Where will my thoughts take me today?
While you are exploring different ways to look at history take a look at Leonardo Da Vinci. Here was a man who was born during an age when your family name would either make your future or destroy it. He was an illegitimate child. He was only given a very rudimentary education in reading and writing. Because of that very lack of forced education he was allowed to become one of the most prolific artists and engineers of his time! His imagination allowed him to create designs for flying machines that would not be built until present day. His drawings of human anatomy were detailed and accurate. His artistic creations still leave us standing in awe!
How did the educational norms of that era impact the thinking of others? People born into “royal” families were educated to lead their people in the same way their fathers had. They were taught the art of warfare in order to preserve their area of control and possibly increase it. They encountered various languages and learned to read,write and do math. Probably the most irritating was that they were taught they were “better” than others and therefore any one else was to be used in whatever way they deemed fit. People in the “lower” classes were only given enough education to do their job. A servant did not need to be able to read. A farmer did not need to know how to do math problems. Education was aimed directly at whatever field the student was going to be in for their lifetime. Quite often the child did not have a choice but was apprenticed into whatever the family could afford. Education was limited partly because it served to keep people in their place in society.
How do the educational standards of today limit or empower students? Is public school set up to indoctrinate the student into doing what they are told and not to use their imagination? Are students only being taught enough to fill a role that others think they should fill? Those questions should make us take another look at Leonardo. What would have become of him if he had been forced to attend public school? He would have been taught to think the way the royalty wanted him to think. He would have been taught a trade. He would not have been encouraged to think independently and develop ideas that were contrary to church and state. What a depressing way to live! Is this what is happening to our public school children?
Leonardo was the pinnacle of home school success for his time! He was allowed to explore and develop ideas of his own. He pushed the boundaries of his time in developing machinery and art. As you guide your home school student through their studies be sure and leave them time to grow like Leonardo did. You are creating the independent, inspiring thinkers of the coming age! These are the children who keep pushing the home school statistics higher and higher!
