After seeing this poster, I began thinking about all my school years when I heard teachers, parents, and other adults talk about "when you get out in the real world." I spent 21 years in school-- from kindergarten through a graduate program and a law degree. I was in my early 20's before I experienced the real world; and that's not bad, it was just my experience.
I do know that despite my good grades, I was unprepared for "life". I didn't know how to DO anything-- make a budget, earn a living, change the oil on my car, prepare a vegetable. I wasn't even sure I would enjoy the career I had trained so long to do. All I had done was learn "about" the career; I hadn't been allowed to really "do it" until I had my degree and passed the bar exam.
I do hope my children know more about "the real world" through homeschooling. Our "homeschool" begins at home with our family as the center; but homeschool is really just another way of saying "learning outside of the traditional classroom." It is also-- I hope-- a way of living now, following our interests now instead of at some distant point in time.
The boys have the opportunity to learn from people who are what they might wish to be. They can do that learning now-- whether it is talking to a physicist, taking a hike with a biologist, pursuing a sport, or working with an artist. We don't have to squeeze our living between the school bells and homework.
The laughter and shouting in the living room assures me that we are on the right track. With homeschool, we don't postpone joy. We embrace life now.
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