I edited the above quote a little to clean it up. (This is a Christian homeschool blog, and bad language is not appropriate.) I watched this movie years ago, before I became a Christian, and this quote has stuck with me. Throughout the last couple years homeschooling, this quote has come back to me many times.
You see, in a way, I totally agree with it. Matt Damon may have been putting down a Harvard educated rich boy, but the fact remains that knowledge comes from books. Granted, my public library may not be as quality as some in larger towns, but there are still treasures inside.
In my experience, a good book can open up whole new worlds. For my children, I am hoping the same thing happens. As I buy books here and there, as I research this and that curriculum, as I try different methods; I can not get away from the fact that I deep down believe a good education should encompass lots of good books.
I also can't get away from the fact that most of my education didn't take place in school beyond basic reading and writing. Oh, I grabbed nuggets here and there. The biggest times of learning and growth for me were not sitting in a classroom, but at home when I was studying or reading. It was figuring the math problem out at the kitchen table in the evening on my own that the information finally stuck. It was reading book after book about a subject that interested me. I always liked fictional series because I felt like the characters became friends of mine as the stories progressed. The biggest growth came as I struggled and studied on my own, not when I had things spoon fed to me.
I can't say I never gained anything from school. There were a couple inspiring teachers. However, it was what I did on my own that helped me step ahead. I remember in the beginning of first grade really struggling in school. My math was not great, but my reading was horrible. I was put in the slow reading group. (You know, the ones where you sit in a circle and have to take turns reading aloud. The one where if you mess up a word you feel like everyone is laughing at you.) I felt dumb. I just couldn't seem to get it. Then, I spent a weekend at my grandmothers. She had a whole collection of Little Golden books. The same characters I watched on Saturday Morning cartoons were in the books. ( They were Sylvester and Tweety.) They interested me. I sat and read those books over and over. They were actually probably a little difficult for a first grade reader. They were meant to read aloud to preschoolers. However, I realized that weekend that I could read, and read well. After that, my reading skills just flew. I was given the basic skills, and advanced with them when I felt confident.
My oldest daughter loves to read. She became obsessed with one of the American Girls, and read all of that character's books. She never read the other ones. The one she read, though, bleed through to other reading. When she became interesting in Cleopatra, she read every book she could find and watched lots of movies. She didn't concern herself with grade levels. She just read and absorbed the information like crazy. In fifth grade she read her first Shakespeare play. Romeo and Juliet was reread over and over. When she walked into her freshman English class and was assigned the book, she already knew the play almost by heart.
Our homeschooling adventure is in it's second year. I've tried to incorporate many books. I am drawn to literature rich curriculum. I freely admit I am a chicken though. I am the first one to worry that I'm not covering enough or doing enough. I'll question myself over and over. It's a process. I have learned more this year than I ever though I would. As tough as this year has been, I have learned a lot.
When my husband and I first began to homeschool, it was a "Let's try this out and see how it goes" attitude. I guess I kept it in the back of my head that I could always send my kids back to public school if I wasn't a good teacher. That has kind of left my head now, and it's a relief. I don't feel like I have to teach a scope and sequence that matches the public school system any longer. I can do other things. I am slowly gaining more confidence. My husband and I over the last couple years came to the conclusion that we don't want our children in the public school system any longer.
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