Last week, we decided it was time to seriously consider homeschooling our son. My wife and I had entertained the thought for several years and I wish I could pin-point a single event that triggered our recent sense of urgency, but it was probably a combination of research, general world awareness and our son’s slow drift towards indifference and frustration in school.
Meet Bob
Now 11 years old, Bob has already experienced half a dozen schools in three continents. As a proud and biased parent, I like to think that, along with a notable maturity, he is already showing unique signs of strength in both science and creativity. You see, Bob has a deep interest in physics, robotics, artificial intelligence and astronomy, yet shows talent in creative writing, music, design and communication; an uncommon combination of skills that makes me hopeful for his future.
As children grow up, we start to educate them progressively from the waist up. And then we focus on their heads. And slightly to one side.
— Ken Robinson
A few weeks ago, Bob asked me why he and his other 31 school classmates were still going over basic multiplications year after year. I had no simple answer for him but I knew why: there is very little room for individuality in a typical classroom, all children are to move through 5th grade together using what some call industrial factory models. Check out this presentation https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_changing_education_paradigms. What scares me, is that he is slowly losing interest, losing motivation and is becoming less curious and less creative.
Curiosity
Bob is loosing more and more curiosity in things. This is very bad. We are made to wonder and be curious. We have a taste for knowledge, yet most schools lack flavor with the way they approach education.
The most fascinating thing in the universe is the mysterious.
-Albert Einstein.
Collaboration
We believe in leveraging people’s passions and skills. By involving friends and family members in our homeschooling process, we create lasting bonds and genuine interests for discovering new things and for practicing new skills.
Time
We gave ourselves until the end of the current school year to transition. During the upcoming two months, we will be researching, planning, and slowing changing our routine to maximize our chances of success. We only have one shot at this and we’ll try to document our journey as a way of self reflection and to maybe help others along the way.
