Education in the Storm Drain: Fostering Curiosity
Children are born curious. They ask questions constantly, marvel at ordinary things, and want to understand how the world works. Yet somewhere between toddlerhood and the teen years, that natural hunger to learn often fades. This is especially true in traditional school environments. Homeschooling offers a powerful alternative: a flexible education rooted in real-life learning that can keep wonderment alive.
A Parking Lot Lesson in Wonder
The other day, I was at the post office in town, and as I was walking in, I saw a father walking out with his son. The boy was quite young, still well within toddler range. It was a cold, blustery winter day here in Michigan. The dad was hurrying back to his truck, dragging his son with one hand and pulling his coat collar up against the wind with the other.
As they approached the truck, the little son walked over the top of a stormwater drain. His curiosity was peaked and he stopped to look down the drain. I could see the dad was a bit annoyed. He tried to tug his son’s hand to get him to move, but the son just kept standing there looking down the drain. “Water! There’s water down there!” the boy exclaimed.
“Yes, there’s water,” the dad said impatiently. “C’mon, let’s get in the truck.”
The son wasn’t having it, though. He wrestled his little hand out of his father’s grasp and pointed at the drain. “Water down there! Why is there water down there?” He repeated.
When Parents Pause, Learning Happens
I could see the dad let out a little sigh. He was clearly cold and in a hurry, but he could tell that his son was fixated. Instead of just dragging him off, he knelt down beside his son and began explaining—why there was water in the storm drain, where it came from, where it was going. It was brief because of the cold, but it was enough. After the dad’s explanation, the child seemed satisfied with his newfound knowledge about storm drains and trotted happily off to the truck.
This little episode reminded me of the natural curiosityof children. Kids are inherently eager to learn about the world. To be a child is a marvel—the world is full of new and interesting things that you don’t understand. The human mind seeks to unravel the mysteries of existence. From the first moment the mind is exposed to different stimuli, it seeks to understand what they are, why they are, and how they interrelate. That is the natural state of a young mind. Thankfully, this father recognized his son’s wonder about the storm drain as a moment to engage with this relentless thirst for knowledge.
Why Education Should Begin With Curiosity
In my opinion, this is how education should always be—grounded in the desire to satiate human curiosity through learning about the world.
But what happens somewhere along the line, between that toddler’s relentless curiosity and the educational apathy of the contemporary teenager who complains that they “hate” going to school? What intervenes to stifle the curiosity of life, turning it into the loathing most teenagers express for school?
How Schooling Can Crush the Joy of Learning
I think what happens is our society crushes the wonder of childhood by a brutal process of regimentation, centralization, bureaucratization, and all the hallmarks of public schooling, to the point that the joy of learning is snuffed out under the smothering weight of managerial education.
It need not be so. People enjoy learning at any age.
How Homeschooling Keeps the Spark Alive
Here is where homeschooling excels as a model of education. The homeschooling family is well-poised to take advantage of all of the natural learning moments life offers because they are working outside of the regimented framework of public schools. Homeschooling parents know that education can happen anywhere (even in the post office parking lot) and have the flexibility to guide their child’s educational development in a more organic way, preserving that spark of educational joy while slowly building their child’s edifice of knowledge.
Homeschooling Affirms a Timeless Truth About the Human Person
The wonder that child had about the storm drain need not be crushed by institutionalization; it can be nurtured in a loving home environment, year by year, until it blossoms into the full flower of a vibrant adult intellect.
In other words, homeschooling recognizes and preserves the fundamental truth that human beings are natural learners. As Aristotle noted so long ago, “All men by nature desire to know.” (Meta. 1:1)
Conclusion
That little boy at the storm drain reminds us of something simple but profound: learning begins with wonder. Homeschooling gives you the freedom to protect that wonder instead of replacing it with pressure, regimentation, and burnout. When education is shaped by real life, meaningful conversations, and curiosity-driven discovery, children don’t just learn facts; they grow into adults who love truth and want to keep learning well into adulthood.
What are your thoughts on this topic? Join other homeschooling parents and me in the Homeschool Connections Facebook Group or in the HSC Community to continue the conversation.
