Some days you wake up and you have no idea something special is going to happen THAT day. Yesterday was such a day.
Our last consignment of books for the year arrived in a brown cardboard box.
Inside was “A Thomas Jefferson Education”. I had been meaning to buy this book for a couple of years, but we always got to the end of the year and I’d run out of “education money”. This year I made it a priority.
And when it arrived I peeped inside. Just one page. And another. And a quick look at the contents. And a paragraph from the middle just to get a feel for his style. And the back cover. And the page that tells you what to do first (oh, that was a good one, it said to change nothing yet!).
As soon as the children were in the land of nod,  I picked it up and settled into my favourite rocking chair. I read and read and read. Surprising, really. It’s been an age since I’ve read an education book. I was *over* them. I had heard enough of how everyone else organised their days and what they did with their children - I just needed to get on with living *our* life, without feeling slightly guilty that I wasn’t doing enough of this or any of that. So I learnt to knit and that occupied my hours instead of reading For almost two years.

But this book was different. For a start, he suggested doing with young children exactly what we have been doing with our kids. Now THAT was refreshing! (In case you’re wondering, basically it consists of work them hard at chores round the house, read to them lots and let them use the rest of their waking hours to play and discover who they are - and his definition of young….up to about 12…..is more closely aligned to mine than the rest of the population’s seems to be - I don’t come across many people who are happy with the notion that a ten year old spend his days working round the house and playing for hours on end. “Ten-year-olds should be at school!” What’s more, he then suggests children become “young adults” and not “teenagers”. I am totally with him on that one, and had even been composing a blog post in my head to be used next month when our eldest turns 13!).
I digress.
I had always thought “when they get older they’ll get more formal in their studies”. The odd person (like their Dadda) had enquired, “What if they don’t want to?” and I’d enthusiastically exhorted him to believe that if they loved to learn they *would* be self-motivated. Others suggested we wouldn’t be able to teach them everything they need to know. I clutched another tenet of faith that we’d be able to help them find someone to guide them when the time came.

And here was an author singing my song. I was so excited I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat and willing my eyes to sprint across the pages as rapidly as they could to meet the next idea. I only got halfway, but I knew I was in possession of a precious gem.

Some days you wake up and you have no idea something special is going to happen THAT day. Today was such a day.
Instead of picking up the book again and racing to the finish line, when the littlies went for their afternoon naps and the biggies entered the solitude of their own favourite tomes, I headed for the computer. An idea that had been germinating for a long time burst forth.

I was about to get an education.

Yes, I know I have a bachelor’s degree and a post-graduate diploma (complete with distinction) and the Certificate In The Teaching Of English As A Foreign Language To Adults At Pass A Standard from the University of Cambridge….but I don’t have an education.

I have, however, taken the first step.
This blog is now ready to record *my learning adventure*
While I dream of it one day hosting reviews and articles and ideas and inspiration (that’s the bit I’ve been imagining forever), for now, it will be the place I can jot down ideas as I read and think and learn.