The Beginning
Back when I was pregnant with Camille, I read just about every book on pregnancy, birth and infants that I could get my hands on. Once Camille was born, I turned to reading everything I could about childrearing. Needless to say, books regarding various “educational philosophies” were amongst those that I read. I had always imagined sending my kids off to day care and then to school, that’s what people do, right? I just had to pick the “right” one. There, in the midst of the books on schools, were articles on homeschooling. Homeschooling? That’s only for the radically-minded folks, isn’t it? I was sure that was true, but then something came along that changed the whole world.
While Camille is “officially” BGE (Before Google Era), she isn’t by much, since Google celebrates its birthday as Sept 29, 1998, the day after Camille was born. As Camille grew from infant to toddler and Google change the face of the web, I realized that, thanks to virtual communication and sharing, homeschooling was no longer something isolated and was headed towards no longer being on the fringe.. I didn’t have to re-invent everything. The volume of resources available was growing at an almost alarming rate. When we moved to Atlanta, I found nearby “inclusive” homeschooling groups offering support, social opportunities and even classes. (In the homeschooling world, inclusive tends to mean that the group does not have a religious affiliation and is “secular” in nature.)
Knowing this, I thought back to what frustrated me most about school and knew that homeschooling would have made learning something different than what it was. Often, our society places great value on having a degree, but, at times, it does not seem to place a great value on the learning itself. As a student, I was bored and annoyed with having to complete worksheets on subjects I had already mastered. What a waste of my time.
By the time Camille was two, I was convinced. I would homeschool her, at least for a few years, then see how we were doing with it. I continued with my reading, learning about many different styles of homeschooling. For years, I was a huge defender of “unschooling”; the philosophy resonates strongly with me. As we went along, I realized that it didn’t resonate as strongly with Camille. She like having more “structure”. When she was five, we dove into a classical approach outlined in The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise. Camille *loved* it, and, to this day, still maintains that history is her favorite subject.
Out for a walk in November of 2001, Camille and I were talking about why there were no other people around. Some were at work, and some were at school. Camille, in a unhappy voice, said “My house is my school.” I realized what a dreary prospect that is and told Camille, “No, the world is your school.” She seemed quite pleased by that idea. I agree with her, the term “homeschool” is too narrow… We are, in fact, “everywhere schoolers”.
Great post.