God Schooling by Julie Polanco {Book Review}

When it comes to being homeschool parents, you can never learn too much. Just as our children increase in knowledge, we as homeschool teachers chase after it too. We desire to present the best education we can to our children. As a Christian homeschooler, I desire to create the best GOD-centered education that I can. I recently was given a copy of the book God Schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn by Julie Polanco to review and hoped that it would be a great encouraging resource about how to bring God more into our homeschool experience!

About the Author

Julie Polanco is an author, educator, and homeschooler. She and her husband have homeschooled their four children from the beginning, with their first graduating in 2016. She is passionate about homeschooling and Christian living. She is the author of several other non-fiction books and works as ghostwriter as well. She maintains a blog at www.juliepolancobooks.com where she focuses on homeschooling, Christian living, and the writer life.

Her latest book God Schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn is designed to be a guide for homeschool parents who are asking the
heart-wrenching question: Am I doing this right? She explores how God intended children to grow and develop at every stage. She speaks about teaching methods to meed your child's needs. She uses biblical references throughout the book. She wrote God Schooling to equip parents with confidence and a roadmap for helping their children reach their full God-given potential.

My Thoughts on the Book

I went into this book eager to see what I could glean from the author on ways to incorporate God more fulling in our homeschooling adventure. The author brought out many points about many of the snags homeschooling parents face: trapped by the pressures of finishing a curriculum, comparison to other students, pressure from friends and family about the homeschooling choice, fears that you are going to screw it up...she was so spot on in these sections and I could totally relate with what she said!

Here is a paragraph that all too many homeschooling parents can identify with:

"I became enslaved to the fears that drove my decision. Maybe you have some of these fears. I was afraid that my child wouldn't measure up next to her public-schooled peers. I feared the close scrutiny of relatives. I feared that she might have gaps. I feared I wasn't challenging her enough and that I wasn't doing enough. If she didn't understand something that was commonly taught to her peers, then I worried that there was something wrong with her or that I was doing something wrong. I wanted so badly to do everything right and I was so afraid that I was doing everything wrong. It was such an incredible burden that it finally sank me into depression..." (God Schooling by Julie Polanco, pg 7)

This paragraph sums up about 99% of all the posts on various homeschooling groups. So she is 100% correct that this is what so many parents are thinking. I really appreciated all her passages about the curriculum needing to be a tool, not a task master. She weaves reminders about breaking free "from the world's standards of what education looks like."

This set of paragraphs captures what many homeschoolers face before finding THE RIGHT method for their family!

Julie includes reminders of the life of Joseph and Daniel and how God used their education to serve Him to their highest potential. She reminds her readers that schooling needs to be a time of exploration and focused attention on biblical character training with a knowledge of the Bible at the center of their lives.

At the end of each chapter she includes study questions to reflect on things she brought up and allow you a chance to note what your thoughts are about it. Things like examining your feelings relating to your child's education, your fears, ways you can improve relationships with your children, how to inspire your children, examining any regrets you may have about your homeschooling process so far, listing ways to add more experiences with your children, ways you can add service to your homeschooling, and much more!

I really liked the chapters at the end of the book about college preparation, and also ways to make college more affordable. Also talking about why we shouldn't push our child to college if it's not a good fit for them through college alternatives.

One of the fun chapters to read was Chapter 6: Spreading the Banquet. In it, the author likened students to the different types of eaters we have at a dinner: The Baby, The Picky Eater, I Want It My Way, and Eat Anything. She likens this to the way children learn. The Baby is just starting, so allow them to play or do simple projects, but don't force feed or give them solid food until he's ready for it. The Picky Eater is passionate about one topic. Thus, to reach this student, you may reach them the best when you weave their favorite topic into all parts of their learning (This would totally be like Unit Study which I love!). By showing this student you understand their interests, they may be willing to try something "new" later. The I Want It My Way's desire to have a say in their learning. They want to offer up options for ways they could do something--maybe book reports, or history projects. But these learners also need guidance for they are quick to think they know everything about a subject. The Eat Anything learners will do pretty much anything you ask. But they might not have a lot of initiative, thus requiring you to partner more with them to complete their schoolwork. Reading her descriptions allowed me to spot my own sons in that line up. I have an I Want it My Way and an Eat Anything. :) Her tips for working with each type of learner were very useful and something I will definitely keep in mind this new school year.

The author was passionate about unschooling, and I appreciated her sharing what it looks like in her house. It isn't quite like some unschooling I have seen and heard about, so it did give me more insight into a method our family doesn't use.

But, let me share something about this book.
What I found was not what I expected. This book wasn't designed to show how a homeschool parent could add God more into their current homeschooling experience. No, that did not end up being what it was about. Instead, the author shares how she was led to begin unschooling her children, and makes statements that through her revelation in regards to schooling her own children she knows now that God intended homeschooling TO BE the unschooling method.

I have a serious problem with this statement, and respectfully DISAGREE.
I find it very presumptuous for someone to have discovered or believes they had been led to the perfect homeschooling method by God for THEIR family and THEIR children, and then to declare that it clearly is the ONLY homeschooling method that GOD approves of. If you go back and look at the cover, there is a small statement over the top of the title that says "THE GUIDE FOR HOMESCHOOL PARENTS". When you pair that with the statement that what is inside this book is "how God intended Children to Learn", I am disappointed. As a homeschooler herself, I would have thought that the author would know by now how much homeschooling is a personal choice and that WHAT WORKS FOR ONE FAMILY, DOES NOT ALWAYS WORK FOR ANOTHER.

I kept holding out hope that throughout the book she might clarify herself. Maybe talk about how there is a middle ground between unschooling and public schooling. That parents can find a blend of curriculum, structure, routine, AND exploration and play...but she never did. It was clearly presented as unschooling vs. public school thinking. No other options. And then because of the way it was presented, she declares--that anything BUT unschooling is UNBIBLICAL.

No.
I'm sorry.
You can't make a blanket statement like that. I believe 100% that HOMESCHOOLING is supported by the Bible. But I do not in any way shape or form believe that UNSCHOOLING is the ONLY way supported. In fact, while she uses many scriptures to present her case (taking some greatly out of context), I could present scriptures which clearly show that a parent is to be TEACHER and TRAINING their child in the way they should go. Not letting the child have the say of what and when they want to study or learn. Allowing the child to follow their hearts' passions is actually NOT biblical. (just look up scriptures about what God says about the heart!)

She also pushes hard against standardized testing and exams and report cards--promoting her love of unschooling for not being weighed down by them. I agree that they are dreadful and stifle a child's freedom to explore at their own pace, but she really needs to explain how someone who desperately desires to unschool their children could do that IF THEY LIVE IN A STATE WITH MANDATORY STANDARDIZED TESTING. She admits she lives in a state with little regulation. Thus she doesn't have to worry about that. But not everyone does. I think she absolutely needed to explain how you could work unschooling and letting your child learn math/reading/ect through their experiences in their own time, work with mandatory standardized testing when they HAVE to know certain things at certain times or their homeschooling will come under scrutiny by the state. My state doesn't require standardized testing, but it DOES require report cards and regular progress reports. That means I have to "give grades".

I was so upset that I thought maybe I had read into the book something that wasn't there, so I had my mom to read the first chapter and other portions as well. She said that I was correct. That it WAS what was being said and she was surprised a fellow homeschooler would do that.

Honestly and truly, I believe with my whole heart what Julie says on page 144 "Learning should be joyous, wonderful, and anticipated with fervor and zest!" Yes! But you CAN experience this through homeschooling methods OTHER than unschooling. It is absolutely possible and you can lead your children through their schooling experience as a TEACHER without being a dictator! You can incorporate amazing service opportunities in your homeschool adventure, you can take amazing field trips, you can study about things that they are passionate about, BUT you can do all of this without exclusively unschooling. I know, because this is what I am passionate about in our own homeschooling! We are not strict homeschoolers, we are explorers, but we enjoy having curriculum as our GUIDES so we have a rhythm and routine. I absolutely include my boys' opinions in our learning, but as parent I ALWAYS have the final say and they WILL sometimes do things they may not love (that is NOT "provoking our children to wrath!" as the book says), but are still NECESSARY for their growth. Because in the end, God instructed ME from His word to "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." (Proverbs 22:6) THAT is true God schooling, with the parent in the lead of the experience!

In conclusion, I am saddened to say that I cannot with clear conscience recommend this book to other homeschoolers. So many sections of the book WERE good and useful--that it kills me to have to not recommend it. But I just can't because of the blanket statements that were made repeatedly. I don't even think I could recommend it to even unschoolers--because of the basic premise presented that unschooling=biblical and all else=unbiblical. That thinking increases a chasm between the families in a homeschooling community that already desperately needs to be eradicated. Maybe some people would be able to just take it with a grain of salt and move on...but I don't like to recommend books with that many blanket statements I do not agree with.

If however, you would like to explore the book for yourself (don't just take my word for it!), the author has graciously offered a 50% discount on the e-book version of God Schooling through August 22nd.

Want to Know More?

You have now read my review of God Schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn by Julie Polanco. I encourage you to visit some of the other crew members to read THEIR thoughts, for I am sure that there is more than one view on this book!

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