An apology to the feminists

#18 - It is in the male gene.

My apologies to those who think males and females are the same - you are wrong. Boys and girls are different. Now although I only have boys - I still maintain the fundamental difference. Girls may be loud and rambunctious too, and play with cars and blocks. However, it is in the way that they play that I believe reveals the ingrained characteristics of boys.

Cars are not just played with - they must be crashed.
Blocks aren't just used to build things - they must be crashed.
Planes must be crashed, trains must be crashed, buckets must be crashed, Lego's must be crashed, books must be crashed.

Everything must be crashed.

Hence the picture. The Crazy Coupes are meant to be driven around. Go to pretend places. Maybe some pretend races.

My boys crash them.

Boys are different. They need to yell. They need to run. They need to move.

When I was teaching I didn't understand that. I thought that my students needed to learn to sit still and pay attention - even if they weren't interested in what I was teaching. They needed to learn it - plain and simple.

As a mom of boys - boy(no pun intended), was I wrong.

That's why I fell in love with Charlotte Mason's philosophy. While I believe it is also a wonderful philosophy for instructing girls, I think it is so appropriate for boys.

Hours spent outdoors playing in nature - sticks, creeks, trees.
Short lessons - 15 - 20 minutes.
Alternating sitting lessons with active lessons.
Living books - books that impart information in interesting, almost story form - NO TEXTBOOKS!!

Education is not just something that occurs between the hours of 8 am and 3 pm but anytime and anywhere.

Education is a lifestyle - a passion.

An example - a good friend of mine who has 4 children came to visit us this summer. Her oldest had just finished 1st grade and she told me of some of the difficulties they had had in the past year. He had done wonderfully in school - no behavior problems or learning issues. It was when he came home they had the problems. The minute he would get in the car he was grumpy, disrespectful and mean to his siblings. Funny thing - within a few days into a school break he would be a different kid. Kinder, more relaxed, better behaved. After passionately telling her about Charlotte's philosophy (which I knew she would love as she is an avid reader herself), I had her hooked. The following week she called and wanted to know more as they had decided to home school him this year. She decided to put her second son in kindergarten so she could focus on figuring out this new home school thing. Within a couple of weeks into the school year - what do you know? Her second son started acting the same way. No problems at school - but grumpy and disobedient at home. She realized that boys just can't be quiet and good for that long. Bless their hearts - they were doing their best during the school day to follow the rules, sit quietly and for such a long time - indoors. By 3pm they were done being good!! They just couldn't do it any longer.

I understand. That's why I am choosing to home school my boys. I want to look back and to be first of all proud of the men my boys have become and secondly be proud of the education they received.
I can't wait to start. I can't wait to read the wonderful literature - history, Shakespeare. To go on nature hikes and pull out our nature journals to draw a woodpecker. To learn the music of the great composers and study talented artists. To study creation and evolution theories.

To be THE influence on my children, shaping their minds and characters.

And of course there will be lots of science experiments that include crashing and blowing things up.