Harriet Tubman Studies

A few weeks ago I took my youngest daughter to see Harriet, the movie about Harriet Tubman.  It made a strong impact on her.  She loved it, saying it was one of her favorite movies.

Seeing Harriet

I almost didn’t take her.  She can be sensitive and I worried about violence in the movie.  But, I decided that at nearly 13, with me and her grandmother present, she would be okay if we encountered scenes that were too much. 

The movie was pretty tame, but the story was beautifully told.  We left the movie inspired and with a deeper understanding of this heroic woman. 

Yesterday, we went to the library.  It was time for my girl to choose some new topics for her homeschool studies.  She went into the library with Oceanography as a plan... except she has read all the library’s books about oceanography in the children’s section.  She also has read most of the weather and storm books, everything about horses, and much about different animals.  

I told her to browse around and see if any topics caught her eye.  After a few minutes, she pulled out a book about Harriet Tubman meeting Sojourner Truth.  

“I want this.”  She said, her eyes lighting up. 

“Oh ya, you wanted to learn more about Harriet Tubman.”  I responded as I remembered her excitement after the movie.  

I then went on the library’s catalog and looked up all the library’s resources about Harriet.  We came home with a few books and a movie about Harriet Tubman.

Then I remembered that I had watched the movie Hidden Figures without my daughter, and I went in search of that movie to show her.  I love showing her movies of intelligent, strong women.  (I also secretly hoped the love of math would be an example for my math-challenged girl.) We watched that movie this evening, and she enjoyed it also. 

This is a lifestyle of learning.  This is delight-directed learning, following interests and inspirations wherever they lead.  

It’s also the first time my daughter has picked a major that wasn’t something to do with science.  She is studying the Reformation for history right now once a week, so watching her choose a person was very different for her.  

I love that she felt that curiosity spur to life in her.  For a while, I had begun to fear her love of learning was fizzling our while I was busy doing coursework for college.  I had returned to preplanned lessons While working on my own education. My daughter complied, but the mention of “school time” was bringing out the old groans of dread.  

I struggled to get to the library in a timely manner last year because we were so busy.  The fines were ridiculous.  We literally quit going entirely for six months.  For now, I won’t let my daughter check out as many materials at a time.  We’ll just have to be more diligent about keeping up with due dates and make more frequent visits.  

I just couldn’t watch her love of learning fizzle again into duty and dread.  

Writing to Spur the Imagination

My daughter loves to write.  I wanted to add more writing to her day, but I wanted it to be fun and imaginative writing.  My goal is to work up to an hour of writing a day.  Currently, I want to focus on letting her create her own stories before we add in a more official "writing" program.

Last year my girl filled up a composition notebook with her own "book," including chapters and illustrations.  It is super cute.  I thought about doing the same thing this year, but I didn't want her to feel like her special project was "schoolish."  I decided to make her writing time more light. 

I had received a copy of the Fun-School journal, "The Secret World of Talking Animals."   I saved it for this year, knowing it would be a great way to let my daughter's stories become part of our school day.  Every couple of days, I have her working in her Secret World journal.

My daughter does other writing.  She writes for grammar, does copywork and narration work for McGuffey, and has journal entries for her Beautiful Girlhood study.  In this way, she covers many different aspects of writing, all while reading quality stories and literature.  She tends to write a lot when she is delving into her own interests also.

Writing is one of the ways I learn.  I retain better when I write.  I sometimes don't know what I feel or think about something until I write about it.  It's like the process of writing helps to sort out my thoughts.  Writing can be powerful.  I want my daughter to receive the same benefit.

Since she has a natural love for writing, adding in a journal where she gets to make up stories about pictures she gets to color is fun.  I don't think she realized how much she is learning when she writes.  Mostly, I am trying to get her in the habit of writing creatively a couple times a week, building up to longer periods of writing as she gets older.

The Secret World of Talking Animals is perfect for her.  We have spent weeks living with the Borrowers, shared adventures with Aslan in Narnia, and even discovered an amazing secret on the Colorado prairie in Prairie Thief.  It is not unusual for us to imagine that animals can talk.  What would be unusual is to have read all this delicious literature over the years and not find a way to express the ways it grew our own imaginations.