Life with Nin

Serendipity: The Evolution of Homeschooling

Serendipity.  The act of finding something while looking for something else.  Sometimes I think that is the heart of homeschooling. The really interesting things are the tangents you pursue.

I found a marvelous little book recently.  I no longer remember what it was that I was looking for, but I found a treasure.  The book, a picture book, is called Why is the Sky Blue? by Sally Grindley.  In a nutshell, and coming from my admittedly biased perspective, this little book tells the story of how homeschooling often changes over time.

The book is about donkey and rabbit.  Donkey is old and knows quite a lot and offers to share it with the young rabbit, but rabbit must sit still and listen.  Rabbit wants to learn and truly wants to sit still and listen, but life around him keeps grabbing his attention and he is off exploring.  He simply can’t sit still and listen.  This happens for several days with Donkey patiently promising to tell him why the sky is blue the next day, if only Rabbit will sit still and listen.  Finally, on the third day, Rabbit is gone a long time.  Donkey worries that Rabbit might have gotten into trouble and he sets off to find him.

Along the way, Donkey finds things to explores and learns new things.  He finally comes upon Rabbit who is intently counting the spots on the ladybugs and Donkey joins him.  Rabbit teaches Donkey a thing or two and the book ends with them about to set off on a new adventure in learning together.

Many of us begin our homeschooling adventure assuming that the parents will take on the role of “teacher” in the classic school room sense.  We will share our knowledge and understanding of the world with our little ones; we will be their guide to the world at large.  We are like Donkey.  Along the way, many of us discover that it does not work that way at all.  While we often take our children places – in both the figurative and literal sense – very often it is they who show us the wonder once we get there, who challenge us with their questions and force us to look at things in a different way.  They are Rabbit.  The truth of the matter is that, if we give it a chance, we both learn from each other, and are each better because of it.  To me, this is the way it is supposed to be and this is the message of the book and homeschooling both.

copyright 1999 Carol E. Burris Originally published in my local homeschooling group, HELPS, newsletter.