The Married Geek

Hi this is Mindy. The Married Geek’s wifey! Well I started homeschooling our daughters Octoberish 2008. At first I thought I needed to do school at home. I spent night after night preparing lesson plans. Anybody that knows me will say I am not a schedule keeper. There is a reason I dropped out of high school four different times. I hated school. Now here I was trying to be someone I wasn’t. I was also worried about what my husband’s family would think. I wanted them to have confidence in me and see I was doing the right thing. The only thing wrong was it was so unnatural. I was taking large doses of Concerta to function like that. I am naturally just very laid back and not to worried about time. I think that is the Lakota part of my DNA. Finally in May I had enough. I couldn’t keep up the charade anymore. I started researching other ways to go about school. The whole strict thirty minute intervals of each subject dwindled away after about two months and I had started doing more of an ecclectic-montessori type day. Well I had been reading on and off about unschooling…thinking yeah that sounds like laziness(secretly wishing I was brave enough to do it.) Well I read forum after forum and blog after blog. It started making more sense but of course the fear of what everyone around me would think scared me off. Then I ran across Sandra Dodd and Dayna Martin. I finally understood. It made sense.

Next mission convince the Man! Right away he was liking it. No coercion necessary. He knew it sounded like the right thing but admitted it would be hard to change. I thought the same thing. So since May 2009 I stopped teaching, nagging, pushing, and forcing information down my little girls throats. I felt completely lost, guilty, unsure, and felt like we should keep it a secret from everyone. Like it was illegal to let the girls figure out what they wanted and loved and craved to learn. We have been actively deschooling since May. Thank God I have such a supportive and open minded husband. He is my best friend and a wonderful father.

Our oldest Savannah was so lost for about the first four months. She never had the opportunity to actually find out what her passions were. Things have really changed. She is so passionate about architecture. She loves designing buildings and landscapes. Her goal now is to be a Green Architect. Savannah would never have found that interest or passion if made to be only concerned with what someone was telling her to be interested in. Her new interest has found her already learning basic geometry skills with angles, using a protractor, and learning a CAD program. ALL AT 8 YEARS OLD!!!

Raegan our six year old is a free-spirited girl. She only went to Kindergarten for about a month. Then we pulled her out. Her transition was more seamless. She has always danced to her own tune and I am so grateful for coming to my senses and rescuing her before the damage was done. She is so creative in story telling, and I honestly believe she could be the female version of Robin Williams. Her interests are very random but constant. She loves nature and all that is included in that. She loves learning about anatomy of all living things. Raegan is just a sponge that soaks up everything. I love watching her learn. Whatever she does ends up unique and amazing.

Justice our 2 year old is going to be a lifetime unschooler. With a two year old they discover new things every minute. She has a passion for making messes and cleaning them up right now. What more could a mother ask for? It is so amazing to me to see the close bond she has with her sisters. Justice wants to do everything her sisters are doing. If we didn’t all stay home they wouldn’t be nearly as bonded. How lucky is that?

Soon we will welcome Georgia into our lives and she will have all the love in the world and the freedom to conquer the world and follow her passions just like her sisters. Chad and I are so blessed to get to watch it all happen and be there to provide a rich environment to allow them to reach for all they dream to become.

Basically, it all came down to the fact that the Creator gave us these beautiful children to protect and love. They are already born with unique talents, interests, and personalities. They are born being who they are going to be. With nurturing,unconditional love, understanding, and freedom they can become extremely happy girls. Who the hell am I or any school to take that away from them. By institutionalizing them and telling them what they need to think, learn, say and do. Who really retained anything from school anyway…except the things you really found interesting or had a passion for. I loathed every part of school. I never was one for rules. You pretty much get a degree in learning how to conform, answer the teacher with what they want to hear, nod mindlessly at everything your told and you pass! What a bunch of crap! That is not good enough for my girls. No matter how “wonderful” the school district.