Mom Is Teaching

Your Name:  (if you only want to use first names or nicknames that is fine)

Tammy Takahashi

Your Children’s Names and ages(if you only want to use first names or nicknames that is fine)

Cameron (10), Allison (7), and Megan (5)

Your Home State:

CA

Which style of education do you use and why?

Whatever-works zenschooling.  We use this style because we like it. We made it up, BTW.

What is your personal approach to education?

The purpose of education, and the pursuit of education, is to learn to live a full and satisfying life that benefits (or is at least neutral to) the world we live in. In that regard, money, a “good” job, knowing every detail about every thing… none of that is top priority. Simple people who live simple lives can have the “right” education to do fabulous things on our planet.

So, in that way, my approach to educating my kids is to help them realize their personal potential in their own right - even if it’s not what I would find important. If my children grow up to be happy, satisfied, and are pursuing a life that adds to the good in the world, I’ll have succeeded.

However, I must say, that in order to understand how their contributions will effect the world, they have to understand the world. Or at least, they have to understand the part of the world that they will be influencing. My job is to help them learn the importance of constantly pursuing a better understanding of the world they affect. They can’t know everything, but they can know a lot. And there is no end to that potential.

My personal approach to education is the constant search for truth and meaning, while doing our best to understand the world we live in, and to understand how our knowledge and experience can help our world be a better place while providing for ourselves a satisfying life. Whatever means I can use teach this - whether it be through experience, workbooks, textbooks, lectures, reading, TV, music, volunteering, traveling, or anything else - I will.

What is your plan for “helping” your child learn?

1) I will be enthusiastic about life and learning.

2) I will be enthusiastic about the things my children are interested in.

3) I will listen to my children, and observe carefully.

4) We will do lots of things together. Sign them up for classes, take them place, give them responsibility. Basically, live a varied life.

5) I will get them involved in their own education by allowing them to make choices and work for concrete and meaningful goals.

6) I will continue my learning so I always have something new to bring in to the family education. Also, continue my learning so that the children see that their learning never stops.

7) And finally, the three most essential things they need to have: resourcefulness (know how to get what they need), tenacity (failure is OK) and self-awareness (nothing will stop them from getting to what they want if they know what they want). I will do whatever I can to impart this knowledge.

If you homeschool, how do you meet state requirements?

In CA, we can file as a private school. We follow the private school codes which require minimal paperwork.

Regardless of how you educate, where and when do your children get involved in social activities and how often?

We live in a social world. Social activities are an everyday part of life, whether that be with our neighbors, with our family, in our community, with our friends, in classes, at Disneyland, at parties, and everywhere in between. In our neighborhood, the worry isn’t so much of whether we get out to do social activities. The worry is over-scheduling and getting burn out. So we have to be careful not to schedule too much.

Regardless of the type of education you use, which parent does the majority of the teaching and who is the accessory?  Or is the other parent even an accessory?

I do most of the teaching simply because I’m with the children the most often. But we consider everyone that the children communicate with to be teachers. They may not sit down and do a workbook with them, but they are part of the bigger picture of teaching them about the world they live in, which is what education is for, right? 

Does your faith have anything to do with your choice of type of education you chose for your children?

Sort of. I’m Buddhist, and that certainly has an impact on what I feel is important. My husband is secular humanist, so that has an impact on what he thinks is important. Our children have their own beliefs, and that plays a part in what is important to them. We smash that all together, throw in two different perspectives on educational philosophy, and you get the Takahashi method of homeschooling.

What are the advantages/disadvantages of your choice of education?

Advantages:

1) Freedom

2) Low stress

3) Close family

4) Flexibility

5) Travel

6) Fun

7) Ability to visit places when they aren’t busy

Get as close as possible to our idea of the perfect education

9) Parents have to take an active role in education, because they can not rely on the state to fulfill their needs.

Disadvantages

1) People asking a lot of questions about it, pretty much all the time

2) People outwardly criticizing our choice and throwing stereotypes at us

3) Have to be willing, as a parent, to face and deal with your own personal baggage

4) Have to be willing to constantly reassess how things are going and adjust accordingly

5) Have to make time for each person in the family (especially mom) to be alone

6) Need to understand the local homeschooling laws

7) Some activities are harder to gain access to (i.e. sports, afterschool enrichment, etc.)

Parents have to be careful not to pay too much for unnecessary “curriculum” at the homeschooling conferences

9) Parents have to take an active role in education, because they can not rely on the state to fulfill their needs.

Please include a photo of some sort, it doesn’t have to be of your family if you don’t want your child’s picture on the internet I understand, but if you homeschool, maybe a photo of your school room, if you use public, private or religious school maybe a photo of your child’s school or something similar.

Tammy Takahashi is the author of Deschooling Gently: A Step by Step Guide to Fearless Homeschooling. She has been a volunteer and speaker for the Homeschool Association of California and the California Homeschool Network for over four years. You can find out more about her unique educational philosophy at http://justenough.wordpress.com

Perfectionism is not a flaw. 

http://justenough.wordpress.com/2007/09/26/perfectionism-is-not-a-flaw/