Lighting the educational fire

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." William Butler Yates

I need this quote on my wall where I can see it regularly.

It doesn't matter how long I've been in this home educating game I am still de-schooling. And this quote, "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire" is something I need to remember every day I’m interacting with my grandchildren.

Sometimes I get a bit carried away with the gathering of kindling for that fire... I bet most of you reading this can relate to that!

From the moment my eldest grandchild was born I began collecting kindling, building on existing collection of games, puzzles, toys and materials left over from home educating my children. My open plan living space became full of shelves brimming with awesome educational resources.

As I'm never sure which bit of kindling to use to set the fire, as that’s determined by the conditions on any given day, they're all there, visible and handy on their open shelves, just in case.

Sometimes I think I did that so the kids can find the right kind of kindling they need in any particular moment, but I'm kidding myself. I've observed their eyes wandering over everything, looking for the right kindling, and not finding it and wandering off to do their own thing, whatever that is.

And then I would wonder do I need to enlarge my collection of kindling, if it is big enough, has enough variety?

Sometimes I think I focus more on the collection than I do the needs of these young people that come to play with me.

In all of this, I think I'm missing the main point to be had from this quote by Yates.

It's not my responsibility to light that fire: that belongs to the kids.

My hope is that the kindling I scatter around my house can serve a purpose in feeding those flames.

All the kindling I really need to provide though is support and encouragement. And those come from observing and getting to know my grandkids, who they are and what they need. Mostly just listening to them and chatting and being with them.