Homeschool Sanity: Principle Five
Principle Five
A pretty good homeschool is good enough.
“No matter which philosophy you adopt (as structured as classical education or as unstructured as unschooling), you’re human. Your ability to put that philosophy into action is limited. You’ll have great stretches of imagination and flow, and others where you wonder if anyone is learning anything. Your aim is not perfection, but peace and progress. That’s good enough” (The Brave Learner, 204). You get to be human.
Give homeschooling your best shot.
- Be yourself.
- Get help.
- Adapt and change.
- Learn.
Some years will be stellar. Others: just okay.
You and your kids will make other families jealous by how well you execute some subjects.
You’ll waste time comparing your anemic treatment of some subjects to the skilled execution of your expert friends.
Good enough means:
- you get along with your kids for the most part,
- siblings have some inside jokes,
- your family has a few favorite books and movies,
- you didn’t forget math,
- you managed to put together a transcript for your high school graduate,
- and at the end of your years together, your kids became self-sufficient adults.
Not all will be sparkly but enough sparkle will bathe the ordinary days in a fond glow of reminiscence.
Keep going! I’m rooting for you.
These five principles are found in chapter 10 of The Brave Learner. The quote used to introduce the chapter is by my all-time favorite writer: E.M. Forster.
“Only connect.”
That’s it. That’s the whole deal. Connect to yourself, to the world around you, to learning, to your children. That will take you the whole way.
All 5 Principles
This post is originally from Instagram and @juliebravewriter is my account there so come follow along for more conversations like this one!
Tags: Homeschool Sanity
