Homeschooling for Open-Mindedness
Written by Mystickal Mama on February 13th, 2008I had someone recently tell me that if homeschoolers weren’t so “fundamentally closed-minded to educational options”… But the truth of the matter is, homeschoolers aren’t closed-minded to educational options at all.
Homeschoolers spend their “educating” days, weeks, months, and years being open-minded enough to pursue educational options that many students will never experience…
Who but homeschoolers will be open-minded enough to be able to study classical literature in their jammies laying on the floor in front of the fireplace snuggled up in a sleeping bag pretending to be one of the pioneers camping by their covered wagon?
Who but homeschoolers will be open-minded enough to be able to skip their bookwork, seatwork, and formal curriculum plan for the week in wild abandon to the blowing breezes that call them to come stay at the beach for the week and explore the ever-rhythmic tides, the socialization, habitat and feeding patterns of seagulls, the ratio of whole-to-broken seashells washed up with each wave, the myriad of sea creatures present in the ocean, the economic relationships between tourists and businesses in seaside locations, the historical properties of ancient buildings and structures that have withstood the test of fearsome sea storms banging on their doors, the important nautical role lighthouses traditionally played in safe seafare?
Who but homeschoolers will be open-minded enough to be able to recognize the learning that just took place when confronted with the site of our first-grader covered in mud after deciding to try and turn a seasonal wetland pool into a marshy mix of mud and muck in order to attract a specialized set of species that thrive in marshy mixes of mud and muck?
Who but homeschoolers will be open-minded enough to be able to abandon pre-determined educational curriculums in pursuit of their children’s interests and passions, free from mandated “learning objectives” that restrict what a child can learn to artificial age parameters - finding their way instead into wild unknown of each child’s individual learning timetable and being okay with the fact that one child will read at six (but never touch math until 8), and the next child will study geometric and algebraic concepts by 7 (but never read until 10)?
Who but homeschoolers will be open-minded enough to freely choose from a variety of educational resources - textbooks, living books, community members, shopping trips, libraries, nature, internet sources, video games, field trips and outings, activities, daily “mundane” tasks like chores, workbooks, museums and galleries, the driveway, parks and trail systems, the back yard, art stores, the pond down the road?
If those things are not “open-minded”, then what is?
I personally have discovered that I am much more open-minded to “educational options” since we began our homeschooling journey than I ever would have been without taking this journey - which is just one more reason to appreciate homeschooling.
