Barb's summer self-discovery journey

As part of my own summer discovery I have been reading books on education. One of these that I recently finished is Homeschooling and the Voyage of Self-Discovery: A Journal of Original Seeking by David Albert. Mr. Albert is a writer and homeschooling dad himself. Really interesting reading and as you can see from the title of my posts very thought provoking. I have recently been going through my annual anxiety, uhmm I mean contemplation :) I seem to do this every year even though this will be our 8th year of homeschooling. I have to admit I am getting better about it. Within the last few years I really have been trying (and succeeding) at looking at things in a more positive light - how dynamics change and thus this journey of education changes instead of looking at it negatively in the view that things that didn't work were failures. Changes needing to be made, not failures. Much less anxiety.

My philosophy of what I envision for my children as "education" has been from the beginning the view that I want them to enjoy learning and want to instill in them skills that will enable them to become self-learners. After all that is "life". This really hasn't changed in all these 8 years. What has changed is the way in which we carry out this philosophy.

In the beginning of the book Mr. Albert states, "It is essential that children learn that fulfilling their quests for knowledge, and for mastery, requires time, energy, and effort, and that putting in the necessary time, energy, and effort can get them where they want to go." The truth of this statement has been played out before my own eyes recently with Josh and his interest in birding. He has taken full responsiblity in his quest for this knowledge. I tend to be for him (as a parent) a resource guide, helping him to find books, people etc in his quest. This area of interest is something that came about through himself. One day I happened to share with him something that I had been reading about Henry David Thoreau and his ability to feed animals (including birds) from his hand when he lived at Walden Pond. That day Josh was out trying to entice the birds and the rest as they say is history. His knowledge, ability and expertise in this area far exceeds my own. He claims this for himself. Josh has realized that how much he gets out of this is how much he gives into it. I did not have to teach him this because this was something of his own choosing. One word that I would add to time, energy, and effort would be commitment. I have seen this with Josh both when he plays hockey and also in his birding. They are both passions for him and the commitment he makes to them enhances his quest. Again something he has learned on his own with little or no "instruction" from me.

Mr. Albert discusses Carol Ryff's (a contemporary psychologist and thinker) 6 components of well-being: autonomy, personal growth, self-acceptance, life purpose, mastery, positive relatedness with others. He says that the task of humans is to "seek out that which provides for an inner sense of each of these six components and thus fulfill one's unique inner nature.THIS is the voyage of self-discovery. " (my emphasis) I have been, more and more, seeing Josh's education as the voyage of self-discovery that Ryff and Albert speak of. I am trying to lose "school" in his education. One way to do this is suggested by Mr. Albert. He says that when stuck in homeschooling routines he steps back and asks himself 3 questions: "Have I provided what is necessary so that my kids can discover the beauty in what they are learning? Have I given them opportunities in the present to use it? Do they have models in front of them to which they can aspire if they put in the necessary learning effort?" I can see in our own studies that when things have "failed" I have not done one or more of these things. They then become "school" and not a quest for knowledge. Josh resists and complains. I don't blame him. I do too when people treat me as such. Why would I expect any different just because he is a child and this is his supposed role. According to whom? I have been contemplating our roles in this process. I grew up a product of the education system and it is hard to lose that even when I do not agree with it any longer. Old habits die hard they say.

Late in the book he states "for a vast majority of people, the most important part of their education may not come from formal study at all, but from the pursuit of passions, the development of talents, the cultivation of hobbies, and the nuturing of relationships with peers possessing similar interests... requires a further acknowledgment that this cultivation requires time and will not stand to be hemmed in by curricula, whatever their quality." Think about this. As an adult when and what have you learned most from? Passions, interests etc. NOT scope and sequence. Why would/should this be any different when our children are learning things?

This last sentence is one that made me feel like standing and shouting in agreement. "...we can do the one thing we know we can do better than the schools ever can, and that is listen to them, and act upon what we hear. And we can teach them - and model for them- that the art of learning is a beautiful thing in itself, and one that they can carry with them into a fulfilling adulthood."

We'll see how/if I can apply all I am learning to our adventures :)