LDS homeschooling essay

[LeSellers]

This truly is a "religious" position.  I am the only one I know of that has changed their position on this because of what I've actually studied on the topic.

Now you know two: I changed from what my parents and seminary teachers preached when I studied the matter with a man named "Charles Darwin" Ddddd, a bishop who was also a teacher of biology/zoology at the local Community College.

 

Even your eldest DIL and eldest daughter hold to the young earth theory (as far as I'm aware) even when their husbands disagree.  At least this daughter agrees with her husband. :)

Assuming I know who you're talking about — our sons and daughters (in-law or otherwise) aren't easy to categorize by age — so what? I haven't made this a big deal because it's not a big deal.

Lehi

Edited January 1, 2016 by LeSellers

[Guest]

One of the major advantages of other-than-grtf-welfare schools is the fact that there is far less (and even no) beating out the natural curiosity of children. I dislike online schools precisely because they are "schools" with defined curricula and timelines, etc.

Children want to learn why the world works. Each one has his own style of learning and his own goals for learning. When the teacher (and this includes parents) understands what the child wants to learn and why, "teaching" is almost trivial: he charges on ahead as long as he is still interested.

The trick is finding the why and what and making the resources available, and to know when the interest is lagging.

In his major work, The Underground History of American Education, John Taylor Gatto (twice New York City Teacher of the Year and even the state laureate once) tells us that among the primary reasons for grtf-welfare school curricula are wasting time and creating confusion and what he calls "the disconnectedness of everything". That's why there are "periods" and "subjects". After an hour, just about when the child is getting interested and involved in the matter at hand, the bell rings, and it's time to shift gears completely. The next day, it takes most of the period to get back to the point they left, and so little real progress is made — by design. That's not the way people learn anything important.

In any case, children want to learn, they are all motivated. They are just motivated by different things at different times. No bureaucrat can impose real learning on anyone. The beauty of Family-Centered Education is that each child can have his own tailored course. He's always inclined to learn because he chose that material.

When we understand that "learning" is just a tool to achieve an end, then the magic happens because arithmetic or reading is not a thing in and of itself: it's a means to getting something done, a tool to make things happen.

Lehi

LeSellers, you just described Montessori to a T. This was my son's Elementary education. Teachers are not called teachers but Fascilitators. Classrooms are not grade levels. Rather, you stay in a class through 3 phases - observer, participant, teacher - which could take 3 years. The classroom is organized into activity centers... a kid organizes his own weekly activities depending on what he is interested in working on. the facilitator guides each kid through his interests and entices him to broaden it, etc.

[JojoBag]

Just as a side note about education, here is what we can expect in the future.  This is an excerpt from a prophecy, "A Dream," printed in The Contributor magazine, which was an early Church publication.

 

 

Schools and universities were erected, to which all had access; in the latter Urims were placed, for the study of the past, present and future, and for obtaining a knowledge of the heavenly bodies, and of the constructions of worlds and universes. The inherent properties of matter, its arrangements, laws, mutual relations were revealed and taught and made plain as the primer lesson of a child. The conflicting theories of geologists regarding the formation and age of the earth were settled forever. All learning was based on eternal certainty. Angels brought forth the treasures of knowledge which had lain hid in the womb of the dumb and distant past.

The appliances for making learning easy surpass all conjecture. Chemistry was rendered extremely simple, by the power which the Urims conferred on man of looking into and through the elements of every kind; a stone furnished no more obstruction to human vision than the air itself. Not only were the elements and all their changes and transformations plainly understood but the construction, operations, and laws of mind were thus rendered equally plain as those which governed the coarser elements. While looking through the Urim and Thummim I was amazed at a transformation, which even now is to me marvelous beyond description, clearly showing the manner in which particles composing the inorganic kingdom of nature are conducted upward to become a part of organic forms; another astounding revelation was a view clearly shown me of the entire circulation of the blood both in man and animals.

After seeing these things and gazing once more upon the beautiful city, the following passage of Scripture sounded in my ears:

“Out of Zion the perfection of beauty God shineth.” On this I awoke to find all a dream.

I have written the foregoing, which is founded on true principle, under the caption of a dream, partly to instruct and partly to check the folly of reading silly novels now so prevalent.

 

Patriarch Charles D. Evans

Springville, Utah

The Contributor

August 1894, Pgs. 638-641

 

[JojoBag]

This is, without a doubt, by far the worst thing about homeschooling curricula. Evolution specifically is attacked and shunned, and in general the religious-oriented textbooks are almost unreadable in their attempt to squeeze religious sensibility into every possible nook and cranny. A lot of such texts are simply garbage and should be shunned without mercy.

 

When I was looking around for text books for my kids, I knew I had to be very careful what I bought.  I didn't want current texts from the public socialist indoctrination system and I also didn't want religious texts from a company who didn't have a correct understanding of the Gospel.  I did settle on older text books that didn't have history rewritten to conform with the liberal agenda.  I also read the information presented in each lesson.  If it had garbage that stated that evolution was the gospel truth, then I modified it.  I wanted my kids to understand the concept, but that it was a satanic concept.

[LeSellers]

LeSellers, you just described Montessori to a T.

I like Montessori very much. Our two oldest went to "Missy Abbey's" Montessori for two years while we were stationed in Italy.

Lehi

[Backroads]

The perk of child - led education is that if a kid does not learn such skill/information at whatever point, he is usually of the attitude to buckle down and learn it if/when it becomes necessary.

[Ironhold]

As a result of what took place in high school, I made the decision that if I ever did have children I would home-school. 

 

I'd go into details, but much of what took place comes close to violating the rules of conduct for this site. 

[Guest LiterateParakeet]

The perk of child - led education is that if a kid does not learn such skill/information at whatever point, he is usually of the attitude to buckle down and learn it if/when it becomes necessary.

 

Though it can be hard to trust that (when one is raised on the public school conveyor belt) but I have found that to be true with my kids.  Two of whom are on missions now, but they took college classes before their missions and are both just a few credits shy of their AA.  The third is in her first year of college, she is 17. 

 

 

As a result of what took place in high school, I made the decision that if I ever did have children I would home-school. 

 

I'd go into details, but much of what took place comes close to violating the rules of conduct for this site. 

 

I'm so sorry to hear that.   My high school experience wasn't that bad, but it's still nothing I would want to repeat.  That is why it is so strange to me when people used to ask me, "but you're going to put them in school for high school aren't you?"  The unmistakeable concern being that they might miss out on some great experience....bleh.  The last person that asked me that came from one of the richest families in town and his daughters were cheerleaders, so that is where his bias comes from.

 

My daughter did take drama at the local high school and participated in a couple plays.  She was "popular" enough to enjoy her experience, but at the same time she had no desire for 8 hour days of high school and all it entails.