Uncharted Learning

When I was young, we were not allowed to say of food that we didn't like it. That sentiment was to be expressed "I haven't learned to like that yet." Out of habit, I still say this of some foods like mushrooms and olives. But the saying likely opened me up to learning to like some things, like peanut butter and watermelon.

I like the idea of learning to like everything, even beyond food. So when I saw the book The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, I picked it up to try again, though I remembered not getting it and not liking it at all when I last cracked it. (Probably some time in my early teens.)

Wow! I'm baffled that it once didn't speak to me! It's so the song of my soul now!

And of course when I read it now, I find all sorts of messages related to homeschooling. All roads in my mind lead there, apparently. So here is one I'm following with the little prince....

He has left his own small planet to escape a flower he loves, but that torments him. He comes to another small planet whose soul inhabitant is a geographer. The little prince is intrigued by this "scholar who knows the location of all the seas, rivers, towns, mountains, and deserts." He admires the planet and asks the geographer about all of these things and discovers the man knows nothing of them.

"But you are a geographer!" the prince insists.

The geographer explains he is NOT the explorer. "It is not the geographer who goes out to count the towns, the rivers, the mountains, the seas, the oceans, and the deserts. The geographer is much too important to go loafing about. He does not leave his desk." Having never met an explorer, the geographer's knowledge is dormant.

This geographer gets excited when he realizes the little prince has been elsewhere and thinks he will begin the process of recording what the little prince knows. (It's a very formal process, involving confirming the character of the explorer and having proofs furnished, etc.) The little prince is then shocked that the geographer has no interest in recording the thing on his planet that to him is the most noteworthy, that brings him the greatest joy: the flower.

So true to life! Therefore, and inescapably, so true to homeschooling! Which is the more difficult profession? Explorer or geographer? Are our schools filled with children too busy learning important things to leave their desks? And how often does school learning teach children to disregard that knowledge which will bring them the greatest joy?

Though we tend to feel some uncertainty about the process, it's wonderful to be a homeschooler. Embrace the uncertainty with the adventurous spirit of an explorer. Though our learning journey may be a bit uncharted, we will certainly come to know what is worth knowing!

And if you have your own deep thoughts about The Little Prince and homeschooling, share them in the comments!