Mar. 13, 2007 - A Homeschooler's Thoughts
I'm posting an article I wrote this month for my AWESOME co-op's newsletter. I love writing. I wish I could be an author, but I'm out of practice and have no time! Anyway, just thought I'd share this here on my blog as well.
Moms, how often have you complained to your husband of all your homeschooling responsibilities? Have you ever found yourself critical of his role in the homeschool—thinking, “He never looks over their schoolwork” or “He doesn’t offer to help with any of the homeschooling, he just assumes I’m teaching them something valuable!” How about complaining that you feel unsupported and alone? (I know, for some of you out there this may be your actual situation. This admonishment doesn’t apply to your situation, but for you, I do pray that you would not be unsupported for long.) But for most of us, our situation is not as dire as we perceive it to be! Recently, I described my husband as a “Shore Dad”, a father who stands on the shoreline of the homeschooling ocean and shouts out encouraging words to us, while the kids and I are in the ocean swimming. Oh sure, he supports us —but does he really know what we’re doing? If asked to explain to a social worker or school official what we’re teaching, could he? Really, Shore Dads have one foot in the water, but haven’t jumped in. At least, that’s what I thought. But recently, a wise and experienced homeschooling dad heard my analogy and offered a different description. He suggested that I consider the challenges my husband faces as a homeschooling father. Things like only meeting the other co-op parents once or twice a year, thus being unable to forge relationships with them. Or looking at our pictures of all our fun field trips-minus him! Or going to work all day, only to come home to a dirty house and no dinner—and then, doing the dishes and cooking while Mom finishes up the co-op newsletter (mind you, he would do it lovingly and cheerfully)! This man then suggested that a homeschooling father is really the propeller that’s pushing the boat in this homeschooling ocean—while we (Mom and children) are riding inside. Yes, dear mothers, our husbands who seem to not take an interest in our journey, or who don’t know how to take an interest, are still involved. They are the driving force behind this journey, even when it’s not always so easy to be the one left behind, or to be the one doing the pushing and never the riding. With that in mind, I found myself looking for ways to make it easier for my husband to become more involved in our homeschool. Below you’ll find a partial list I borrowed from Michael Farris called “Top 40 Practical Ideas for Fathers” (I used 32 of them):
1. Give your children their spelling tests.
2. Do flash card drills to hone your children's memorization of math facts.
3. Read your little children a story.
4. Read your bigger children the "Chronicles of Narnia" by C.S. Lewis.
5. Do the dishes with your children, while regaling them with stories of your deprived childhood in which you had to do this task without the aid of a dishwasher.
6. Do the grocery shopping.
7. Take your kids to a museum or historical site.
8. Go for a hike with your children & talk about their dreams.
9. Read your children a chapter of the Bible every evening.
10. Make sure your children read the newspaper everyday by the time they are 11 or 12.
11. Discuss current events at the dinner table. Calmly .
12. Be honest when you take them to a restaurant or movie that charges a different rate for children under 12.
13. Read their essays & offer praise and constructive suggestions.
14. Watch the children while your wife goes on a walk.
15. Take the kids shopping & explain the process to them.
16. Take your kids to a minor-league baseball game.
17. Turn off the television.
18. Pray with your children & for them regularly.
19. Be a man & avoid exposing yourself to any pornography on television, on the Internet or in magazines.
20. Talk to your children before you impose discipline when they have done wrong.
21. Hug them afterwards.
22. Play silly games that involve lots of hugging & wrestling on the family-room rug.
23. Take your children to your childhood neighborhood & give them a tour of your memories.
24. Hug them before & after work.
25. Never, ever, ever swear at your children.
26. Apologize to them when you wrong them.
31. Express genuine delight when they draw a picture for you. Put the pictures in a place that shows the children you are proud of them.
27. Plant a garden together.
28. Teach them--nicely--to strive for excellence in their work.
29. Watch your boys play baseball & your daughters perform ballet with equal enthusiasm. Better yet, coach them if you can!
30. Ask them what they want to be when they grow up.
31. Give them a vision worth living for & worth dying for,
32. Love their mother intensely.
Comments
Mar. 16, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by grace4gayle
This was a great post. Sometimes it helps to look at things from the other side.
Gayle
