Photo credit: India Baker
Photo details: After classes, the kids get exercise. Kerridwyn mends the trampoline cover and Damien returns from shooting his BB gun.
Today has been one of those crazy days when it seems like all the things that might go wrong, did. It really was not that bad but it felt like it at several points and while the kids are now happily jumping their hearts out on the trampoline and getting some much needed exercise, 30 minutes ago in the wind down of our lessons, I was not so certain their attitudes would change. Definitely a day infused with constant prayer. Some days are just like this. Unrepentant distractions.
Thankfully three days ago we did a lesson that emphasized Ephesians 4:29 and brought to my attention, thanks to The Home Educating Family, a little thing called parentspeak. So, for the past several days I have been paying very close attention to how much I actually listen. Hard to do for a Mom who spends most of her day trying to get her children to listen to her.
However, this has proved to be very rewarding, if not a bit biting when I encountered situations where my 11 year old daughter gently interrupted me and asked me if she could ask a question. Sure, my response was. Her question, "Um, I do not mean to be disrespectful but would this be a situation where you are using parentspeak on me?" Oops. Guilty, as charged.
So while today was crazy and chaotic in my mind, I took a step back during Distraction #5,000,002 and realized that I was dealing with this all wrong. Kids, by nature, will be distracted. Kids, by nature are going to wander from thought to thought, just as adults do. So, why on earth do we as parents (and teachers) think that our children are any less justified in exploring as they learn? Sometimes you really intend to do Mathematics but you wind up explaining how the spelling of Arithmetic actually originated from the Greek word, αριθμός, which means number. Or you are reading The Story of the Greeks and all of a sudden your kids make the connection between what is going on as King Darius of the Medes and Persians is the the same King Darius that we read about in the Bible two months ago.
That is the beauty of education. That is the sheer bliss of educating with patience, love, compassion, and passion. When you see the light in their eyes, the bounce in their chair as they eagerly stumble over each other, distracting each other to be the first to blurt out the connection they made when read Book A and you read them aloud Book C, and all the information in between. This is why I am so passionate about teaching my children. So eager to "Talk about them [God's commandments]when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." [Deuteronomy 6:7-9 NIV]
Every aspect of our education is infused with God. And my children are thriving!
Posts