He squinted into the morning sun. Was it was safe to turn? The bright light made it impossible to see the intersection. He paused a moment. He didn't need to see the houses, the lawns, the trees, even the parked vehicles on the side of the road. What he needed to know was if there was a car stopped at the adjacent corner or not.
Nothing moved.
He turned right.
Intersection
I am often amazed by how little we need to know to make decisions. This narrow focus on the bits that matter enables us to live incredibly efficient lives.
But it also limits us.
My wife started working in our garden yesterday. A friend came over to help. They got to chatting about Victory Gardens. Apparently, many American families during WWI and WWII didn't know how to garden. So, we got Victory Garden videos describing what one was and how to do it. We quickly lose the skills and knowledge we don't use.
One of the benefits of being a homeschool parent is that you get to learn (or re-learn) things that do not fit into the minimum amount of information you need in the rest of life. Homeschooling, then, expands your horizons. In contrast, the problem of "teaching to a test" is that the minimum amount of information is predefined!
So whether you are gardening, reviewing fractions, rediscovering a remote portion of history, or simply taking in the beauty of literature, may you enjoy the enriching nature of homeschooling. You have an opportunity to see more than I did while stopped at the intersection this morning. You can take in the houses, the lawns, the trees, even the parked vehicles on the side of the road. You have the privilege of going beyond the bare minimum.
~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester
