the man in Dallas. My mother actually lives in a suburb of Dallas and we've never visited the place where JFK was shot. I have to make a point to do that next time! Thanks for the wonderful stories (and post).

[Paula in MN]

Awesome learning! Oh, Badger state is Wisconsin, I believe.

[marcie]

Cay...........don't tell your kids this.......we used canned air to remove warts in the pediatric office I worked in!!

[Carole in Wales]

Well written, Cay! Learning is so integral a part of life. And so true that it only happens when our children are open to what is being presented to them whether in formal instruction or in life's everyday lessons. I think I will use your third to last paragraph on our opening day of school. Thanks so much!

[Cay]

Paula, you are correct. :) I will always know this small piece of information now.

Marcie, you are soooo bad. LOL

Dana and Carole, thank you for your kind words.
Carole, I'm guessing you made it home safely? Hope your trip was amazing. :)

[Diane]

The power of teachable moments. Eloquently written post.

[Deb]

And those moments are worth all the struggles and sacrifices of homeschooling. What wonderful moments--and lessons. We consider ourselves "Relaxed Schoolers." We have a gameplan but will abandon it when the Spirit leads.

[Theresa]

Cay, you hit the ball out of the park with this one. Fabulous! Best bit of writing I've read in quite a while!And I agree 100 percent with what you are saying. That quote from your last post was simply absurd. IMHO it's all that "instructional time" that is the wasted time, and has to be made up for with some real life learning!

[Erica Burgan]

Wow! I am inspired to continue to let my children lead. I have a basic plan and unit study curriculum, but am willing to abandon it whenever opportunity strikes - like learning about the olympics while they are happening! Thanks for the inspirational article!