David and I had decided to try the Robinson curriculum for a year. We had heard mixed reviews and my heart was towards a classical education, but a good friend liked it very much and I was struggling to keep up with the quality of education that I believed we could achieve. Perhaps the Robinson curriculum with its self teaching approach could help? We began to settle into our new curriculum. My sixth child was born, our 3rd was beginning to learn to read and Dave’s Nan, who has dementia, came to live with us. I was now most grateful to the Lord that he had led us to a new way of learning. A couple of years later I no longer see self-teaching methods as a compromise, but as the best choice we could have made even if I had all the time in the world to devote to my children‘s academic advancement. The Robinson curriculum introduced to us a new way of doing “school”.

Art Robinson, whose wife died suddenly, developed his curriculum on the self-teaching model. He writes, “I reached the conclusion although academic quality would be expected to suffer in Laurelee’s absence the children were still better off learning at home rather than in public schools. Therefore over the subsequent years we have devised a simplified home school curriculum that requires no teacher “. He was at the time working full time as a scientist at the laboratory on his farm, so he had the advantage of working from home. So like us it began as a compromise.

“ I (Art Robinson) have been astonished by the results of our self-teaching home school experience... While there is no doubt at all that the Robinson children would have been far better off had their mother been alive, I am firmly convinced that, if she had been here, Laurlee would have done best had she arranged an almost entirely self-teaching atmosphere for the children. Laurlee’s primary roles in the school would be to set and enforce study rules, provide materials and serve as an example.“

Firstly, my child’s learning is not limited by my lack of knowledge, nor by my lack of ability in any particular subject, nor by my lack of time. It is limited by my example. I serve as a 24 hour example to my children whether that example is good or bad. Do I work hard and do so with joy? Do I love reading? Am I learning new things? Am I persevering through difficult times? Am I turning to God in prayer?

Secondly, my child’s learning models real life. Most of life is actually spent in a self-teaching situation. “Adult life is not a series of spoon fed lessons administered by all-knowing teachers and programmed workbooks “.

Thirdly, each child develops the ability to think independently. Learning to think for oneself is freedom from “group think”. It is freedom from mediocrity, freedom from cults, freedom from intellectual slavery, freedom from having to obtain all your views on the world from the secular media.

Fourthly, self-teaching builds confidence and perseverance. Many times in life I have been overwhelmed when faced with learning something new! I remember learning to wallpaper. The first wall was not satisfactory at all. I was ready to give up. I called to mind how the children were persevering through their difficulties in learning and so I began again. I stripped the newly hung wallpaper, noted my mistakes, sort out more information and began again. We now have wall paper in our lounge. I had to buy a few extra rolls, but now I can wallpaper. What might have been seen as a failure ended as a confidence building event. I have gone on to learn tiling.

My children experience this all the time. A math problem seems too hard. It seems they cannot work it out themselves. But they go back, reread the chapter sometimes spending a good while puzzling out the problem. Then the light turns on! My children have a confidence I never had, not the false confidence of a child dressed in a superman cape, standing on top of the shed, nor one boosted by empty words of praise, but an accurate knowledge of their abilities and their limitations. Such confidence will allow them not to be overwhelmed and want to give up, but to have the courage to keep going and the wisdom to know what to attempt!

I would like to see more people choose to homeschool. There are many households where circumstances prevent one person dedicating a large percentage of their time to home schooling. Many parents themselves lack the education they earnestly desire for their children. We can hope that families might be able to change their circumstances so they can homeschool or that they can find the time to educate themselves as they go. But many cannot. Self teaching opens the door to home schooling for many such households.

For those that are able to dedicate a large percentage of their time to home schooling, consider if your children might not still be better teaching themselves. Your time could be spent in another area of service to them or someone else.

Comments or questions to dburge@slingshot.co.nz