Ordinary Generals

Leaders are not what people think - people with huge crowds following them. Leaders are people who go their own way without caring, or even looking to see whether anyone is following them. "Leadership qualities" are not the qualities that enable people to attract followers, but those that enable them to do without them. They include, at the very least, courage, endurance, patience, humor, flexibility, resourcefulness,determination, a keen sense of reality and the ability to keep a cool and clear head even when things are going badly.

True leaders do not make people into followers, but into new leaders. The homeschooling movement is full of such people, "ordinary" people doing things that they never would have thought they could do - learning the law, questioning the experts, holding their ground against arrogant and threatening authorities, defending themselves and their convictions in the press, on TV, even in court. Seeing them, other ordinary people think they can do the same, and they do.

This is why it may be a little misleading to speak of the homeschooling "movement." Most people think of a movement as something like an army, a few generals and a great many buck privates. In the movement for home schooling, everyone is a general.

John Holt
Teach Your Own
pg (68-69)
1981

Jump Rope

I had a professor in college once tell me that I was struggling with my tests because I have a "hyper-active" mind. I believed her because I had a tendecy to get very distracted when I was in a classroom, listening to a teacher. Even when I am interested in the subject. So I solved this by doodling the same flowers over and over, up and down the margins of my paper that I was taking notes on. This did wonders for me. I was able to focus my mind on what was being discussed, to the point of almost perfect recall.

My 6-year-old son tends to have the same problem. He has found a way to solve his distracted mind by jump roping instead of doodling. That's right, today he listened to a book on CD (3-4 grade level) while jump roping the whole time. This repetitive action is just what he needs to focus his mind on what he is listening to. I am shocked that he has the ability to do it for 2 hours straight at age 6! He also almost memorizes what he is listening too. He gets very upset if I or one of his sisters opens the door to the room where he is.

I am so grateful that we are able to Home Educate my son. I just can't picture him in a classroom with 30 other 6-years-old being told to stop jump roping, sit down, sit still and do this work sheet!

Why I Should Not Homeschool...

You should home school or you should not home school, that is the question that every thinks is their business. And honestly it is usually "You can't home school because..."

1. Your kids will be weird! (Honestly, I would rather my children be able to relate to people of all ages and be polite and respectful. They are reading instead of watching TV or playing video games. If this makes them weird, then let the weirdness begin!)

2. You can't home school because you have four children ages 6 and younger. (My son helps at home with the dishes, laundry, changes diapers, feeds the 2 month old and helps buckles his sisters into the car. I honestly don't know what I would do without his help. He is also learning responsibility besides how a family works.)

3. You need to be a professional expert in order to teach children. (I really believe that children can be inspired to learn on their own. I can become an expert in anything that I am interested in. So over time, I can mentor my child in anything they are interested in. If I am not the best mentor, I will then find my child one.)

There are a 1,000 other reason why I cannot or should not home educate my children that are told to me everyday. But I can, and I will do it. Why? Because I believe that it is the best education that my children can receive! That my husband and I are the most emotionally invested in our children's well being and therefore, you can not pay any "expert" enough to teach them any better than the people who love them and know them the best. We are the most qualified!

"Render Unto Caesar"

It is written somewhere: "Render unto Caesar (or the Governor) that which is Caesar's ***etc.," but I am not Caesar's, neither is my mind, nor are my children, nor are their minds, and for me, and for them, God sets the standards and arranges the program in all things and unfolds it day by day, season by season.

Dr. Frank Merrill