Why "Wind Rose Homeschool Academy"?
Names matter. Names are important. They communicate our values and hopes. They are a choice. They are how we say, "This is what this thing is and what it means to us and what we hope it means to you."
The weight of choosing the right words carries into all of our work with our children. In his book Choice Words, Peter Johnston shows the power the language teachers use have in the way children learn and think about themselves. He writes, "Teachers play a critical role in arranging the discursive histories from which these children speak. Talk is the central tool of their trade. With it, they mediate children's activity and experience, and help them make sense of learning, literacy, life, and themselves." Naming our group was a responsibility of much consequence; we were naming ourselves and our children, setting our roles in place. Thus, we weren't going to take the naming of our homsechool group lightly.
A wind rose is very similar to a compass rose, except that in addition to the cardinal directions, a wind rose includes specific information about the speed of the wind in each direction. Wind roses are used in meteorology, air travel, and water travel. Sailors, specifically, use wind rose charts to determine optimum routes.
We see our role, as our children's parents and educators, much like the role of a wind rose. We inform. We guide. We provide tools. But ultimately, like sailors, our children must determine their own course, informed by our experience but not forced. It is our children who map our their course, who choose the best routes for them.
An academy is a group of scholars united together to discuss, debate, consider, and explore together. We see ourselves, the adults, as collaborators in academy, exploring multiple methods for educating children. But, more importantly, we see our children as members of this academy, their voices as valuable as our own, if not more so. They are scholars of their own educational methods, as well as of science, history, math, literature, philosophy, technology, engineering, and whatever other disciplines they find lead them to the joy of true engagement.
The weight of choosing the right words carries into all of our work with our children. In his book Choice Words, Peter Johnston shows the power the language teachers use have in the way children learn and think about themselves. He writes, "Teachers play a critical role in arranging the discursive histories from which these children speak. Talk is the central tool of their trade. With it, they mediate children's activity and experience, and help them make sense of learning, literacy, life, and themselves." Naming our group was a responsibility of much consequence; we were naming ourselves and our children, setting our roles in place. Thus, we weren't going to take the naming of our homsechool group lightly.
A wind rose is very similar to a compass rose, except that in addition to the cardinal directions, a wind rose includes specific information about the speed of the wind in each direction. Wind roses are used in meteorology, air travel, and water travel. Sailors, specifically, use wind rose charts to determine optimum routes.
We see our role, as our children's parents and educators, much like the role of a wind rose. We inform. We guide. We provide tools. But ultimately, like sailors, our children must determine their own course, informed by our experience but not forced. It is our children who map our their course, who choose the best routes for them.
An academy is a group of scholars united together to discuss, debate, consider, and explore together. We see ourselves, the adults, as collaborators in academy, exploring multiple methods for educating children. But, more importantly, we see our children as members of this academy, their voices as valuable as our own, if not more so. They are scholars of their own educational methods, as well as of science, history, math, literature, philosophy, technology, engineering, and whatever other disciplines they find lead them to the joy of true engagement.
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