Forget every notion you have been told of what an education constitutes. What’s your opinion: what is an education anyway?
Guess what? You are allowed to answer that question for your child.
So what is an education anyway?
And if you question whether you have the intelligence to appropriately answer that question, don’t be in self-doubt…of course you do.
This is your child.
Does it seem daunting? It certainly is likely to. But it certainly doesn’t have to.
I’ve stopped counting the number of times I’ve been asked if I’m a certified teacher.
Nope. I’m not.
Does being a certified teacher enable me to educate my children better at home?
Nope, it doesn’t.
In fact, statistically, being a certified teacher has no bearing on a child’s education.
Though they have classroom management skills and are familiar with standardized learning materials, and there’s no doubt they have loads of skills that engage children, years of experience that homeschooling parents might not have in the beginning (I am certainly not denying their skills), it doesn’t mean that I am not more motivated to learn about how to engage my children’s education than someone else.
ps you might wonder how I went about structuring a thirteen-year-old’s academic education.
So what is an education anyway? For me, I want to know how to engage my child, teach them when necessary, and capture their little hearts.
I am most definitely motivated.
Curiously, when I ask the kindergarten teacher about grade 2 math, she doesn’t know what to say…or how to approach those concepts.
When I ask a high school English teacher how to approach a history discussion with my elementary-aged child, she doesn’t know what to say.
Turns out, teachers don’t have the full breadth of knowledge in their minds.
And I’m certainly not claiming to either.
Why do we think we need to? Google doesn’t, nor YouTube, but they’re both pretty helpful. And when they aren’t so helpful, there are always books. Lots and lots and LOTS of books.
You just need to know where to find the information. A little research and it’s findable.
When I was in junior high, we bought our first computer: a Tandy EX 1000. The only computer training we had en masse was a logos program via junior high school, which did next to nothing to help me, rather it confused me as I attempted to wield x’s and o’s. (I’m pretty sure they meant something, but I didn’t understand.)
Some thirty years later, anyone that wants to know, knows how to use a computer, knows how to use a phone, knows how to Google, YouTube, Facebook, Tweet, or whatever is important to you.
Why do they know?
Because they found out, by themselves. Tada.
The human mind is capable of figuring stuff out because it wants to.
Why do we assume kids need everything taught to them anyway? We assume that something needs to be done to them.
These kiddos came into the world learning animals. They learned a load in the first year, two years, and five years before they enter the doors of a kindergarten.
They want to learn because they do.
When we ask the question, what is an education? We’ve just begun to formulate the best approach to acting in our children’s best interests, just begin to really consider who they are and what they need.
So what is an education anyway?
“Self-education is the only possible education; the rest is mere veneer laid on the surface of a child’s nature”.
Charlotte Mason
Deschool your Homeschool Journaling Workbook
Deschool your homeschool journaling workbook that aids in your self-exploration, to get clear on how you can bring freedom & individualization into your homeschool.
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Teresa Wiedrick
I help overwhelmed homeschool mamas shed what’s not working in their homeschool & life, so they can show up authentically, purposefully, and confidently in their homeschool & life.
