The Brainy Bunch- October's Book of the Month
JJ was homeschooled for most of his education, and he loved it. Whenever we talk about future kids, he always mentions his desire to teach them at home. I've never had a strong desire to homeschool my kids. In other words when I pictured homeschool kids I envisioned "Children of the Corn:" girls in long skirts down to their ankles staring at their shoes and know-it-all boys that correct you in different languages. I saw children that never left their homes, and marveled at the sun; children that have "mirror" and "window" friends. This may have been a bit overdramatic...I do know some homeschoolers that definitely do not fit my previously held stereotype, such as my husband (except for the whole know-it-all thing. Love you babe!).
While walking around my local Family Christian Bookstore, I came across The Brainy Bunch: The Harding Family's Method to College Ready by Age Twelve. It looked really interesting, so I promptly ordered it on Amazon.com (Don't judge me $22 versus $14. That's almost a $10 difference!). Kip and Mona Lisa Harding discuss how homeschooling their kids has enabled them to pursuing their dreams and life goals at a young age. They brought up an interesting point when they shared that being your child's primary educator allows you to tailor their education specifically for him/her as a unique student. Also, they discuss all the time wasted in both public and private schools. I remember when substitutes came we basically did nothing, and when FCAT testing got closer we stopped doing our regular schoolwork and completed useless preparation worksheets.
The Hardings like other homeschoolers teach at home year-round, which I always thought was just mean. Some of my happiest memories were doing nothing during summer break, but then when I thought about it usually after 2 weeks I was bored and started making my brother play “school” with me. After 3 months away from school, most students forget a lot of what they learned the year before because they weren’t practicing it over the summer, which means the first one or two months is a review of the previous year’s curriculum. I never thought about how ineffective the American education system is at times. Not to mention how abrasive it is towards the Christian faith and practices.
As much as I enjoyed reading and being educated by The Brainy Bunch, that doesn’t mean I didn’t find any faults in their arguments. First off as much as they discuss the importance of a good education, their chapters were often repetitive and their interpretations of proper grammar loose. However, I find this to be more an error on their editor’s part than on the Hardings. I devoured up the book until Chapter 11, and then after that I felt like I was reading the same ideas over and over again. I felt like they were trying to drive their case home, but it felt more like a boring review session. They skipped over the aspect of socializing, which is usually one of the biggest concerns for someone on the fence of whether to homeschool or not. Often, they said being from a family of 10 children, the children were all best friends and a lot of their social interaction occurred on the homefront.
I think that is great that they love each other and get along so well, but I also find it incredibly strange that they don’t really have a best friend or someone outside of their family to go through shared life experiences. For instance, one of their children, Katrinnah, is 10 years old and has interest in acting and theater. Friends have encouraged them to enroll her in a local children’s theater program. Mona Lisa writes, “We usually just thank them for the information. We do not always explain that we choose to pursue extracurriculars at the college level. We do not want to hurt their feelings but we think it is important for others to see our kids as college students” (It KILLS me that the last sentence does not have a comma before “but.”). I find that incredibly snobby and very odd. When they talk of socialization, they say they like their kids to be around multiple age groups because that is what they will experience in the professional lives. Very true. However, often the group that gets neglected is their children’s peers, which in the end could cause others to ostracize them.
As much as I find the idea of creating a personal education plan for my child, I don’t actually think that college by 12 is a great idea for everyone. Their children grow up at a rapid pace, and in some cases left home in their mid-teens. I would recommend the book as a good starting place for learning about homeschooling. They provide good sources of where to acquire materials and curriculum as well as how to launch your new educational endeavor. However, there are definitely times where I felt like a brainwashing process was being performed, and I just didn’t buy everything they were selling. In the end I am more excited about the idea of home education than I was in the past, especially with all the resources available in today’s world. If homeschooling allows me to make the Anne of Green Gables trilogy, the Pride and Prejudice miniseries, and American Girls books part of my kids’ curriculums, then sign me up! (Also, I feel really bad for my boys because the only one they are getting out of is maybe the American Girls books…maybe…)