The Home Education journey is like showing up to a public Lego class and sifting through all the bins with pieces that may be unfamiliar.
At first, it's overwhelming. Where do you begin? There's too much to choose from. How do I know which piece will work well? How do I know which piece will serve my objectives? What ARE my objectives?
Can I change my objectives or my pieces once I have begun? What if I'm finding that one particular piece isn't working? Do I tear the whole thing apart and start all over or do I just remove that one piece that isn't serving my objective well? Can I remove that one piece without negatively impacting my objective?
Do I let myself get distracted with what my neighbor is building? Maybe what they have won't serve my objectives well. Maybe it will. If my neighbor is taking a break, should I also take a break or should I keep moving towards my objective at a different pace? Does it matter if we don't finish at the same time? Build the same thing? Use the same pieces?
Maybe, just maybe, if we all started looking at education in this manner, we would see that we DON'T need to finish at the same time and with the same outcome. That we don't need to go at the same pace, use all the same pieces, or have all the same objectives.
Maybe we need to learn to sift through the pieces slowly and intentionally with the objectives of OUR family in mind, not the person next to us. Maybe we need to remind ourselves that we can remove pieces that don't serve us well and add in pieces that will help us thrive even if we didn't start with them.
Maybe, just maybe, we will remember that true education does not mean equal paths or equal outcomes, but rather, the freedom to choose which path serves OUR objectives best.
Maybe we need to show up to the public Lego class, take a deep breath, move past what won't help us meet our objectives, devour what ignites a fire in our creativity and ignore the distractions swirling around us.
- By Nicole, homeschool mother of 2
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