Saturday morning found me and our daughter sitting in a General Session at the CHEC (Colorado) homeschool convention, listening to one of our long time favorite speakers, Little Bear (Richard Wheeler). He is a history reenactor, dressing in authentic costumes and telling the stories of God’s Providence in the lives and events of those who have gone before us.
Our family has followed Little Bear since nearly the beginning of our home ed journey. We’ve seen him in person, at many homeschool conferences and attended his Family Camp. We have audio Historical Devotionals, video reenactments, and books both by and published by Little Bear. One of our fondest memories, of course, is spending time personally with Little Bear, back in the early 90’s at the Wyoming homeschool conference, where he was the keynote speaker and we were vendors and there weren’t many people there. We went to dinner with him.
Saturday morning, before Little Bear mounted the platform, the conference hosts went through the normal announcements and preliminaries. As they introduced Little Bear, a bombshell was dropped. This would be Little Bear’s last performance. We weren’t prepared for that, and were so glad we’d gotten up early to make it to this sesson. No more Little Bear?
This got me thinking about us “first generation” homeschoolers. Are we fading away? What will the future in homeschooling look like? Has a stable, foundational legacy been passed on? Or will the next generation, like our President, prefer change? A “new” face? I still have many little ones, and will still be home educating right alongside the second gen-ers. What will that surrounding look like?
There’s been much change in home ed since we began in the early days of “legalized” home eductaion. Much of that change has been healthy growth. But some of the change is troubling. To quote Little Bear’s most quoted Scripture, Psalm 78, “I will open my mouth [saying that] which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of THE LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. … That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.”
Future generations must know the history of what God has done in times past. Learn from it. Build on it. Not reject it. Little Bear helped us to do that. Who will be the “Little Bear” to our children’s generation in home education?
Mr. Wheeler will continue to pastor his flock, but he will be greatly missed in the home education circles. “See you there or in the air”, Little Bear. We will miss, but never forget you.
