Getting Behind

I often hear the homeschooler's refrain, "I'm afraid they're (getting) behind." Homeschooling, in my mind, hasn't become a revolution yet for most people. A good number of people just brought school home.

Media often focuses on "what's wrong with education?" My thoughts are that what is wrong is that we, as a nation, are thinking of education as a destination, rather than a journey. It is something you have to complete - so you can get a good paying job and not be on the government dole. And, because there are so many people in the world, and some of them are bound to be exceptional, one is constantly seeing or reading about the Doogie Howser's of the world, the 13 yr old that made the pro-golf tour, or the 10 year old concert pianist, the 16 year old that just finished college, which sends panic out to those of us wondering if we are keeping up.

Truth is, I know loads of people that went to college and didn't stay in the field of study. Moi included. My dh started out as an agricultural engineer, ended up in Logistics and management. His only contact with agricultural equipment is when he uses our tractor to mow the field. Our neighbor is a pianist, but brings home the bacon as a human resources consultant. They found their way to what they were going to do with their life along the way. In my opinion, most 18 year olds, particularly ones shut up in a building for the last 12 years of their life, few have enough life experience to know what they want to do with their lives. Some have interests and there's nothing wrong with continuing to study those interests, but until we get away from thinking of education as a tool for getting a job, it isn't, in my opinion, really education.

Have you ever watched Star Trek? (If not, please don't tell me because I don't want to think less of you.) But, for all their advanced technology, they seem to have the same type of relationship problems that we do. I do hope that humans have become a little better culturally than ages ago, but sometimes it doesn't seem so. Slavery still exists in parts of the world, people are still starving, violence permeates our news, war continues, and divorce is commonplace. The world is becoming more educated and we have more technology, and though we've made strides, and I believe in the goodness of humans, what the world needs is more mature, good people. Ordinary people. People that love to learn and can live well in a family unit. People that have learned to get along in the real world with all ages. People that need people are the loveliest......Ooops, sorry.

The change we need is not in producing kids that completed a set study by a certain age. I'm not sure that the homeschooling world in general has made this mental leap. I'm not sure I have. But again, it's a journey, not a destination.