Learning in the Absence of Education
Essays on Homeschooling
© Beverley Paine
Index
Homeschool
Australia
A Day in the Life of a Child 'Damaged' by the Modern World
(continued)
Before dinner, Thomas sorts out some of his 'junk' and toys. Although he mostly plays with Lego, his favourite toys from his younger days are stored in boxes in his room. This makes it easy to get them out when friends with younger children come to play. Toys like his dolls’ house, with its little Sylvannian families, and all the clothes and furniture he has bought and made. He tidies up his rock collection, and gives his mum his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and badge collection to pass on to other kids. She suggests he stores them for a garage sale they are planning.
Thomas juices the carrots, while Roger helps make dinner. Everyone is involved in dinner preparation, which usually includes washing the dishes from the day and previous night. Most housework is done co-operatively now that the children are old enough and don't view it as a chore. The animals have been shut up for the night and fed. April is engaging everyone in her conversation about her day, as is Robin. Roger and Thomas share their day too.
Over dinner the news is watched, although after the first few items the conversation at the table hots up as issues from the reports are discussed. Roger and April are most attentive and opinionative, and after eating Thomas slides onto the floor to play with the Marble Game he made two weeks ago.
As it is Monday, 'Friends' is on television. The family sits on and around the double bed (which is in the living room, the house being too small to support rooms for everyone to have a bedroom!) and watches the comedy, having a good laugh. The kids know it isn't 'real life', but a well constructed caricature. Acting is a skill they admire, especially as it is something no one in the family is good at or wants to do. The telly is turned off after the show as over dinner everyone decided to play Cluedo. Sometimes they watch a movie, sometimes Four Corners. Other nights in the week are much the same.
After the game April goes to bed to read. Robin plays computer, and is watched by the boys, who give him tips. Then they do some 'housework' on the computer - the boys learning more about how both software and hardware work. Roger has completed a diploma in computer repair, and he and his dad are starting a business. Thomas is rapidly picking up the knowledge and skills in a quiet and confident way, and is often helpful with his suggestions. Mum edits the novel she is writing.
It is always a busy day, although nothing is hardly ever planned in advance. Thomas has grown very comfortable with being able to determine his immediate actions. He loves the freedom and flexibility of his lifestyle. He enjoys being able to drop everything and have a special picnic lunch down the beach, or in the home grown eucalypt forest. Or trek down to work to help Robin. Or spend the day in the garden building steps, ponds or just revamping the vegie patch. Then there are the days spent building as new rooms take shape.
Thomas is a modern child, but not in the suburban 'latch-key' style so often lamented about in the media, or in many home education newsletters. He enjoys all that modern technology offers, without sacrificing his childhood. His imagination, creativity, sense of fun and ability to play are all enhanced by all the technology he chooses to interact with,
whether it is derived primarily from nature, or manufactured by fellow human beings.
Nothing is seen as evil or bad or wrong. All of life is presented as an opportunity to grow and learn. He lives in an aura of open and positive thinking, promoted by his parents. He is learning not to be judgmental and exclusive, but tolerant and inclusive. I hope this intimate account of the day in the life of Thomas, a child many would condemn as 'damaged' by twentieth century living, offers confidence to parents confused by the anti-toy, anti-technology, anti-modern thrust frequently found in an often conservative home education movement. Home education is many different things to
many different families. To some it represents a return to values held dear in former centuries, when television and plastic toys did not exist.
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Excerpt from Learning in the Absence of Home Education: Essays on Homeschooling
© Beverley Paine, 1999
