Spirit-Led Learning – Christian Unschooling

Breathe and Release: Questioning Unschooling

We receive many “but, but” objections and statements from those who are questioning unschooling and not yet ready to make the leap. For those who are just beginning, many of these thoughts may also recur, so here are some responses. When things get scary, the best option is to breathe… and release. We can let go of fears with the help of a little practical thinking.

1. My teenager is going to college. How do I make sure he/she has all the right math/writing/science/whatever requirements if we unschool? Will colleges even accept them if they don’t have those things? Continue Reading

From Haphazard to Awesome: When God Provides Learning ‘Coincidences’

We don’t have any required subjects in our house. We discover and learn about things we’re interested in, and we follow our passions. And when we start to “fade out” of one topic of interest, we often “fade into” the next thing with little to no fanfare. Continue Reading

Unschooling Faith: A Candid Conversation

This discussion was sourced from the Christian Unschooling Facebook Group. This topic recurs perennially in new threads, which have been condensed and merged into Part 2 (relationship with God) and Part 3 (more about unschooling except for Bible/faith, and addressing “train up a child in the way he should go” -Prov. 22:6).

RACHEL: I’ve seen quite a few responses lately that seem to say, “Well, we’re unschoolers except when it comes to God/Bible/Faith.” However, this group was founded by people who believe that unschooling is compatible with their relationship with God, how they are passing their faith on to their children, and how they study Scripture.

I was hoping that some of you are fully unschooling could share how you unschool your relationship with God and your study of Scripture. Please. ♥ Continue Reading

Thankful Kids: A Candid Conversation

NICOLE: So how do you get your children to be thankful for what they have? I’m really sick of my child complaining about the few things we have been able to give him. For example, we went to the Lego store today. I got him a mini fig ($4). he loved it until this evening with he was having a hard time removing a piece and starting whining and complaining about it, instead of asking for help with it. Another example is he has been asking me to get some waffles for about a week. He hasn’t had any in a while, so I asked my husband to get some while he was at the store. After he got home, my son started complaining that ‘all we had was waffles’. I went off. I lost it. then we ended up having a decent conversation between the three of us, but it still is very frustrating. I want to drop the iron hammer on him. I mean tighten up on everything. No toys. No extras at all. I’m just really fuming and frustrated.

Passions Without Labels or Stigmas

Recently I wrote a post series on my blog about strewing. For my final post, I told how my middle daughter Denna followed her passions, with me strewing along the way, through so many topics and interests that it would be hard to measure how much she learned from the experience.

My kids have so many passions that it would be hard for me to pinpoint any that particularly surprised me. I am a variety-loving person. When I was young I bounced through hobbies and interests just as quickly as they do. Continue Reading

Parenting Beyond Boundaries

Lately, I have had some phrases bopping around in my mind:

“Parenting without limits/boundaries,”

“unlimited freedom,”

“no boundaries” …

I’ve also been meditating on the verse –

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).

Unschooling and Unchurching: Parallels

The gradual development of our philosophy on unschooling has paralleled our God journey to a place free from the obligations of religious institutions that we like to call “unchurching.” We didn’t deliberately set out to do this, but rather God has gently called us out of the comfort of the structures that held us, and He has brought us into a place of true freedom. Continue Reading

Walking in Dad’s Shoes: Biblical Unschooling

What wisdom does the Bible offer on how we should teach our children?

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Following the Rabbi: Biblical Unschooling

Anyone who has journeyed down the road of Christian Unschooling has been met with evangelical opposition at one point or another. I recently heard a conservative pastor say that it was a “violation of scripture.” Obviously, I disagree and think his opinion is based on a few misconceptions (as are most people’s when it comes to unschooling).

So imagine my delight when I picked up an interesting book this week called Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith. It’s about understanding the Jewish culture of Jesus’ time, traditions, and way of life so that you can understand the impact of some of the things that He did and said in a Jewish context.

But that’s not what this post is about. Continue Reading

Unschooling, Shakespeare, and Geeking Out

“What’s this, Mama?” my oldest daughter asked. She held out a lavishly illustrated fairy tale we’d just gotten from the library.

“You want me to read it?” I asked.

“Yeah!” she said, jumping up and down. She settled into my lap and I opened to the first page.

None of this was at all atypical. Except my heart was beating fast. Continue Reading