When I first started thinking about my educational philosophy, two thoughts popped into my head:

Have a good time, all of the time.

Be excellent to each other.

But I don’t think I can base my ed phil on Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (although can it be a coincidence that ‘ed phil’ rhymes with ‘Ted & Bill’?!) (yes) so I had to do some more thinking.

And then I stopped thinking and hunted out the quote that, when we first started considering home ed two years ago, convinced me I was on the right track. It’s this, from Penelope Trunk:

I love seeing how excited I can make them with the world around them. I loved their mouths hanging open. I loved their smiles and seeing them jump in their seats. I want their whole lives to be like that. Every day. I want to teach them how to make that for themselves.

In the meantime, they give that to me. At least once a day. And I think that is really why I’m keeping them out of school. So we can all have more joy, each day, together.

So there’s that too. But there are a few other things I want to mention:

I want them not to be afraid to ask questions. About anything and everything.

I want them to follow their own interests and learn about the things they love.

I want them to find jobs they’re passionate about and that inspire them.

It’s about learning through living. We are all learning all the time and there’s plenty of time to learn (it’s not a race) (and nor is it a competition) (exams are the means to an end, not an end in themselves).

It’s about the joy of learning.

It’s about freedom.

It’s about us.