This was our favourite playground. It used to back onto a forest.
Soon it will be a school. Do children not like the trees?
I am deeply saddened.
I live here in a townhouse. My lot must have looked like this, too.
I am deeply saddened.
What do I say to my son?
(I have mentioned high school poetry before. Namely, the fact that I stopped writing it in high school…)
The subject of high school poetry, these days, has become rather synonymous with bad. It seems that raw openness, and youthful optimism and/or angst (take your pick) are somehow the harbingers of cheesiness.
Well, today, I happened to find my old high school poetry. And, yes, there is a fair bit of badness, a large amount of idealism (a sin of which I am still guilty), and some issues-ridden pandering. True. But, it turns out, there is also a fair bit of poetry. And some humour.
Like this poem:
The wandering brook
The gurgling stream
Are like the pages of a storybook
The child screamed
And fell in the brook
And that was the end,
Of the storybook.
Anyways… What I was really struck with, in fact, was not my amazing poetry, but my analysis. Or the bit I wrote about why I liked poetry. It actually made me think today. And, so, I share it with you:
I like poetry because it gives me the freedom to express what I am thinking, especially when writing free-verse. In the words of Robert Frost, “Writing free-verse is like playing tennis with the net down.” Writing poetry is easy because there are no grammatical rules. It is easy to use made-up words, sentence fragments, and to jump from one thought to the next.
I think poetry is all about interpretation. The author of the poem can write it to mean something personal to them, but it can be interpreted by others in a completely different (but no less relevant) way…
Since poetry is so open to interpretation it can be anything you want it to be. There is no right and wrong with poetry reading and interpretation. Every different person finds different meaning in every poem.
Not bad for a tenth-grader. I also read my teacher’s comments. It turns out he encouraged me to take creative writing classes. And I didn’t. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
So, in honor of my (fifteen?) year-old self, I am going to start writing poetry again. And reading it, too.
(Hence, therefore, if you have any favorite poems, or poets to share – please do!)
I don’t know when it started, but somewhere along the line I got it into my head to think about homeschooling my children. Actually, I do know when it started, although not really.
I read a book. That’s how most things seem to start for me.
I read a book. Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Mate’s Hold on to Your Kids. The thesis of this book is that kids are becoming too peer-oriented, and this is causing parents to lose their ability to parent their children. Basically, the thought is that kids can only have one primary attachment, whether it be parents, or friends. Hey all, realized I said this poorly. Let’s try this again. Kids’ primary attachment should be their parents, or another caring, loving adult, or adults. Ideally, this would be a larger community of both adults and children. However, if kids’ attachment to friends (or anyone else for that matter) is in conflict with that of their parents’, trouble can be brewing. Because they will have to choose. And if parents and their kids aren’t securely attached (due, largely to the structures of today’s society), kids will choose friends. And friends, as much as they might care about your children, are not a good replacement for a wise and caring parent. A parent who always has their best interests in mind. That is a very short summary, and, of course, I am missing key elements. Still, it got me thinking.
Neufeld and Mate suggest that homeschooling can be a good option, by helping to keep the parent-child attachment functioning. It’s all about relationship.
Anyways, all of this got me thinking of the real possibility of homeschooling. Would it be a good option for us? Because I have always been drawn to the concept. It just sounds like so much fun. And it seems to make so much sense.
Lately, it has seemed a bit strange to me that we send kids to school for the majority of their day, away from their families, to be raised by someone else (I know there are a million reasons why we do this, and many, many, many are valid). Still, it also seems strange that we group them in like ages, and they grow up thinking this is a normal part of life, to be with peers of their same age – exactly. To me, it seems plain weird. When you think about it. Is there any other time in a person’s life that this happens? And is it really to everyone’s benefit? Specifically, the child’s?
I don’t have the answer to those questions. Maybe you do?
Then, after reading Hold on to Your Kids, I read The Element, by Sir Ken Robinson. Another proponent of re-examining our educational system. Again, he doesn’t advocate homeschooling, per se, but suggests it could be a good option. Because it allows parents to tailor learning to a child’s distinct learning style, and strengths. More food for thought.
Finally, I happened upon unschooling. And I think I am in love.
The philosophy that governs unschooling is that kids (people in general) are naturally inclined to learn. Encouraged in this direction, and left to their own devices, they will want to discover their world. They will want to know things. They will want to learn. This educational philosophy, if I’m understanding it correctly, says that parents can best support their kids by allowing them to be guided, in large part, by their own whims and passions. Learning co-inciding with interest and ability. Unschoolers learn at their own pace, and aren’t beholden to any particular curriculum. They are above all, lifelong learners.
This is where I get chills. Good ones. For many reasons, one of which is the fact that I, too, love learning. The process of learning just about anything excites me. Another is that I am a librarian (or maybe this is why I am a librarian). Librarians are huge proponents of lifelong learning. This, I would argue, is what we are all about. And we are also great researchers.
So, my imagined unschooling life has me helping my children discover their true potential, following their passions, and learning through life experiences. An education outside the box. I imagine us discovering things together along the way. Exploring the world with eagerness and curiousity. Travelling? Reading? Researching? Experimenting? You bet.
And what better person than a research expert – an expert in lifelong learning – to provide this kind of education for my children. So, tell me, am I being idealistic? Is this to good to be true. Or is it truly an ideal way to learn. Because it kind of seems that way to me.
(My kids are currently 3 years and 9 months, so this is research for me at this point).
Hi! I’m Kelly Woods, writer, mother & librarian. I write about beauty, creativity, green living and lifestyle design to help others live a life of inspiration, too.