caring for kids

This eloquent piece struck a chord with me.  So much of homeschooling is letting go of what you think you know.

My children all learned to read without instruction. But that doesn't capture what was going on:  my kids had warmth and support, they were read to and allowed to explore, they had real food and calm days. They had a lot of control and choices that were theirs. They didn't learn to read without any help: they learned to read by being supported and allowed to grow.

I sometimes wonder what it would feel like to be in a country where we knew that anyone who was sick would get care.  I think it would feel really, really good to live there in a way none of us can know.  And I really do believe that if we had schools that allowed families to pick and choose to fit their needs, if we put families and kids ahead of tests and grades and employment schemes, we could accomplish far more than we imagine.  

Democracy and Caring About Each Other–by George Lakoff | Tikkun Magazine:
"That is why we support a renewed focus on public life, a public life that includes all Americans. We should focus on the public nature of our shared responsibilities. 
Public life means meeting our shared responsibilities, caring for one another, and building the mutual trust upon which democracy depends. The recommendations below are special cases of these moral principles. They also represent a special case of a general strategy — to restore public life to American democracy."

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