And That's No Hogwash

So today I got to hear this about my daughter: "She's the kind of student every teacher dreams about having in a class."

Which is kind of ironic, given that this is only the 2nd classroom type of class she's ever taken in her life.

I remember when the kiddos were little and people were so worried that unschooling was going to prepare my kids for a life of freakish outsiderness, that if they ever wanted to take a class in something, they'd be completely unable to do things like sit still, pay attention, raise their hands. Because goodness knows, you have to start learning how to do that kind of thing in kindy you know, or you'll never learn it.

Turns out it's all a bunch of hogwash, or codswallop, both of which are excellent words to toss out frequently. My favorite teacher ever in school used to shout "Hogwash" at the top of his voice whenever a student got a wrong answer. He also used to twirl his eyebrows into strange little pointy things and he reminded me of Frank Morgan, who played five roles in the Wizard of Oz including of course the Wizard and the gatekeeper of the Emerald City.

But I digress. I guess my point, if I happened to have one, was that the things we think are necessary to start drilling into kids' heads at a young age really aren't. And at any point if they really want to do something they'll learn whatever they need to know in order to accomplish that thing. And chances are, since they want to be learning it at that point, it will come effortlessly as well. No hogwash there.