Options in Schooling

A deep nagging feeling about the curriculum I've chosen to use has been simmering inside me just below the surface.  Schooling my children is an exciting endeavor.  On the other hand, I'm hindered in my joy by my views of what school ought to be like, even if it's at home.  Therefore, it has caused more strife within me than confidence.

In addition to this, I live a very unconventional life.  Our entire family doesn't do anything 'normally.'  Every one of us is independent, curious, creative, and self motivated.  Living off grid, far from standard lifestyles has caused me, all of us, to realize nothing can be done on a standard 'city' schedule as found in families in town.  We live on what I call 'homestead-time.'  Nothing is predictable, and you must adapt to the fact that the best laid plans can and most likely will change on a dime. 

You can plan and keep a schedule, but that schedule is likely to be accomplishing one item on the list rather than several in a single day.  The reason for this is it takes lots of time to get from one place to another, no conveniences of town exist nearby to speed up preparations of meals or auto repairs or anything else.  If it breaks, we fix it, not a hired plumber or electrician.  If it is threatened or attacked, we protect it ourselves, we do not have animal control, a fire department or a police department.  It can be quite a culture shock, even still, how much time it takes to accomplish anything yourself.  It is a different set of rules, different time-frame, different work.

My husband is far wiser than I am.  He has a sixth sense that allows him to get to the heart of nearly any matter.  As I struggle with the impact this reality has on our homeschool, he reminds me of our different life.  I lament that I cannot keep a schedule, that I must be a failure, that I have no commitment skills whatsoever, and that my children's education is suffering as a result.  He ever so patiently listens to me.  He then reminds me that the children are learning just by living.  The experiences they have out here will be with them forever.  They will be able to think creatively through varying problems that most city kids wouldn't have a clue as to how to get around or through.  "What about keeping them on schedule with their reading, writing, and math?" I ask breathlessly.  He says with emphatic resolution that they are indeed learning, and that like every other child on the face of the earth, they learn these things on their own time, their own way.  He isn't worried.  He's confident I am doing exactly what I should be doing.  I just need to relax and allow each one to learn on his own terms.  He doesn't see our life here as a hindrance to keeping a schedule, because according to him I am placing too much emphasis on schedules.  He has faith that they will learn what they want to learn and need to learn naturally. 

He's right, of course.  So very right.

Nothing is perfect.  Our ideas of 'perfect' are just that, ideas.  They are not standard.  They usually don't conform themselves to reality.  We can use ideas as goals to strive towards, but not as standards!

As I mentioned above, the nagging feeling I have over the curriculum I chose must be addressed.  I chose what I did only because I thought it was a good way to keep myself on track and thereby avoid robbing my children of missing out on learning what, when and how they 'should.'

My perfectionism must end.  I must not be overcome by the desire to cover every subject deeply.  Or every subject each day, for that matter.  It is an impossible goal.  It's not real life.

I started doing some research on a term that has piqued my curiosity.  "Unschooling."  What I quickly learned was that my husband must have been the founder of unschooling!  Unschooling is student directed, not instructor directed.  It's a terrifying concept for a control freak like me.  But the Lord leads us to and through the things we must learn.  The idea is that if you have faith in the human being (young or old), and if that individual is safe to be himself, he will naturally learn because of his own desires, needs and curiosity.  This even applies to reading, writing... and yes, math too!

The hardest thing is the unknown.  I don't know what to do without a schedule.  By the same token, I can't live within the confines of schedules either!  I do not wish to pass on my addiction to accomplishment as a means of validation on to my children.  I want them to experience the joy of being who they are, irregardless of how much they do or don't know.  The ultimate gift I can give them, and to the world, is to let them be who they are going to be.

It's time to think outside the box.  No child was ever forced to learn anything until they started school.  They were learning just fine before then.  We force them to think in narrow terms.  These terms are soon connected to self esteem, self worth, that if they perform a certain way it equals love.  But then they must choose if they will perform according to an arbitrary 'professional' standard, giving up on their own path, or pay the price of being true to themselves.

From what I've learned so far and experienced with my children, I have a hunch that we can go with unschooling which allows for our unique family and individual experiences.  They are artists, scientists, dancers, chemists, readers, writers, astronomers, naturalists, engineers and mathematicians already.  I've allowed them to ask questions and helped them find material to expand their knowledge already.  It's frightening to me, but the most natural thing to them!  I can still gently suggest and guide them without coercion!  I can still be there to facilitate their explorations.  We can still use a curriculum for a subject if he and I believe that is the best way to approach a certain subject for them.  My job is to love them, believe in them, and allow them to grow into who they are now and who they will be.

Kind of takes the pressure off doesn't it?

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13

Send up a prayer for us as we embark on this fascinating journey!

And if you have any thoughts and ideas of your own you wish to share, PLEASE DO!

Join the frenzy! It's fun!

Howdy!

I would like to thank each and every one of my new followers for joining us on this adventure!  Thank you for your interest, and especially for your kind and generous encouragement!  You all are of similar grit.  It's been an absolute pleasure 'meeting' all of you!  I have Amy who hosts the Barn Hop over at Homestead Revival and Deborah Jean who hosts the Farmgirl Friday blog hop at the Dandelion House to thank for the opportunity to link up with so many varied, exciting, determined, fun-loving people.

Leontien over at the Four Leaf Clover Tales is a spunky cancer survivor determined to enjoy every moment of life!  On top of which she helps operate a very interesting dairy we can all appreciate.

Corn in My Coffee Pot  is fresh and a joy.  I relate to her in so many ways!  And she is my sister in Christ!

LeAnna at Thoughts and Whatnots another sister in Christ who is gracious enough to share her thoughts, thereby making other moms like me feel not so alone after all!

Then there's Sarah over at Country Farmgirl who makes me feel like we would really hit it off if we ever met in person.  Her blog is an inspiration and proof you don't have to live right in the country to have the generous spirit of a country farmgirl.

Welcome Tonja of Woods Olde Homestead who is a country decorating extraordinaire.  Welcome Jodie of The Nest Eclectic whose fingers are surely filled with magic.

The inspiring Deborah Jean of Dandelion House is a fellow homeschool mom, a farmgirl, and best of all, an artist too!  She inspires me because I am all of those as well, and I am uplifted every time I visit her blog.

Last, but certainly not least is another very inspiring duo, Geoff and Ellen of Montello Alpaca Company.  These two are an inspiration to me as well.  They are on a similar path as we are.  They are building their own home literally from scratch, using a resource we all have, earth.  Rammed Earth that is.  I am intrigued by this technique and will be researching this process very soon.  I have always had an interest in natural available resources for building homes.  They are doing it!  Like Geoff said in a comment, it's good to have the validation for what we are doing.  I thank them for their example and inspiration!

I appreciate very much your visiting and especially your comments!

Welcome and Thank You!

Dreams Do Come True

We've had a most incredible life since we got married.  May of this year will mark our memorable 9 year flight of change and excitement together.  After marrying my dreamboat, dreams started coming true!  Six months after we married, we got our first home together.  After our second baby was two days old, our house was sold and I moved out to our 39 acres of raw land with all three children in tow.  Miracle Worker had already placed the fifth-wheel a couple months prior.

It was a dream come true!  Land of my very own!  Space!  Nature!  Peace!  A more natural way of life!  Another dream come true was the building of our little house, all 750 square feet of it.  We called it phase one.

Dreams have a way of evolving.  We needed to sell and move on.  But where to?  Then this care-taking for a neighbor came up as an offer.  They needed to sell too, but the market wasn't cooperating.  So until they can sell, they asked us if we would live in their home, take care of the house, barn, land, and be here to watch over their investment.  We accepted and here we are.  Amazing all by itself!

The point of this summary is to say that good things happen if you simply start by dreaming.  Not all dreams come true, but I've noticed how others either take their place or are much better than the original dream-seed.  Dreams don't die, they grow.  They become reality!

So much of what we have has been a direct result of Miracle Worker's barter savvy.  For example, we got two of our vehicles on trades.  We got llamas as payment for a job a man wanted to make good on, but couldn't pay money.  That may or may not have been one of the best deals, since we still had to feed them!  But, my garden is better for it anyway.  MW has obtained several different types of equipment because of his trading skills.  It all adds up.  Some skills, tenacious will, and a whole heck of a lot of dreaming!

At this point on our journey, we know not where we will end up.  But this leads me to my story I wanted to tell!  It's about a new dream-seed.  I can't get it out of my mind.  It's a long shot.  But what hasn't been a long shot in this roller-coaster ride we've been on?

If this dream comes true, it will be a down-right miracle.  As I mentioned on my last post, we had to go way outside of town to our rancher friend's place to pick up his heavy equipment trailer.  Now, my hubby knows me very well.  As we drive along, he preempted me by saying, "Just remember, we can't afford it."  "What?" I asked.  "You'll see."  We finally hit this road you see above.  This road crosses BLM and State Lands.  It's on the way to his ranch headquarters, which is what you call a house in ranching terms.  At this point I'm loving the terrain.  It's beautiful.  But wait, there's more...

Look at those mountains!  No one around for MILES!  That's what you get when you're surrounded by State and BLM.  Be still my beating heart...because things are just getting better...

This is right next to the headquarters, and I'm starting to hold my breath a lot... I can't stop taking pictures...

This little trail leads to the headquarters.

And this is my first glimpse of the house.  Look at those mountains!  Nestled all nice and snug at their feet!

Wait!  Another house there next to the first?  Turns out that second one is a little over a hundred years old, like so many other original ranch homes in Arizona.  Built better than most modern homes too!!!

This little piece of paradise is situated on about 300 acres of deeded land.  It's separated into two pieces.  This one is supposedly on 160 acres of the 300.  Not only that, but the deeded parcels are surrounded by 58 sections of State and BLM.  Each section is 640 acres each.  So, this paradise just got heavenly because it's surrounded by roughly 37,120 acres of untouchable land!!!

Excuse me a moment while I start crying...

Okay, here's the thing.  I can't stop imagining what we can do with this place!  All our dreams would find full realization here.  It embodies my almost mythical view of the desert southwest and it's personality.  This place is magical.  It's pure art to my eyes.  It's music to my heart.  This is a full-bodied dream like no other.

We could grow all of our vegetable gardens, orchards, trees, flowers, and care for our animals, and still not touch the natural beauty of the place.

This place looks like it is from another time, because here, time practically stands still.  The springs still seep and run out of the rocks.  It is a place to live closer to the land, untouched by urban sprawl.

It's located in a part of Arizona that actually leads to the Grand Canyon Skywalk, at the southwest portion of the canyon.  To help us make a living we could tap into the tourist traffic that skims by the area.  We want to give folks a chance to experience off-grid solar power (no chance of electricity here otherwise!) in their own little cowboy cabin.  Maybe they can go on horseback to take in the scenery.  Or, they could participate in a real roundup.  Or, go on a nature hike.  Maybe a moonlight hike/ride.  If you've never experienced the moon in an unpolluted night sky... all I gotta say is oh, wow!  There would be gardens and orchards galore to either help out in or simply enjoy.  It would be a place to find and experience the ancient peace of the southwest.

Okay, I'm into this dream deep.  If there was a Dreamer's Anonymous, I'd have to sign myself up!

Like I said, it's a long shot.  It's a dream.  Highly improbable.

It's for sale.  Did I mention that?

We are average folk, living on way less than most people live on.

So, like I said, it's a dream.  Need I say more?

This post has been linked with the Dandelion House Farmgirl Friday blog hop.

Hop on over and enjoy linking up with exciting farmgirls!
There are no limits to our dreams!

Horse Trading

I have bragging rights!  I don't call hubby the Miracle Worker for nothing!  He's got an uncanny ability to find good deals which can be finalized simply by trading.  Naturally it's not always easy to trade because once in a while we still need that green stuff they like to print so much of, in order to pay our few bills.  Imagine trying to pay for fuel or auto insurance with the barter system!  Not happening.

For a tank of diesel fuel, I'll trade you this goat!

What?!  Why not?!

I'd better leave the bartering to my hubby.

As it turns out, so much of our subsistence is owed to his horse-trading abilities.  The most recent of these amazing trades was found by Miracle Worker on Craig's List.  MW found this ad for a Case Backhoe.  He had pretty much talked himself out of even trying to get his hands on one, but figured it wouldn't hurt to dream.  So, he clicked on it and began reading.  For the backhoe this gentleman wanted to trade for a pickup truck!  Didn't matter if it was a Ford, Chevy, or Dodge.  MW called him up and they got to talking.  After discussing the value of each item, they agreed for the backhoe we would give him the truck and a solar system.  Both parties were very satisfied and agreed right then and there they would do the deal.

As is common around here, it takes a lot of time to get from here to anywhere.  My favorite movie line sums it up, "Well, aint this a geographical oddity!  Two weeks from everywhere!"  Yep, that's us.  Actually it just feels that way!  We packed up the family and hit the road within an hour with title in hand and solar system in tow.  We borrowed a rancher friend's one ton pickup truck and heavy equipment trailer, which added a few extra hours to our trip even before the three hours it would take to get to our destination.  In other words, it took all day to get there.

MW explained the solar system to the man and showed him the truck.  Then MW got to operate the backhoe a bit and look it over.  With everyone happy, we headed out.  Deal done!

We spent the night in a motel there in town.  We really didn't want to drive a heavy load home in the dark.  Besides, we were tuckered out!

The next day, yesterday, we headed home.  Instead of taking the risk of getting this load stuck in the wet Big Sandy, we off-loaded the backhoe and we caravaned up the mountain.

It took an hour and a half to drive it to our care-taking home!

This wasn't the end of our day.  We needed to return the rancher's truck and trailer.  To do that we had to go back into and through town to drop them off.  Before getting onto the interstate, the rear drive shaft fell out!  MW took it out, put the trailer on my truck, put the rancher's truck into 4-wheel drive and we got everything delivered.  Looking at the condition of the drive shaft and u-joint, it wasn't our fault, it had been in bad shape a long time.  But since it happened on our watch, MW offered to fix it for him.

We didn't get home last night until nine.  We all went to sleep rather quickly.  And today the kids got to ride in it and learn to operate the backhoe arm.  They loved it!

It's amazing what can be done with a small dream actuated on the barter system!

I left so much out of this condensed story.  There is another story within this one that I want to tell.  It's about how dreams really do have a way of coming true.  We've got so many examples to prove it.  Now I'm wondering if another dream seed has been planted....

Come back soon and I'll tell you all about it!!!

Until then,

Happy Dreamin'

This post is linked to the Prairie Homestead Barn Hop #6

Enjoy looking at what so many other wonderful homesteaders do!