Gay Marriage Lesson Plans for Home Education:

What?
Is there such a thing?  No. (well not that I know of)  But that's a great example of how specific language can be irresistibly compelling and that's a lesson in and of itself isn't it?  Haha! Sorry :)

For real though, here's the topic: 
What do I teach my children, as a home ed parent,  about homosexual marriage? 

The answer is this - Nothing. 

That might sound annoyingly trite but it is my honest answer to that question.   I don't teach them anything about it.   It is what it is and we discuss social and political issues as they occur in our society and we all learn and grow together.  I've changed my opinion about many sociopolitical issues over the years because intellectual plasticity enables evolution of thought. (it's supposed to anyway)

Children are not immune to that and in fact young humans are usually more intellectually flexible than adults.  Sure, youthful inexperience lacks wisdom but what is wisdom without open-mindedness; and either without execution?

See, there isn't anything there to teach except the dry aspects of the political process and how it affects social change. We discuss the mechanics of the system and we discuss the anthropological aspects of ancient and contemporary civilizations and how homosexuality has been viewed and politicized, or not, over the millennia.  We discuss the religious aversion and discomfort and why some religions equate it with sin, and why others do not.   We discuss what others believe and do not believe without automatically committing our own beliefs, and we discuss how others feel, what drives the feelings and what actions they take based on their beliefs, feelings and ideas, and how those actions affect human culture and society in different ways.  We discuss why even the ideas with which we do not agree, are deserving of respect and why anger is usually fueled by fear, how people on either 'side' of this issue experience vehement emotional anger,  and how we can personally avoid that negative spiral for ourselves.

We discuss these things.  I suppose the only aspects that  would qualify as "teaching" would be when I share raw data about dates and figures of events that have taken place, or definitions of terminology; but we research much of that together.   Otherwise it's not really me teaching my children, but a simple matter of all of us living in this modern world together and understanding and discussing the events that shape our society and what potential bridges or bricks are being laid for the future. 

We discussed how we each personally felt about the SCOTUS ruling and why.  We discussed what SCOTUS is and it's defined function in the American political system.  We discussed the meaning of rights and personal freedom and whether or not that is something to be granted by a court or to be protected by decree.  We discussed whether it was a moral issue and why or why not.  We discussed it with emotional detachment and from a cerebral left-hemisphere perspective while allowing room for compassionate understanding.

But what about God?  Easy. God is Love.  What about morality? Love one another.

Those elements weren't complicated.  The complex ideas were more in the intricacies of political structure and the meaning of rights granted verses rights with which we are born and the implications of expecting permission verses claiming liberty. And even insofar as those concepts, there was no absolute set in our discussions, but rather they were an example of how to have a healthy, ongoing conversation that is enriching and educational by it's very nature.

Did the children learn?  Absolutely.  Did I teach them anything?  I don't think so.  We all learned together.  If anything at all I guided the discussion the best I can by offering historical data and explanation of how the legislation unfolded, but I imparted no bias because I have no authority to hold a bias - and perhaps that is what I taught my children, but through example rather than implication; that when we form our opinion, let it be without rigidity or contempt or fear, but with integrity, understanding and love.

There's not a whole lot of actual "teaching".  Just sharing of knowledge, exchange of ideas, proposing of productive questions and learning  together.

Grow.  Learn.  Love One Another.  It's all a Learning Curve folks. Enjoy!

Class Dismissed: The Reality of Life Without School

Back in 2013, while I was hosting Unplugged Mom Radio, I interviewed Jeremy Stuart, director and filmmaker.  We discussed his latest project Class Dismissed. 

Here are those interviews if you'd like to listen.

In addition to being a filmmaker, Jeremy is also a home ed Dad and as he began to learn about the reality of home education, he was struck by the contrast to the myth of homeschooling.  So, Jeremy set out to create a documentary that would help to dispel the myths and highlight the reality.

Most Popular Posts from the Learning Curve

Since the "reopening" of this here blog, I've sifted through the drafts folder and tossed whatever was no longer relevant, carried an unpleasant vibe (I was deeply dark and ranty for a while there) and revisited some of the existing posts to make sure they weren't replete with irrelevance or overly snarky.

I assessed some of the most popular posts and decided to re-share them with you.  Some are prolific ponderance, some are a great laugh - enjoy!

High School without School: Standardized but Flexible

For those of us who experience education at home, approaching "High School" level can be daunting.   When my children were all younger, I didn't spend a great deal of time thinking about it because we didn't worry about grade levels, testing, credits or even segregation of subject matter.   In fact, I was usually pretty  outspoken about ditching all of those ideas because they relate to the 'standardized' approach and since we were purposely doing the opposite of that - why even worry about it?

Well, life has a funny way of teaching us lessons (irony intended).  As my oldest approaches what would typically be the "High School" years, I've found it has become necessary for me to do the grade-level, test-score, credit earned, subject categorization thing.    Some of my veteran readers are experiencing a meltdown right now, I know and I totally acknowledge that, but please cut me some slack.   I was talking based on my experience to that point in time and you have to agree that much of parenting is 'winging it' so we learn as we go.   The good news is that I remain intellectually flexible and not so arrogantly committed to my  first ideas that I'm unwilling to change them as new information and situations arise.  

Questions and Answers

After 10 years of active participation in Home Education, hundreds of interviews with education guru's during the UM days, lots of personal research, trial, error and retry, a few dozen articles and a plethora of super smart connections....  I am fairly well equipped to help out newbies to life without school.   I will do my best to answer or at least point you in a good direction.

I will respond with researched fact,  experienced opinion and a combination of both, so feel free to ask away....   Use the comment section.  I will either respond directly or via post :)

The Sensational Dr. Spin

There is great value in learning to recognize when we are being played.  It is expected that the entertainment industry will lull us into a fantasy using hyperbole and beguiling presentation.  We actually want that from our entertainment because it's great fun.  However, although pretending to be factual, it's important to acknowledge most media "news" is just another facet of the entertainment industry, and as such, uses a technique called spin to sensationalize reality and make it more enticing for the audience. 

In public relations, spin is a form of propaganda, achieved through providing an interpretation of an event or campaign to persuade public opinion in favor or against a certain organization or public figure. While traditional public relations may also rely on creative presentation of the facts, "spin" often implies disingenuous, deceptive and/or highly manipulative tactics. (definition from Wikipedia)

We engaged in a spin exercise recently and it was fun, educational and a little bit wacky :)  

In order to avoid being manipulated by the daily avalanche of fallacious news and information we must learn to separate fact from fiction; and calling out fallacies.  We learn to do that by employing critical thinking skills. We sharpen those skills through ongoing practice and experience.

In an effort to exercise this skill and better understand how easily we can be manipulated by coy presentations of information, we became the manipulators, so-to-speak and played Spin Doctor.

Here is the exercise.  It's quite fun.  Give it a try and if you do, let us know how it goes for you!

This is appropriate for any child whose writing skills are well enough to write a couple of paragraphs and express themselves reasonably.  The grammatical mechanics and style prose are not as important as the exercise itself.  (Although, any writing is a good opportunity to discuss these elements)

First, write a straight article on anything at all that occurred recently.  It's especially fun if it's a mundane event with some sort of punctuated element:  It was a windy day, a  waitress brought the wrong drink at the restaurant, a friend fell off a bike down the street, a dog kept barking next door, Mom made pancakes for breakfast.

When writing the straight article, just stick to the facts, what, how, who, why, when.  Avoid opinions, emotions etc.  Just tell what happened.

This works better with 2 or more participants.  If you are working with one child, do an article yourself as well or ask your spouse or other friends family to help out.  We did four.  

Then swap the articles and SPIN!  Participants will read the straight article and add sensationalism to it, making it still mostly true, but with tactical spin.  The goal is to make it sound more interesting and dramatic and like something ghastly or incredibly awesome happened and that everyone should take cover or take action.  This is done by inserting hyperbole, well-placed opinion, logical flaws and manipulative language.

This is not an easy thing to do!  And that is part of what is learned here - that sensationalism is a skill and a trade that people practice and therefore are paid to do - which tells us something about "news" right there!

The second, but no less important lesson learned here is how to recognize manipulative language and spin, which helps us learn to avoid being swayed by it.

And of course, extra practice in the mechanics of language and creative use of words, helps us sharpen our communication skills which bolsters our intellectual health and well being. 

Reading the straight, then the spun version out-loud is fun, educational and brings about great discussion.   We laughed, we pondered, we philosophized for a good chunk of the afternoon; and it still comes up frequently when we recognize spin elsewhere; which is the whole idea!

Spin Doctoring helps train the brain to recognize when it is happening and punctuates the significance of understanding language beyond just superficial speech and reading words.  It also demonstrates the significance of critical reasoning.




Skills Practiced:  Grammar, Communication skills, Creative writing/expression, Critical Reasoning