...It's Just Getting Really Good at Staring At The Cat

Chapter 4 -TFYOHYC - Homeschool or not, this changed my life in 23 pages!

I wish that were an exaggeration...  but I would now recommend this book for marriage, parenting, friendships, faith...  OK - I'll do my best to sum up - but might end up rewriting the whole chapter.

• Get to know your own learning style (naturally, not imposed) and your childs.  Order these books: "Discover Your Child's Learning Style" -Kindle Hodson (Prima 1999) and "In Their Own Way: Discovering and Encouraging Your Child's Personal Learning Style"
• A little person grows in their own way and at their own pace.  Just like you can't teach a baby to walk before they are developmentally ready, the same goes for younger kids in many ways.
• Be careful of previously placed "labels" for your child.  They may be a dumbed down way to handle a learning style that is not addressed for kids in school (I've noticed that in a lot of schools - they seem to teach to only 2 of the 8 or 9 learning styles and if you don't excel at those, you are left in the dust and labeled).
• "In the late 20th Century America, when it is difficult, expensive or inconvenient to change the environment, we don't think twice about changing/numbing the brain of the person who has to live in it." Ken Livingston, Vassar psychology professor
• In homeschooling, you can change the environment as you see your little ones change and grow.
• Artificially forcing a certain learning style is destructive in many ways (my husband was labeled by the system when he was very young as dyslexic and he fights that demon on a regular basis (and he's a much faster/better/more curious reader than many I know).
• This chapter really emphasized the importance of caution in the area of labeled kids.  It talks about medications in a way that is quite generalized and I have too many friends who've been in the difficult position of choosing the right path for their kids.  So, this was something I disagree with personally.  No one can put a blanket answer on all kids.  (strike one for the book)  Homeschooling is much less tragic than losing a child to this repeated discouragement and possibly worse/fatal consequences.
• Harvard weighs in on the "Multiple Intelligences"/Learning Styles - Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences.  The schools teach to the first two:
• Linguistic: reading/listening
• Logical/Mathematical
• Bodily-Kinesthetic
• Visual-Spacial
• Musical
• Interpersonal
• Intrapersonal
• Naturalist
• Gardner calls homeschooling "Individually Configured Education" because he was from Harvard and encouraging the wealthy to buy ridiculous amounts of materials.
• Review of "Discover Your Child's Learning Style" - Kindle Hodson

DEVELOPING YOUR FRAME OF HEART

• It seems the happiest humans sprinkled throughout mankind's history were those who found balance between head and heart, between intellect and emotion.  Accept-Observe-Know
• Accept.




Accept the things we cannot change

We sometimes choose to fight nature by trying to alter a child's natural inclination to fit someone else's picture of how this child should be. In so doing, we rob children of their uniqueness (By default, we rob society too.) By knowing our child's intelligences and learning styles, we know what not to change - so we can accept.

- Often, a different educational goal would  better honor the unique intelligence, disposition and talents of an individual.




WAIT FOR IT...  

LIFE CHANGING QUOTE COMING UP!  

SAY GOOD BYE TO YOUR OLD SELF THAT READ THE ABOVE INFORMATION!!!!




"Once we acknowledge  that it's best not to change something, it's easier for us to let nature take its course, to accept.  Accepting, then, means giving up your own perceptions of what should be and allowing what is, to blossom." - DOBSON




  ANOTHER ONE ....

"Going against the majority and accepting responsibility while others give it away take courage."

"Acceptance bestows remarkable peace on its bearer and on those who are accepted as they are."




ADMIT IT- you are not the same person anymore :-)




 Instead of looking for problems to fix/control, you can now watch for clues that will help you to help your child learn and enjoy it.  Ideally, you will observe your child with a loving heart.  If the heart isn't loving, you will not be observing, but merely watching.




Ask your child questions - remember the answers.  Have more organic chat time so that it isn't a Spanish inquisition.




Finally - "Homeschooling is life, intensified.  The fears come and go.  Remember that success at homeschooling doesn't necessarily involve being the youngest child ever to perform with the Philharmonic.  Sometimes  it's just getting really good at staring at the cat."  Kathryn Baptista




OK - is this AMAZING?!  Not only is it practical and helpful in forming an academic approach, it seems that it rings true to the SOUL.  How many times have I wanted to be ACCEPTED and not CHANGED?  Granted, some of the things I wanted others to accept were ludicrous and even bad for me or them, but the things that weren't damaging - the "weird" parts of me that weren't the hottest thing at the cocktail party or whatever - 

How can I ACCEPT my daughter's innocent uniqueness, if I cannot accept my own?  Ironically, even before I read this, I had an AMAZING chat with Ginger just lying on her bed.  Sweet Ginger.  After reading this, I look forward to many, many more of those.

GOD MADE US AND HE LOVES US JUST THE WAY HE MADE US!!!!!!   

I'LL GO AHEAD AND SIGN OFF THERE.  I need to swim in some love.