my teddy: the curiosity

 .......and the case for home spun schools...

not a total water baby (too cautious), but loves to be outside.

 (picture captions documenting the happy, interesting teddy.)

while perusing a thrift store some days ago i happened upon a retro-looking book titled, "home spun schools," and bought it just because it sounded perfect. maybe it would describe the "education process" i was already enjoying with my four year old. when i settled down with it at home i realized it wasn't really the book for me, as it detailed different stories of families who home school because of devout religious reasons, and where to order your bible-based learning work books. oh, well. and thanks, but no thanks. maybe in some other life.

teddy spent the first three years of his life wandering upon 13 lovely acres.

he also happened to be happy and alive for my wedding.

is ever so interested in photography

 regardless of what the book was preaching i was already well down the path of this new idea....this "home school." but when traveling down a new path there are invariably the same questions/comments (from concerned acquaintances or even oneself...): is the parent qualified to teach math? reading? what about socialization? home schooled kids are weird.... etc etc. yes, it does take a while to unwind oneself from the beliefs coming from society's whole; that public school is the ONE way. but it only takes a few moments of asking "why," and "why not," to start deconstructing in order to rebuild.

a tribute to his slight ocd: the collector. &in turn the mini-hoarder.

makes jelly fish friends out of spaghetti squash

has anyone ever met a little boy who didn't love trains/planes/automobiles? i had nothing to do with this, trust me. but we explore all of his interests.

i also had nothing to do with this costume....all his invention. go teddy.

                                                                         enter roseville (or any town USA): i see preschools advertising longer days for "kindergarten readiness!" talk about the pressure to "achieve and perform" at the same level, every one learning at the exact same level and the exact same way....not to mention the exact same things. once i watched a TED conference on creativity. and how public schools literally stifled it. how our education system was going to defunct on itself, and depreciate, like the dollar. i remember school, monday through friday, 9-3, for 9 1/2 months out of the year, from ages 5 to 18. it felt like a government mandated holding pen for american youth. there's a great many reasons for scrutinizing public school.                              

he prefers cleanliness, and genuinely likes looking sharp. he probably gets frustrated with his hobo mother.

insisted on sleeping with this baby pumpkin for a week.

now this might be one of the many branches growing from my tree of non-conformity fanaticism (it makes for an active life and an over-reading of thoreau) but i am determined to raise children who are confident in their abilities, thoughtful, and true to who they are, and i am excited to be along for the journey. truly i am not swayed by convenience.


so, what are the alternatives? a child's brain is nothing but curiosity about the world, so ready to learn. and the ideal setting is a place that teaches the love of learning (not just facts) and encourages this natural curiosity. ever since i've known teddy he's wanted to know more. his second hand field guides to birds, airplanes, trees, wild flowers, and mushrooms illustrates just a few of his interests and learning adventures we've already shared in the last four short years. i want that curiosity intact, and not beaten out by the drudgery of hours of school followed by hours of homework. we've been living life and taking advantage of every opportunity to learn. now, private schools (whether Waldorf or Montessori etc), as abundant as they are, are basically out of the question. even if there was excessive extra income i don't think tuition for a small child should exceed the mortgage on our home.

despite my efforts for sportsmanship he despises losing.

  we're far too simple for that.
there are also a handful of local charter schools, which to me sound like amazing plan b's. there's even a charter Montessori with a student run garden/ "outdoor classroom," and ultimately teddy will make the choice, whether charter, public, or home.  over the years we'll try all three, i'm sure. right now, at this happy little "pre-school" age we're trying our hand at what we've always been doing: learning at our own pace and following our interests. i've never pressured teddy to "learn his letters," or to even try to read, but since we read together so much he all of a sudden wants to learn. awesome. "mom, what does 's-o-o-b-s-r-t-a-s-o' spell?" i think it's only a matter of time before he's reading, and that will be fun. i've always appreciated the Waldorf approach to reading: age seven is a good time to start learning based on mental maturity.  my heart breaks for brilliant children who have their own time frame for learning and get labled or held back because their minds worked differently, as most of ours do. this isn't a rant on the people who run public schools, for they are just stuck in the same bureaucratic conveyor belt that the, ahem, "system," is comprised of.

he asks me to google pictures for him, like tornadoes and mushroom clouds. it inevitably sparks curious conversations.

can anyone imagine a better school than the earth? than trips to the ocean and museums and not being stuck in a classroom? even now we're a part of a meet-up group for home school: traditionalists, unschoolers, and other non-denominational active learners. there nature hikes are organized and members form co-op science classes etc etc. every one finds what works for them, and i was interested in meeting other like-minded parents.

he sees much more than i do, and is always pointing things out to me.

wendell berry (modern naturalist, agro-economist, farmer) said that (and clearly i am paraphrasing to an extreme) when it was all boiled down the main thing taught in school, especially as the child grows older and is groomed for success in some field of commerce, is commercial gain or industry training, rather than the nurturing of future, thoughtful citizens. there is so much to life.

teddy loves the harvest

has so much natural compassion for life.

he was hot, and wanted to cut his hair.

he received a basic trimmer lesson...

and went gung-ho

and decided he'd be happier when it grew back out.

so, this isn't going to become my "home school/ unschool" blog, but i wanted to put all of this out there some how, and i am trying so hard to avoid my favorite "return to the land" and the "lost practical arts" themes (another blog, another day..) as i write this, as well as tone down whatever radical attitudes i might have about .......   (...escaping the machine...)

let's let wendell berry wrap this up for me:


When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it. Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.


let's be a little more thoughtful with the future.