I finally figured this here game out!

[MelissaM]

Homeschooling is not about curriculum.

 

(Sheesh, it looks even more stupid written down than it did when I started processing it.)

 

I've known for a long time that I can't hs the way WTM is written, but, by golly, that's all I know. So every year we start gung ho and every year I crash and burn. It got to the point that I decided that I am just not a hsing mom and put the kids in ps. The disastrous results we're getting have lead me right back here but this time I have a completely different mindset. For the first time in 7 years I finally "hear" what so many of you have said all along: the curriculum, philosophies, books, message boards, etc are TOOLS to get where we are going. SWB said

 

Which brings me to the REAL value, for me, of (neo)classical education. IT TELLS YOU WHERE YOU'RE GOING. The goal of a classical education is this: at the end of the twelve (or however many) years you educate, the child can gather information, evaluate it, and express an opinion about it. There are many paths to that goal.

 

I think that the paths we outline in TWTM have helped many parents design a journey towards that goal. And I have to say that most of the nasty attacks I've seen on us and on the book, over the past ten years, come from people who have totally misunderstood our intention: To equip you to get YOURSELF there. We're trying to strengthen and equip, not oppress.

 

So kudos to all of you who are trying to reach that goal. You'll make wrong moves, back up, try again, hit dead ends, turn around, re-evaluate...constantly, every single year. You'll never "get it." You'll be in process until that child walks out the door...to continue the process on their own.

All this time I've thought that I was failing because I could fit neither myself nor my children into her book. I really missed the boat. Thankfully we are supplied with a fresh beginning each day.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I'm only getting it this year too. I think for some of us (many of us?, she said hopefully) it takes awhile to loosen up!

[Lux Et Veritas Academy]

Melissa,

Thanks for the honesty- Actually by homeschooling you are doing a lot more than you give yourself credit for. You are building a child not an academic program-

 

I just wrote about this on my blog yesterday about visualizing-

 

Drop by- We have all had the same thoughts!

[Kelli in TN]

Yay you, Melissa!! That is the spirit of homeschooling, you are spot on!!:)

[Adrianne]

I have found that once we as parents and educators get rid of our own expectations (GGGRRR!) things get a lot easier and HS becomes fun and educational. Not mention we enjoy our children more.

 

Adrianne

[Sharon H in IL]

Listening to the Circe lectures really brought home for me the idea that classical education is about the relationship between teacher/mentor and student. The teacher/mentor is a wise guide who directs the gaze of the young student toward the goal, and sometimes is herself *being* that goal -- her behavior, her self-discipline, her mental effort directed to a project shows more clearly than any book what learning is all about.

 

We become more like that which we love. If *I* love learning, love pushing myself, love the educational project, then I'm showing the way for my children, my students to love it too. Because in the final analysis, there is no teaching, there is only learning.

[Sweetpeach]

I did my WTM "crash and burn" and then stumbled over the best piece of wisdom anyone ever gave me:

 

God is God and the Curriculum is Not.

 

Since then, I've been able to use WTM as a tool, a clearly outlined S & S without carrying the stress of "doing it right."

 

Cheerio, T

[Storm Bay]

This has been an ongoing process for us. I love the concept of WTM, but we've had to do a lot of modification to get it to work for us, with various personalities and learning styles.