Have you ever doubted your homeschooling technique? Or wondered if you are doing what is best for children? If you're like me, I'm sure you have. Recently, I was given the chance to review
God Schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn from
Julie Polanco.
For this review, I received a physical copy of the book
God Schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn. Throughout the book, Julie Polanco shares a wealth of information she learned from her fifteen years of experience from homeschooling her own four children. She adds biblical verses, quotes from more than 20 experts, and of course entertaining tales from her own experience.
In her book, she helps parents navigate the winding road of homeschooling. She offers advice and encouragement. Her goal is to help parents find the confidence to achieve the goals they set out for their children, especially the God-given goals we pray for our children to discover and reach.
God Schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn is a quick read with a lot of information for parents. It is a little over 150 pages long. It sells for $16.99. The eBook can be purchased for $9.99.
The book is broken up into two parts with nine chapters. After each chapter, the author provides questions to think about. The questions are great just for you to ponder or maybe a homeschooling mom's group to ponder together.
Part 1: Dispelling Myths
Chapter 1~ Biblical Support for Natural Learners
Chapter 2~ Motivation & Excellence
Part 2: Practice
Chapter 3~ Thoughts on Teaching Children Under Age AEight
Chapter 4~ Thoughts on Teaching Children Aged Eight to Twelve
Chapter 5~ Giving Teens the Wings to Fly
Chapter 6~ Spreading the Bauquet
Chapter 7~ Getting Started
Chapter 8~ Some Q & A
Chapter 9~ Record Keeping & Structure
Concluding Remarks
The book offers advice for parents with children of all ages. Each chapter gently reminds us to keep in mind what God wants for our children. Faith is also a big part of our schooling. God and our faith is just not regulated to Sunday Mass. We live our faith daily by praying and spending time with God. As a mom, my ultimate goal is to get my children to Heaven.
Learning can happen anywhere, not just while sitting at a table working through a book. On this point, I agree with the author. I love providing my children opportunities to learn while exploring the world around them. I know my children learned more about the country they live in when we traveled cross country to Yellowstone National Park. They would never have had the experiences they did by just reading the book.
Since my kids are heading into high school, I really focused on the chapter Giving Teens the Wings to Fly. I have a 13 and almost 15 year old, so this is right where we are at.
I still can't believe we are already here!
I wholeheartedly agree with allowing your teen to have some say in what they are learning. After the basics, I allow my children to pick a few books they want to read and a few electives they want to study.
I have to admit, I'm not on board with the whole unschooling thing though. I truly believe that children do need to learn how to work through things they may not like or want to study. With every job they will have in life, they will come across aspects they don't care for but they will need to be responsible and follow the lead of their bosses. For me unschooling, just doesn't quite prepare students for the real world. Sadly, the families I know that have focused solely on faith and the unschooling technique have not prepared their children well for the real world. The children lack ambition and drive.
The author does address topics like this in her book. She offers advice about how to help your child excel in life, discover the goals God has planned for them. I would definitely suggest reading his book earlier than later. If you're on the fence with your learning style, this book can help you find what you may or may not like about the various homeschooling styles. This book does lean more to the God Schooling style.
One area, in this chapter, I didn't agree with is allowing your teen to make decision about their own personal style. Yes, teens do need to have more say in some areas of their life. However, my teen daughter and son will not get multiple piercings, wear booty shorts (just because she wants to), dye their hair purple or bright orange, get a tattoo, etc. In today's world, our teens are bombarded with way too many things at an earlier age. I don't feel they have the maturity to make certain decisions just yet. They need guidance on how to make the best decisions for their lives. As long as they live under our roof, they will abide by our rules and guidelines. As I tell my daughter dying her hair purple and wearing inappropriate clothing doesn't make her special or stand out. It makes her look like every other teen following the crowd. Be who you are, be who God wants you to be, not what other people say you should be.
I'm sure the author was not suggesting teens have the ability to do whatever they want whenever they want, but it did come across a little like that. With proper guidance and instructions, our teens will hopefully make the right choices. With our help, they can discover their own identities.
I loved how she focused on getting the teens to take responsibility for their work. Whether it's just their school lessons, chores around the house, or a job outside the home. Ultimately, our goal as parents is for them to one day leave the nest....spread their wings and fly!
So What Did I Think of the Book?
For the most part, I liked the book. I'll admit I skipped the two chapters about homeschooling children 12 and under. Been there and done that! I would suggest the book to families just starting out on their homeschooling journey. As a mom, who is heading into the final years, I feel like I've already explored ever aspect of the homeschooling world and figured out what works best for my children. I'm always leary of a book that suggests this is the way to do it. I appreciate the author's point of view about natural learning, but over the years I have learned that what works for one child doesn't necessarily work for another. They are all different gifts from God. If we become to focused on one style of learning, we may become distracted and enslaved to that decision and in the end not making the best choices for our children.
As I tell any new homeschooling mom, research all the different homeschooling styles...boxed curriculum, unit studies, child-led, Classical, Montessori, Christian, Unschooling, God Schooling, etc. Read all the books you can and find what works best for your child. Use one style completely or adjust different styles to fit your needs. Too often, we get hung up with what everyone else is doing. We compare, we start to panic, and fear takes over. What we should do is pray, hope, and don't worry. Ask God to lead us (just like the author suggests) and we'll do what is right for our children.
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Till Next Time,
Monique
