Edumacational
Mary Evelyn, our daughter who has devoted much of her life to Christian musical theater, used to delight us with her Zooki performances. Zooki was a sweet, fun, and childlike alien from Ingababok who was in need of much Earth learning. I might not be spelling Ingababok correctly, but I’m sure Zooki doesn’t know how to spell it either. Here’s a portrait that Mary Evelyn drew a couple of decades ago.
Zooki used to talk about things being edumacational, and, believe me, he certainly needed edumacating. Hang around us long enough and you might still hear someone in our family use edumacational in conversation.
When homeschooling, it’s important not to spend so much time being strictly edumacational that learning becomes distasteful. In our early years of homeschool conventions, our booth was near another booth that sold what seemed to us like quite uncreative curriculum. We felt sad for children who might have to use it. Our older daughter said insightfully, “That is learning how not to learn.”
Almost every child has to spend some time studying a subject they find difficult or that they don’t think is particularly interesting, but no child (or teenager) should spend all of their learning hours that way. Jesus taught the most important lessons a teacher has ever taught, but He didn’t set His listeners down and drone on and on for hours and hours or days and days drilling those lessons into them. He taught as He walked. He taught by example. He taught using stories. He taught in the morning, at midday, in the evening. He taught in a boat, by the seashore, and on a hillside. That’s how edumacation should be.
When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd,
and He felt compassion for them
because they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and He began to teach them many things.
Mark 6:34