Our Moments Of Awareness
After Thirty-Two Years Of Home Educating

Year Published:  1982
Pages:  144pp   Price:  $5.00   Resource Type:  Book
Cx Number:  CX2464

Our Moments of Awareness is not a "how-to" book about teaching children at home, rather, it is a film script that recounts some of the ways the Carota family integrated the learning process with their daily life.

Abstract: 
Our Moments of Awareness is not a "how-to" book about teaching children at home, rather, it is a film script that recounts some of the ways the Carota family integrated the learning process with their daily life. Anecdotal narratives by the parents, Mario and Estelle Carota, are interspersed with poems written by their film-maker son, Lawrence, that convey his memory of events in the family's past.

The Carota's teaching method involved the successful completion of each assignment before another was begun; this taught perseverance and promoted a sense of accomplishment and self-confidence. They placed a priority on family work and activities because of their strong belief that life and learning should not be separated. They did not want academic achievement to assume an overwhelming importance in their children's lives.

Christianity provided the base for the Carota's family life. Christian principles were communicated to the children not through preaching but through personal example. The Carotas expressed their Christianity by travelling to other countries to work on community development projects. Their deep involvement in the Christian Family Movement (CFM) led them first to Mexico where they helped the peasants build a school. Later they travelled through Europe and settled in Malta where they attempted to organize a centre for community development. Inward concerns for their own family developed into outward concern for other families. They learned about other cultures by experiencing them first hand. Living as a family among the poor, the Carotas helped the needy achieve self-chosen goals.