The Lady Gaga Approach to Education

I tell of it here: how Lady Gaga influenced my spiritual practice for the upcoming year.

It has something to do with the surprising complexity of her music. (Frankly, I never paid attention to her, until she broke Amazon.)

What struck me about the Lady? Her influences. You can listen to her music and hear an over-the-top, rather naughty lyricist, or you can listen and hear the past: Rock, Classical, even Spirituals. She's paid attention to details. She may play the counter-cultural naughty girl, but she's got creative roots. And they're what make her music so fascinating. (Even if you don't catch it at first, because all you see is black leather and bleach.)

It occurred to me today that I take the Lady's approach to home education. I have taken my girls to the past and around the world, whether it's through history, architecture, food, science, or literature. They've developed roots through a complex array of details and experiences.

There was a time that this approach to education made me nervous. What if they missed something important that could be provided in a pre-packaged curriculum? What if all our uncharted reading and looking and touching and eating and listening wasn't enough?

By now, it is too late to be nervous. The core of their education has been provided. They are 12 and 14.

But I look at their writing. I listen to their improv music. I hear their opinions. And I realize it is okay. They have what they need to be creative, interesting people in this world. And, if all goes well, they won't break much. (Unless it's Amazon for a day. That would be all right with me. :)


Blue Bottles photo, taken at one of our favorite places: Kitchawan Farm.