Inspired by Mama Kat's Writing Prompt: List 6 of your favorite quotes.
You may have noticed I homeschool. Homeschooling parents fight a lot of doubt--from without:
Is it Legal?
How will they get into college?"
"What about SOCIALIZATION?"
and from within :
{What makes me think I can?}
Will they get into college?
Will I kill them before then?
So any quote that comes with cred can really buoy a homeschool parent's confidence.Below are six that have sustained me:
1. It is nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom;without this it goes to wrack and ruin without fail. - Albert Einstein
2. My schooling not only failed to teach me what it professed to be teaching, but prevented me from being educated to an extent which infuriates me when I think of all I might have learned at home by myself. -George Bernard Shaw
3. I believe it would be much better for everyone if children were given their start in education at home. No one understands a child as well as his mother, and children are so different that they need individual training and study. A teacher with a room full of pupils cannot do this. At home, too, they are in their mother’s care. She can keep them from learning immoral things from other children. -Laura Ingalls Wilder
4.I'm sure the reason such young nitwits are produced in our schools is because they have no contact with anything of any use in everyday life. - Petronius
5.Example is the school of mankind, and they will learn at no other. - Edmund Burke
6. Thank goodness I was never sent to school It would have rubbed off some of the originality.-Beatrix Potter
And because this homeschool teacher is not good at math ;-), I bring you:
7. 18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.--Deuteronomy 11:18-19
Got a quote? Tell Mother All About It!! She can always use more!
Such a lovely post. My favorite is the Einstein quote. I give you a lot of credit for homeschooling your kids.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Miriam! We recently were reading about Einstein. He was a virtual flop in school. Interesting ,
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Your blog is sooooo prettyyyyyy! I do not have the self-discipline to home school, and I greatly admire those that do. I also love Laura Ingalls Wilder. I'd never read that quote from her before, and I love it.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dyanne! I'm glad you appreciate my "bloggie decor"! Homeschooling does take discipline, but so does every job! When you feel called to do something, especially if it's for your kids, you just do it. Not that it makes it easy. But there's fruit at the end of the branch so you keep climbing.
DeleteI give you a lot of credit for homeschooling. I wish I could afford to stay home and teach my son, too. He's only in preschool, and his teacher is telling me that he is going to need extra attention because he's so advanced (I'm already going over simplified science and math with him because he wants to know these things). I hope he'll be able to get a good education in the public school, but I suppose it doesn't hurt to supplement with learning at home, when I can. Anyway... kudos to you! I think it's great.
ReplyDeleteJessica, If you feel yourself being called to homeschool, you will find a way. As you realize, you can supplement his education. But if you find that isn't working, you can consider working from home, starting a home business, or some cost-cutting measures (how much do you currently spend on commuting, wardrobe, and child care?).
DeleteBecause you can accomplish a homeschool day in about half the time it takes in a classroom setting (due to disruptions, interruptions, student-teacher-ratio spread too thin, etc., etc.), it would leave you enough time to pursue these alternatives to income. And you don't have to be a Rhodes Scholar yourself to meet his needs. There are limitless support materials out there. Bottom line: Don't "hope" he'll get a good education, KNOW that he'll get a good education.
All great quotes, Leslie! And you're right that as homeschooling parents we face so much doubts from within and without all the time. Encouragement is really what we need most, and great quotes like the ones you've listed here are very helpful. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Hwee. I hope some of these words of wisdom helped you, too! Have ea great homeschooling day!
DeleteYou have placed yourself in good company Leslie, well done! Keep going, your children will be outstanding people! (and try not to kill them or yourself in the process ;-) )
ReplyDeleteYou know, everyone asked me if I would homeschool the second one when she came along after a looong gap between kids to which I replied I was too old, our current school system was an improvement, one of us would end up dead (due to her combative nature). But it's made me feel younger (most of the time), given me purpose, the "excellent" school was not so excellent FOR HER, and she's not only still alive (and not threatened by tragedy either inside or outside the school...), but at age 12, thrives. We're into middle school and might just be doing this all the way. Thanks for YOUR encouragement!
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