When our
Joshua was 6, We were attending a precious church in Alabaster, AL when our sweet Pastor mentioned the Titanic in his message. It peaked Joshua's interest and he had lots of questions about it. From there, we went to a local Alabama (where we lived at the time) Library to find age appropriate information at his level and he came upon the Magic Tree house book "Tonight on the Titanic". He read that more than once, got the resource guide and wanted to know more. Over a short period of time, he eventually got ALL Titanic related books in the county, then in the state in regards to that subject. So we began to have so many overdue fines at the library (LOL) and running out of resources that we started to purchase him books from Amazon and other resources on the Titanic and other ships (like her sisters, Olympic & Britannic). We also started to record documentaries on the subject from TV and found the videos from other sources. His passion, now turned obsession was growing.
You know that feeling where EVERYTHING in his life was consumed by this subject? His playing, his drawings, his conversations to the point of ad nauseum, his birthday party themes. Pretty much every inch of his life was consumed by this!
His lego models.........
and all other models were ALL ship/Titanic related................
Age 12
And his Living history reports (as Charles "Herbert" Lightoller).............
And our field Trips.....................
and his Fall festival costumes............
............. and so were his drawings.
I had NO idea how long this passion turned obsession would last. We went to every exhibit available in regards to the
Titanic (as of date, it's about 6-7 of them!).
I did get kind of weary after a couple of years because quite frankly I was getting sick of it, I was overwhelmed by it, and didn't understand it. Then I listened to a long-time homeschool friend & mentor, Cindy Rushton. We watched her 2 kids grow up before our eyes and her son Matthew's passion for the Civil War was similar to Joshua's and the
Titanic. Matthew had written books and was doing different things with it. She encouraged me (long ago) to keep encouraging him and
NOT TO DISCOURAGE HIM! I could have
EASILY done what so many other parents/teachers have done, and said "I am sick of it, let's move on" OR "okay, it's time to talk about something else". I DID have my moments, but then there's that moment (with the encouragement of Cindy) of "what IF this was something that would be part of his future? What IF this spawns something else?" We ALL have our obsessions/passions in one time of our life and this was his. We DID get other subjects done by the way but in his spare time, it was ALL about sunken ships, anything history, but mainly the Titanic.
So when he was 15 and he had sooooooo much knowledge that would continue to flow out, he wanted to write a unit study book on the Titanic to help others that might want to dig deeper into the subject. He found other
Titanic unit studies on the subject to be
SEVERELY lacking or inaccurate, so I encouraged him in the area. He spent the better part of 2 YEARS writing and writing. He wrote a
semester long unit study and then
a year long one. It covers ALL subjects and can be used for K-12 grades. He wrote it to cover homeschoolers, co-ops, public schools and private schools (if they are allowed).......or even parents that want to encourage their children's passions! He also has other outlets, like
his facebook page Titanic Gazette and
his blog with the same name.
Last year for the 100th, we went to the Local Titanic exhibit...........
AND we went to a Dinner to commemorate the 100th in Alabama, at the American Village. Joshua was introduced as the "Titanic Expert"............
Joshua at Titanic Pigeon Forge
Joshua (middle) with 2 of his Titanic expert "idols" Don Lynch and Ken Marschall (artist)
Joshua with 2 friends/authors: Bill Wormsteadt and George Behe
Above : Joshua with Ken Marschall (left)
Joshua with President of THS: Ed Kamuda
Fast forward to a weekend in 2013. He was 19 and was a member of the THS. We were able to go, as a family, this weekend to
Pigeon Forge, TN to the Titanic Museum and the 2013 THS convention. I was the only one that was with him during this event (the others stayed in the hotel), but to say he blossomed was an understatement. I saw him happy, amongst people that he had a "kindred spirit" with, people that understood and KNEW his passion (because they had the same passion), bond with new friendships, and connect and meet some of the pioneers and experts in the field of the
Titanic. When we got there, it was overwhelming, because I realized JUST how big of name our son had made for himself. When we got there, there was ATLEAST 3 or more people that were looking specifically for him and then others that knew him or were seeking him out. He was the youngest one there!
Now, I am NOT going to say it wasn't "overwhelming" for me. Every time we go to something like this, I call it his HUGE "brain dump" because all of his info that he has stored since he was 7, comes spilling out and FAST! But it was a JOY to see his passion come full circle. But you know what? What would have happened if I hadn't cultivated or encouraged his passion a long time ago? This passion has branched into so many areas of history, sunken ships and theology. What are you doing to cultivate your child's passions? encourage them? I have been there. I understand when your child has a Passion that you don't understand! But there's a story and many stories to tell here. If we don't keep passions alive like this for years to come, they will be forgotten.
This has turned into a 5 part series. He's continued on with his life's passion. His dedication to education. I will continue to add more links and information as they come up.
You can read Part 2 here
You can read part 3 here
You can read part 4 here
You can read part 5 here
