Once upon a time, there was a homeschool mom,
frazzled, worn out, snappy to her children, and generally feeling defeated. Her
two stepsisters, Worry and Fear, were constantly making snide comments to her
about her effectiveness at educating her children.
“Aren’t you worried that they will fall behind
their peers?” questioned Worry.
“Aren’t you afraid that they can’t get into
college?” asked Fear.
“Aren’t you worried you are forgetting to teach
them something important?” interrogated Worry.
“Aren’t you afraid they are too sheltered?”
queried Fear.
The stepsisters were so awful that they even got
the townspeople to harass the homeschool mom when she was out and about with
her kids. At the market she’d hear, “What about socialization?” At the park
someone would ask her, “Are you qualified to do this?”
Every night the homeschool mom would collapse in
front of the fireplace out of exhaustion and cry herself to sleep. The next
morning she’d wake up determined not to prove Fear, Worry, and the townspeople
correct. She purchased curriculum for at least 12 different subjects to make
sure she didn’t leave anything out. When she found out what the local schools
were doing, she decided to add a couple more subjects she hadn’t thought about.
She came up with beautifully regimented schedules to make sure she could cram
everything into their day. When the children took too long she would shout, “Hurry
up! We still have 5 subjects to complete!” When the children interrupted to
relate a story or ask a question, she responded in a brisk manner, “We’ll deal
with that later. Right now focus on math.” By the end of the day, the
homeschool mom and the children felt stressed, uninspired, and no longer wanted
to even be in the same room with each other.
After months of this routine, the homeschool mom
walked out into the backyard one evening. She realized that she couldn’t do it
anymore. She would have to put the kids in school. She felt she was an abysmal
failure and knew she was turning into a tyrannical mother that she didn’t even
recognize. As she looked up at the moon and contemplated enrolling the kids on
the morrow, she heard the sound of tinkling bells behind her. Turning around,
an astonishing sight greeted her!
A tall, statuesque woman dressed in Grecian
robes with a laurel wreath crown stood in front of her. She smiled serenely at
the homeschool mom, “I have come to assist you in your desire to educate your
children. My name is Scholé and I am your homeschool’s fairy godmother.”
“My homeschool has a fairy godmother?” the
homeschool mom asked incredulously.
“Absolutely. In fact my name, Scholé, is where your
English word school originated. My
name’s meaning has long since departed from any form of school that I’ve seen,”
smirked the fairy godmother, “but I’m here to help you turn your homeschool into
a place of rest and leisure which is what my name means. So tell me, homeschool
mom, what would your dream homeschool day look like?”
The homeschool mom proceeded to outline days
spent in deep conversation and contemplation, quiet afternoons spent curled up
on the couch reading from great books, diving into learning with eagerness, and
ending the days feeling pleased and confident.
When she finished her five minute speech, Scholé
burst into laughter. “You know this isn’t a fairy tale right? I can’t make
every day like that. You are merely human as are your children. You will still
have rough days, even bad ones, but I can help you transform your homeschool
into something that comes closer to that vision,” promised the fairy godmother.
“Here’s what I can give you. I can help you
prioritize the things that are important in this world: truth, beauty, and
goodness. I can help you determine what curriculum and books will cultivate
those traits in both you and your children. I can help you focus on the end
goal, which is not college or perfect scores on a test, but helping your
children be the best adults they can be. I can help you silence the voices of
those stepsisters of yours by giving you the confidence that even though your
school might not look like anyone else’s, you are walking this path knowing
that it is not a sprint, but a marathon. I can transform your homeschool days
by giving you peace that you are educating your children at their pace and to
their strengths despite what the grade level on the book says.”
“Yes,” cried the homeschool mom in despair, “I
want that! What do I need to do?”
“You need to throw out what you believe school
to be,” answered Scholé, “and learn what teaching from a place of rest is. Not
rest meaning that you are doing nothing, but rest in that you are doing
everything that needs to be done for the goal of nurturing souls.”
“I will, Fairy Godmother! I will!” asserted the
homeschool mom. “And since you mentioned transformation earlier,” she asked
sheepishly, “is there any way you could transform me to look like you?”
“Oh, honey,
remember this isn’t a fairy tale!” Scholé responded saucily over her shoulder
as she glided away to the next homeschool in desperate need of leisure and
rest.
I hope you enjoyed my autobiographical
description of how I learned about scholé. If you’d like to read some other
great definitions of what this teaching from rest and leisurely homeschooling
is all about check out my fellow Everyday Scholé blog buddies:
Do
your homeschool days resemble the before or after transformation above?
Let
me know in the comments below.
Chelli