One of the fun parts of educating is helping children discover and notice, for lack of a better way of saying it, “life’s rich pageant.”  I recall a professor of Shakespeare I had in college when I did not do well on the first exam and I went to her to learn how to do better.   She pointed out that I was missing the “good stuff” when I read the plays. . ..the depth of character, the archetypal insight, the beauty of the language.       So often the experience of schooling, because we (ironically) sacrifice the austerity aspects that actually foster BETTER education in some regards, detracts from the “good stuff.”  Parents (and teachers who can sort the wheat and chaff of cumbersome educational systems (that I’m not condemning, but about which I am pointing out the drawbacks)), can help learners (ALL learners. . .because all learners are the wheat!!) discover the “good stuff”. . ..the nuance and subtlety available when we look.   When we know how to look—-when we’ve been shown to look.

spring:  to rise, leap, move, or act suddenly and swiftly, as by a sudden dart or thrust forward or outward, or being suddenly released from a coiled or constrained position:to spring into the air; a tiger about to spring.

spring: to cause to fly back, move, or act, as by resiliency, elastic force, a spring, etc.:to spring a lock.

spring:  a leap, jump, or bound.

spring:  a sudden movement caused by the release of something elastic.

might as well be spring!

While many think. . .hey, it’s summer.   Let’s forget about school for a while.   I’d say it’s a golden opportunity to reflect on what went well, what didn’t go well and what we want to see more of in our child’s education, particularly if we are educating them from at home or in a small group.  Scissors and Glue organizes most things in terms of themes.    My challenge to parents who will be home-schooling children in the fall is:  begin your list of themes now.   Anything. . .birds, flowers, types of boats, types of cars, etc etc. . . we must engage students in being captivated by learning!

As we look ahead, and as we look back, it’s important to remember that the schooling choices we make for our children are ready to be written. Rather than seeing this as a daunting task, we should embrace the fact that the selection has likely opened up more than it has closed as the pandemic is more and more behind us. Now is the time to ask ourselves what actually improved when everything stopped or slowed down and we had a chance to explore new resourcefulness, creativity and parameters. In the coming months, Scissors and Glue will both explore and offer robust choices for K-12 and developmental schooling going forward.