Jeffrey Colonel 

(Homeschool & Music Study Advisor)

 

My name is Jeffrey Colonel. I grew up as a homeschooler in upstate New York, from Kingergarten until 8th grade, using the Calvert Academy curriculum. As a child, I took full advantage of the flexibility that a homeschooling education can give you. I taught myself to play music by ear. I taught myself to make stop-motion animation. I did extensive research on topics of my interest, particularly history. I travelled and read widely. I never woke up to an alarm.

 

I entered public high school at the age of 13 and excelled in an Advanced Placement curriculum. I developed a profound fascination with learning, education, and teaching. I felt that teaching is distinct from some other professions in that to do it well you must learn to be a deeply good and compassionate person.

 

I went on to receive a bachelor’s in History and Political Science, and then a Master’s degree in Education from the University of Pennsylvania. Teaching in the Philadelphia inner city was the beginning of an amazing adventure of a life as a teacher, which took me out of my origins in America into Korea, Kazakhstan, Cambodia, and Hong Kong. I had the good fortune of having incredible relationships with thousands of student, and learned the ins and outs of a wide range of educational environments, ranging from universities, to public and private international schools, tutor centers, and public schools of all age groups. I gave my whole heart to every student who had crossed my path. 

 

My life changed when my son was born, and for his sake I stopped full time classroom teaching. I understood that his development required my presence at home, and conventional full time work would make that impossible. I have pivoted to independent work as a tutor and musician. The time since I’ve done so has been some of the best of my life, because we have the chance to be together as a family, and also because I have the freedom and flexibility to teach my own way. I am intimately familiar with the challenges both of homeschooling and conventional schooling, and I’ve seen the best and worst practices used by educators and parents in both. I am grateful to my son for giving me the world’s best crash course in early childhood education. Both as a parent and teacher I strive to orient everything I do around the child’s fundamental best interests. 

 

Education is very simple: it is about human well-being. The essence of teaching is not the transmission of information, but the safeguarding of well-being. The best lesson to teach anyone is how to thrive in life, and this can only be understood holistically. Education which has become alienated from this principle can function like cruel machinery, which can grind up a person’s heart and soul in its gears. It is possible for people to become so used to machinery that they forget the importance of human well-being.

 

The value of homeschooling is that one may have the autonomy to let go of any activities which are harmful, and to intentionally develop only activities which are beneficial. Usually, in the world, one does not have that authority. A teacher in an organisation has no choice but to act under the influence of organisational interests, even when those interests steer activities directly away from the true best interests of the students. If one is truly independent, then one has the freedom to follow only the best interests of themselves, their family, and their community as the driving principle of their life.