Education what is it?

Noah Webster's definition of education:
The bringing up, as of a child, instruction; formation of manners. Education comprehends all that series of instruction and discipline which is intended to enlighten the understanding, correct the temper, and form the manners and habits of youth, and fit them for usefulness in their future stations. To give children a good education in manners, arts and science, is important; to give them a religious education is indispensable; and an immense responsibility rests on parents and
guardians who neglect these duties.. Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary.


I have been thinking a lot lately of what makes one educated. Mostly in terms of what my role is here at home as an educator of my children. I got to thinking about whether or not in order for my children to be educated they needed to be proficient in filling out workbook pages, reading at an early age, a spelling guru, in an advanced math class, scoring really high on ITBS tests, memorize a lot of facts and dates, or any other tool used to judge knowledge. I have decided no they do not. I do not need a stack of workbooks here for them to fill out each day. I do not need them at the table each morning at a certain time. I do not need a set schedule. I do not need to do "school at home". I need to educate them. I want them to learn about what interests them. If one of my children wants to watch a video on the history of our country and wants to watch it for hours - then why not? Even if that means that science goes undone for that day. So what? Who says science has to be done everyday? I call a day at the zoo a great day filled with science, we had a day trip to the zoo a few weeks ago.

Today, I had a child who read for about 2 hours, because he was interested in that book. A month ago I would have told him he had to put it down so he could get his other lessons done. Really? That makes no sense to me now that I think about it. I have been living in fear, and I am done. This is a house of education. A house where changing flat tires counts as education. Where making a diving board out of a 2x4, the monkey bars, and some bricks is education. Where cooking lunch is education. Where learning to care for horses is education. Where learning to serve one another is education. Where building a patio is education. I could go on and on.

Yes, I still have some workbooks, the kids do them almost daily, however, the stress has left. The workbooks are for the few things I am not comfortable with them learning in any other way - math for example. I am renewed as are they. We are learning a lot, learning what we would like to, for as long as we would like to, and when it interests them. I am no longer in fear of what someone else may think of my kids not filling in the blanks, regurgitating information after I spoon feed them, or reading a little later then what others say is the right time. Which leads me to something else.....who says? Who says what the right age for a child to read is? How is that even known if you do not know the child? Who says what has to be learned and when? At this point who says is........ all of us as individuals here. There has never been more educating and learning going on in this house then right now. I wrote everything down they did two days ago that involved educating themselves in some way, shape, or form, it was incredible. School is not 8-3 and 5 days a week at our house, it is all day every day and we are loving it. School is life and life is school.

We are taking a trip to the science station tomorrow, I am looking forward to it and will be buying our family membership! No worries that "science" with a textbook was not done today. I would say that all the thinking and planning of the diving board experiment today was some good science. For a few hours tomorrow there will be science. All is good. They are learning and remembering - because it interests them.