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“Unschooling”not ‘uneducating’

(on a budget and from and LDS Perspective)

Heidi Allen Garvin Hendricks

8 Points:

1. Definition Un-Schooling2. Our Family Background3. True Education4. Vital Roles of Mothers5. On a Budget6. How to ‘Un-School’7. Individual Gifts, Talents, Learning Styles8. Closing Remarks

1. Unschooling (Wikipedia)

Unschooling emphasizes free, undirected play as a major component of children's education.

Unschooling is an educational method and philosophy that advocates learner-chosen activities as a primary means for learning.

Unschooling students learn through their natural life experiences including play, household responsibilities, personal interests and curiosity, internships and work experience, travel, books, elective classes, family, mentors, and social interaction.

Unschooling encourages exploration of activities initiated by the children themselves, believing that the more personal learning is, the more meaningful, well-understood and therefore useful it is to the child.

While courses may occasionally be taken, un-schooling questions the usefulness of standard curricula, conventional grading methods, and other features of traditional schooling in the education of each unique child.

What is the Real Purpose of Education?

“The True Aim of Education is the education of the Heart!”

It is providing a way and place for each child to best learn, grow, develop and serve.

It’s helping children as they discover their God-given gifts and talents to be used

in serving Him, others’ and in making the world a better place.

“The mere stuffing of the mind with a knowledge of facts is not education.

The mind must not only possess a knowledge of the truth, but the soul must

revere it, cherish it, love it as a priceless gem…”

- Joseph F. Smith, June 5, 1895

President Ezra Taft Benson: Oct. 1970

“As a watchman on the tower, I feel to warn you that one of the chief means of misleading our youth and destroying the family unit is our educational institutions.

“President Joseph F. Smith referred to false educational ideas as one of the three threatening dangers among our church members.”

“I would rather have my child exposed to smallpox, typhus fever, cholera, or other malignant and deadly diseases than

to the degrading influence of a corrupt teacher. It is infinitely better to take chances with an ignorant, but pure-minded teacher than with the greatest philosopher who is

impure.” - Karl G. Maeser

In many places it is literally not safe physically for youngsters to go to school. And in many schools – and it’s becoming almost generally true – it is spiritually unsafe

to attend public schools.- Boyd K. Packer, BYU Oct. 9, 1996

“The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.”

- Albert Einstein

“Education is primarily a spiritual matter…We are dealing with the hearts and minds of living souls. We hope to teach far more than facts and skills. We desire to teach truth, to develop the

capability to discern truth…it takes the influence of the Spirit to learn truth…” - C. Miner

In 1875 Brigham Young asked Karl G. Maeser in 1876 to go to Provo to establish a church school, explaining,

"Brother Maeser, I want you to remember that you ought not to teach even the alphabet or the multiplication tables

without the Spirit of God.”

“The most glorious of all avenues to truth is direct revelation from Heaven.”

“Our society will change as our education changes.” - Neil J. Flinders, Teach the Children: An Agency Approach to

Education, BYU, 1990

“Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.”

-Albert Einstein

“The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.”

- Abraham Lincoln

2. Our Family Background

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn. “

- Benjamin Franklin

Daily:-Wake up-Clean Room, Make Bed, Shower, Get Ready for Day-Breakfast (all help)-Devotional; Prayer, Scripture Study, Discussion, Prayer-Chores-”School”; Read, Study, Learn, Progress, Grow, Play, Lessons, Field Trips, Online, Classes, Library, Art, Music, Inventions, Create, Serve, Develop, Ponder, Work, Write, Talents, Discover etc….

“Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.”

– Stephen R. Covey

3. True Education

“But I have commanded you to bring up your children in light and truth.” - D&C 93:39-40

“…why not eliminate from our lives the things that clamor for and consumer our thoughts, feelings, energies, without contributing to

our reaching that (eternal) goal ?” – M. Russell Ballard

“EDUCA'TION, noun [Latin educatio.]

The bringing up, as of a child; instruction; formation of manners. Education comprehends all that series of instruction and discipline which is intended to enlighten the understanding, correct the temper, and form the manners and habits of youth, and fit them for usefulness in their future stations.

To give children a good education in manners, arts and science, is important; to give them a religious education is indispensable; and an immense responsibility rests on parents and guardians who neglect these duties.”

(Noah Webster, Webster's 1828 Dictionary, 1828.)

“I think that by the end of the millennium, for those who will occupy the celestial kingdom, the home will be the only media of

teaching children. Teaching will be through the family.”

- President Alvin R. Dyer, of the First Presidency Education: Moving Toward and Under the Law of Consecration, BYU

Studies, 1969

Some Resource Books:

Dumbling Us Down - The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling Better Late than Early – A new Approach to Your Child’s EducationThe Successful Homeschool Family HandbookHomeschooling, The Right Choice - The Incredible Failure of Public Education and the Rising Hope of HomeschoolingThe Teenage Liberation Handbook - How to quit School and Get a Real Life and EducationFamily Matters - Why Homeschooling Makes SenseSmart Moves - Why Learning is not all in your HeadEducating Zion – “Precepts Revealed by the Lord”, BYU StudiesA Thomas Jefferson Education - Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-First CenturyInsult to Intelligence - The Bureaucratic Invasion of our ClassroomsThomas Jefferson on Leadership - Executive Lessons from His Life and LettersThe Well-Trained Mind – A Guide to Classical Education at Home

http://homeschoollist.blogspot.comhttp://utahvalleyhomeschooling.blogspot.com

4. Vital Roles of Mothers (and Fathers)

“Motherhood is near Divinity. It is the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind. It places her who honors it’s Holy Calling and

service next to the Holy Angels of God.” - President Thomas S. Monson

“Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children.” - The Family; a Proclamation to the World

“No other success can compensate for failure in the home.” - President David O. McKay

“There are few things more powerful than the prayers of a righteous mother.”

- Boyd K. Packer

“Women who make a house a home make a far greater contribution to society than those who command large armies or stand at the head of impressive corporations. Who can put a price tag on the influence a mother has on her children…? …the mothers of today

have no greater opportunity and no more serious challenge than to do all they can to strengthen the [home].”

– President Gordon B. Hinckley

“We call upon parents to devote their best efforts to the teaching and rearing of their children….The home is the basis of a righteous

life, and no other instrumentality can take its place or fulfill it’s essential functions….We counsel parents and children to give highest

priority to family prayer, family home evening, gospel study and instruction, and wholesome family activities. However worthy and appropriate other demands or activities may be, they must not be permitted to displace the divinely-appointed duties that only

parents and family can adequately perform.”

- Letter from the First Presidency to - “Members of the Church Throughout the World” Feb. 11, 1999

President Ezra Taft Benson, “The Honored Place of Woman”, Oct. 1981

“A child needs a mother more than all the things money can buy.”

“It is a fundamental truth that the responsibilities of motherhood cannot be successfully delegated.”

“It is mother’s influence during the crucial formative years that forms a child’s basic character.”

Powerful Talks:

To the Mothers in Zion – Pres. Ezra Taft Benson…children – not possessions, not position, not prestige– are our greatest jewels.

Mothers Who Know – Julie B. Beck. More than anytime in the history of the world, we need mothers who know. Children are being born into a world where they “wrestle….against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness…against spiritual wickedness in high places. ….when mothers know who they are…they will have great power and influence for good on their children.  Mothers who know….allow less media in their homes, less distraction, less activity that draws their children away from their home….[they] are willing to live on less and consume less of the world’s goods in order to spend more time with their children – more time eating together…working together…reading together….talking, laughing, singing…. The Honored Place of Woman – President Ezra Taft Benson Since the beginning, [a mother’s] role has been to teach her children….to provide ….a haven of security and love… Contrary to conventional wisdom, a mother’s place is in the home.

To the Young Women of the Church - President Ezra Taft Benson Teach your daughters that….Homemaking is the highest, most noble profession to which a woman might aspire. Behold Thy Mother – Jeffrey R. Holland, October 2015…no love in mortality comes closer to approximating the pure love of Jesus Christ than the selfless love a devoted mother has for her child. Because She is a Mother – Jeffrey R. Holland April 1997The work of a mother is hard, too often unheralded work. …..often the greatest challenge of all for a young mother is simply fatigue. Through these years, mothers go longer on less sleep and give more to others with less personal renewal for themselves than any other group I know at any other time in life.

Do the best you can through these years, but whatever else you do, cherish that role that is so uniquely yours and for which heaven itself sends angels to watch over you and your little ones. Husbands—especially husbands—as well as Church leaders and friends in every direction, be helpful and sensitive and wise.

Mothers, ….Please know that it is worth it then, now, and forever. And if, for whatever reason, you are making this courageous effort alone, without your husband at your side, then our prayers will be all the greater for you, and our determination to lend a helping hand even more resolute.  

5. Homeschooling on a Budget

Options: Home school, Public, Private, Co-ops, Online Classes etc.

“The things a man learns pretty much on his own are the things he is least likely to forget.” (Benjamin Franklin?)

Daily: -Devotional, Scripture Study, Reading, Planning, Chores, Meals-Library, Museums, Field Trips, Service Projects, Education Week-Online Resources: (http://utahvalleyhomeschooling.blogspot.com)-Co-ops: History, English, Math, Writing, Spelling, Science, Spanish, Hebrew, Entrepreneurship, Choir, Shakespeare Play, Parliamentary Procedure, Mock Trial, Spelling Bee, Self-Defense

Lessons: Piano, Voice, T-Ball, Baseball, Jr. Jazz Basketball, Tennis, Swimming, Soccer, Tumbling, Trampoline, Gymnastics, Karate

Church: Activity Days, Scouting, Young Men/Women, Service Projects

6. “How to ‘Un-School’ “

Study, Prayer, Faith, Inspiration

Homeschool, Public School, Private School, Co-ops, Online Classes, Internships, Work and Service, Part-time Public School, College, Institute

http://homeschoollist.blogspot.com (old site but still valuable information)http://utahvalleyhomeschooling.blogspot.comhttp://mormonmomswhoblog.blogspot.com

7. Individual Gifts, Talents, Learning Styles, Purposes

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” - Mark Twain

-Look for the Good in your Children.-Build on their Strengths.

Amber: leadership, faithful, responsible, dependable, bold, driven, loyal, creative, artistic, problem-solver, reliable, musical, listener, counselor, learner, communicator, wisdom, teacher

- singing, piano, leadership, reading, writing (college level), blogging, cooking, cleaning, organizing, moving, time management, confident with people, tumbling, A Cappella and Madrigals, Madrigals Secretary, FCCLA officer, seamstress, studious, prayer, animals, BYU-I, LDS Mission, RS President, Family History teacher

- Amber Mission Experiences- (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aTcZ_xGg0I)

- amber- amber

Andrew: tender hearted, creative, hard-working, mediator, helper, peacekeeper, team player, problem-solving skills, dedicated, diligent, persistent, obedient, faithful, driven, creative, funny, compassionate, service-oriented, thoughtful, follows through - computers, coding, repairman, yo-yo’s, guitar, rubix cube,

magic tricks, harmonica, guitar, t-ball, baseball, Jr. Jazz basketball, tumbling and gymnastics, welding, animals, car care, woodworking, engineering, construction, entrepreneur, bartering, French language, cooking, culinary, leadership, giver of gifts, scouting, Eagle Scout, scriptorian, karate

Ashley: obedient, spiritual, strong moral compass, sensitive, loyal friend, fun, funny, loves people, independent, persistent, sincere, truthful, social, tender hearted, service oriented, caring, compassionate, loving, faithful - singing, dancing, acting, performing, piano, ukulele, artistic, health and nutrition, human body, human anatomy, lawn mowing, yard work, gardening, working with elderly and those with special needs, lover or animals, people, friends, graduated LDS Institute with 3 advanced degrees/as officer at age 17 

 

All:Swimming, tumbling, horses, animals, t-ball, tennis campActivity days, Scouting, young men/women, service, gardening, yard work, snow shoveling, christmas tree farm, corn maze, canning foods, baking, cooking, cleaning, service, family and church events and activities

8. Closing Remarks

- J. Reuben Clark, The Charted Course of the Church in Education – 1984 ….youth….are hungry for things of the Spirit; they are eager to learn….., and they want it straight, undiluted. They want to know about the fundamentals…..— They are not now doubters but inquirers, seekers after truth.

These students crave the faith their fathers and mothers have; they want it in its simplicity and purity…. [they]… are spiritually working on….a maturity which they will early reach if you but feed them the right food.

You must have…one of the rarest and most precious of all the many elements of human character—moral courage.

“A Plea to My Sisters” – Pres. Russell M. Nelson, October Conference 2015“We need your strength, your conversion, your conviction, your ability to lead, your wisdom, and your voices.…we need women who know how to make important things happen…who are courageous defenders of morality and families in a sin-sick world…women who know how to call upon the powers of heaven to protect and strengthen children and families; women who teach fearlessly.