Does Your Worldview Impact How You Homeschool?

in Home Edders4 years ago

My answer is YES!

Merriam-Webster defines worldview as "a comprehensive conception or apprehension of the world especially from a specific standpoint." source

To me, a worldview is comprised of the traditions, beliefs, knowledge, biases, and experiences that shape how a person sees and interacts with the world. Although there are some larger categories of worldview (religion, politics, etc), I believe each individual person has unique, one-of-a-kind worldview. No one in the world sees the world the way you do, because no one in the world has been impacted by world and lives in the world the same way you have.

These "lenses," that impact how we interpret the world, most definitely impact how we homeschool.

earth1617121_640.jpg
source



Forced To See The World In A New Way


When my wife and I moved overseas in 2005, our eyes were opened to a new way of life. Over the next 12 years, we would become something new- slight mutations of our former selves.

Some of those changes were physical:

  • Living near the equator for over a decade caused our bodies to acclimate to tropical weather. Winters in the States are tough now!
  • Our bodies do not handle highly processed foods well anymore. Processed foods were less readily available. We enjoyed the benefits of more natural foods.

Our minds and heart changed as well:

  • Although I can still not fully understand "group thought," I have come to realize my individualist tendencies are not superior, they are just different.
  • We were blessed to know and love people who were very different - different faith, different skin color, different priorities, and a whole list of other differences.
  • We first learned how to survive in a foreign land and culture among foreign people. We then learned how to thrive in a place we called home being surrounded by people we called family and friends.

I know the importance of worldview because mine was challenged at times, and I had first hand experience living among people who lived life and thought about the world in a different way.

As I already mentioned, my time overseas changed me. Some of the "hills" I was ready to die on have been leveled to the ground. And some of the beliefs and ideals I gripped tightly to before, I hold even tighter now.

Principles That Guide My Life and My Thoughts On Homeschooling

I am fully aware that this is not a comprehensive review of my worldview. There are a lot of aspects of worldview that are apparent/visible. But I also believe there are elements of a person's worldview that are hidden (or maybe better put, not yet realized).

And even though I will do my best to explain how these principles explain how our family homeschools, I know my words may fall short. Please sure to leave a comment below if you have any questions.

Many Individuals Operating as Family

Our family is a mini-community united by blood and love. Our individual strengths and weakness are opportunities to make the entire family stronger and find new opportunities to grow.

Sometimes we act as a democracy (everyone has a vote). Sometimes Mom and Dad act as ruling monarchs. But the goal is that every decision be made in love.

We expect self respect and respect for others in our tribe. And if you mess with one of us, then you have messed with all of us (not in retaliatory kinda way, but in the "we stand side-by side" kinda way).

Our family's pursuit of truth and knowledge is encouraged on an individual level. We don't want to only focus on WHAT to learn. My wife and I hope to instill within our kiddos the principles of HOW to learn.

Our pursuit of educating our children is a 24 hour, 7 day a week blessing - a role we gladly accept.

Equal Rights But Not Equal Talents, Responsibilities, and Roles

We all stand equal because life is important - not just individual lives but the idea of life itself.

In our family you have the right to speak and be heard. You have the right to think and explore. You have the right to learn and apply.

Our familial connection does not force cookie cutter replicas. Though we share the same DNA and a lot of the same characteristics, our talents, interests, and abilities are vast and different.

Since our kiddos are uniquely made, their homeschooling needs and victories are unique. There pursuits and hobbies are unique as well. When someone within the family learns something new through his or her own unique perspective, the entire family benefits.

Other People Matter

We want to be apart of other peoples' lives. We don't want to live in isolation but rather in community. We want to know our neighbors (and bless them). We want interact with our friends (and encourage them).

Being in community with others impacts homeschooling. My wife and kiddos gather with other homeschooling families for nature walks, field trips to local sites, socialization, and encouragement.

And by extensions of doing life with others, we are blessed by opportunities to learn from other peoples' experience, knowledge, and insight. Education should not happen in a vacuum, but rather in community.

Faith Is Important

We strive for reconciliation with God and with others. Although religion can be inherited, personal faith must be grown.

I think you could make an argument that all people have faith, but it is clear that the object of an individual's faith (self, money, God, gods, science, etc) and the degree of his or her faith differ.

Faith and the pursuit of truth intertwine. You pursue what you believe to be true and it would make sense that your pursuit of truth impacts how you homeschool. At least it does for our family.

And like education, faith is not reserved for specific hours of the day. It permeates all aspects of life.

Final Thoughts

I have been extremely blessed over the last few weeks by the engagement of the @homeedders community. There seems to be a shared sense that "other people matter." This does not mean that we think the same, act the same, or speak the same, but rather that we value what we share in common as a community and what makes us different as individuals.

Thank you for welcoming me into your community and let me sharing my unique perspective on life and homeschooling.

I want to hear from you.

  1. Do you think that your worldview impacts how you homeschool?
  2. Describe your worldview in 5-7 words. Yes, I choose an extremely small number of words on purpose.

Optional: Write a mini-novel in the comments or write a separate post and copy the link below.

Thanks for stopping by!

@SumatraNate

Sort:  

I’d be surprised if anyone says no to this given that world view impacts pretty much everything we do 😆

I see your point. Perhaps I should have phrased the question, "How does your worldview impact homeschooling?"

I completely agree that worldview impacts everything. And I am continually amazed at how the intricacies and nuances of a worldview make a person react to the world around them. There are so many layers.

That would have gotten post-length answers :D

Was this question of the week?

Not quite. This week's question is "how do you homeschool?" But this is a darn good question!

So cool to see you and others discussing the homeschool / unschool options. To me, this is the most important topic we parents can focus our energy at this time in human history. So glad we had the summer months to try some new things, and test out our capacity to help the kids have the education they deserve in an environment that really fosters their growth.

I've featured your post in the @HomeEdders weekly curation. I hope we see more conversation on this.

Curated by @minismallholding on behalf of @HomeEdders.


Supporting home education and educational content. If you're a home educator, home educated or are thinking about home education, find out what we're about HERE.

You can join the community by clicking the subscribe button on Hive or Peakd.

please feel free to join us on discord.