My latest TED discovery is Peter Benson's talk on How Youth Thrive.
As a mother of two exceptionally gifted children, this topic is close to my heart. Here I have two amazing children (well, all children are amazing, aren't they?) who have such "potential". Their IQ's are nearly off the chart. But what does that mean for them and their lives??
What do I want for them? To be happy? (whatever that means). To earn lots of money? To have high flying jobs? To have lots of friends?
None of that really matters - what I want is for them to thrive. I want them to have a spark, a spirit about them. Be passionate about their lives. Do something meaningful (for them).
The path that we were on - school, commuting, rushing - was taking the spark out of my children's lives. My son in particular was spark-less - he was the opposite of sparkly. How sad that a boy that is capable of so much (thought, imagination, learning, joyfulness) was reduced to a sad little pile, more often than not curled up against the world around him. Even my girl was losing her sparkle - she was beginning to doubt herself and lose her sense of joy.
So for us, this year has been less about getting the academics right (although that has been part of it) and more about finding the spark - what makes us tick, what floats our boat, what puts us on the path to fulfilling lives. We are getting there - no doubt we are much more relaxed, happy, interested and joyful than we were this time last year. I hope that by ditching the school system that did not work for my kids on so many levels, and replacing it with something other than "school at home", I provide them with opportunity to fire up that spark.
It's a beautiful thing to watch :-)
I couldn't agree more and I am happy for you. Your post really resonated with me. In fact I used the same words'loosing her sparkle' to describe our daughter in her first semester of transition. We'd never seen her so unhappy, well morbid is more accurate a word. We did try to negotiate for our daughter, but it was futile to even try to make the educational system into anything other than what it is. Ironically the educational opportunities to really excel and meet true potential that we are discovering while homeschooling could not have been realised in a school. And the cherry on the cake is the joy of learning, the confidence, the energy to pursue questions to find the answers in learning is all coming back. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHappy homeschooling
Thanks for sharing the video I really enjoyed it and it is exactly why we changed what we were doing.
ReplyDeleteOh and I think it is so sweet that Beethoven's Ode To Joy brings your daughter joy :). You have such a lovely family.
Blessings,
Kim
Nothing makes me happier than seeing my babes jumping and excited about their day. When we're off for an adventure, and they're talking loud and laughing and imaginations are flying.... aaah, love that. So, so alive. So I know just what you mean! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that you're on the path to fixing the things that you saw as wrong! Very satisfying, that.
It IS beautiful, Ingi! Thank you so much for those videos—they just made me smile THIS big. :) And I feel so happy for you and your kids, who get to be their True Selves, get to really live in their own skin and experience the world in a way that fits. Ah. How affirming this post is. I am so glad for it!
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