Last column, I carefully waded into the homeschooling arena, not without trepidation. But, I actually did so as a launching pad for this column.
I’d like to share this story, as it happens to intrigue me in varied and nebulous, ways. But I’d like to tell this story without ANY of us, myself included, jumping to any general conclusions of any kind. OK? I’ll agree if you will.
We’ll start with two quotes, the first by Mark Twain, the second by former colleague Dr. David Hough, from the last line of a recent column:
- I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.
- In the absence of “formal” schooling, create lessons from life.
Both quotes relate to our story, but possibly in a way neither author quite intended!
So. Our son Adam recently attended a wedding back in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where he used to live and work. He was housed for at least part of his stay by one of his favorite couples, Jason and Janelle, who have two incredibly bright daughters. Kali, the older, at 12, has a love of all things mathematical, which she shares with Adam. (Who knows where he got it?!). Adam also has (inherited?) a passionate-but-unique love for education, learning, and growth, though this is not his current vocation.
During the visit, the two of them were discussing a large collection of math problems from old middle school contests, which he had previously sent to her, in anticipation of his visit, and to fuel her math passions. He was most impressed by her work on some of them, despite her not having seen some of the material formally. She didn’t just ‘get’ all the problems, she knocked them out of the park, some with quite unique/clever approaches. Adam was delightfully amazed, especially since her motivation was all internal.
He was relating all of this to us on the phone after returning from the wedding. My wife was captured by his amazement. Suspecting something further, she asked, “Do they home-school the girls?”
There was a pause, a deep breath, and then his reply: “Well, no – they try to un-school them.”
I sensed his meaning, but he continued with an example. “One of the days, we were out in their garden and Jason was showing me some of their work. [Both Adam and the friends work in the sustainability/permaculture movements.] Kali was nearby, working on her own area of the garden, in which she has already previously created a new, improved, hybrid strain of corn for that area! She had some questions and called for help. We went over and Jason answered her questions and made suggestions.”
“As we returned”, Adam continued, “Jason winked at me and said slyly, ‘and to think she could be at school learning right now.’”
I’ll add here, FYI, that both daughters are given choices: if they ever want to go to public school at any time, they may. The younger, at 7, is leaning that way.
Is this story connected to education in general? Absolutely! Do I want to elaborate today? Not really. And, remember our agreement: I certainly don’t want to extrapolate from one intriguing story. I’m not advocating anything here.
But I’m reminded, as our opening quotes suggest, that authentic learning A) doesn’t always come in school, B) even then, can’t always be scheduled to fit our convenient agendas, and C) often happens when there is a need that dictates it.
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