exvigilare

School time!

Even as a kid I looked forward to school starting up again. Frankly, I was bored a lot during the summer. Many years and personality profiles later I realize that it was the structure of the day provided by schooling that I appreciated. Now, we’ve had anything but a lazy summer this year, but a 6 year old can always find the opportunity to be bored - and tell you about it.

Last Friday Emma’s 1st grade curriculum arrived via UPS. Well, half of it anyway - she started the other half last spring. 3 boxes of yummy educational goodies. What fun! It was like Christmas for her, especially discovering courses that she hasn’t yet had. Every day since, she’s asked, “can we do Science and Art today?” Remember when learning was that much fun? Or for some of us, isn’t it nice to rediscover how much fun learning can be?

We’re very happy with the curriculum and school that we’ve chosen for Emma. The Colorado Virtual Academy uses the K12 curriculum, and they fit perfectly with our family (so far, anyway. Rosie may be a different story). But this is the time of year that parents are making their final decisions regarding their child’s curriculum and how they’re going to spend their school year. Denise, over at Colorado Charter Schools, mentions how many charter schools near her are based on the popular Core Knowledge curriculum founded in 1986 by E. D. Hirsch, Jr., professor emeritus at the University of Virginia. Indeed, even K12 is originally based on Core Knowledge, albeit loosely.

This is also the time of year that home- and charterschool parents have to brush up on the same arguments we hear every year.  Poking around this morning on the latest Carnival of Homeschooling, I found Maribel Hernandez’s response to the “you’re not qualified to teach” argument:

Professionals built the titanic, amateurs built the ark.

Heh, well said.

Another common criticism is “What about socialization?” The best response to this I’ve ever heard from a homeschool parent is, “Yeah, isn’t it great?!” I’m still surprised how many people still have this knee jerk reaction to the very word “homeschool.” From Proverbs 13:20:

One who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.

Janice Campbell, as always, handles this argument most effectively.

Think about how fortunate our children are, to have such an abundance of learning opportunities. We are all blessed, and all parents make sacrifices to allow their children’s learning. Here, though, is an obstacle that I’ll bet no reader of this blog has:

It’s exam season in Guinea, ranked 160th out of 177 countries on the United Nations’ development index, and students flock to the airport every night because it is among the only places where they can count on finding the lights on.

The students at the airport consider themselves lucky.

Those living farther away study at petrol stations. Others sit outside the homes of affluent families, picking up the crumbs of light falling from their illuminated living rooms.

Think about these families as you teach your children. So what do you have to complain about, in comparison?