Julie Polanco - God schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn

GOD Schooling

How God Intended Children to Learn

THE GUIDE for HOMESCHOOL PARENTS

Julie Polanco

NASHVILLE

NEW YORKLONDONMELBOURNEVANCOUVER

GOD Schooling

How God Intended Children to Learn

THE GUIDE for HOMESCHOOL PARENTS

2019 Julie Polanco

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

The author cannot be held responsible for the educational outcome of anyone who chooses to apply the principles within this book. The author does not claim to be a professional teacher or educational consultant.

Published in New York, New York, by Morgan James Publishing. Morgan James is a trademark of Morgan James, LLC. www.MorganJamesPublishing.com

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ISBN 978-1-68350-863-2 paperback

ISBN 978-1-68350-864-9 eBook

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017918185

Cover Design by:

Rachel Lopez

www.r2cdesign.com

Interior Design by:

Bonnie Bushman

The Whole Caboodle Graphic Design

In an effort to support local communities, raise awareness and funds, Morgan James Publishing donates a percentage of all book sales for the life of each book to Habitat for Humanity Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg.

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To Ed
who tolerated eating sandwiches and
soup for dinner while I finished this book.
I love you, and thank you.

I thank Jesus Christ, first of all, for giving me the material for this book and for saving me from my sins. I thank Justin for being patient with my frequent calls and incessant questions and David for being approachable. I thank my design and marketing team for embracing my vision. Thank you to the worship team at Emmanuel Bible Church who cheered me on and encouraged me through the publication process. And, I thank my family for tolerating me through the long journey that brought this book to fruition. I couldnt have done this without all the beautiful people that God put in my life.

If you read my first book, Finding Joy , then you will be happy to know that I have kept most of the original text and added some more personal stories. You will note that I have added a chapter on teenagers and left more space for your own reflections and Bible study related to this book. I encourage you to ask the Lord to speak to you directly about issues raised in your heart and about quoted Bible passages.

If you have not read my first book, then get ready for a whirlwind adventure through secular and Christian thought on child development, education methods, what God says in his Word about it, and my own adventure and insight as we go. There are study questions at the end of each chapter to help you dig deeper into what you have learned. This book can even be used as a study for a group of moms wishing to explore natural learning together.

The names of my children have been changed to protect the innocent. In this book, my oldest daughter is Tiger; my oldest son, Hawk; my younger daughter, Butterfly; and my little boy, Mouse.

All Bible verses quoted in this book are from the New International Version (NIV) unless otherwise noted.

W hen I first decided to homeschool my kids, I had no idea what it would be like, but I was sure it was going to be great. I had visions of obedient, respectful children who were so excited to learn, they hung on to my every word and couldnt wait for the next new topic. I poured over curriculum catalogs and magazines, my mind whirring with all the possibilities. Everything looked so attractive and promised hours of learning adventures. Everyone promised that their product would create a love of learning in my children, that it would be easy to do, that my children would be successful, and on and on.

I have to admit that I am a sucker for glamorous advertising. I loved books and nifty paper crafts so much, I wanted to believe that what they said was true. Maybe you have done this, too. I chose activities based on what I thought would be fun, what I enjoyed doing, and if I liked it, surely, the kids would like it. Right? Oh, sure. I read some books on learning styles, and I even read some books on different methods of homeschooling. There were elements of Charlotte Mason that I liked, and there were elements of classical education that I liked. I thought that unit study was a great idea, too. The only method that I definitely stayed away from was textbooks.

In spite of all my enthusiasm, things were not all rosy and wonderful. By the time my oldest daughter, Tiger, was seven years old, I was beginning to burn out already. I had been in the habit of spending hours poring over catalogs and websites trying to find the perfect books and activities. I spent my free time writing up objectives, lessons, questions, crafts, and more. I invested so much of myself in trying to come up with the perfect teaching materials, but when I would try to present everything I had so painstakingly prepared, I was faced with

Moans and groans. Hawk and Tiger talking at the same time and laughing while I was reading. Stick figures and sloppy coloring instead of neat work (Tigers drawings that she did on her own were amazing, but she never put in that kind of effort for me). Slumping in the chairs, laying on the table, making noises with their mouths, their feet, their hands. I would go to the bathroom and when I would come back, they would have disappeared. Can you relate?

When Butterfly was born, I felt I could no longer do this and needed a curriculum. Well, that was not the answer, either. In the next year, Hawk refused to do any lessons I asked him to do. I am not saying that he didnt learn anything; he just didnt want to learn anything from me. I took it personally. Who did he think he was trying to exert some control over his own learning? I saw him as a disobedient little boy, and I am ashamed to say that he spent far too many days looking at the wall. I had tried bribery with candy and other treats, but he didnt care. He didnt care about looking at the wall, either. At first, I thought that was what I needed to do. A child must learn obedience, right? Except that my discipline wasnt working. He was detaching from me and acting out in other ways.

He was not the only one who exhibited problems. My daughter, Tiger, talked to me about her dreams less and less and was bordering on depression, and the baby, Butterfly, was challenging. I hadnt even been parenting that long, I hadnt even been homeschooling that long, and everything seemed to be unraveling. God, didnt you call us to homeschool? Didnt you make it abundantly clear? If were supposed to homeschool, then why isnt it working? I thought that doing Your Will would give me joy. I dont have any joy. I want to give up, and if you dont do something, Im putting them in school next year. He answered my cry, but not in the way I expected. I had hoped that He would make my children more obedient to my plan. Instead, He led me on a journey to make me more obedient to His plan.