Rick Riordan, author of the popular Percy Jackson novels, has decided to homeschool his eleven-year-old son.
"I was sure he’d be ready to run for the hills by now, but nope. He tells me every day that he loves home-schooling.
"Some
of the things he’s done so far: He has learned the basics of geography
and designed his own continent, complete with maps, a narrative
reflecting the five themes of geography, and a bar graph showing
immigration patterns. He has begun writing a short fantasy novel (His
idea, amazingly, not mine – I would never wish my choice of professions
on anyone unless they were truly determined and a little crazy!). He
spent a morning studying minerals with his grandfather, a retired
physician who has been itching to share his love of science. He takes
walks every morning with his mother. He reads about twice as much as he
used to, and sometimes even reads more than he’s required to. Gasp! I
am teaching him guitar and he’s learned seven chords. He’s taken a
pottery class at a local art studio. In English, we’re doing a unit on
Norse mythology. He’s watching his own stock portfolio and learning to
invest. And of course, he still has his friends over to play in the
afternoons."
I just got so happy reading this. Yes, yes, this is why we do it! The meaningful connections: with science, music, literature, history, art, finance, geography, and most important, people. Time to take long walks with mom, time to compare notes about the maddening joys of writing with dad, time to explore grandpa’s favorite subject with grandpa himself.
Rick expresses some of the concerns many new-to-home-education parents have, but it sounds like the whole family has embraced this new adventure with gusto, and I wish them great joy.
It seems like that is the hardest thing to put into words about homeschooling. It is the harmony and joy that comes with learning.
We are on day 3 of “official homeschooling”. We have had 1/2-1&1/2 hour walks each day. The first day, my 7-yr old “invented” a game where thay have to hop over circles and on lines. He added his score to more than 2 thousand, correctly! We gathered tree samples and plant samples and got books at the library. He did a diagram of a microscopic creature called a water bear, he loves them! I could go on and on! The hardest thing for me is actually figuring out how to categorize everything! This is in addition to the regular “bookwork” of which he needs to do very little. We are off on an amazing adventure! I’m so thankful to all you blogging homeschoolers who have been encouraging me to finally take the plunge!
It’s almost always striking how much homeschoolers in a good healthy enviornment seem to get done. And the odd thing is ‘githerdone’ isn’t even in many homeschoolers’ vocab. This guy makes a schooled child look like a effort by a government bureaucracy.
As a writer and educator I am always amazed at the many ways of learning and I thank you for sharing yet another inspirational moment in a new homeschooler’s life (who is also a writer and educator!)
Re Map. I had n’t realized how far down I was to go at first. Finaly got it. Found St Rose of Lima and Mall. Need more practise to get the House. Great!