I recently had an opportunity to read and review God Schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn by Julie Polanco.
God Schooling is a165 page paperback book($16.99) with 9 chapters. It is also available as an e-book that is currently on sale at the time of this writing through August 22nd ($9.99.) The first part of the book is called Dispelling Myths and discusses Biblical Support for Natural Learning and Motivation & Excellence. In the second part of the book Julie talks about teaching children at different stages: children under 8, children 8-12, and teens. She also talks about how to get started homeschooling, record keeping, spreading the banquet, and questions and answers. Throughout the book she discusses her personal experiences homeschooling her 4 children and quotes more then 25 experts in the areas of psychology, child development, and education. She also includes Biblical references. At the end of each chapter you will find Study Questions with space for you to write the answers in the book.
God Schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn is a book about an educational method that is called UnSchooling, interest driven, or child-led. I have been homeschooling for 14 years and have children ages 7-21. I am not an Unschooler and I do not believe that it is the only way to homeschool Biblically. There were several things in this book that I agreed with. We need to put Biblical training and knowledge of Jesus at the center of our lives. Not all children are ready to learn things all at the same time and each child's individual needs need to be taken into account. Hands on learning and experiences are a great way for children to learn. She gives many examples of how to teach different subjects using hands on real life experiences at the different ages. There were several great ideas for teaching children the value of serving others and having an entrepreneur mindset. She has several encouraging Scriptures throughout her book that I love including: "But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well." Proverbs 3:5
In the beginning of the book Julie says," Curriculum can be a great tool as long as it does not become a religion." I completely agree with that statement. Curriculum should be a tool, not something that dictates your homeschool. But the rest of the book does not talk about using any kind of curriculum at all. Later she states, " Throw away curriculum catalogs, homeschool magazines, and related publications. For me, these items tend to keep me enslaved to a school mentality." We follow many, many, delight driven activities in our house and do many, many things through real life experience, but we use curriculum as well. Curriculum can be a great guide to help on your homeschooling journey. For us it is a balance. In the chapter on children ages 8-12 Ms. Polanco states, " Just as walking and talking are skills that we did not teach, reading, writing, and calculating are skills that we would do well not to teach, at least not until the child shows readiness by asking for it, vehemently." My children have a say in what they would like to learn but some things, such as math, they are required to do. My boys would never ask to do math, but they need to learn it.
In the chapter on children under 8 she states. " Trying to teach anything to children this age and expecting them to retain it is a waste of time. I don't mean that it is a waste of time to do anything with them; I mean trying to get them to book learn is a waste of time." This may be true for many children, but not all children. I don't think that teaching children is ever a waste of time and some children learn best by reading from books even at a very young age. We need to recognize that each child is different and teach them in ways that are best for them.
If you are interested in learning more about how to unschool, or are already an unschooler who is looking for more suggestions or ideas for your children at different ages, God Schooling would be a great read for you. It also would be good for those who are just starting homeschooling and are interested in learning about different homeschooling methods.
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