School on the Road

It’s been a hard couple of weeks. Schooling when your travelling isn’t always easy. Little Man needed time with grandma and grandpa, I needed time with my parents. Then my uncle passed away so after coming home, I turned around and went back.

The first week I had a plan. I knew exactly what Little Man was going to work on while we were away from home. Because he was so excited to see his mammaw and pappaw he did much of his work for the week on the trip there, so he wouldn’t have to spend so much time each day working. On the trip down, the first week, he worked on Bible, German, Spanish and Latin, he even did a writing assignment which he dreads most of the time.

The reason he was anxious to get school out of the way as much as possible is because Little Man and Pappaw play pool together. Every time we go they start a ‘tournament.’ They play as many games as pappaw is up to playing and by the time we are ready to leave Jonathan excitedly tells us the wins/loss record. Both are quite the pool sharks. The first week Pappaw won the tournament 23 to 4. The second week Little Man won 4 to 1.

We were able to read 3 chapters in his new literature assignment: The Iliad for Boys and Girls by Alfred J. Church which was a kindle download.
Science and history were on the agenda also. Because he was so motivated he completed a whole  week in just a couple of days.

We came home Saturday only to return on Tuesday. This trip however I was not prepared for school on the road. School therefore became pushed to the side. This trip required education of a different kind. This trip required education in life and death. It’s hard to explain to a child how you can see someone one day and the next day they’ve died. It’s hard to explain why pappaw is sad and because he’s sad he doesn’t feel like playing as much pool. It’s hard to explain what is happening at a wake and at a funeral. It’s hard to give answers to questions that the answers are hard to understand. It’s hard, but it’s necessary.

As a home educator I realize my role doesn’t begin and end between the hours of 8:00 and 3:00. As a home educator I understand that it’s my role to teach my child about life and this week in particular about death. Oh wait, isn’t that the role of a parent? Yep. It is. It is the role of a parent, so I suppose that makes all parents, educators.