Mental Multivitamin

Wednesday  in mid-morning  Mystie

Breathe a deep sigh of companionship, or supposed future companionship, as you read this little gem:

[Mental Multivitamin](http://mentalmultivitamin.blogspot.com/2003/10/about-m-mv.html): [When other homeschoolers fail](http://mentalmultivitamin.blogspot.com/2007/03/when-other-homeschoolers-fail.html).

I’ve mentioned over the last seven years that I am most decidedly not a homeschooling evangelist — I do not think home education is the answer to all that ails our public school classrooms. Part of the reason that I won’t evangelize or play the role of plump homeschooling mom-cheerleader is that I’m not on-board with the homeschool “party line” — that is, that simply because the kids are homeschooled, they are better prepared than their traditionally schooled peers.
[...]
The fact that we homeschool is among the very last things that we share with people. As a matter of fact, if I can avoid revealing it, let alone discussing it, I will. As I’ve said here and elsewhere many, many times before, I’m not interested in educating the public about homeschooling, I’m bored by idle and small chatter, and I loathe the pigeonhole into which my family is filed once folks learn we homeschool. Sorry. None of the stereotypes apply here, and I’d rather not have my children labor under the smallmindedness of others, so I don’t advertise how they are educated.

I have seen links all over the place for Mental Multivitamin, but I haven’t perused or subscribed to her site at all — until now. I think this one might go into my bloglines, though other might have to go to make room. Here are some selections that drew me to this conclusion:

[I think...](http://mentalmultivitamin.blogspot.com/2007/04/from-archives-i-think.html)

It doesn’t matter how many As we received, how many honors were bestowed upon us, how many diplomas hang in our offices. All of us who aspire to the so-called examined life will, sooner or later, be challenged by our own lack of knowledge, insight, synthesis, etc. At some point, yes, each of us will wonder, “Was I ever smart? What do I really know? What have I actually learned?”

[It all begins with me](http://mentalmultivitamin.blogspot.com/2006/03/it-all-begins-with-me.html).

I don’t know how you approach your work. You asked how to reach your child’s heart, though; I can only tell you how I reach my own children’s hearts and minds:

With as much consistency as possible, I model the behavior and standards I want the kids to maintain.

And I’ve been doing that since we began this adventure.

By necessity, this means I haven’t adopted then abandoned multiple approaches to parenting or learning. It means that I decided on a fairly certain course early on, a course chosen to match my personality and goals well.

And I’ve stuck with it.

[Advice to a new homeschooling mother](http://mentalmultivitamin.blogspot.com/2005/11/advice-to-new-homeschooling-mother.html)

Where parenting and teaching intersect: Focus on the moment you’re in. Sometimes we become so intent on ticking off the events and errands of our lives in some planner or to-do list, that we forget to live. To breathe. To laugh. To learn alongside our children. To enjoy ourselves. We didn’t, after all, choose this path to be miserable, right?

[On writing...and thinking](http://mentalmultivitamin.blogspot.com/2005/12/on-writing-and-thinking.html)

L., a home-educating parent, wrote to ask for “a friendly kick in the butt to point in the right direction.” She was particularly concerned with teaching her children to write and argue clearly and logically. “I never want for them to feel that they can’t participate in a conversation or that their opinion is not one of value. I value their opinions, and I want them to be able to speak with conviction, logic, compassion, and thought.”

[Typical night and day here](http://mentalmultivitamin.blogspot.com/2005/10/typical-night-and-day-here.html)

5:37 p.m.
I call to see if I can foist the library run off on Mr. M-mv. I’m comfy. I dial… and get sidetracked.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“Listen. What’s your ‘love language’?”

“What?”

“You heard me. What’s your love language?”

“What is –?”

“I think its some Dr. Phil/Oprah mumbo-jumbo; sh-, it may even be some religious thing. I don’t know. Like those marriage encounter bumper stickers we sometimes see. I don’t know. ‘Love language.’ Sounds self-explanatory. The language of love, right? So, what’s yours?”

“Um… Well, how about, erm –?”

“See, now, that’s what I thought of, too! I don’t think that’s what they’re talking about, though.”

“You sure?”

“No, but I’m not asking.”

“It’s a good language.”

Insert giggling. “Yes, yes, it is. Seriously, though. Something I can put on M-mv.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 11th, 2007 at 10:00 am and is filed under Governess. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.