It’s That Time of Year

The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives.
~Robert Maynard Hutchins

Yes, it’s that time of year. No, not Christmas, but the beginning of the school year. Like the quote above states: the object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives.
For most of my son’s lives, their education was acquired in the non-traditional form of homeschooling; living life and learning have always gone hand-in-hand.

For the first time in nearly 12 years, the start of the school year does not include homeschooling any of my sons. My youngest son is now a full time college student, heading off to someone else’s classroom five days a week. This is a wonderful feeling and, for me, it does seem sort of like Christmas.

My boys are not strangers to the local college. The oldest began taking courses there part-time when he was 14 years old; the other two got dragged along for the ride, often working on their own school work in the gathering areas at the college. Since they all began taking college courses while in high school, all of my sons graduated from high school a year earlier than their same age peers.

It has been satisfying to see the boys navigate their way through a large college campus, often being the youngest in their classes. Many are surprised to find that they were educated at home for most of their grammar school and all of their high school years. The years of learning and working with a wide variety of people, from the very young to the elderly, shows in how confident they are in the world.

Sending the youngest off to take college courses full time really is a gift. Like my older sons, he has proven time again that he can think for himself and make good decisions. It truly is a “present” knowing that the education my sons received during their homeschooling years has created a strong foundation for their future.

Onward and upward!

~Karen