Who Are You?

This past week felt a bit like a fast paced, real life scavenger hunt, except that we weren't looking for anything. I had mentioned last week that Jenelle and I, along with some other parents, would be leading our homeschool group camp. It was just a short, couple of days type camp at the beginning of the week. After that we raced off to Iowa to join in on the celebration of our nephew’s graduation.

And with lots of our friends' kids graduating this spring, and all of those events surrounding education that happen at this time of year, I can't help but to write at least a little bit about education and the systems that influence our kids.

I believe that we all see a lot of value in our children's education. We seek out ways that our kids can learn and gain knowledge and hopefully one day apply that knowledge with wisdom. Even though we homeschool, I won't be so bold as to say it's the best way for everyone, but I will say that it is what works well for us. I will also say that I believe that it's important to have diversity in our community and nation and that one type of institution isn't capable of maintaining or teaching all of the knowledge that is out there. I see the public schools, the private schools, and the different forms of homeschooling as all being important in maintaining and teaching this. Often in areas where one system is weak the other is strong. I can only imagine how much knowledge the world would lose if we were all taught exactly the same things. Things that are only important for the here and now or things that seem important to one but not another. When I think about the old ways and how things were done in the past, there is already so much knowledge that we've lost. Maybe we can justify it by saying we have a better way of doing things, but still it is knowledge that is lost.

When I think about knowledge and school and learning, I can't help but think about influence. Maybe the individuals that influence others carry a greater weight than the actual system. Everyone is influenced by someone or something. Often influence is the motivation that causes us to seek knowledge in certain areas, to dig a little deeper, to grow into loving a certain subject and becoming passionate about it. And that is often what's behind finding more knowledge.

I was reminded of this at the end of our homeschool camp. We were almost finished cleaning up and I mentioned that I thought I saw an indigo bunting earlier. Immediately, Jean, one of our homeschool parent friends, said, "Did you see the bird with a nest in the stump out by the frisbee field?"

We hadn't and so we went out to take a peak. And there in the stump was a pretty blue bird. I thought that maybe it was the indigo bunting, but when it flitted out I saw the orange on its chest. So I knew it was a blue bird. And that's precisely when I thought of my grandma. She loved bluebirds. The only problem was that during her time, bluebirds were very scarce. DDT was a popular insecticide that was used in the 40's and 50's for agriculture. Originally it had been created to control malaria. It worked on the bugs and mosquitos, but also the birds that ate them. Fortunately they figured it out before wiping out all of the birds and whatever was next in the chain of life. Lucky for us, most of our bird populations have rebounded.

Grandma loved her birds. Because there weren't lots of trees right by the house there weren't tons of birds either. But Grandma did what she could to attract them. And when a new bird would appear, she would try to figure out what kind it was. She had a pair of 8x35 binoculars and a bird book and we would try to figure out what the bird was. And we could look from her house back to the pond, and with binoculars we would check out any passing ducks that would stop in for the day. Canvasbacks, green winged teal, buffleheads, just to name a few. I often think she knew without looking them up, what kind they were, but for my sake and sharing the fun, she would get out the book and we would look for them. And that started my love for the birds. Now I'm not an expert on birds, but I love watching them and seeing what different kinds of birds we have around us. I love seeing a new kind of bird and then trying to figure out what it is. For some that may seem pointless. But for others, what's happening to the wildlife around us can be an indicator of whether or not we are managing our natural resources and environment correctly. I can attribute some of my love of the outdoors to my grandma. 

So as the school year ends, we celebrate with the kids that have finished another year, or graduated from a specific season. We are proud of their accomplishments! But even more, we need to be thankful for the teachers, the coaches, the Grandma and Grandpa's that influence our kids. And maybe we should take it a step further and ask ourselves, "are we influencing anyone, and are we doing that in a positive way?"

Today is Memorial Day, the day that we remember and honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms and this country. Those freedoms don't come for free. Today, as we honor the fallen, let's also take some time to examine ourselves, what we can give, how we influence others and especially our impact on the next generation.

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