So how does that work then?
Is a question I get asked a lot….I don’t tend to get the “Is home *wince* schooling even legal” or “What about socialization” very much……..possibly it’s the “Go on then!” glint in my eye that puts people off, but I do get “So, how does that work then?” or words to that effect on a fairly regular basis and it’s not a simple one to answer really. “It just does,” doesn’t seem to cut it and I’m not one for using a few words when an entire soliloquy beckons; so over the past few days I’ve been thinking a lot about the mechanics of doing this thang called home ed. Conversations over dinner is a biggie for us……anything to avoid eating carrots. I suppose I’m like the random Laban teacher we had at Drama College. Laban was a bit of a random subject, or rather we felt it was so rather than stand up and do “Longing to joy”, which believe me is nowhere near as fun as it sounds, we would get her talking on an interesting subject, she was a very interesting lady, and lo and behold the lesson would just disappear!!! This seems to be my eldest son’s current tactic at meal times, heck even the younger one will chip in periodically with requests for clarification!!! Joking aside it never ceases to amaze me what my kids will retain from a conversation, sometimes, in fact regularly, more than with a guided activity. For example a few days ago I found myself googling impressionists (artists, not the Bobby Davro kind) over breakfast….I had my cereal half eaten and having tried for more than 5 mins to explain impressionist art…. I gave up on crispy cornflakes and reached for the lap top. Van Gogh’s Starry Night – perfect! This was all borne out of a comment that DS1’s collage of planet Earth didn’t look exactly like Earth…….in the sense that it didn’t look like a photograph of it or a detailed painted image. DS1 had decided this by the way, during his depiction of Jupiter through the medium of poster paint. Apparently Jupiter was a lot more Jupiter-esque than Earth was Earth-esque!! So at 8.15 in the morning before I left for work and whilst my other half tidied the kitchen we had a major discussion on impressionist art….with pictures to help from Monet and Van Gogh…..as well as a couple of Picasso’s to illustrate that it doesn’t have to look like the subject to tell a story. After he had satisfied himself that it was OK for his collage not to be an exact replica of Earth (through the medium of scrap paper and coloured rice) and once my cornflakes were thoroughly soggy he declared “Alright Mummy, I think I get it now!” and disappeared off to play Dr Who…….He “gets” it??? At 6 he “gets” impressionist art and there is now no further need for discussion……. I sat through numerous painfully dull lectures, was forced to do a project on it and a talk for A-level general Studies and it took a visit to the Van Gogh museum to get anywhere near “getting it”!!!!
So to my mind, that’s how it works….. He asks, I answer….To put it in high faluting terms “I facilitate learning opportunities that either spark imaginations and go on to be explored or are saved up for dinner time conversations upon the appearance of unrequested vegetables!” Today it was the Feudal system…..incorporating nuns, child brides and heirs………and it was almost at the end of the casserole before he realized that the “potatoes” he’d been scoffing were indeed artichokes…..however….the carrots remained on the plate!