In the last couple months, I’ve gotten trimmer and stronger. This is about freedom. This is about learning and improving and seeing the potential I have yet to access.
That’s About It
The Second Purge
I wonder how many homeschoolers start their journey in February. Every year there is a new wave of parents and children who become fed up with the failures of the education system. I’m seeing a lot of frantic questions as families choose to escape mid school year.
One of the common concerns is about making sure the child stays on her learning course. I understand the fear of “falling behind,” but the school has been lacking, not the home.
When responding to an “I don’t want her to miss anything” question, I replied with this:
There’s a lot you want her to miss. That’s why you’re pulling her from her current arrangement, right?
Trying to “keep up” with a system that has failed you and your daughter is not the way to go.
The first step is to stop with institutionalized education and observe what its effects have been. Notice the damage and heal before moving forward. Your daughter has seen many more hours in a classroom than even the most driven home educators employ in a full year. You both need a break.
This is the doorway to deschooling. Parent and child must escape the assumptions trained into us by generations of compulsory schooling. It looks like a vacation at first, but becomes unnerving when you realize how many things about your own path that you have not examined. I believe it becomes life’s mission to know oneself. As we observe our children, we observe ourselves. Home education gives you a clear, broad window into your child’s life and a mirror by which to examine your own.
Family Game Time
My elder son is getting much better at Monopoly and giving us a run for our money.
Lego Unschool Club is Back!
We’ve had a slow time rebuilding attendance at our Lego Unschool Club. Homeschoolers are busy people and fitting another meet into their schedule can be tough.
With consistency and patience, the club is growing again and we have ideas flying around the work table again.
We’re gearing up for local derby car and shipbuilding contests. The initial creations are inventive and fun.
Only in our Homeschool
Same Old, Same Old
Although this picture is three years old, the scene was nearly identical as we made dinner tonight.
Eating together is important, but my learning lifestyle philosophy drags the boys along to the market, into the kitchen, out to the compost, and on the ride to the dump and recycling center. We visit farms and try to stay aware of what we are putting into our bodies.
Perspective is the goal, to see how our very insides are connected to the wider world.
Fire and Rain and Ice
That’s the sound of freezing rain spattering all around a hushed fire.
I got a few peaceful moments alone as the park was empty and my sons had gone into the woods with their friend.
The Female Peacock
A female peacock is referred to as a pea.
Exodus
My study of Exodus is centered around Jordan Peterson’s roundtable discussion series hosted at Daily Wire.
Peterson’s series on Genesis was deeply informative on the journey to finding Christ in my heart. His academic approach to the text eased much of the resistance my over-thinking brain placed in my path.
This new roundtable format relieves a concern I’ve had that Peterson has created few original insights since his recent health troubles. In this group are Christian and Jewish scholars who do not shy away from the spiritual importance of the text. I’m on episode 5 and Dennis Prager stands out with his knowledge of the Hebrew language and the Torah.
I highly recommend this series to anyone who wants to understand the foundational stories of the major religions. They are behind a paywall and I have no affiliation with the Daily Wire. The app is easy to use and videos will continue to play when the phone’s display is off. I exclusively listen to content if I’m not sharing the experience with someone else.
There is a ton of content at the Daily Wire and I’m pleased with my choice to pay for a year of access.
The Best Friends
2020 rearranged relationships. Abandoning your friends was normalized and individuals retreated in fear.
In the homeschool community, I had one friend stand by me. “Us,” I should say. Brooke and her family continued to meet with me and mine. We looked a little crazy as the only ones at playgrounds with our kids, then the only ones sitting together when people did come out of their homes.
Brooke wanted to find more crazies. I thought we were the only ones.
I’ve never been so happy to be wrong. We have collected the weirdest bunch of free thinkers in our expanding community. The variety of social, religious, political, educational, nutritional, and many more perspectives is unheard of in any other group. There are moments of contention, but the drive to support each other and our children keeps us close.
God has blessed me with these folks.