Peaceful & Free

What a strange thing we do to our young people in this culture and time.

We make them spend several years learning things that they often have no interest in, that they have not chosen and that they will in many cases never use again. We tell them that these things are vitally important.

Then we sit them in rows and make them write about the things they can remember for an intense few hours. We compare what they have written down with everyone else of the same age, and then we rank them.

We make them wait a couple of months and then we tell some that they are the successes, and others that they are the failures. We encourage them to hang their self-worth on how they performed. Newspapers publish pictures of the delighted, whilst the disappointed hide their heads in shame.

We tell them that these results will determine the rest of their lives – and then we set up systems that make this true. We provide fewer opportunities for those who did not succeed. Those who did well can take their pick of courses, whilst those who did not are made to take the same tests again and again, just to hammer it home.

We make sure that young people spend the majority of their adolescence focused on exams and under pressure. Every summer, they sit in rows and try to remember. Each year, they’re told that their whole future rests on this.

Many of them inevitably cave in under the pressure. They become anxious and depressed. They show signs of burnout by the age of 16. They lose their spark, and just go through the motions. Some of them retreat altogether.

Then we pathologise them, say that they need mental health treatment or to become more resilient. We send them for therapy or give them medication. We say that they are the problem, whilst the system carries on unchanged.

What if instead we stopped to think about what we are doing to our young people?

Adolescence is a time of opportunity and vulnerability. It’s a one-off stage of life. What if we asked ourselves, should our young people really spend these years on a conveyor belt of high stakes exams?

Imagine we allowed ourselves to look beyond this time and place, and to see just how strange this really is. What would we do then?

🩷

Why don't poem like this ever trend 🥰 ❤️😴😢

In the quiet corners of a home aglow,
Whispers of wisdom gently start to flow.
Books lay open, rich with tales and truth,
A living classroom, shaping minds uncouth.

Morning breaks with lessons set to start,
In dining rooms that double as the art.
A kitchen lab where formulas are tried,
Where failures are as cherished as each stride.

The garden's turned a lab for botany,
Each plant and pest, a living homily.
Maths unfold in patterns of the knits,
And history's told through passionate skits.

A mother's patience, vast as skies above,
A father's guidance, tender, filled with love.
Together they create this school of life,
Far from the halls of strife and worldly strife.

The day rolls on, each hour a treasured gift,
Learning in ways that minds uplift.
No bells dismiss the curious soul,
For learning’s joy is the truest goal.

In this gentle, steadfast academy,
The child grows, rooted like a sturdy tree.
Homeschooled, yes, but educated wide,
With the whole wide wondrous world outside.
--Mary L.

Are your kids learning to cook…? 👩🏻‍🍳👨🏼‍🍳

"But I do think the idea that basic cooking skills are a virtue, that the ability to feed yourself and a few others with proficiency should be taught to every young man and woman as a fundamental skill, should become as vital to growing up as learning to wipe one's own ass, cross the street by oneself, or be trusted with money."
–Anthony Bourdain

All of a sudden, with this simple mindset shift, you see the things that do MATTER and all of the many things that DON’T!

❤️

Self-directed learners still explore languages, higher math, and history, but they do so based on their intrinsic curiosity or personal goals. This philosophy allows them to attach genuine meaning to what they choose to learn, making education a more engaging and fulfilling experience. 🌱✨

Exactly!

There is a better, healthier way to learn!

Learn how by reading:

Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom

available here: https://amzn.to/3q5LLzs

and

Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids: How to Stop Yelling and Start
Connecting by Dr. Laura Markham,

available here: https://amzn.to/3xZeqVc

(affiliate)

-THT

Parents are told to “trust the experts” regarding their children on almost every little thing. It’s no wonder after 4 or 5 years of being told “we know better, leave it to us, the experts” that parents feel disempowered. And they feel weak and believe that they are incapable of educating their children through homeschool. The schools will tell parents “teach your kids to tie their shoes & such, but stay in your lane, don’t try to teach them to read or write”. But, parents ARE powerful. They ARE capable. They can remember that although the schools may have “experts” in academics or learning in general…parents are experts in THEIR CHILD. No expert can match the power of an awakened, devoted, supportive parent with an internet connection, a library card, and some good ol’ fashioned resourcefulness! A parent who knows every every detail about their child since the day they were born or adopted. And, yes, parents can band together, seek out professionals if needed, and allow their child to thrive and flourish! 💪🏼