Lifestyle of Learning

A truly successful person understands that
a stagnant mind is not an asset.

Many homeschool families are discovering the freedom a Lifestyle of Learning offers. A Lifestyle of Learning makes learning real, applicable and even fun. Varieties of it are known by several familiar names: Charlotte Mason, Lifestyle of Learning, eclectic, the unit study approach, and unschooling.

The secret is to find what works for each child.

The idea is to encourage each student to take responsibility for his own education with the support of his or her parents as together they study subjects of interest to the family. Reading, writing, science, history and other subjects can be incorporated into one unit, and using real books.

And if something works for one child but not for the next, it could be the book or program that is the problem, not the child. Keep trying other avenues, be thankful for each experiment even if it fails and say "next" until you find what DOES work for that child. Using something that doesn't work is only a failure if you force it on the child and you don't learn something from it.

There are many wonderful authors who have produced historical biographies and non-fiction science readers for children of all ages which are not only informative but a pleasure to read.

Many families also find that reading books aloud together builds unity and offers common experiences that can provide great material for character lessons.

Live outside of the box.

One important aspect we learned is how important a supportive environment is to stimulating study.

Learning centers throughout a home and yard create a natural sense of adventure.

After reading the book Margin, I was convinced that if I wanted to be successful in this marathon, I had to get control of my time and life, which I didn't have. Trying to do everything, go everywhere and be everyone I was supposed to be soon got to be more than I could handle.

When we lived in our small Southern town, we studied our books, went to our field trips with the support group, attended a few weekly classes and read at night. Life seemed pretty mundane and lifeless even though it seemed we lived in a whirlwind.

So about five years ago, we moved to a big log house in the middle of 44 acres way out in the middle of nowhere.

Immediately, I noticed a change in the children. All of a sudden, there was more to do than we had hours in the day but the work seemed to have more purpose.

We wanted a room large enough to house a library and a living room for entertaining friends. We wanted enough bedrooms to sleep our growing family but not so that everyone had his own room.

We wanted porches and decks and porch swings and steps and a screen door that creaks when it slams shut.

We wanted animals - rabbits, goats, cows, sheep, pigs, chickens galore, guineas, turkens, dogs to breed, dogs to guard, a dog for play, geese, even one magnificent water buffalo.

We all wanted a garden with raised beds and a place to experiment with alternative power, such as solar and hydroelectric.

We wanted trees to build forts in, creeks to wade through and woods to explore and leave the worries of life in.

We wanted a driveway long enough for girls to ride bikes down at full speed and feel the breeze blowing their hair.

We got it all.

And after five years, we can't imagine living life now in just a house.

It took two years for us to find this place, but the time we invested searching for it was well spent. And we basically exchanged our 1800 square foot house on two acres in town for this 3600 square foot log house on 44 acres with two creeks in the country for not much more money.

With God, all things are possible.

If you want to raise a student,
it helps to be a student.

A wise mom encourages herself daily to learn more about what she can do with the little people she has in her house for such a short time.

It's easy for a homeschooling mom to lose her focus, especially if she is not encouraged daily by her peers. I found support by surrounding myself with like-minded moms.

One group is the local homeschooling support group and most communities have at least one. Ask your local librarian if she knows of a group who meets near you.

Another is the collection of homeschooling authors I've become best friends with but have never actually met. They fill page after page of their books with encouragement, wisdom and ideas and they never have a bad day!

Reading at least one new philosophy of homeschooling book every year is essential to the survival of Mom, who is the hub that makes the wheel of this family roll.

Build a home library.

The library at our house has expanded like an octopus, stretching into every nook and cranny of every room in the house. We've collected books on every imaginable subject of interest that anyone has expressed the least desire to explore.

Some of the best books are becoming harder and harder to find so we have dedicated ourselves to finding them. We plan to use them in our current and future studies and to later pass them down as an educational legacy.

Reading has become a passion in our house. We read science and history in the afternoons and literature at night. Then each child is allowed an hour at night to read to himself in his bed. Even the non-readers enjoy looking at the pictures and often share what they read the next day.

To find great old out-of-print books to add to your home library, first study my dear friend Jan Bloom's book, Who Should We Then Read?, to learn about great authors.

Then join a book search, to find them at great prices.

To join my favorite book search - LOOPS (Lifetime's Out-of-print Search), click here

Study to keep your vision.

There are many encouraging books that explain the Lifestyle of Learning.

Here are a few of my favorites!

The ALWAYS Incomplete Resource Guide

The best resource guide to have is The ALWAYS Incomplete Resource Guide of Lifetime Books and Gifts. The last issue had 405 incredible pages of book reviews. This company specializes in living books for homeschooling families.

To subscribe to Lifetime Treasures, their bi-monthly newsletter which features author interviews, helpful articles and used book sales, click here.

Wisdom's Way of Learning

One of the best little books to read to learn more about the Lifestyle of Learning approach to education is The Lifestyle of Learning Approach - An Introduction by Marilyn Howshall. In just 37 pages, this veteran homeschool mom outlines what she learned from her three year study of education.

One of the results was her four volume set of books entitled Wisdom's Way of Learning Set. They are easy to read, understand and implement.

Book 1 contains The Science, Art, and Tools of Learning. She explains that "Science" is the process (how to learn) and the product (what to learn.) "Art" is the heart of the learning process. And "tools" are the tools to learn by which she defines as research, record, reason, relate, and rhetoric.

Book 2 is The Unit-of-Life Learning Model or "how to nurture a complete informal learning process and develop language skills." This booklet explains how to help students set goals, harness their interests, and use notebooks using four simple learning activities.

Book 3 is The Life-Message Learning Model or how to "develop formal study skills" using four formal learning activities.

Book 4 is Seasons: God's Time-Design or "how to organize your plan." She explains four seasons of education in this book presented in a "framework designed with a mindset toward being flexible, Spirit-led, and having a natural lifestyle of learning."

If you are looking for one resource to explain the Lifestyle of Learning approach to education, this is it.

Educating the Wholehearted Child

One of my favorite books by one of my favorite people is Educating the Wholehearted Child by Sally and Clay Clarkson. This guide offers information about how to use the Charlotte Mason approach and includes "In Our Home" sections that give real life examples.

For the Children's Sake

For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macauley gives a wonderful introduction to the works of Charlotte Mason, an influential British educator of the early twentieth century.

Simplicity of Homeschooling

To help a family decide which philosophy of homeschooling will fit their personality, Vickie Goodchild has produced Simplicity of Homeschooling which now comes with a cassette tape produced by her husband.

Successful Home School Family Handbook

If you want a book that will warn you of the pitfalls to avoid, Dr. Raymond Moore's book, Successful Home School Family Handbook: A Creative and Stress Free Approach to Home Schooling will suggest positive alternatives. He helps set moms free from trying to copy a traditional system and shares how to create a learning environment.

Homeschooling for Excellence

The family who first influenced me years ago was David and Mickey Colfax who left society and moved to 47 acres on a mountain in California. Although they were both extremely educated, they didn't know how to build a house so they learned as they went. They didn't have power so they learned as they set it up. They had animals and kept a daily journal. Three of the four boys went to Harvard on full scholarship. Homeschooling for Excellence gave me vision for what I could do with my family. It was the first homeschooling book that changed my life.

Wild Days: Creating Discovery Journals

One of my favorite books is Wild Days: Creating Discovery Journals by Karen Rackliffe. The following paragraph has become a way of life for us,

"When days are wild, I grab a journal and pen and head out the door...we go to some wild place to watch the clouds, the river, the birds, the blossoms, the wildlife. It's like coming home...I bring my hournal to capture these golden wild moments...I record these in my journal in words and pictures. They will feed me on darker days."

To join a discussion group
to learn more about using real books
and the Lifestyle of Learning philosophy

which offers practical recommendations about using real books and real life actitivities in your educational endeavors, click here. Then hit Send. Over 700 experienced homeschool moms share their experiences and book advice every day on a group called Living Books. Be sure to have your subscription set to "Digest" if you are overwhelmed by too much mail.