Monthly Archives: December 2013

The True World

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“Increasingly over the last maybe forty years, the thought has come to me that the old world in which our people lived by the work of their hands, close to weather and Earth, plants and animals, was the true world; and that the new world of cheap energy and ever cheaper money, honored greed, and dreams of liberation from every restraint, is mostly theater.  This new world seems a jumble of scenery and props never quite believable, an economy of fantasies and moods, in which it is hard to remember either the timely world of nature or the eternal world of the prophets and poets.  And I fear, I believe I know, that the doom of the older world I knew of as a boy will finally afflict the new one that replaced it.” – From Andy Catlett, Early Travels by Wendell Berry

Air to Wash Our Minds

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“There used to be a scent that the wind pushed in front of it in those days, which must have come from all the wild flowers and the sweet grasses that grew up there then.  This scent was strong that afternoon, and my father often stopped to breathe in, for he had told me time and time again that trouble will not stop in a man whose lungs are filled with fresh air.  He always said that God sent the water to wash our bodies and air to wash our minds.”  – How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn

Homeschooling is One Thing I Can Do

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My kids have not attended public school this year, and I like them a lot better now. I have always and will always love them more deeply than I can express, but liking is different. Liking is when you enjoy someone’s company, and I enjoy them more now. They are kinder, less vulgar, and more willing to listen respectfully and to respond thoughtfully.

Many proponents of public education assume that a child cannot be properly socialized outside of a school full of age segregated children and specially credentialed “educators”. My children are proving every day that this is patently untrue. I believe the reason for this is because none of them attend the public school any longer. The longer they are home, the nicer they become. In my mind, the only positive outcome of something called socialization would be for a child to become adept at engaging in positive interactions and solving interpersonal problems, and that is precisely what homeschooling has taught them.

Homeschooling socializes kids in the most positive way imaginable. They spend time learning from the people who love them most, and who are able to impart truly meaningful spiritual values. They have the time and freedom to engage with the real world every day. They have the freedom to choose who they spend their time with. All of this seems to have a very positive impact.

I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity I have to be with my kids every day. It wasn’t long ago that I was much too ill to even entertain the possibility of teaching my own kids. I’ve proven this year that, although I still have health challenges, I am capable of accomplishing this thing for my boys.  And it’s really making a difference.

Traitor to the Cause Part I : Why I Chose to Raise My Own Children.

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