Our Aftereffects of Homeschooling by Jon Remmerde
Juniper and Amanda grew up, did very well in college, graduated from college and went out into the world on their own. Amanda works in a bookstore and is happily married. She and her husband carry on the rural tradition as much as they can. They have a large garden and sell some vegetables. Brian works on a ranch.
Juniper lives in Seattle. After some time away from school, she studies part time for a Master?s Degree in teaching while she works full time to pay her living expenses. She will be married in June.
We all still reap the benefits of home schooling. Though our daughters have grown and gone out on their own, we are still a close family, keep in close touch, and see each other as much as we can. After our daughters had gone out on their own, Laura decided to finish the college she had started so many years before, before we met, married, and started our family. She got her Bachelor’s Degree and then went on for her Master’s Degree so she could be a qualified teacher in the public schools.
She organized and taught in a home schooling cooperative for three years. Her experience as the main teacher for our daughters (I was the other teacher, but taught secondarily to earning a living.) helped her know how to teach more than the degrees did, though the degrees were necessary for official qualification.
During the time she taught children in the home schooling cooperative, Laura and I went to a bookstore and spent about an hour and a half picking out books for children learning to read and more complex books that she will read aloud to those children.
After she began picking out books appropriate for her students, first and second graders, Laura was bothered by the prices of the books. She said, "I won’t get reimbursed for these, because I want them to be among my tools as a teacher, not to belong to the school. I wish I still had all the books we had for the girls when they were growing up."
I said, “There are boxes and boxes of books in storage that we’ve never unpacked. We don’t know what books are in those boxes. We could get them out and go through them."
We moved from Colorado to Oregon nine years ago. We sold and gave away many books, but we still had many. In our family, books are often treasures and friends, not
easily parted with.
We have books that belong to the family and books that belong to individual members of the family. Juniper was already out on her own, and Amanda went soon after we moved. Juniper has not yet settled into a permanent home with adequate storage. Amanda married, and she and Brian live in a tiny house with very limited storage.
We continue to store many of their possessions, primarily books, in our storage shed. That?s what parents are for, once children move out on their own, to store possessions, is it not? I’ve read several articles that say parents should put limits on the time they store their children?s material possessions. "If you don’t come and get it within a year, we will give it away, sell it, or throw it away."
Brave souls who can do that. Maybe I could with clothing, bicycles, sports equipment, any kind of merely material possessions, but I can’t do it with books. Years have gone by, and still we have most of Amanda?s and Juniper’s books.
At the bookstore, Laura paid for her books, and we drove home. I moved everything that was in the way, then carried three boxes of books out of the storage shed. Laura sorted through the books in sunshine in the carport and on the planter wall. I heard exclamations of pleasure as I went about other tasks in the area. It is so nice to meet up with old friends after a long time apart.
"Little Bear. We still have that. Here’s Charlotte’s Web. The kids at school saw the movie, so they think they wouldn’t want to hear the book read, but just wait until I start reading it. They’ll love it. Oh, look at this. I thought we gave these away."
Even I, who thought I had other things to do, was drawn to the growing piles of books on the planter wall. "Diana Wynne Jones, Dog’s Body."
"They’re not ready for that."
"No, but I am. It’s been years. I’m ready to read it again."
"I’m going to need a box or a sack for the books I’m picking out."
I brought Laura a box from the house. She said, "Sorting through three boxes is enough for today. We can look at the rest another time." She put the books she picked out in the box I brought for her, and I repacked the three boxes and put them back in the shed.
By late afternoon, we were ensconced in the living room, surrounded by books, memories, and plans. Laura had books on the floor in front of her that called up many deep and pleasant memories, of the books themselves, and of the adventures reading them together became for our family.
I was deep into reading my book, but it was easy for me to come up from the depths to participate in memories that came to Laura.
She told me her plans. "These are the first ones I’ll read. The kids at school love the Little Bear books. I’m so glad we decided to go through these boxes."
Warmth from the late afternoon sun poured in through the windows. Warmth from past memories and a still strong sense of family surrounded us. Plans for these books hinted at warm times in the near future. The pile of books, many of them over thirty years old, knit together all the years of our family’s education with the present, with the future.
Good books are really powerful. I looked at Laura daydreaming, remembering, and planning ahead in warm afternoon sunshine. Then I sank back into the depths of my book. After twenty-five years since I first read the book, I remembered only enough of it to add a friendly, familiar feel to what was rapidly becoming a new adventure.
About the author:
Jon Remmerde has been writing and publishing essays and poetry about family, homeschooling, wildlife, and the joy of existence for more than 30 years. His website has samples from his books, which can be ordered online or from any bookstore. Somewhere in an Oregon Valley is about his family’s eight and a half years taking care of a remote cattle ranch in northeastern Oregon. Quiet People in a Noisy World is a collection of 72 essays, 54 of them previously published in newspapers and magazines. Visit his web site today: http://www.remmerde.com
Jon Remmerde also helps writers to write better. He tutors , edits writing, and can even help people write books. Most work is done through email. He has helped more than a dozen writers with their work and all have had their work published. Visit Jon’s website for more information.
http://www.remmerde.com
