Sherry from Large Family Mothering is joining us this morning and sharing a guest post she wrote especially for The Farm Wyfe blog readers. I’ve followed Sherry’s blog for a while and always leave there encouraged as a mom and a believer. Sherry is a Christian, homeschooling mother of 15 (yes, FIFTEEN!), wife, and writer. I hope you check out her blog and come away encouraged to follow Christ in your family life–no matter the size!

By Sherry Hayes

For everything there is a season under the sun.

I can tell just when seasons change in our home. I lose my enthusiasm and the children sigh and put their heads in their hands as they stare blankly at their school work. This is when we switch gears and begin “auto-didacting.”

What is “auto-didacting” you may ask? It is simply self-directed learning.

No, it is not chaotic or messy. It looks like a day well-ordered, with regular chores and meals, but is also full of blocks of time to be spent however the learner wishes, with the fewest boundaries and requirements necessary.

I am not of the camp that a child left to himself will automatically choose the best things; God says that a child left to himself brings his mother to shame (Proverbs 29:15).

But when combined with times of definite academic instruction, the results are bountifully fruitful!

Children learn all of the time, and often the most important things for their lives are learned on their own.

When we start this “program” out we usually begin with a trip to the library, or at least go online and reserve oodles of things to read, or read about.

Or, we might take another look at what is lying about the house; the projects that have been put aside for other, more “rigorous” learning; the need to plant a garden, learn some hymns or other spiritual songs; the involved histories that could be read while everyone snacks on freshly-baked cookies.

My oldest daughters (at home) enjoy working on needle craft projects, beading, baking, and the like.

My sons used this time immersed in Bible study, history, geography, art, artists, languages, etc. These are pastimes they still enjoy as “graduated” homeschoolers.

The little girls may play more than read, which is perfectly fine with me. Playing is learning, actually an essential to learning.

Auto didacting has even allowed us to slow down and actually enjoy the babies as they have learned to sit, eat, crawl and walk over the years.

Other marvelous things have happened whenever I have legitimized this type of learning and exploring:

• My children have discovered that they are responsible for their own education.
• They have learned that they can have fun and still make progress.
• They begin to listen to God and allow Him enlighten and direct their minds.
• They are also allowed time to apply all the tools that have been so carefully deposited into their hands (such as reading, writing, ciphering, comprehending, etc.).

Since I usually demand hard, sweat-of-the-brow, and (sometimes) mundane work at other times, this type of learning becomes all the more sweet (challenges help children to feel successful–especially young men).

The children who have grown beyond our protection had a head start over their peers because they understood these important precepts. With the appropriate parental oversight, they have had the personal time to become critical thinkers along with the ability to stay humble and teachable.

They do not wait around for someone to tell them what to do; they find things to do. They do not stop and stare when faced with a problem, they pray and look for solutions.

Then, when they have been handed printed diplomas, they shrug their shoulders. “Graduating to what?” they wonder.

Learning never ends.