Educational Philosophy

The other day, Mom was commenting on the heavy load of books Karis carries in her backpack. I agreed and said Meg, Nate, and Ev are the same. I thought back to my own school days (daze?) and said, "I don't remember carrying a ton of books like my kids do now." That's when Mom let fly with:

"I told Loren, 'Don't even bother bringing those books home.'"

What???

Attempting to remain calm, I asked Mom what she meant. She said she told Loren she didn't think it would do him any good to bring books home from school. As in, you don't need to study or do homework. I asked, "How did that work out for him?" Mom laughed and answered brightly, "Well, he graduated!"

You know, I always thought my slacker approach to studies in high school was due to my own passive-aggressive nature and general lack of interest. I had discovered early on that it was impossible to please my dad with grades. My sisters were amazing students and had ruined the curve for the rest of us. I would bring home all A's and one B and my dad would ask, "Why did you get a B?" Eh, not so motivating. But now I wonder if my mom's less-than-enthusiastic approach might have played a part as well, although I don't remember her saying anything about blowing off school to me.

Interestingly enough, without much effort or concern, I managed to graduate in the top ten percent of my class. I'm sure it helped that my class numbered about a thousand students. Also interesting, I went on to get a college degree in elementary education. (Imagine my surprise to find that college required a lot more effort than high school!) I taught first grade, preschool, tutored, homeschooled my own children, and now work as an educational therapist to help struggling students.

Maybe it is one of those pendulum swings, where we take on the opposite philosophy as our parents; sort of a knee jerk reaction. Or maybe it is one of those situations where, by the grace of God, an unhealthy pattern is not carried over into the next generation. Whatever it is, it's different. It will be interesting to see where my children go and what they do with their educational heritage.

[I should say in Mom's defense that reading was very important to her. I saw her reading a lot. She read aloud to us as children. She took me to the library and provided me with good books. And Dad completely paid for my college education.]