Mentoring Mothers: Becoming Scholars

Well, our discussion yesterday was great as always.  Somewhat sporadic, but good nonetheless.   I had some main points about the Scholar Phase of learning that I had learned throughout the month.  I think I'll just share those bullet points (with a few interjections of some things that were also mentioned in the meeting).

*  What does a scholar phase look like?
At first we talked about how, as mothers, we are busy and can't expect to study 6-8 hours a day like our youth.  It's just not realistic.  Also, life as a mother makes us scholars as we learn more about our children and running a household.  We need to take advantage of the little snippets of time that we have to learn and to grow. 

In the end, however, we also recognized that we do need to be leading by example for our children.  Our children will study what we study.  They will follow our examples (good or bad) and so we do need to put forth the effort to be sure we're doing and/or studying (reading) the things we want them to be doing as well!  In response to a woman who claimed she was in the Love of Learning phase, Oliver DeMille said all adults should be in a scholar phase (at least!).  So, it's time to step up and pay the price!  :-)

Quotes
"To teach you must know, to know you must learn."

"If we do not get a superb education, our children will not receive on either." 

* Choosing what to Study
Whereas Love of Learning is about studying what you want to learn, Scholar phase consists of recognizing what it is you need to know and then figuring out how you're going to learn it.  We made the distinction that it's not Depth Phase, where you delve into one subject to become an expert, it's learning about all the things you think an educated person needs to know  (yes, that includes math!). 

In TJEd for Teens I read that if you're not inspired about something, you need to find out what it is in that subject that will inspire you.  So, scholar phase is about inspiring yourself (which could be through finding the right mentors as well).  This is where requiring comes in.  We need to be taking assignments from our children as well.  What is it they need to learn or that they're interested in?  What is it you want your kids to be studying?  Study that!  Where can we become stronger so we can become better mentors for our children?  What is lacking my MY education?  These are the "requirements" we need to accept as scholars. 

* Community
Mentoring Mothers has given us a great foundation in forming a community here.  Forming a community with Core and Love of Learning ages, we are finding, hasn't been the most beneficial for our area.  However, we are seeing the need as our kids get older and start searching for friends and more outside of home experiences, that we're getting closer to really needing a community for our youth.  BUT we want it to start with the adults as well.  We talked about taking Mentoring Mothers to the next level and becoming more accountable to one another of our own personal goals.  It's all still in the works and up for discussion, but this is what we spent our last half hour or so discussing. 

So, as I said in the beginning . . . nothing terribly exciting to share really, but it was a helpful discussion for those who were there I think.  And we talked about some necessary things for our group personally. 

Books to Read
A Well-Educated Mind - Susan Wise Bauer (not to be confused with Well-Trained Mind) . . . this is a great You, Not Them book and a great way to become well-read and well-educated!

TJEd for Teens - Shanon Brooks & Oliver DeMille