Aug. 13, 2007
And the 11th President Waaasss?????
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It's that time of year again. Time to somehow fit that square peg (time) into a round hole (hours in a day). I'm not gonna lie, balancing home life and schooling isn't easily done. We began our new school year sometime in early July, but we started slowly and have been building as we go. Now, we are to the point where we've added everything in except for Language Arts (Which I haven't even ordered yet!). School is going great. We are enjoying our studies and love the new curricula that we've purchased. No complaints there....but trying to find a happy balance between home life and school life is always the challenge for the home school parent. Especially now that I have three school-aged children. These are the times when I wish that I had an assistant. You know, someone to do the laundry and make the appointments and to keep me apprised of all of the outside things that I need to remember and organize, etc. Homeschooling and life-in-general are very much interwoven for the most part, but there are always those things that just don't mix well. For example: Teaching history and mopping. They both need to be done regularly, but you can't kill two birds with one stone there - you must make some time available for both. We've had some really great homeschooling years and, truthfully, we've had some not-so-great homeschooling years as well. The common thread in all of those really good years has always been an atmosphere of casual excitement. Excitement for the learning process in general and excitement for being together and enjoying each other's company along the way. I don't "do" fake, so I won't even try to duck out of a major flaw of mine. Everyone who knows me well, knows that I'm a bit of a perfectionist. But, having three boys can teach one very quickly how to live in a less-than-perfect environment! I really have made so much progress in this area. I'd be living in the funny farm right now if I hadn't gained some perspective in this area. But, as everyone does from time to time, I occasionally fall back on what I know....and what I know is -- perfectionism. Well, at least my own brand of perfectionism. And, learning to live in this boy-saturated environment, where I'm not always completely comfortable....seems to be one of the easiest forms of perfectionism to learn to abandon (at least in part). For me, I find it harder to let go of that part of me that wants the world for my kids. Who do I think I am that I could actually provide the world for my children? It's not about things. They have too many things. It's about what I can do for them now to encourage them and support them as they become the people that they were born to be. As a homeschooling parent...that's a heavy trapping. How does this apply to homeschooling? Well, try looking at all of the great learning resources available to us. There have been many a time when I've gotten too caught up in the "gotta learn everything" trap - that in fact, we've learned less. There's less excitement and more pressure. Less bonding and more memorizing. I think that I went to a great school, but it was heavy in the memorization department. In my gut, I just feel that that is a futile attempt at teaching. Memorization doesn't equal learning. If it did....I'd remember who the 11th president was off of the top of my head. I have my place in it all, no doubt....but, it's, ultimately, not me or their father who will equip them with all that they need to become those people who God sent them here to be. Too much of a good thing is still -- too much. I put too much pressure on myself to make the experience what it can be and in the process, neglect to realize that we're missing what the experience should be. And those are the years that I'd rather not repeat. During those years, once again, I substitute 'the good' for 'the best'. It's tricky in homeschooling though because, on the surface, one would say that filling our minds with as much as possible *is* the 'best'. But, in fact, it's just 'the good' disguising itself as 'the best'. Yeah, they'll know a *little* of everything, enough to scratch the surface and get by in life....but, is this why we homeschool? My hardest challenge in homeschooling is myself. Keeping myself out of it enough that I can curb those desires to be the "perfect" teacher. Remembering to keep the "Main thing, the main thing". It's about learning to learn. And in the process, loving to learn. It's about being able to learn about our Creator and to build strong bonds among us as a tight family unit. I might as well be willing to leave my children's education up to the randomness of an 8 ball if I am not willing to confront and avoid those parts of my personality that cause this wonderful opportunity of homeschooling to be nothing more than school at home. So, who cares if we only get through the B.C. portion of world history this year?? Will A.D. not be there when we pick the books back up next year? What's important is whether or not we learned to love history. Whether or not we took our time and learned more about each other through this process of studying world history. What's important is not something that you can quantify at all. It's that certain richness of life, and passion for learning and 'knowing that you know' the satisfaction of making a difference in more than just your children's education...but in their lives as a whole. That internal calm that tells you that what you are doing IS important and WILL one day come back to you tenfold. What's the point of homeschooling if we're just filling our minds with facts, and not coming away with, both, our minds and our hearts filled? So, my prayer for the 2007-2008 school year is that I keep, in the forefront of my mind, the value of this time. This year will be gone as quickly as the last. I want to cherish this time for what it is. I, so desperately, want to avoid the trappings of 'the good' and remember that 'the best' is so much more valuable to their futures. I want to avoid the arrogance of my own desire for perfectionism, and stay focused on those little things that will make lasting memories - long after they've forgotten who the 11th president was. |