On the verge of a new adventure

I wouldn't have thought that having two young children under 4 would compell me to read online research articles and academic books. But as life (not fate!) will have it the question of how best to home educate the children has made me look closely at the pedagogy of the arts in early years education.

Now, is it kosher for a home educating mother to look at research materials based on the classroom setting? The dilemma that still troubles me, if only a little, is the burst of creative discussion that a group of young children can have which can contribute towards interesting learning situations. But in truth I am not confident that it is to be found in every primary school classroom the majority of the time. Another objection that I often hear from well meaning people is how home educating parents could be depriving children of socialisation available in schools. To that I would say, how did children use to learn and make friends before the age of state education? Large families, playing with neighbours' children and spending time with non-peers was much more likely. Nowadays it is little valued the act of children learning from trustworthy adults other than their own parents, it seems, unless they are paid to do the job. How about youngsters
volunteering at the local city farm or helping their parents with visiting the sick or the vulnerable in the local community? Surely that is not inferior to children being ferried from school to afterschool class, or worse, from class to class on weekends? There are more learning spaces than classes alone.

Anyway it is on the premise about finding out more about early years education in art and the arts that I googled for academic articles. This seems to be almost as fascinating as watching my children reach their own little epiphanies almost on a daily basis. Being able to dip into existing research into education that would feed into my practice with my children is such a joy! While I don't think only trained teachers (as I am one) can do a good job of home education (as I often hear from people who are reassured of my professional background), to me personally it adds another dimension to our joint adventure together as mother and sons. It is not simply an academic challenge but also a practical one - how do I translate what I read into something that serves my children well? We shall see!