One of my friends wasn't feeling well. He was at the ice cream shop he manages when I got the call. "Would you be willing to bring me the bag of lozenges I left on my desk? I'll give you free ice cream."
Free ice cream? I'm so on it. Upon arriving at his desk, there was a bag of branded cough drops, but they didn't have the name "lozenge" anywhere. Did I have the right thing?
Google told me I did. I had never encountered that word before. And I learned something new. I share this as another reminder that there will always be gaps in our education. But there is another reason why life-long learning is so important: There's always more to learn.
Over the weekend we got to talking about astronomy and how Pluto was a planet when we were kids. We were mourning the loss of the ninth planet because we had been talking about 10199 Chariklo. Days earlier, Chariklo became the first minor planet observed with rings. In fact, it doesn't sound like anyone thought it was even possible for a planetary body of that size to have rings. And then we found one.
Chariklo
Put another way, there is no such thing as a complete education. A successful education is one that prepares students for whatever God calls them to do. I think we can say we have been well educated when we have learned how to learn. I think a great education is one that ignites a desire to learn more.
If you're looking for a homeschool curriculum designed to help your children love learning, check out Sonlight. And if you'd like more content to stimulate your brain and potentially introduce you to new stuff, I recommend browsing my Other Posts of Note. Today, I appreciated watching the 40 minute documentary about the Common Core.
~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Guardian
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