Courageous Joy

The Relaxed Home School by Mary Hood, Ph. D

I missed an opportunity to hear Mary Hood speak when we lived in San Antonio. I determined that I would find her books, eventually, and read them. I received this from PBS and it was a quick read. I read it in one night.

I found many parts of the book to be refreshing. I found parts of the book with which I did not 100% agree. I am glad I read it. It does give me a bit more confidence to simply continue on my own path and not worry about what others think. Though I'd pretty much reached that stage of homeschooling anyway. ::snort::

Here are a few thoughts that I want to remember. When discussing world view Mary beautifully discusses how silly it is to think that our God, who loves creativity and diversity (as evidenced in creation), would suddenly decide there was ONE RIGHT AND GODLY way to home school. She then went on to explain that there is a difference between educational beliefs and religious beliefs. We all KNOW this but we don't always ACT like we believe this. (I suspect this is true on a variety of issues besides homeschooling). "Unfortunately, many people have confused these two issues (educational/religious beliefs), and have started arguments that have confused parents and caused needless rifts within the home-schooling movement." Amen! I have personally seen this. I have been part of groups that seemed to feel that only traditional, school at home type schooling was "Biblical"....delight driven, unschooling, funschooling, hands on unit studies, all were somehow "un-Biblical".

She talks about three types of motivation to learn: internal, someone else has a love for a subject and transfers that enthusiasm to the student, and when students set personal goals and are willing to do things that are difficult and/or boring to reach them. I've seen all three motivators at work in our school.

I loved her discussion on outside prizes and motivators. She loves Charlotte Mason - that's always a plus in my mind. ::snort::

I enjoyed this book. I was debating keeping or swapping this book. I checked to see if this book was on anyone's wish list - and it was. I decided to swap it. It turns out it is going to my friend Debbie. LOL I have *The Joyful Home School* by Mary Hood to read here too...also from PBS.

This is one of my fall challenge books.