Along the way, I learned that I was more outdated than I thought.
When I reviewed homeschool portfolios for my county school system, some parents showed me work that demonstrated their children were below grade level. It was usually accompanied with “My kids know much more than I did at their age.” Unfortunately, that didn’t mean they were excelling.
I knew my childhood and education were not a gauge for current expectations. When my oldest was starting high school. I attended conferences and listened to cassette tapes about college admissions—no podcasts back then. We were on track with an accelerated education. However, by the time my sons applied to college, I learned we had been hanging on. Standards had risen exponentially in four years.
What if I had known? Would I have pressured myself and my sons? Would we have lowered our college expectations? I don’t know. Either would have been detrimental and unnecessary because my sons were admitted to their first-choice colleges and received scholarships.
What I do know is that keeping up is hard. Discerning when it doesn’t matter is even harder.
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