This is picture of my son and my dad.

Boy has been trying to reach that basket since he could throw. This week, with help, he nailed it.

There is a quote by Sir Isaac Newton that I learned about from a friend.

If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.

Newton wrote it to mean "One who develops future intellectual pursuits by understanding and building on the research and works created by notable thinkers of the past" according to Wikipedia.

This photo is more than a word-picture illustrating the metaphor. It is also a reminder of my childhood. My son sits where I once sat. I stand on the shoulders of a giant, my dad, and if I raise Boy right so will he.

Do you stand on the shoulders of giants? Better yet, are you becoming one worthy of standing on?

Pardon me for a moment while I step into a stereotype. I know it doesn't fit me very well, but that's sort of the point about stereotypes. They promise to be one-size-fits-all and then fall dreadfully short once you go about the business of dressing up in them.

My Wife Home Schools Our Children

There. I said it. I hope you don't hold that against us, and if we could go on still being friends and all, that would be swell. But just in case you are dubious, I'd like to clear the air about a few things because this stereotype I'm wearing is rather uncomfortable.

We're Not Better Than You

We don't think we're better than you because we home school. We don't question your parenting or your judgement if you choose not to do it. Your kids are still good enough to be friends with our kids, in fact we hope you think the same.

We Don't Know If We'll Do It Forever

It is the right thing for us in the season we're in now. My wife and I are enjoying these years with our kids and while many things factored into our decision to try this out, the primary one was spending more time together as a family and enjoying our children while they are still young.

We Loved Public Pre-K

We don't hate public schools. Two of our three children have been through the Georgia public Pre-Kindergarten program. They loved it and we loved it. All things considered, our third child will go through it also. It was a great start to their educational careers.

I'm Cherishing The Extra Time

It's a lot of work, most of which my wife accomplishes. But one thing that I've enjoyed is that field trips now happen on weekends and they are a family event. We've been to planetariums, museums, nature centers, and more. My wife and I are rediscovering this wonderful world in which we live and we are doing it along side our kids. I genuinely believe this focused time together is a unifying agent within our family.

There is consensus among all of the home schoolers I've spoken to that home schooling isn't good for everyone.

But it's good for us right now and that's good enough for me.

Standing On Giants