"As Charlotte Mason asked: "The question is not, "how much does
the youth know? When he has finished his education-but how much
does he care?" And about how many order of things does he
care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set?"
So then the question becomes:
How do I teach care when I worry if
I am meeting the standards of the grade?
I am gathering things in my head and heart about this thing in our
life right now called: Homeschooling. Some thoughts come and go
because I haven't had the time to collect them and make statements.
Some I read and tuck away. Some just feel like raw emotions.
Why do I homeschool?
I want to answer this eloquently and succinctly.
-I have always loved to teach
-I love being with my children and I know how time with them is limited.
-I feel there are things I want to impart and I am afraid our lives, if
filled with school and activity coupled with my business in the house, important things would be
missed and get left behind.
-I want to foster creativity
-I want to create a bond through time shared between brother and sister
-I want children who love to learn
-They are so impressionable, I don't want what is "cool" to other 8 year olds to rule
-I like the freedom that homeschool can bring and the unit our family can be
-I just want them under my watchful eye for a bit longer
I don't feel homeschooling is the Only way to accomplish the above,
but for us now, it feels right.
But I battle....
fear, standards, wanting to make sure they are prepared, wanting
Dev to feel like she has friends, and wanting to always do and accomplish more.
I often feel the process is short circuited because each
year there is always the thought we may be back in school the follow year.
SO If I have one year, how do I want it to look?
Deveraux loves to bake. She will get this need that she just has to
make something. I love that she doesn't leave the cookies on the
baking sheet. She always puts them on a pretty plate and them
puts them out on display. She has an eye for beauty, for goodness.
I want to foster this.
"This is fun" said Bobo one day when all we did was
color an elephant a patchwork of colors. He has let me
know he doesn't like coloring. But I just started to color
an elephant on a page because it sounded fun to me.
He joined in. It reminded me that I "have to just go with it."
I think I am coming to realize like all good things that
my current role as mother and teacher does not always come
easy. It definitely has brought out the best and worst in me.
God has me in such a spot for my set of personality stuff.
I want to get it right. I want to not "miss" anything that can
often lead to a lack of self/God trust. I can be rigid. An irrational
sense of responsibility. Impatient.
Workbooks versus those things schools can't get to...
I equate workbooks with school and feel guilty at times that I
should not be doing anything a school would be doing.
"Teach an inch wide and a mile deep."
There is this constant pull going on.
Teaching skills that are important but always have guiding
principles that are more important.
I know one family I have read about that do not make
the distinction between school and life. They are one.
There is always learning happening.
"In working with your children, it is never the techniques
you have learned through the years that cause your children
to develop their capabilities. Rather it is the strength of your being,
the light of your understanding, and the love you have
for them that draws that latent spark of individuality within them
into active manifestation." (oak meadows)
I sat on our lanai last week and began to watch the
sunset with Bobo sharing my chair. We had not
had our quiet time that day and so we had just
gotten to it at around 6:30. It was so peaceful sitting
with him. He was busy looking at his Dive magazine,
not needing me to read to him, just add a few comments
here and there. We were content. I realized how little I
do this...sit, be content, be. Those moments don't last too long.
I was pulled to the kitchen and then eventually I saw
something that needed to be washed or wiped. Before I knew
it, the sun was setting But I was trying to make it back outside.
Bobo had come into the living room, but as he saw me
and heard my proclamation I was going to make it back
out, he met me back on the lanai. We both shared a love
for those moments we had and we wanted more.
Again, I felt pulled to needs and we headed in for
the night. But my heart was provoked.
What message do I want to impart.
I see Deveraux at times looking for the next thing,
moving around and being "bored" when there is a pause.
To teach her to rest, I must rest. A homeschooling lesson!
 |
| Bobo reading his first book about Biscuit. |
"Education would be so much more effective it its purposes were to ensure that by the time they leave school every boy and girl should know how they don't know, and be imbued with a lifelong desire to know it." Sir William Haley
The question posed from a worksheet: "How do I build a homeschool focused on honoring God that will accomplish His will for my child and my family?
The first things that come to mind...prayer- for His involvement and know that I am ever dependent upon Him in this role. I feel I need Him. To be attentive and really listen to my children. To listen to God in what He wants for them. To be guided by faith (hard for me) trust (really hard for me) in my daily interactions with them. Time- to plan and be intentional. I have two students at two levels and our learning time goes quickly. Be present- in this school year and to not think of next year so much. We are here now and to invest as this is our year. To not worry about the right curriculum so much or how much we will accomplish. To be present, ME, with them. Impress- His word in their lives. This is a call to me. How do I allow Scripture to be all it can be in my children's lives. Trust the learning process. It will happen if we are intentional and have good things set before us. I don't have to force learning, get it all done and completed, so we can "check" it off. But really instill that love of learning and thirst for more. To be caught up in discovery and in the moment. And experience it together!
A good process.
 |
| Bobo reading his first book to dada. |
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them in your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you gel up, Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them in your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6:5-9
