Thu 25 Sep 2008
Christopher Paolini has a good life…
Posted by Susan under Life at Home , Good Things about Homeschooling , Homeschool News
Our kids plan on getting the new book as they enjoyed the other two. I bought the original because it was written by a homeschooler and I wanted to support that. We carried on from there. Their best pal loves the books and knows every detail without apology.
I celebrate that and the fact that Christopher Paolini had a unique educational family life (as so many homeschoolers do) in Montana. His passion has shown success very publicly with a movie and a series of books that are mainstream popular.
I just read the Teacher Magazine article about his new book Brisingr and sensed a vibe throughout the piece that bugged me. This was certainly a creative new way of saying he homeschooled:
Growing up under the tutelage of his parents, Ken and Talita, Paolini had only infrequent contact with children other than his only sibling, Angela, now 22. His parents shared in teaching the children in their early years, then turned to a distance learning program, the American School, for their high school studies.
There were more subtle snipes which didn’t seem to rejoice and accentuate that kids are reading those books who wouldn’t pick up a book before. Harry Potter books did the same.
Christopher Paolini seems to have a good and happy life as a young adult. I think that’s a homeschooling family’s wish in whatever extraordinary manner we choose and definitely not in standardized form.
September 25th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Hey, here is an idea: Warning labels on all his books stocked in school libraries!
“You can read this book, but its successful author was home-schooled and therefore oppressed.”
Probably too many big words, huh?
September 25th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
You had a bad day at the school today….I can tell. <<>>
September 25th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
I liked the quote from Mark Twain, where did you find it?
The academic field is very threatened by home schoolers. The fangs come out whenever they find out we self educate. In their eyes, I am ensuring that my children aren’t under their control. I used to tell people that I was raising revolutionaries, only in the sense that the founding fathers were. I wanted my sons to learn to think like those men, to understand WHY they chose what they did, and laid it all on the line, and to have the guts to do it themselves if it came to that. I still feel like that, even though my sons have not read the things the founders did. At least they know more about the founders than their contemporaries in public schools.
This kind of attitude from the public educators won’t change because they are like the Inquisition, they can’t think any other way. Why should we be surprised when they report something in such a bleak way, as to sound like home education is home prison? They run the school prisons. And if their methods worked, we wouldn’t be here self educating our own children. Like the Inquisition, it may take another generation or two until this generation dies off, and others see the wisdom in home education.
September 26th, 2008 at 5:59 am
Hi Margo, Our family is a big fan of Mark Twain’s and it’s partly because we passed through Hannibal, MO many times on our way to see Kansas family members.
His attitude about education was always intriguing to me:
“Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned.”
“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.”
“Supposing is good, but finding out is better.”
The quote in the header is from Mark Twain’s Civil War.
I’m hopeful that home educators and/or children raised as free thinkers will have an impact on our society (and government) as well. The sooner, the better.
September 26th, 2008 at 9:49 am
I really do think that homeschoolers are a mystery to many in the field of education.
The closest they might come to “getting us” is when some parade test scores achieved by some homeschoolers who have done well, but even that does not paint an accurate picture.
As Mark Hegener says, we are a small slice of the American Pie. I think you captured the heart of what motivates many a homeschool parent — for their children to have a good and happy life.
The mystery really begins for some when they see that children can have a good and happy life, not comply with all the national standards and still succeed!
September 26th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Mary, you are completely right. They don’t get us. A great many in the P.S. realm are so caught up in the scores race that they fail to see the big picture.
Homeschoolers tend to be big picture type of folks.
Yes, Susan. It was a very bad day, although I’ve been told it was fairly typical.
It was certainly an affirmation. I’m glad we homeschool!
September 27th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Hey, we got the book! I haven’t been given any time with it yet, but I’ve been told it’s good!
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:09 pm
My son just devoured Chronicles of Narnia. Wonder if he’d ever be inspired to write a book? He’s pretty set on becoming a scientist. I’ll have to let him know that scientist can write, too.
Look forward to sharing this series with him. Thanks for mentioning it!