Stonehenge

We drove back to Yakima, just the boys and I. John always does the driving and I missed the napping and scenery watching I usually get to do! One side benefit though was we could stop as much as we wanted without anyone counting the potty breaks and groaning with frustration after each stop...so we finally got to see the Stonehenge replica outside of Goldendale on the Columbia River. It has such a rugged beauty, and fits perfectly in the harsh terrain. We read the educational signs provided and the boys filled me on the rest-love homeschooling because I learn so much. I don't know how many times I offer some tidbit of historic or scientific info and my students turn around and say "oh yeah! and did YOU know that..." and turns out they teach me something new. Once you teach them to read, you teach them to self-teach. So much of what I do now is provide great books, find learning opportunities for all of us and basically, get out of their way because these little sponges are soaking up WAY MORE than I could ever provide. That is why I can be both very aware of my own limitations and yet totally unafraid to homeschool. I think it was Yates who said "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." Yes. Exactly.

So as Mom/Teacher my last few years have been about lighting a fire but once it's lit, they choose to keep it going. I can make it easier-stop the drafts, add combustible material, fan the flame but the time will come when that flame of knowledge-seeking and truth-finding will be totally their own, to feed or let die out. I hope and pray they will get so used to it's fiery brightness that they won't be satisfied with what society calls heat.