“There is no education but self-education.”
―
I have always heard about moms pursuing better educations for themselves either to become better homeschool moms or even just to become a better person. But I didn’t need that. I was a smart person. I enjoyed school and did well. I finished my bachelor’s in 3 years. I started elementary school early, so I was 20 when I graduated. I have a chemistry degree. I have a math minor. Surely I have enough education.
As I have moved from Survival mode to whatever mode of function I’m currently in ( I wouldn’t call it thriving but i am a perfectionist) this idea of a mother pursuing her own education was placed in the back of a corner of my brain. When I started homeschooling I wanted to learn all about the curriculum options, and since I learn by doing I wanted to try them all. I eventually realized that it doesn’t need to be that complicated. That they all more or less cover the same thing, and its more important that I use them rather than spend all my time researching.
The past few years of our homeschool have been a whirlwind. Five years ago when our family moved to this house, I had a 2nd grader, a kindergartener, a four year old, a three year old, and a baby. Finding a groove was difficult with our ever changing dynamics. My baby is now in kindergarten. Our days are still hard, but maybe I’m starting to find myself again. The dissolution of our co-op left me with lots of extra time. Maybe sometimes too much at home, but it also ignited a dying fire in me. Why do we even homeschool in the first place and deeper, yet, what is the purpose of education?
At our state convention over the summer. I picked up Mother Culture. I was determined to keep reading, but put my energy into learning things beyond what the pros and cons of each curriculum were. I also happened upon the classical education series from hillsdale college. Then I listened to a bunch of Andrew Kern talks and others from Circe. I started listening to Schole sisters podcast.
All the pieces started to line up. I can learn about educational methods and that will take me further than just researching curriculems. I also can dive into subjects that I want to learn more about, and thereby deepen my own understanding and broaden my horizon but also show the love of lifelong learning that I am hoping that my children will have.
So… I walked away from this post and forgot about it for a few weeks. The train of thought I was following has long left the station. I am hoping to chronicle my pursuit of furthering my own education here on my blog.
building up one another 