If You Give A 60 Year Old Man A Banjo . . .

My dad, for as long as I can remember, has wanted to play the banjo. I remember one being around our house when I was a small child but mostly it stood leaning in a corner and I plucked at it every now and then. And then it disappeared.

About 5 or 6 years ago, we spent some time with my dad and the banjo came up again. My husband and I decided to buy one for him, send it to him and see what happened. So we did . . . and here's what happened.

If you give a 60 year old man a banjo, he'll want to learn to play it.
When he starts to learn to play it, he'll need a teacher.
When he finds a teacher, he'll spend lots of time playing the same licks over and over again.
When he plays the same thing over and over again, he'll get good at it.
When he gets good at it, he'll make a solo debut at his Cider Party.
When he makes his debut, he'll want to go public.
When he goes public, he'll put a video on You Tube.
When he puts a video on You Tub, he'll email it to you.
When he emails it to you, you'll email it to all your friends and put it on your blog.
When he sees himself on your blog, he'll want to play his banjo.

What does any of this have to do with homeschooling? It's a testament to life learning, the idea that we are learning all the time and that it is NEVER TOO LATE! Such is the title of John Holt's memoir of learning to play the cello at age 40 with no previous musical background. Holt became an accomplished player.

Recognized for his understanding of children's natural orientation to learning, Holt is the father of homeschooling and unschooling or child-led learning. He later turned his attention to adult learning and showed us that the same natural curiosity and passion exist in adults but sometimes it gets buried the myth that to acquire expertise at a sport, musical instrument or career, one must start early. So often we have been told "you can't" and unfortunately, we believe it. So watch the living proof that if you give an adult a banjo, he can and will learn how to play it! Yea, Dad!