Originally published in The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.
We are country folk. Raised by small town, self-employed families. Married young and started our family on my husband’s self-employed income. We had three children under the age of 4. My oldest was deaf, a dwarf and had other brain abnormalities. Her doctor appointments and therapies took a lot of my time and attention, but I wanted to give my best to all my children.
At age 2, my only son at the time, Colby was fascinated with Thomas the Tank Engine. I didn’t necessarily want to encourage obsessions, but he was hooked. So I did what I thought would be interesting and I started to show him real trains. First it was simply picture books, but that wasn’t enough. By age 6, 7, 8 years old I was checking out locomotive books from the adult section so that he could pour over them. He would design intricate track systems with his wooden railway for hours. A very hyper boy, but he could sit for hours watching train documentaries. By 12 years old, he could pencil draw every detail of a steam engine. He really enjoyed the traditional Thomas stories written by Reverend Audrey. He researched and learned the real train behind every Thomas character. Once I fed into his interest, it took off on its own.
So how do we, as homeschool parents, light a fire under our kids so that natural learning happens on its own?
Feeding their Interest
Before I get farther, I want to erase any thought that my whole life was taken over by feeding their interests. Yes, I’m a homeschool mom. Yes, my life pretty much revolves around homeschooling. Yes, I love my kids and want to give them the best. But anything that becomes an item of worship over God, gets bumped. So please feed the interests that God has gifted your little ones with, but never let it become an idol.
As soon as my kiddos showed interest in something, I went to the library and grabbed a book or two. Sometimes it was a quick interest that faded, but then we would come across something that would stick. Colby stuck to trains and he stuck hard! It became a family thing, where we pointed out trains everywhere we went. He had stacks of well-loved train books, many that were duck-taped together. He watched hours of film following the rails. He was particularly fascinated with steam engines.
Now his sisters were into horses. While sitting at the arena one day, a kind stranger asked him if he was into horses like his sisters. His 8 year old self didn’t miss a beat, he looked her square in the face, and said, “No! I like things with motors!” He never did care much for riding horses and he still would much rather have a truck.
Giving Opportunity to Explore
As we were able, we visited every train we could. Budget was always a factor, but we managed some really cool train encounters. I truly believe these hands-on experiences are what furthered his drive and motivation. Books and films are great, but a real-life experience tops the cake!
These field trips varied between small town train museums to long steam engine rides through the countryside. We were blessed with a trip to the Big Island Hawaii and even though the train museum was closed, he still had to go and visit the outdoor exhibits. While living in San Antonio, he was able to volunteer at the local transportation museum. Volunteering is another great way to offer those hands-on opportunities.
He loved his trains. He dreamed of driving steam trains for a living. As he got older, he understood that driving steam was a rare job and mostly volunteer only. This began his research into diesel engines.
Supplementing the Curriculum
As a good homeschool mom, I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to turn this into a high school credit! His Freshman and Sophomore years he dove into the 4-H Small Engines project. My tiny backyard was full of lawn mowers and weed eaters he had picked up along the way: rebuilding them, using some for spare parts, selling parts and running a lawn mowing business. For a 4-H display he broke down a 1 cylinder engine into parts and rebuilt it in front of visitors. He knew his engine backwards and forwards.
He received credit for art, business, and ag/shop through his train adventures. We learned history, not only about trains, but also about the Western Expansion, steam era to the internal combustion era, and Chinese immigration. His love of engines led to changing oil and other maintenance on our vehicles. I haven’t had to mow a lawn in years. And he was able to make money throughout high school with his skills.
Launching Him into the World
As high school came to an end, dreams were coming to fruition. HIs love of all things motors led him into the world of mechanics. He found an internship at a local mechanic shop and grew to love diesel engines the most. He bought a 6.0 Ford diesel with the thought that these would be the most worked on diesels, so he should know this engine in detail. He is now supporting himself on his income doing something he loves.
If you have a budding train enthusiast, feed their interest, give them opportunity to explore, supplement your curriculum and then launch them into the world with skills they love.