Love and Genius

Back in the swing of things in a home school envir-
onment sometimes means that your swing lags. Mine lags recently. I don't know that I want to read anymore about ancients. Hammurabi, Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Egyptians, Assyrians, Phoenicians, Babylonians. It's so entertaining some days, I can put my youngest to sleep. And when he drifts off to sleep I wonder, what's the point?

I recently ran into a good friend, they inquired what was new and how the children were doing. How was school and what were we studying. I rattled off the list above and the response I got was "Wow, your kids are going to be so smart because you home school!"

This made me think of two things, I realize that this is earth shattering, that I, as a stay at home Mother would have the capability to pull that off, the thinking thing. But hold onto your hat because I had more than one thought. See! I knew you would be impressed. It didn't even give me a headache.

My two thoughts are reoccurring. First, mainly because I am often questioned why I choose to home school, thus I do think about, on particularly shitty days, WTF possesses me to keep the offspring home. And when pressed, I admit that there are a multitude of reasons for keeping my children home for their education but when we read good literature and enjoy the conversation that it invokes, as I watch my youngest drift off to sleep because he is tired and no one is going to tell him that should do otherwise, I realize, unequivocally, the greatest reason that I keep the offspring home is because, I am their mother, their parent, I love them and I don't want to miss the moments.

The second thing I thought of after this comment of "they'll be so smart", was this. What does smart get you? I know smart. I know genius. I know gifted, real gifted, not just the "every child is gifted and has talents", but the real deal. It's a trait that runs in John Boy's family. And my children inherited it.

Now when I tell you that it runs in the family, that means that I know "genius" from old to young. And I wonder, what does it get you? I not only have family that are certifiable "genius" I also have friends who test in the "genius" range. And I wonder, what does it get you?

In our society we value intelligence. We admire those individuals that seem to posses that label of being smart. But, in my limited experience, it doesn't seem to gain these individuals anything more than a pat on the back. It certainly doesn't make them wealthy and it never makes them good at passing on their intelligence. In other words, they don't make good teachers. So, if I am smart enough to "teach" my children it isn't a guarantee that I can educate them.

Now for arguments sake, what if I am "stupid". Or, even better, ignorant. Does it them make me less qualified to teach my children at home? That's a hard sell for me personally. I attended college and I met a fair number of individuals who 1)Couldn't find their way out of a cardboard box, but somehow obtained that alluring piece of paper, a diploma, upon graduation and 2)a larger number of individuals who began their college careers pursuing a subject of choice, only to find that it was harder than what they were willing to invest the time for, and so fell back on what many of us do, teaching. What does this prove? That any monkey who jumps through the right hoops can get a degree and that there is some solid truth in the old adage, "Those who can do, those who can't, teach." Neither of which makes you smart or smart enough to pass your smarts onto another generation.

We obsess about "smartness" in the western world. We hover over our children, their education and their academics. Whether the school they attend will make them smart, get them into a good college and the good college into a good career. And if they are smart, well that just makes it easier for them, right? A shoe in for good grades, good schools and a high paying job. Right? Or does it?

Western society is not set up to nurture intelligent children and adults, not the way it dotes over athletes and sports figures. Especially outstanding ones. While we have the odd notable personality such as Albert Einstein, we also have many extremely intelligent people working in occupations that are considered among the lowliest, as may be attested by a review of the membership lists of Mensa (the club for the top two percent on intelligence scales).

Education systems in countries whose primary interest is in wealth accumulation encourage heroes in movies, war and sports, but not in intellectual development. Super intelligent people manage, but few reach the top of the business or social ladder. In classrooms, the smartest kids tend to be left out of more activities by other children than they are included in. They are "odd," they are the geeks, they are social outsiders. In other words, they do not develop socially as well as they may develop intellectually or even physically where opportunities may exist for more progress.

At the end of the day the smartest of our population are outcast, odd ball, geeks. People who get lost in the fray, generally have obscure occupations in low paying fields. They tend to suffer from low self-esteem, depression, A.D.D., A.D.H.D, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Bipolar Disorders and isolation. In many cases those of us who have smart children suffer the same problems as our children. How dare we try and make our children seem better than their peers, this isn't a one-up game! All children are smart and gifted. Yes, I am painfully aware and so I don't like to tell the world that my children are smart. The world will figure it out in due time.

Do you want to be smart? Will it make your academic life easier? Sure it will. Does it guarantee success and wealth? No.

Genius runs in the family and for the love of my smart children I will keep them home in the hopes that they can avoid the social downfalls of a high I.Q. Maybe they will even find a career in life that pays them enough money to enjoy some finer things. Ultimately, I want just one thing, their happiness.