Our Legacy
Today was "Girls day out". My friend, her daughters, my daughters and I went out to see a movie and have dinner. My friend, a fellow "home school mom", works part-time as I do and attempts to school her children at the same time. It's a tough road, and to her credit, she has successfully home schooled one daughter through high school and is doing a great job educating the other two.
Being both mother and teacher to a child can often be grueling and stressful. The compassionate side that comes from being a mother often takes over when it shouldn't, and the "drive sergeant" teacher comes out when there should be love and understanding. When my friend and I get together, we enjoy the opportunity to compare notes, ask advice of one another and revel in the fact that we have been given the privilege of educating our children.
One thing I have noticed about home school parents, especially the mothers, is that they are not just teachers to their children, but learners themselves. They love to study and are always in the process of learning something new. My friend is no exception. In the midst of her crazy schedule, she manages to find a little time to learn to read and write the Cherokee language. I applaud her efforts. Unlike so many people out there, she sees the value of preserving the past for future generations.
What so many people don't realize is that preserving the past is not just storing treasures in museums and reading information in books. It also has to do with handing down skills and information from one person to the next. I learned to use a spinning wheel, because I don't want to see that skill disappear. My friend studies Cherokee and is learning (from the local mountain people) how to prepare and administer herbal remedies from plants grown in the area, because she does not want to see these skills fall by the wayside.
This is something of what home schooling is about. In addition to teaching our children the required facts and knowledge that they will need to be successful as adults in our world, we hope to give them a love for learning and a desire to study "hands on" the skills and knowledge of our past so that it will be there for future generations. We also long to pass our faith on to our children. The time and energy poured into their lives, we believe, will not be wasted.
Being both mother and teacher to a child can often be grueling and stressful. The compassionate side that comes from being a mother often takes over when it shouldn't, and the "drive sergeant" teacher comes out when there should be love and understanding. When my friend and I get together, we enjoy the opportunity to compare notes, ask advice of one another and revel in the fact that we have been given the privilege of educating our children.
One thing I have noticed about home school parents, especially the mothers, is that they are not just teachers to their children, but learners themselves. They love to study and are always in the process of learning something new. My friend is no exception. In the midst of her crazy schedule, she manages to find a little time to learn to read and write the Cherokee language. I applaud her efforts. Unlike so many people out there, she sees the value of preserving the past for future generations.
What so many people don't realize is that preserving the past is not just storing treasures in museums and reading information in books. It also has to do with handing down skills and information from one person to the next. I learned to use a spinning wheel, because I don't want to see that skill disappear. My friend studies Cherokee and is learning (from the local mountain people) how to prepare and administer herbal remedies from plants grown in the area, because she does not want to see these skills fall by the wayside.
This is something of what home schooling is about. In addition to teaching our children the required facts and knowledge that they will need to be successful as adults in our world, we hope to give them a love for learning and a desire to study "hands on" the skills and knowledge of our past so that it will be there for future generations. We also long to pass our faith on to our children. The time and energy poured into their lives, we believe, will not be wasted.
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