Wrestling With the Questions

Dan, Kevin, Gabe, Michael

This was taken on Father's Day and no, that's not real heat they're packin'!

Why am I taking the time now, when one of my sons has already “finished” homeschooling and another one is very nearly “finished,” to wrestle with these questions of how best to educate one’s offspring? I’ve been wrestling all along, it’s just now that I’m brave enough to put it on paper. It’s just now that I am getting some perspective on the process and the wisdom to “love what is.” I think I finally have the wherewithal (maybe because of lowering estrogen levels!) to share our story and not feel like I have to explain or apologize.

Early on in our homeschooling career, I read that it is good to come up with an “Educational Philosophy.” I’ve always felt a little guilty about not doing that. Oh, I guess we have an educational philosophy of sorts, but it’s never been something that we could type up and put in a folder. It’s the kind of thing that grows and changes, expands and contracts, pops on like a light bulb in our heads and just as quickly floats just out of our grasp. Just as we have always had an “after the fact” curriculum (more on that later) for each school year, I guess we will also have an “after the fact” educational philosophy.

Part of my purpose in creating this blog, then, is to continue the conversation, the same conversation that started between Kevin and me before we even conceived a child of our own, when we both worked in After School programs and witnessed the anger and boredom of children who were not allowed to just go out and play; the conversation that continues between Nancy and me at our kitchen tables every September when “school starts;” the conversation that we picked up on with Doug and Michele when we first met them that made us feel like we were old friends.

There’s no way of knowing where this conversation will end or whether any conclusions will be drawn or philosophies established. I’m not trying to defend myself or convert anyone to my way of thinking. I’m just curious about where these meanderings might take me. I always understand things better when I write them down. Maybe I’ll find a little clarity, a little understanding; maybe you will too. Maybe it’s my attempt, as my children are growing up and moving on, to grasp a few thoughts, a few moments, a few memories, and put them in a folder before they float away forever.