In fact, I have lots to say
that I hope you'll take time to
listen to before you give in to the temptation to go out and
buy a huge, expensive pile of curriculum and submit your poor kids -
and their childhoods, their creativity, and their love of learning.
If you are burning out, you need the
exact same thing as anyone just starting out, because you missed
some foundational truth in the beginning that would have prevented
you from burning out.
And that truth is regarding what
"true education" is all about. Hint: It's much less complicated,
difficult or expensive than what you might think it is!
I love this quote by John Taylor
Gatto, who you'll be hearing more from here:
"I don’t think we’ll get rid of
schools any time soon, certainly not in my lifetime, but if we’re going
to change what’s rapidly becoming a disaster of ignorance, we need to
realize that the school institution "schools" very well, though it does
not "educate"; that’s inherent in the design of the thing. It’s not the
fault of bad teachers or too little money spent. It’s just impossible
for education and schooling ever to be the same thing."
– John Taylor Gatto
|
That last
sentence!!! "It's just impossible for education and schooling to ever be
the same thing"! If you can get this right at the
beginning, it will drastically reduce the amount you spend on unnecessary
curriculum that will only burn out you and your kids... and it will change
the entire course of your homeschooling journey... of the remaining years
you have with your children... the relationships you have with them and
the direction they go in life... and ultimately how prepared they will be
for "the works God prepared beforehand for them." It changes everything!!!
So I hope
you'll spend some time here at the Oasis I have prepared for you to take in what
is here! My intent and hope are to help you lay aside fear... wrong
thinking that's only binding you up... and
preconceived ideas of what education is so that you can experience all
that
God has for you and your kids during these years.
And,
believe me, they come to an end all too soon! Of course, once they leave home,
they often come back... with a wonderful spouse and wonderful grandkids.
And you'll enjoy even these even more if you focus on getting the most
out of these precious years that they are in your care.
Here are
the original 5 of us five in our younger years... (This is a picture of a
picture - in the olden days when there were covered wagons and NO digital
cameras, let alone smart phones!) ... And here we are a few decades
later...
The extended Shelton Family at
Tory and Tasha's wedding winter
of 2023 :
L to R: Sam, Weston, Chase, Sharnessa,
Jonah, Henry, Tory, Tasha, Isaac, Barb, Dave, Annelisa, Carlianne,
and CJ |