Schools are closed. Date to reopen unknown. Parents are frantic trying to keep up with the education of their children. I see posts everyday of how a parent is beating themselves up at how they are unable to provide this organic service to their kids. “ I suck at it”, “ I am an awful parent”, “ My kids hate me” , “ my family is falling apart like this” are just some of a long list of comments I hear and read. I have been approached by many a parent for help to understand how to help their kids.
Why me? Because we homeschool our kids. So I think we have some significant level of understanding in this area. Firstly it is important to understand that homeschooling is not the same as schooling at home. They are very different. Homeschooling is following the learners gifts, talents and interests. Schooling at home is following a system that is from outside the home and imposing that while at home ( a more terrible version of homework).
Secondly it requires a considerable amount of patience and cooperation to be able to interact with the learner which means that ones own emotional states need to be balanced. ( most of the time these are not balanced. Truth.)
Homeschooling is not the same as schooling at home. Even teachers who can school other kids in school have difficulty doing it for their own kids. Why? Because it is not easy to bring a system into the home, compared to teaching a system at an institution.
Compromise is the byproduct of living with the sense of freedom. It suggests a lack of imagination and the inability to believe in the power of ones own unique and individuality. Compromise breeds mediocrity both of which are lower frequency states. It begins when we are very young when we start our dreams and aspirations, most of which are given up by our early 40s. We compromise from a deep seated fear that we lack the power or capacity to accomplish more, as our ideals are squashed by our parents or by the systems that we are forced to inhabit.
The sad truth is that the dreams of most children are stamped out by their schools during the endless monotony of set curricula which carries into the homes. It is here where the child learns of the association of work and boredom, effort and drudgery. Children are homogenized in the system instead of being individually inspired.
If the caregivers do not believe in themselves this further hampers the child’s eventual progress. Then we wonder why our enthusiasm is not sustainable as an adult. Systems drill out the enthusiasm and enjoyment of learning in many ways as much as seeds are divorced from the fruit during juicing. Homeschooling is an opportunity for both the learner and the educator to grow and uncover their own genius in order to raise the frequency of all of humanity.
Systems are based on the idea of a set education through commanding action and submission, yet not allowing the spirit to grow. If pressured to learn,a child will not succeed in rising to the challenge. Yet if given permission to self learn, they will transform even the most difficult challenge as a stepping stone on their path of potential.
Children have a natural ability to learn and evolve. It is wise not to squash this innate gift. Habits are born from building momentum. It is a choice to keep the enthusiasm alive and fueled by the desire to explore and observe how one fits into the grander puzzle of life through service to humanity. When this vision is clear, the dullest of jobs are done with meaning, ease and care.
If my words are doubted then I would invite the reader to research and discover the stories of some of the greatest minds of our time. They were either homeschooled in their earlier years or dropped out of the education systems to uncover their own path and gift and eventual service to humanity.
So why homeschool?
Homeschooling is a journey of following the energy of the learner and beautifully watch how the neurons of the child brain expand into a multitude of different pathways, each on the pathway of creative genius and potential.
Children are lamps to be lit, and not vessels to be filled.
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I love you
