Lessons Learned On the Farm

• Aug. 19, 2008 - For Those of You With Little Ones

Don't miss There Is Only One Childhood over at Starry Sky Ranch. She's got some great thoughts (and a wonderful statistic) about the importance of not depriving our children of their childhood in favor of rigorous academics at an early age.

I love what she says,

"Does this mean no Montessori trays and holding them back? No. It means not pushing little people into two dimensional work prematurely. It means lots of hands on, real life experiences. It means a solid grounding in image-rich stories and basic skills (academic as well as organizational and personal) from which to launch and soar later."

In fact, those of you with older children, don't miss the link to What Makes Finnish Kids So Smart. I know especially when you hit the teen years, it's easy to get caught up in feeling like you've really got to push the academics and "keep up" with the schools, but notice the American results.

"American teens finished among the world’s C students even as U.S. educators piled on more homework, standards and rules."

I'm not even a person who is really into grades, but I think this makes a good point. More academics, more cramming for standardized tests doesn't equal smarter well-rounded kids!

As Christians, we know that God wants so much more for us and for our children. We want them to know what it means to love, honor, and serve the Lord with their whole heart, mind, & strength. (Which reminds me of one of my all-time favorite homeschool books, Educating the Whole-Hearted Child)

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." (Mark 12:30,33)

Comments

• Aug. 19, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by drewsfamilytx

Very timely reminder, Nancy-- just in time for the new school year!

Thank you also, dear friend, for your very kind comments on my blog. :-) I am so thankful for your friendship-- who knows? Maybe one day we'll meet IRL!

Love,
Marsha

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• Aug. 20, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Juliestew

So glad to know I"m not the only evil mommy walking around. I slept a little better last night. I can feel the worst of it at bay. Let's see how the day goes.
julie

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• Aug. 20, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by SandBetweenMyToes

Great post. I will definitely go check out these other articles.
Sorry, but that was too funny about your little doggy eating the eggs....I'm laughing with you, right? LOL. We caught a dog in a trap one time. And, caught a possum last week in our garage! We knew something was finding it's way in.
Thank you so much for your comment and prayers. The tears have come and gone today, and probably will for a while. You can "know" things in your mind, and even spirit, but getting the emotions on board can be a different story. Thanks for sharing your dream. Kind of spooky at how similar it was to our situation. I'm glad things are working out with your curriculum choices this year. As you know, there's no panic to get it all figured out. RELAX! : )
Thanks for your friendship,
Letitia

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