Life is Difficult

Most do not see this truth that life is difficult. Instead they moan more or less incessantly...about the enormity of their problems, their burdens, and their difficulties as if life were generally easy, as if life should be easy.

M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled.

It's timely to be reminded of this. The kids and I need to buckle down and get back to school and my mind is railing against it. Yet, strangely enough, I want my kids to learn this.

Many choose homeschooling because they want their children to have fun, they want their kids to have a "happy" childhood. In opposition to the imposition of school, they want their children's learning to be self-directed. And that's fine. If I knew how to do that without raising brats, I would.

It makes a certain amount of pedagogical sense, too: as an adult, one doesn't tend to learn much of anything about anything unless one wants to learn. To produce a "life-long learner" then, one wants to be instill the motivation to learn: the curiosity and the drive. (Assuming one can impart these things. That's a pretty big "if," I think.)

However, the danger with this approach to learning, for me, in my inexperienced hands is producing kids who will expect that life should be easy; that their pursuits shoud conform to their interests and that anything else is an unfair imposition.

And, of ourse, that particular attitude is extremely disabling. I know. I have it myself.

So, if the objective is to teach that life is difficult (and one should not expect otherwise) what is one to do to produce children who can meet the challenge?

The old-fashioned Virtues make sense in this context: self-dicipline, work, courage, perseverance, and responsibility. Two attitudes are crucial: fortitude and cheerfulness.

The Charlotte Mason approach to education stresses the building of character; the training of habits in the early years. It's a good approach and I haven't done it.

So, where do I start?

I have to model it, myself, of course. That's a subject I'll just mention and leave for the moment because then this would be all about me and I want to figure out what would be best for them.

Chores?

I need to think some more.