Meditation for the New Year: Kahlil Gibran

I think of the unschooling, self- directed pursuit of knowledge and learning along the lines of Lebanese poet, Kahlil Gibran's piece below:

In this world two processions pass by:one is that of old men bowed down by age, who walk leaning on their sticks which bend beneath their weight, and although the path leads downward, they are breathless and worn out with fatigue.
The other is of the procession of the young who advance with winged steps, who sing as if their throats were fitted with silver strings and who brave the obstacles which are subdued by the majesty of the mountain slopes and won over by the magic of the summits.

And you, in which procession do you take your place?

Ask yourself the question in the silence of the night. And when you finally decide to come down to earth, judge whether you are a slave of yesterday or a free man of tomorrow.

I tell you that the children of yesterday walk in the funerals of history,it has shaped them and they have shaped it themselves. They cling to a cord which has worn thin with time;if it breaks-and this will surely happen soon-they will fall into the depths of forgetfulness.

And I tell you that they lived between crumbling walls;as soon as the storm breaks out-and it will break out soon-their heads will be buried beneath the rubble, and their dwellings will be reduced to tombs.
In truth i tell you that all they think,say, and write, as well as their deeds, are no more than chains, and because they themselves are too weak, they cannot carry them, but on the contrary the chains will carry them away be their weight.

As for the children of tomorrow, they are those who have been summoned by life, they have followed it with a firm step, their heads held high. They are the dawn of a new age. ... They are not very numerous among the crowd. But they stand like a flowering branch in a burnt-out forest, like a grain of wheat in a haystack.

Nobody knows them but they know each other. They are like the mountain tops that can see and hear each other, quite unlike the caverns which are deaf and blind. They are like the seed sown in a field by the hand of God. It will burst forth from its husk with the strength of its flesh, it will say like a radiant plant facing the sun,it will become a majestic tree, who roots take hold in the heart of the earth, who branches aspire to the depths of the firmament.

In a field of flowers; stillness of mind

As the end of the calendar year approaches I am thinking about the wisdom that surrounds me and that could be mine if only I could learn to pause-to stop in my mad rushing around and suspend daily, my mental preoccupations in favour of stillness and quietness of mind.
My friend told me about her unschooled daughter who when she was young would spend afternoons simply contemplating a field of flowers. She could sit motionless hours on end watching a frog's movements, examining it's physicality it's behaviour.
Was this child learning? Of course she was. She was not making a show of it, some might even say she was 'wasting time' but this is the essence of authentic learning. What a gift it is to have that mental capacity for non interference, for observation and concentration.

Socialization not a Problem

Anyone who educates their children without school must come up against the biggest criticism of home-education there is: socialization. Many home-educators refer to it as the big S question-"What about Socialization?"

For those of us who are well seasoned in the field of home-education the question can be hugely tiresome, mostly because we know our kids are civilized, and socialized (to the community at large rather than to a peer group).

So it's a nice break when we hear about studies confirming what we already know. A friend recently sent me a link to an article about one such report study and I have included an excerpt from the article by Michael Smith, president of Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA):

"Until recently, “Homeschooling Grows Up” was the only study that addressed the socialization of home-schooled adults. Now we have a new longitudinal study titled “Fifteen Years Later: Home-Educated Canadian Adults” from the Canadian Centre for Home Education. This study surveyed homeschooled students whose parents participated in a comprehensive study on home education in 1994. The study compared homeschoolers who are now adults with their peers. The results are astounding.

"When measured against the average Canadians ages 15 to 34 years old, home-educated Canadian adults ages 15 to 34 were more socially engaged (69 percent participated in organized activities at least once per week, compared with 48 percent of the comparable population). Average income for homeschoolers also was higher, but perhaps more significantly, while 11 percent of Canadians ages 15 to 34 rely on welfare, there were no cases of government support as the primary source of income for homeschoolers. Homeschoolers also were happier; 67.3 percent described themselves as very happy, compared with 43.8 percent of the comparable population. Almost all of the homeschoolers—96 percent—thought homeschooling had prepared them well for life.

This new study should cause many critics to rethink their position on the issue of socialization. Not only are homeschoolers actively engaged in civic life, they also are succeeding in all walks of life. Many critics believed, and some parents feared, that homeschoolers would not be able to compete in the job market. But the new study shows homeschoolers are found in a wide variety of professions. Being homeschooled has not closed doors on career choices....

Both “Homeschooling Grows Up” and “Fifteen Years Later” amply demonstrate homeschool graduates are active, involved, productive citizens. Homeschool families are leading the way in Canadian and American education, and this new study clearly demonstrates homeschool parents are on the right path."

Do You Love the Earth? Do Something

You have to know it to love it and fight for it.



posted on
http://www.dosomething.org/

art in motion

Created by Bronwyn

Deep Learning: Letting it Stew

People often wonder how you learn when you don't do school. It always takes me by surprise how deeply the idea that we must go to school to learn is ingrained in our society.
The other thing that we are all guilty of, schoolers and non schoolers alike is that we usually don't allow time for learning to grow; we need the showy stuff to prove to ourselves and to others that learning is taking place.
I was reminded of this while reading 'From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler' by E.L. Konigsburg.
It's a fantastic book about two kids that run away from home and and live at the Metropolitan Museum for a week without being discovered. While they are there they embark on a quest to discover whether a piece called 'Angel' was made by Michelangelo or not.
This leads them to it's original owner, Mrs. Basil. E. Frankweiler.
In one of their conversations with her, Claudia the oldest is surprised when Mrs Frankweiler says she is not interested in seeking out any more experts' advice. She is satisfied with her own research and "not in the mood to learn anything new."
Claudia replies, "But Mrs, Frankweiler, you should want to learn one new thing everyday. We did even at the museum." (Note the 'even at the museum' instead of especially at the museum!!!).
"No," the old lady continues. "I don't agree with that. I think you should learn, of course, and some days you must learn a great deal. But you should also have days when you allow what is already in you to swell up until it touches everything. And you can feel it inside you. If you never take time out to let that happen, then you just accumulate facts, and they begin to rattle around inside of you.You can make noise with them, but never really feel anything with them. It's hollow."
That's kind of where my head is at with unschooling these days. Less accumulation of facts. More of 'let it stew.'

Cakes And Ale

'Tis the season to be jolly.' 'Joy to the world.'
Joy. This is the message of Christmas isn't it? Merriment and good cheer, mirth, festivity and such. And yet to live joyfully, in joy and with enjoyment of life (joie de vivre) the rest of the year is a radical idea. It might even be considered an act of subversion to suggest that one might live one's life actually enjoying it. Delighting in it. Being glad. Living life with gusto.
I realize that I approach my life in a very serious way; in fact I would even venture to say that I approach life 'on the defensive.'
My thoughts centre around 'how can I avoid intrusion?' How can I get my time, time for me, before someone disturbs me? I think in terms of 'getting things done' and this robs me of joyfulness.
Recently, I've been trying to change this kind of thinking. I am trying to remind myself to live as if everyday could be my last- so that I appreciate my life. I've been thinking about giving joy about gladdening? Do I bring joy?
When we put the self first we end up suffering. What a twist of irony that is.

Dost thou think that because thou art virtuous there shall be more no cakes and ale? Twelfth Night

Buy Nothing Christmas?

Every year the question of 'to gift or not to gift' comes up in my family (that is the adults in the family! The kids are all for getting). As the extended family grows with more nieces and nephews, things can get crazy. The extreme pressure this season puts on people to give and receive can often ruin the intent behind said season, with people even going into debt because of this.

We question the over-consumption this season brings and the discrepancy between those who have and those who have not. When you hear that some kids are wishing for socks and canned items in their stockings this year it reminds you that there is real hunger and poverty in our communities. If you are going to give doesn't it make mores sense to give to those who need it most rather than give to those who already have?
After discussing this with my sisters, it is actually a relief to decide not to exchange gifts with one another (of course our own kids are not yet ready to give up presents from we parents). We plan to concentrate on enjoying one another's company instead and of course the good food and cheers that comes with that.

Now I have to tackle the in-law side of things!