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- Beagle Voyage with Jane Liaw
The school that looks like Hogwarts. Image credit: Beagle Voyage by Jane Liaw
This week's issue of Education & Catastrophe is a special one. For the first time, I'm featuring somebody else's newsletter. When one comes across writing as good as Jane's, on topics I know this audience cares about (parenting, worldschooling, joyful learning etc), it feels almost criminal not to share it. Find out more about Beagle Voyage with Jane Liaw here.
In last week's issue I wrote about families moving to Bali for their child's education, and offered some tips on stuff to consider when planning the move. Jane moved to Costa Rica with her husband and eight year old daughter because they found a school they like while on vacation in 2019. They are now considering moving to Mexico City in 2023 to make the most of their nomadic freedom. This is a family that's living the worldschooling life and sharing their joys and challenges with us lucky readers. Jane's newsletter documents her family's day to day life so well that one can almost live the worldschooling life vicariously through her.
Jane is not just a good writer. There other many good writers out there. The reason I decided to share Beagle Voyage with you, dear readers, is because Jane shares similar beliefs about parenting and learning.
"I’ve always prioritized Beanie’s mental and social well-being over academic achievement or even finding her gifts. It’s most important to me that she grow up well-adjusted and resilient. This has been my mindset since Beanie started preschool and it still stands. I’m also a believer in learner-driven education, nurturing children’s natural curiosity and giving them the tools to develop a love of learning."
It's not common to find parents with such progressive views. Last night I came across a video of a young girl in tears, challenging her father on the amount of time she spends studying and her right to play. It's heartbreaking.
Changing parents' mindset about learning, advocating for children's right to play, and getting the world to understand that academic rigour does nothing to help kids become adaptable adults is the reason why I keep publishing this newsletter week after week. Finding like-minded parents who also tell their stories make this writing journey less lonely, and hopefully broadens the perspectives of folks who have subscribed to my newsletter for a while.If you've a story or two to share, please share them with me, I'd love to hear from you.
"Yet…parenthood is a facet of the human experience that is unlike any other. Not going through it doesn’t make life less-than, but undertaking it in many ways makes life more-than. Well, that’s how I feel and I’m sure there are some who will disagree. I just know it’s a singular experience to raise children who start off as little Beans and cannot do anything for themselves—not talk or walk or even turn their bodies over—only to arrive at a day when they can read a menu in a language you don’t understand and warn you not to order the pomegranate.
It’s all rather marvelous."
I love this passage Jane wrote in her post about Beanie learning how to surf. Parenthood comes with its fair share of frustrations, angst and tears, but when it comes down to it it is rather marvellous.
Enjoy it.
If this essay resonates, you may want to check out issue 23 of Education & Catastrophe 'Playful Learning Promotes 21st Century Skills'.
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Till the next issue!