Turn left in t-h-r-e-e seconds...

I love road maps. Adventure lies in the imperfect interpretation of their perfect detail; you can find a thousand routes to a single destination. And that's what I dislike about GPS. Its so inflexible and uncreative. Its an algorhythm. Give it a destination, and it will analyze gobs of data against a set of parameters and determine the ideal route. But, according to whose ideal? Sure, the Jersey Turnpike gets me there faster, but I'd rather take a hot poker in my eye. Where are the curves? Where's the scenery? Where are the great local eateries?

This is how I feel about Calvert, except its worse - I don't even know where I'm going. I've got explicit GPS directions, but where we'll end up is anybody's guess. I'm not teaching my kids anymore, Calvert is teaching them. Just so I can get that rubber stamp: "You've done well, Jim. You have met our standards. You have been assimilated. Welcome to the club."

>yawn<

See, I really don't care about those standards. Is that wrong?

Here's what I think is missing from homeschooling - a clear destination. There are all kinds of materials out there to direct you to some destination, but there is nothing that truly defines what the destination is. They give you all the maps, but they never tell you where you're going. Its like someone programming your car's GPS system, and then handing you the keys. You follow the instructions, but you don't know where its leading you... Ooh, that sounds adventurous, come to think of it - I've got to get GPS so I can try that. Ok, so maybe its not quite like that. But it seems that even tools that try to outline the destination seem to get all balled up in the directions. Goals, milestones - call them what you want, but they are sorely lacking.

So here's what I'd love to do. Create the goals. Develop a guideline for homeschooling parents who want to know where their kid should be at various milestones. "By the end of second grade, your well-developed child should be able to:"

a.

a1.

a1.1

b.

b1.

b1.1

c... etc

Could it be that simple? If I had that guideline, I could turn the GPS off, and take the scenic route. It'd be a lot more fun, and eventually I'd meet back up with all those folks taking the Jersey Turnpike.