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Is Football Educational?
by Michele Hastings

I was praying this morning, asking God to show me the value in my kids' most recent passion...football! My heart is to unschool our kids, but the "teacher" in me constanly shows its ugly face demanding "proof" of the credibility of this method of education. Recently, we've dropped our "table time" where I've required some basic skills from my kids, and we're totally unschooling. I'd like to tell you that my kids are daily sitting down and gobbling up books, happily playing Math games on the computer and sending off emails left and right...but regretfully...they're not. They are however, happily pursuing their most recent passion...being football! I guess the biggest value I can find in it is that they are completely self-led and self-educated in the following of this new interest. I must admit, they don't do things halfway! Neither my husband Ted, nor myself are football fans. Ted did sit down and watch the Grey Cup with the boys...but I don't know the first thing about the game...at least I didn't until recently! Now I know, via my kids, more than I ever cared to know about the sport! Most of it goes in one ear and out the other...(not unlike most of the things we force on our kids)..but due to the sheer volume of it, some of it does stick...(again, not unlike most "schooling" that we're all accustomed to!) So that is the most valuable thing God showed me concerning this "frivolous" activity...That, when interested, my 8 and 9 yr old sons are capable of throwing themselves wholeheartedly into their passion and pursuing it in a very independent way, accessing all the resources they possibly can! Another thing is that Asher, my younger son, has had to learn the valuable lesson of prioritizing. He has been put in the difficult position of having to choose between something he likes (that he knows I like and is afraid to not do...not because of any outward punishment but just not wanting to disappoint me and many others who derive great pleasure in hearing him play his bongoes at church)...and something he loves...which is, you guessed it...football. I had a serious discussion with him about God giving us gifts...but gifts have no strings attached and we need to use our gifts the way we want to use them instead of how everyone else thinks we should use them! I completely released him to make a decision based on what he really wanted down deep inside. He chose football. And later I received confirmation that I'd made the right decision in allowing him the freedom to not do it, by one of the members of the worship team. He said I was the first Mom he's ever seen who has not pushed her kid to do something she deemed to be meaningful and worthwhile! Now...I'd like to show you by "subject area" how I'm beginning to make peace with this self-led, interest- initiated passion: READING & WRITING reading information books and story books about football (Both the kids reading to me and me reading to them) reading statistics on sportscards reading information on the NFL website keeping track of statistics during games stenciling on the covers of their football binders downloading pictures from the internet and writing the players' names, their positions and the teams they play for under each picture to make into a book sending emails to NFL players entering contests via the NFL website designing players on their football CD rom MATH keeping track of statistics organizing cards(sorting, categorizing, prioritizing) buying cards figuring out how many cards they have by multiplying the number of cards on each sheet by the number of sheets they have SOCIAL learning the names of various cities, states and provinces and the difference between Canadian and American football leagues voting for most valuable player trading cards SCIENCE Learning different plays?(I'm working at this!) PHYS-ED playing football learning rules watching football attending a "Learn to Play Football" class exercising to train for football ART drawing jerseys and symbols MUSIC listening to and learning "Kryptonite" song making up their own football song BIBLE finding out which players are Christians attending a "Power to Change" breakfast with football players as the speakers DRAMA dressing up in their favorite players' jerseys and playing football (again...cut me some slack here!) COMPUTER playing football CD-rom and spending time on the NFL website (which Asher discovered and learned his way around on completely independantly) To fill in the gaps...other daily activities have been: SCIENCE watching Zoboomafoo and Magic Schoolbus; caring for pets; attending Junior Scientist at the library HOME-EC chores around house; shopping and baking (which includes math and reading) MUSIC Ash playing bongoes; worship at church; listening to music ART drawing; craft class at Friday Afternoon Activities DRAMA Improv Drama class at Friday Afternoon Activities; "Spontaneous Melodramas" at Sunday School; watching movies PHYS-ED playing outside; gym class at Friday Afternoon Activities; swimming lessons SOCIAL learning about the elections BIBLE life application;church and Sunday School READING Both me reading to them and them reading to me COMPUTER various CD-roms including Castle Explorer, Math Blaster, Math in the Real World, Amazon Trail etc. So...all in all...I'm starting to see the value in this football thing. My only wish is that someday soon...they will desire to expand and develop their basic skills even more, through pursuing this or some other passion. © 2000 Michele Hastings. All rights reserved. Re-printed with permission.
Michele and her husband Ted, are the homeschooling parents of two bright, creative boys, ages 8 and 9. They live in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada and have been leading a "lifestyle of learning" since the children were born. Ted is a Developmental Assistant and also works part-time as a Sanitation Porter. Michele works part-time as a Hairstylist.

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