Long ago, in a book whose title I have forgotten—was it M. Scott Peck’s The Road Less Traveled? --the author recounted the story of an English girl and her mother who, having set out on a trip, missed one of their connections in the railway station. As they sat on one of the benches near the tracks, their bags at their feet, the little girl turned to her mother and with tears in her eyes said, “Mummy, are we in trouble? Is our holiday spoiled?”
“No, my dear,” her mother replied. “We have just embarked on an adventure.”
Adventure. It’s a point of view, a state of mind, even of the soul. Say the word aloud, and you can taste the excitement in those three syllables.
“No, my dear,” her mother replied. “We have just embarked on an adventure.”
Adventure. It’s a point of view, a state of mind, even of the soul. Say the word aloud, and you can taste the excitement in those three syllables.
Too often we homeschoolers—I say we because I was a homeschooling parent, I instructed homeschool students in various seminars, and I am now a homeschooling grandparent—forget we are on an adventure. We become bogged down by schoolwork, caught up in the intricacies of calculus, the writing of essays, and the taking of innumerable tests. We feel the constant pressure to complete our daily syllabus, the weight of finishing school by a certain date, and even the dreaded sensation of falling behind.
This stress and fear are natural. They are as much a part of life as sleeping or eating. When we get too tangled up in this net of schedules and schoolwork, however, it’s time to pull back, catch our breath, and recollect that we are meant to find joy as well as travail in our home education. Like the mother in the train station, we must remind ourselves that we too, from the moment of our birth, are on an adventure.
Over the past thirty years, I have met scores of young people who have used their time away from textbooks to enjoy their own personal adventures. A hot air balloonist received her pilot’s certificate at age 16; a young man raised cattle and won blue ribbons at the state fair; a girl’s devotion to the violin led her to win honors and a medal at a national competition: these and so many other homeschoolers—archers and dancers, pianists and soccer stars, volunteers of all sorts, writers, film makers—have made their mark on the world outside of academics.
Others have written essays I’ve read recounting a different sort of joy—the joy of family—made possible by homeschooling. One young man told of the value of the time spent with his ailing grandfather, a man of faith whose life of prayer and practice of virtue daily inspire his grandson, even after his grandfather’s death. Another young essayist credited homeschooling with deepening her love for her younger brother, born with Down syndrome. Still others have attributed to homeschooling the opportunity to grow closer to their siblings and friends.
All of these young people acknowledge three benefits of homeschooling that have allowed them to hone their talents, enhance relationships, and find joy in their activities.
The first of these is flexibility.
Because they don’t spend eight hours a day in a school building, the homeschoolers I’ve known nearly always mention flexible schedules as being one of the prized components of a home education. They go to swim practice at five in the morning; they take piano lessons, often at a reduced rate, in the early afternoon; they work in a bakery four hours a day and complete their studies when they return home. Because of homeschooling, they can work in soup kitchens, visit nursing homes, learn a trade, and throw themselves wholeheartedly into any number of endeavors.
From these activities they derive satisfaction and pleasure.
And that satisfaction and pleasure, the offspring of flexibility, brings us to passion.
Rather than adapt to the schedule of a formal classroom, homeschooling students and their parents have the wonderful freedom to make the most of every day, a freedom in which students may indulge their diverse passions. One homeschool senior I recently met lives on a large property with her family, where they raise chickens, sheep, horses, cats, and half-a-dozen other animals. Working on her family’s farm has this young woman passionate about animal husbandry and interested in veterinary medicine. Another student appeared on EWTN to discuss a film he’d made about the priesthood. Over my many years of offering seminars to homeschoolers, I became acquainted with a ninth-grade girl who sold her homemade jewelry online, another who won prizes making gingerbread houses, a young man who fought his way into the Golden Gloves, and a hundred others who happily indulged themselves in activities ranging from website design to house-building, from Tae Kwon Do to the Civil Air Patrol.
When we discover our passions, and when we have the time to follow those passions, we find joy. We take delight in those activities and interests that enliven our minds and rouse our hearts. And no—we don’t need to be a champion swimmer or a prima ballerina to love aquatics or ballet: success in our pursuit of our passions takes second place to enjoyment. As G. K. Chesterton’s once wrote, “When something is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.” There is great wisdom in that adage.
The third and final ingredient in finding joy in our schooling is gratitude.
Many of us forget to be grateful for our opportunities. We get whirled up in troubles both petty and immense, and fail to remember that we are living every second of every day in the middle of an immense miracle, inhabiting a globe spinning through space and teeming with all sort of creatures and plants, an earth filled with towering mountains, immense oceans, and enormous cities, all decorated at night with millions of stars. We forget to be thankful for the many blessings and graces brought to us by family members and friends, often by their mere presence. We even forget to offer our gratitude to God, whose gift of life made us a part of this wondrous carnival.
The students I have interviewed or whose essays I’ve read almost unanimously expressed their gratitude to their parents, to their teachers and mentors, and to God for all the extracurricular opportunities available to them.
So homeschool students: get your bookwork done. Get your chores done. But never forget to seek out enjoyment in your homeschooling day. Work that study schedule to your advantage, pursue your passions, make gratitude a close friend, and have some fun.
And remember: Today is going to be an adventure.
This stress and fear are natural. They are as much a part of life as sleeping or eating. When we get too tangled up in this net of schedules and schoolwork, however, it’s time to pull back, catch our breath, and recollect that we are meant to find joy as well as travail in our home education. Like the mother in the train station, we must remind ourselves that we too, from the moment of our birth, are on an adventure.
Over the past thirty years, I have met scores of young people who have used their time away from textbooks to enjoy their own personal adventures. A hot air balloonist received her pilot’s certificate at age 16; a young man raised cattle and won blue ribbons at the state fair; a girl’s devotion to the violin led her to win honors and a medal at a national competition: these and so many other homeschoolers—archers and dancers, pianists and soccer stars, volunteers of all sorts, writers, film makers—have made their mark on the world outside of academics.
Others have written essays I’ve read recounting a different sort of joy—the joy of family—made possible by homeschooling. One young man told of the value of the time spent with his ailing grandfather, a man of faith whose life of prayer and practice of virtue daily inspire his grandson, even after his grandfather’s death. Another young essayist credited homeschooling with deepening her love for her younger brother, born with Down syndrome. Still others have attributed to homeschooling the opportunity to grow closer to their siblings and friends.
All of these young people acknowledge three benefits of homeschooling that have allowed them to hone their talents, enhance relationships, and find joy in their activities.
The first of these is flexibility.
Because they don’t spend eight hours a day in a school building, the homeschoolers I’ve known nearly always mention flexible schedules as being one of the prized components of a home education. They go to swim practice at five in the morning; they take piano lessons, often at a reduced rate, in the early afternoon; they work in a bakery four hours a day and complete their studies when they return home. Because of homeschooling, they can work in soup kitchens, visit nursing homes, learn a trade, and throw themselves wholeheartedly into any number of endeavors.
From these activities they derive satisfaction and pleasure.
And that satisfaction and pleasure, the offspring of flexibility, brings us to passion.
Rather than adapt to the schedule of a formal classroom, homeschooling students and their parents have the wonderful freedom to make the most of every day, a freedom in which students may indulge their diverse passions. One homeschool senior I recently met lives on a large property with her family, where they raise chickens, sheep, horses, cats, and half-a-dozen other animals. Working on her family’s farm has this young woman passionate about animal husbandry and interested in veterinary medicine. Another student appeared on EWTN to discuss a film he’d made about the priesthood. Over my many years of offering seminars to homeschoolers, I became acquainted with a ninth-grade girl who sold her homemade jewelry online, another who won prizes making gingerbread houses, a young man who fought his way into the Golden Gloves, and a hundred others who happily indulged themselves in activities ranging from website design to house-building, from Tae Kwon Do to the Civil Air Patrol.
When we discover our passions, and when we have the time to follow those passions, we find joy. We take delight in those activities and interests that enliven our minds and rouse our hearts. And no—we don’t need to be a champion swimmer or a prima ballerina to love aquatics or ballet: success in our pursuit of our passions takes second place to enjoyment. As G. K. Chesterton’s once wrote, “When something is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.” There is great wisdom in that adage.
The third and final ingredient in finding joy in our schooling is gratitude.
Many of us forget to be grateful for our opportunities. We get whirled up in troubles both petty and immense, and fail to remember that we are living every second of every day in the middle of an immense miracle, inhabiting a globe spinning through space and teeming with all sort of creatures and plants, an earth filled with towering mountains, immense oceans, and enormous cities, all decorated at night with millions of stars. We forget to be thankful for the many blessings and graces brought to us by family members and friends, often by their mere presence. We even forget to offer our gratitude to God, whose gift of life made us a part of this wondrous carnival.
The students I have interviewed or whose essays I’ve read almost unanimously expressed their gratitude to their parents, to their teachers and mentors, and to God for all the extracurricular opportunities available to them.
So homeschool students: get your bookwork done. Get your chores done. But never forget to seek out enjoyment in your homeschooling day. Work that study schedule to your advantage, pursue your passions, make gratitude a close friend, and have some fun.
And remember: Today is going to be an adventure.