Words Rewritten

A collection of words I find to be..

[wordsrewritten]

There is no other place that can both calm and stimulate the senses. No other place where judgment, comparison, and fear of failure are nonexistent. And no other place that can ignite the imagination and silence us with wonder all at once. Nature never bores, never disappoints, and never tires of delighting us with its marvels. One look at a sunset, one splash in a creek, one firefly in cupped hands before bed gives us the chance to collide with wonder.

-Ainsley Arment Call of the Wild + Free

[wordsrewritten]

"Once upon a time, all children were homeschooled. They were not sent away from home each day to a place just for children but lived, learned, worked, and played in the real world, alongside adults and other children of all ages.”

-RACHEL GATHERCOLE

[wordsrewritten]

If you want to know what a child is actually learning, just listen.

What lights them up? What do they talk about? What do they wonder aloud about? What do they want to know? What do they reveal when you ask them to repeat back to you something they've read or heard? Learning in relationship provides a rich environment in which to both learn and express what is learned.

-Ainsley Arment Call of the Wild + Free

[wordsrewritten]

“What we all want, as parents, is to find the educational situation that matches our child's particular blend of passions, abilities, and talents; meshes with our vision for our kids; and teaches to our child's strengths while gently improving on weaknesses.”

-SUSAN WISE BAUER

[wordsrewritten]

"Education,'" as Einstein said, "is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school." There is certainly a time for applied studies and rigor, but it is wise to remember that only the things that stick truly matter.

-Ainsley Arment Call of the Wild + Free

[wordsrewritten]

"You've always had the power, dear;

you just had to learn it for yourself."

-GLINDA THE GOOD WITCH

[wordsrewritten]

Children are natural learners. They don't need trained teachers to learn. They simply need a caring guide to walk the path with them, allowing them to explore, investigate, and pursue what's before them.

-Ainsley Arment Call of the Wild + Free

[wordsrewritten]

If your child is introverted, hangs back in social situations, or prefers to observe rather than engage, respect her. Give her space. Continue showering her with love, and allow her to emerge when she's comfortable. After all, as Rumi said, "It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder."

-Ainsley Arment Call of the Wild + Free

[wordsrewritten]

I am weird. You are weird. Our children are weird. And we wouldn't have it any other way because weirdness births dreamers and artists, authors and poets, mathematicians and scientists, and those who see the world through a different lens.

Weird, as it turns out, is wonderful.

-Ainsley Arment Call of the Wild + Free

[wordsrewritten]

OH CHILDHOOD,

WHERE DID YOU GO?

Oh childhood, where did you go?

We sped up the process, thinking that's how you'd grow.

Gave up fort building and climbing trees.

To avoid muddy hands and skinned-up knees.

Enrolled you in things you were expected to do.

Not stopping to realize it was for us more than you.

Remind me--giving up daydreams was better for who?

When did we quit dreaming, to notice or care?

Stop looking at stars or remembering they're there?

We put you on buses and shipped you away.

To preschools and programs and preceptors for pay.

Who said the experts know better than us, any way?

You were made for summers that go on forever.

Getting lost in good books in inclement weather.

Making up stories and writing new songs.

Until long past your bedtime and the porch light comes on.

No need to rush childhood; it goes by too fast.

What you need is the time to make it all last.

You belong out in nature, staring up at the sky.

Blowing dandelion puffs and watching them fly.

Turning clouds into shapes that you want them to be.

Fending off dragons if that's what you see.

If only there were a way to be wild + free.

We read the great books but ignore their wisdom.

Go our own way instead of trusting what's in them.

Childhood is a treasure, a gift to behold.

I'm sorry to say you've been traded and sold.

Oh childhood, where did you go?

Oh childhood, say it ain't so.

We'll bring you back home if it's the last thing we do.

We'll reclaim the wonder; that's my promise to you.

-Ainsley Arment Call of the Wild + Free

[wordsrewritten]

“We all desire to give our children the best advantages in life, to prepare them to be responsible adults. But sometimes we forget that before we can be adults, we must be children. If you want to give your kids the best chance at being healthy adults, give them a childhood.

Dear friend, don't let a bustling culture determine the needs of your own children. You get to choose how they grow up. You can protect their time, energy, and imagination. You are the gatekeeper of the garden of their childhood.”

-Ainsley Arment Call of the Wild + Free

[wordsrewritten]

"Lack of free play may not kill the physical body, as would lack of food, air, or water, but it kills the spirit and stunts mental growth. Free play is the means by which children learn to make friends, overcome their fears, solve their own problems, and generally take control of their own lives. It is also the primary means by which children practice and acquire the physical and intellectual skills that are essential for success in the culture in which they are growing.”

-Peter Gray

[wordsrewritten]

Have you heard the story of the woman who prepared a Christmas ham each year by first cutting off the end and throwing it away? Year after year, her husband and children watched her repeat this ritual until, finally, they asked her why she did it. She said her mother had taught her to do it. Why, she had no idea. They asked Grandma why she did it, but she couldn't tell them either. Her own mother had done it for years. Finally, they asked Great-Grandma, the originator of the practice, and she provided a simple answer--the ham was too big for the pot she owned.

Generation after generation, we've been conditioned to believe that education must be carried out in a certain way, so we refuse to give homeschooling a try, even though we have no reason why. The Industrial Revolution is over. An assembly-line education has been proven to be ineffective, and yet we can't stop educating in the same way. We fear repercussions that no longer exist and feel pressured to conform to systems that were made for uninformed times.

Homeschooling is not the second-rate version of education. It's not plan B for people who dislike public school. And it's not a commune for families seeking ideological asylum. It is an enlightened choice for parents who desire a slower, more intentional way and want their children to thrive as lifelong, passionate learners.

We don't homeschool in order to replicate the classroom at home. We homeschool in order to make the world our classroom, to do more than what the classroom can provide, to go beyond what the conventional institutions of education can offer us.

Homeschooling is like manure. Keep it in one place and it stinks up the room. But spread it around the neighborhood, the forests, and the fields, and it enriches the world.

-Ainsley Arment Call of the Wild + Free

[wordsrewritten]

I want to take a moment and tell you the meaning of your name.

It means Brave One.

(Just do me a favor and don't look it up.)

The next time you look in the mirror, remember these words: Brave One.

And when you hit a wall with homeschooling a month or ayear from now and wonder if you can go on, you're going to heara whisper. Brave One. You might try to ignore it, even laugh it off, but trust me, these words will haunt you.

From this day forward, your name means Brave One.

Courage, dear heart.

You are brave. And don't ever forget it.

-Ainsley Arment Call of the Wild + Free

[wordsrewritten]

“.. believe that childhood is a time to foster wonder, creativity, and discovery through play and exploration. You believe children learn because they want to, not because they're forced to. And you believe in letting them learn at their own pace.”

-Ainsley Arment Call of the Wild + Free

[wordsrewritten]

In time, you will realize that this path isn't just for childhood but for a lifetime of our kids' exploring their own interests; responding to life, not bells; pursuing their passions; and building a life based on purpose, not perfection.

-Ainsley Arment Call of the Wild + Free

[wordsrewritten]

"The more slowly trees grow at first, the sounder they are at the core, and I think the same is true of human beings."

-Henry David Thoreau