I've been meaning to share this. I haven't done my homework on unschooling, and I have homeschool friends who love and live it, and friends who are not so hot on the philosophy. I like Thomas Jefferson Education and find a lot of similarities between TJEd and Astra Taylor's talk.  And if you have a favorite unschooling book, maybe you'd like to share a title.

I'm really having a hard time deciding where to post things, because I don't really separate homeschool from our family life. I just posted a bunch of recent homeschool/family activities on our family blog, so you'll have to check that out for the latest.  We've been having a blast!  I LOVE homeschooling!!! My kids are so happy and I love being a part of their lives every day.

The Learning and Healing Powers of Time

When I took lessons from Patricia George for a short while in college (once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!), she amazed me with all she knew and had researched on how people learn.  I--already a psychology major and fascinated with all things brain--was amazed.  She had a practice schedule figured out that would forever imprint music and drill in your memory, or at least make the same amount of practice more productive.  Most music majors practice anywhere from 3-6 hours a day (or more).  But Patricia George told me it wasn't to be done all in one sitting.  It is best done with time in between practice sessions, specifically 3 hours. 

My first declared major, education, had taught me that it is the same in all areas of learning.  Our brains just need time to incorporate all that new knowledge.  It can just be too much when we try to cram too much in, creating a stimulation overload. 

I've also found the same to be true in the school of life.  You know the lingo: "suffering burnout", "too much on my plate", "bogged down".  When we get this way, it takes time, soothing, meditative time, to mull over and understand all that has happened.  It is taking me months to incorporate into my brain all the new experiences and life lessons our family has received since moving to Minnesota, and it has been difficult for the rest of my family, too.

Sadly, I've had to learn through my own experiences to be more compassionate to others in their times of trial.  In Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl mentions this very thing.  I may see a person acting strange and make a snap judgment that they are weird or a little off.  Frankl says that in reality, their actions might just be a normal reaction to an abnormal human experience.  (Frankl was of course referring to how so many of the people he met in the Jewish death camps shed much of their morality under the conditions they were forced into. How can any of us judge them harshly!) 

"Understanding the true nature of instinctive decision making requires us to be forgiving of those people trapped in circumstances where good judgement is imperiled." Malcolm Gladwell, Blink.  I think it goes beyond instinctive decision making, as so many instinctive decisions can pile up to make huge misjudgements.

So many times when I was in the midst of the worst of the storm last year, I thought to myself, "Why do I feel as though I'm fading?  Do I lack faith?"  It was some of the worst mental anguish I have ever dealt with, wondering if I was pulling away from my God. 

I wondered if I could really homeschool my kids or if I was emotionally scarred so badly that I couldn't deal with the stress of what I once considered delightful: raising my kids and teaching them at home.  I worried that our family's trials had made me selfish instead of refining my character.  My happiness had lost some of its luster, the luster I had always been able to conjure up in difficult times, even if only to cheer my family. 

As I'm slowly gaining back inner strength, I've been blessed to have time to reflect on my new knowledge. 

William Faulkner said, "Most men are a little better than their circumstances give them a chance to be."  All men (and women) have "circumstances"!  We will all fall short of perfection.  It's unfortunate that we have to be thumped over the head with trials in order to come to this realization, but I now understand it better than I could without those difficult experiences. 

I have thought so much bout Job, and how faithfully he endured his trials.  I feel that the Lord will do this for all of us: bring us as close as He possibly can to the edge of our endurance, in order to help us grow in faith.  (President Eyring's talk in General Conference about "the Lord's pavilion" that relates to this as well. It was the first talk in the first Sunday Session.) 

It is so important, even in the recovery phase of our trials (however long that may be), to rely on the Savior.  It is sweet to feel the love of the Lord as we see our family smiling more and we're getting the sunshine back in our home.  As I put Conrad down for his nap today, we giggled and gave a million kisses and just made each other happy.  It brought back memories of times when these special times were passed over, and I silently thanked God for the healing occurring in our home.  I also prayed that the Lord would use His timing to allow our family to fully meditate on our trial and incorporate the new knowledge into our stores of growing wisdom.

I know I can't do it on my own.  I'm grateful to have a Heavenly Father who so strongly wants me to put my hand in His and let Him lead me, that He is willing to allow my trials to push me so far so I will humble myself and do it.  It's fall down the cliff or into His arms.  I know now firmer than I ever have, that He loves me and wants me near.