Thought it might be time that I contributed… Here we are a little over a month with our bus and still ripping shit out – a bottomless pit for the moment and an endless source for debate.  As we inch our way towards the light at the end of a tunnel I’d like to contribute some of our homeschooling ventures. Since the majority of my time is spent making projects, experimenting and gallivanting around town with my children it seems an obvious place to start.

I have been homeschooling since the birth of my second child, Harper a little under year ago. To date it has been the most fulfilling (and sometime frustrating) choice I have ever made – much like getting the bus! Basically ditching school came down to a decision to either do or not do what I actually believe in.

What I have come to realize is this:

Conventional education despite having its place in our heavily fundamentalist country is, like so many systems within our culture, a lie. Not only does it fail for the most part to do what it purports to do, but it actually renders children incapable of doing what they naturally love – to learn.  School has jipped us out of the joy of learning as well as our ability to self-educate.

From a 1910 school book predicting technology in the Year 2000. Via appletechnician.com

So many parents are reliant on school to “complete” their children and give them the “education” that will set them soaring through life, but for the most part this is not the reality. I hated going to school as a child and I never learned anything I was actually interested in. I was always preparing for the real (adult) world by going to school, but ironically nothing they taught me in school had anything to do with the real world. Instead of pretending to prepare for some non-existent reality I want to give my children the opportunity to learn by experienceing the real world first hand. To that end the bus will be a great tool.

So the choice was clear for me. Since I have made the leap from unfulfilled arts professional to full-time parent and teacher extraordinaire, I am inspired again. My everyday no longer drags on with things I aught to and would rather not do, but instead is driven by the momentum of mine and my children’s curiosities. Ultimately we are FREE…and it feels very, very right.

I have started a branch of Transit Antenna in www.transitantennahome.blogspot.com, which will be solely dedicated to our homeschooling projects and ideas. Blogger has a great network of homeschoolers, but don’t worry about keeping up there as everything will be duplicated here in addition to our other, non-homeschooling related posts. Till next time.

One Response to “Incoming”

1. Vanessa says:

   July 27, 2010 at 3:57 pm

   Hi, just read your post about home educating. I think what you have said is sooooo true!
   I have been home educating my little boy for 18 months. I am due to start educating my 2nd boy in September.
   To be truthful I nearly sent them to school this coming September, not because I wanted to be because I know so few home educators and felt I was depriving my children of a ‘proper’ education and to socialise with other children everyday.
   I have recently read childhoodmagic blog and found some amazing ideas on creative activities and through that blog I discovered your blog.
   Thanks to people (and blogs) like you I have promised myself to be strong in what I believe and to keep giving my children the best start in life by educating them myself. I want to equip them with the skills they really need to live and be happy.
   So I look forward to more posts and to follow your journey.
   It looks so much fun!
   Vanessa