Education is Life

One of Charlotte Mason‘s three prongs to education is that “Education is a life.” Education is not something made for a few hours out of the day and then to be pushed aside. Instead we learn through the entire day whether we mean to or not. IT is true children learn best through observing everyday life.

As parents and teachers we often find ourselves afraid of not teaching enough. In fact that is one of the top questions I get from people when they hear we homeschool. “How do you know they are learning enough? What if they fall behind?”

When I am asked this I must use all my will power to NOT roll my eyes. How many kids GRADUATE from the Public school system unable to read? Do basic math? The answer is… Far too many. When children learn at home they get the one on one attention they need and can cover more in a hour or two than most public school kids can in a day.

At home living life children learn math cooking, creating art, and creating. Reading is learned through enjoying good books, reading captions on screens, signs on the road. Children learn true social skills through spending time with people of all ages rather than sitting 8 hours a day in a classroom of same age peers they are not even allowed to speak too.

Children learn about history through amazing stories from elders that have lived through the events themselves. Science is so ingrained in daily life we do not even notice. Children are more than happy to explore light and color on a light table or chemical reactions in the kitchen.

Think back to what you remember in school. Raise your hand if the most memorable lesson you had come out of a text-book while sitting unmoving at a desk… That is what I thought. No the most memorable lesson you had been most likely something hands on. A craft, a science project, or a game. Now ask yourself. “What would it have been like to learn like that every day?”