Learning to Learn

I am often times asked how it is that I "school" such young children.  I get this frowning, skeptical look that implies that I must be some harsh over-achieving Mom, torturing my children with hours of lessons and drills.  This is drastically far from the truth, and I want to share what homeschooling means at this stage in our family.
It seems to be a common misconception that learning doesn't truly begin until the age of 5 yrs., with anything done before that being merely "preparatory" work to get the child ready for school.  Similarly, education is thought to end after highschool or college, once "formal" education is over with.

I passionately disagree.

To me, life is learning.  We are learning from the second we are conceived until the second we die.  Even then, honestly, I believe eternity in Heaven will be one glorious playground of revelation and learning!

Schooling my infants/toddlers/preschoolers does not mean that I am drilling data into their heads, but instead that I am attempting to open the world up to them, bit-by-bit, as they show me they are ready.  "School" in our house is not a dreaded place of tests and homework; rather it is a treat and regarded as a game that everyone wants to participate in.  Education is not a set list of things that must be learned by this age or that; but, on the contrary, is an exploration and experiment in life as we encounter it.

I am not forcing my children to learn information. 

I am encouraging them to learn how to learn!

If you ask me, I'd say we have been schooling basically since we found out I was pregnant with Abby. However, we recently put in place a more structured, planned routine in addition to our usual endeavors. Are there worksheets? Yes.  Are there craft projects?  Yes.  Will there be tests when they get older?  Yes.  But these are just extra projects to supplement the real learning that has been going on.  The true learning takes place in my lap or their Daddy's as we devour book after book, in their hands as they dig through the dirt and grass and rocks in our backyard; in our minds as we have ongoing conversations about everything we are discovering about God's created universe; in our hearts as we get our daily sustenance from His Word and spend time together in prayer.

Yes, they know their 123's and ABC's, but those are secondary requirements in my responsibility to teach them.  My highest priorities are that they are learning to love and respect God, to love and respect others, to love and respect themselves, and to love and respect learning.  If I can teach them these four things, everything else will just fall into place!

So please do not get the idea that my children are being dragged into the classroom each day by a demanding mother who requires more of them than they can handle.  If you could only see how they drag ME into the classroom -- whether it be the school room or backyard or the pages of a book -- begging me to teach them even on the days when I have a million other things that I think I should be doing instead. 

School is fun, and we plan on keeping it that way -- not just as preschoolers, but throughout our entire lives!