All of Life Is Learning

All of Life Is Learning

When I say we homeschool in a way that tries to show our kids that all of life is learning, it almost inevitably receives the same reaction from each person.  “Oh yes, that is so true.”  They wholeheartedly agree and think that is the way to go!  This is often followed by a question that leads me to believe they don’t really know what I mean.  “When do you take your summer break?” or “What grade are your kids in?” or “How are their grades this semester?”, “Are you caught up after being sick for a week?” and so on.  These questions are not wrong or in some way unintelligent, but they signal an understanding of homeschooling that mimics a standard school routine.  Not wrong, but not an “all of life is learning” kind of rhythm.  So I find it necessary to explain further.  Hopefully this will clarify my thoughts and introduce some foundational concepts that go into my philosophy of homeschooling across the board. 

What is the point?

I would dare say that no-one is homeschooling because it was the easier route or the path of least resistance or the lifestyle that will be the simplest.  We homeschool because, even though it is hard, we see the benefit for our family as a net positive and worth the sacrifices we must make in order to homeschool.  But that can be fleshed out in many different ways.  As many different ways as there are families!  We live out our homeschooling goals by trying to seize on every opportunity that we can to draw their attention to God.  When we are cooking, we are talking about how God has provided such variety and abundance.  When we are learning a new math concept we are reminding them how God is so inventive to give us numbers as a kind of special language and how he has built patterns and numbers into all areas of life.  When we are talking about the English language, we are reminding them that God invented every language at the Tower of Babel and we want to be able to read and communicate through writing.  When we do our morning routine and recite wonderful poems and verses, we are reminding them that God gave our brains the capacity to memorize and understand complex things which help us to grow in wisdom and understanding.  When we are studying art and learning to draw, we are reminding them that God is the greatest artist.  He paints a new picture on the horizon everyday and all over the world.  When we go visit a friend who is hurting, we are reminding them that God uses us as His instruments of mercy and encouragement to those in need.  I could go on and on.  I get so excited about this because it is amazing to be reminded of my wonderful Savior and Sovereign God at every turn.  He is the only worthy endeavor!   The whole point of educating my children is for them to know Him and love Him.  

Benefits of this method.

Because all of life is learning, it takes the pressure off to teach our children a certain amount of information by a certain time.  It takes the pressure off when we realize that no matter what comes up in life, it will be an opportunity to learn something.  Sick day with no “school” accomplished?  You taught them how to care for someone who is sick.  Family coming to town and you need to clean house and prepare?  You taught them something of hospitality, generosity, respect for others, work ethic, homemaking, and compassion.  A friend needs help after she had a new baby?  Again, you are teaching them all of the above!  We teach so much by example alone, but when we bring them along to be a part of everything we do, we drive that example deeper into their hearts because they actually get to practice loving one another as God commands, rather than just reading about it or seeing you do it.  When all of life is learning, it takes the pressure off what grade they are in and what grades they received and how many days they did “school”.  I still keep track of our attendance because of the requirements of our state.  I still have goals of which books I want them to work through and which books I will read aloud to them and what kind of people I want them to grow into.  But none of it is on a strict timeline.  It is at each child’s own pace and the pace of our current season.   They are learning all the time.  If they struggle with something, I am free to take the time to work through it with them, or decide to step back from that subject and come back to it later.  If we are interested in a certain topic we have the freedom to explore more thoroughly. 

How do you know you have done enough?

You will not be able to teach them everything but if you teach them how to learn, and teach them where to find the answers that really matter, you will have done enough.  Ask yourself the following questions, “what do I remember about my actual book school?”  “Have I retained all of those facts?”  The answer for me is NO!  I have forgotten almost all of what I learned in school.  But I know how to learn, solve problems, ask for help, seek wisdom, be humble, work hard, persevere, and that is just the beginning of what I learned from my parents.  My girls see me growing in sanctification.  They see me still learning new things.  When I am excited, they are excited.  I don’t assign a grade to their work because I will be telling myself what I already know, they passed.  They understood the topic and we moved on.  We choose to do some things all the time and other things very slowly and infrequently.  We do school all year long (all of life is learning).  We usually end up having more than 50 days over the state requirement in a year.  When I am tempted to think we are not doing enough, I refer back to my list of goals for my kids and that keeps me on track for what I am teaching them.  The temptation is to think they will be behind.  Behind who?  “They won’t be able to get a job or care for a family.”  If you teach them how to learn, they will always be able to get the specific training they need to get a job of their choice.  They will either be great employees or creative entrepreneurs.  And they will be able to care for a family because of all the things we just talked about. 

What does it look like in real life?

In March of this year, we welcomed my parents into our home permanently and we are in transition with them as we help them build on our property.  For one full month, it was all hands on deck helping to make them comfortable in their temporary room.  Moving their things to storage.  Appointments with Doctors and builders.  My girls learned so much about life during that month along with the following summer but I couldn’t show you a work sheet to prove it.  They gained skills and experiences that you can’t find in a book.  They learned patience as they gave up time and space for another person.  They grew in their kitchen skills as they cared for someone in a brace who could barely move.  They grew in self-control as they had to wait for attention more than usual.  They grew in compassion as they learned to live with grandparents who needed daily help.  One day, many years from now, they will remember how they cared for their grandparents as they care for their own parents. 

Practice Makes Progress

There is so much I could say on this topic because I love learning and seeing God’s hand in every area of my life.  This way of life does not remove the hard days; it does not make everything perfect.  If you are looking for a fix all, you will never find it in a system or philosophy. You will only find it in Christ. We are still a family of sinners and most days are hard because we prioritize the heart attitude over the schedule (a nice way of saying lots of discipline and admonishing when our sin is on display) We fail and succeed on a daily basis.  This philosophy of life will have you looking at the heart rather than the grades to determine your success. But, when all of life is learning, it takes the pressure off, and when the pressure is off we can finally take the time to raise our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.  You don’t need to raise kids who think like everyone else, you need to raise kids who think like Christ.