The Wildridge family moved to a 500-acre farm
in northern Vermont where they converted one room of the 150-year-old farmhouse
for the children's formal classical education. The rest of the farm and the
world around them became an informal classroom.They studied the plants and
animals in the surrounding woods and ponds, made maple syrup in their
sugarhouse, performed plays and music concerts in their natural amphitheater,
held art classes in the fields and woods, and all participated in cross country
skiing. They used their surrounding resources to become more self-sufficient -
cutting firewood, harvesting crops, and raising farm animals.
"We wanted our five children to become life-long learners, to see how our
universe fits together and to realize that they can do anything if they really
want to work for it. Our children were doing well in school. They were popular,
participating and productive. Still, it seemed that something was not developing
in them as it should. We wanted them to experience the full of learning, the
richness of their past, their unity with nature and the sheer joy which comes
from hard work and accomplishment. We chose to homeschool." - The Wildridges
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"A friend of ours once remarked how strange it is that we push our
children to start kindergarten as soon as possible, then urge them on to skip
grades when possible, to get through high school as soon as possible to get them
through college as soon as possible to get out and get married to start the
whole thing over just as soon as possible. This was not what my husband and I
wanted for our children. We quickly discovereed that we have them but a few
short years. These are the special years when we feel the unique and deep-felt
satisfaction of passing on to another generation the only treasure which can be
passed on indefinitely. THis treasure is love and the love of the world they
inhabit and some knowledge about it. May your efforts to home educate your
children be as rewarding as my husband's and mine have been." - Joan Bangs,
co-founder of Wildridge Education