Aug. 21, 2008 - "That's it?!"
The children have been begging me to start school! Now, we've been doing this for a while, and as far as I can remember, this is the first time all of them are gung-ho about starting a new school year. It kind of scares me. I hope they're not in for a major let-down.
Part of the reason is that I'm trying to build their expectations. For months now I've been telling them about some of the changes we're making, and I've really tried to stress the fact that it will be much more relaxed than in the past. When the workbooks were delivered and there were only a handful, the older girls looked at me like I'd lost my mind! How on earth were we going to get educated without a huge stack of fill-in-the-blank workbooks? And how come all the other books that were arriving were going directly to the (gasp!) bookshelf?! Surely chaos was about to reign!
So today I got out my plans for the year, along with the books the children would be using, and I took them individually and went over what they could expect on a day-to-day basis. I explained our history through literature approach; narration; dictation; copywork; limiting the time spent per subject; our AmblesideOnline artist and composer studies; the family read-aloud schedule; independent reading assignments; organizing their own weeks with their individual planners. When I got to the end with each of the older girls, the question I got was the same: "That's it?!"
Yep, that's it.
No wonder they feel like we're not "doing anything" this year. In years past they've felt like they were chained to the table 9 months out of the year. How much fun was that for me when I was a kid? Ummmm........none! And now that I'm the mom responsible for teaching/grading all of their work, it appeals to me even less. This way seems much more pleasant for all involved.
We've always begun school the day after Labor Day and ended around Memorial Day. This gives us a nice long summer break to hang out and relax. But if we start (or even just dabble) with things next week, that gives us a little "slush room" come Christmastime. Besides, it seems wise to strike while the iron is hot!
I hope all you ladies are off to a great start this year. Homeschooling our children is a great blessing with a huge burden. But we have the incredible opportunity to reach our children's hearts for Christ, and for me, that is the only thing that gets me through the day. It would be so much easier to just load them up on a bus and let someone else fill their hearts and minds for endless hours each day. But I'd never get those hours back, and I could never empty them of the false teaching they'd encounter. Praise God we have the freedom to do that which the Lord has placed on our hearts! These years are for His glory alone!
Comments
Aug. 26, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by OldSchoolMarm
Thanks for the encouragement. We've had one of those days of constant bickerring, sour attitudes, and little gratefullness and that's just me, LOL! Really it has been a diffucult day and I needed to read this, thanks.
I hope your school year is truly blessed!
Blessings, Julie
