The night before school began lended a bit of foreshadowing that my overly romanticized day dreams about the impending 'school days' were just that....a little too glorified. On the eve of the new school year, The Davidson School for Girls has a tradition in which the Principal (The Lone Ranger) prays a blessing over our school room & the year ahead, but this year that tradition went awry. We'd had a long day (mistake #1), a late evening (mistake #2), & an OCD Teacher/Mommy (mistake #3) who couldn't let go of her tradition despite the warning signs of impending meltdowns. By the time we gathered in the schoolroom fists were flying & attitudes were blazing. The Lone Ranger cast me a sideways glance that I chose to ignore, & I pressed for the tradition to go on regardless...needless to say the Blessing didn't happen & almost everyone went to bed with tears in their eyes. A good night's sleep went a long way towards mending spirits (temporarily). We had our annual celebratory big breakfast, donned special pj's, & marched down the hallway to our school room. Morning Meeting went well, & inwardly I was fisting pumping my success (mistake #4). The problem began when Goldilocks & Sweet 'N Sassy headed to their desks, & Belles 'N Whistles realized that her playmates were to be otherwise engaged. Needless to say hysterics & bedlam ensued...and proceeded to last every morning for the next 3 weeks. My littlest lady had no clue how to play by herself, & that has been a tough lesson to learn. Midway through the term she caught onto things & it has been smooth sailing (in that area) from there.
The second major blip came in the form of my overly high expectations. With a background in Elementary Education, one would think I'd be more perceptive of things...but I tell ya, it's just different with your own kiddos. By the end of Day 1, I realized that I'd set expectations of Sweet 'N Sassy that she just wasn't ready for. I pushed. I prodded. I goaded...and then my Father lovingly jerked a knot in my tail. For the next little while I battled a sense of failure & inadequacy. By the end of week 2, I scrapped all 6 weeks worth of Sassy's lesson plans & began to go day-by-day. I'm an uptight perfectionist, & I tend to burden my children because of my ways. The Lord has been teaching me hard (but good) lessons in patience & humility. My old college lessons in learning styles were put to good use, & Sweet 'N Sassy is doing exceedingly more than I knew she could now that I've laid aside societal & personal benchmarks.
It was around this point that I remembered a dear friend & fellow homeschooling momma's advice: Create a long term goal for your family/school...anything that doesn't support, encourage, or advance that goal is disposable. In the world of homeschooling the options for curricula, techniques, & methods for educating your own children are endless & overwhelming. Having a firm grasp on why you're doing what you're doing is imperative in deciding how to do it & what to do in order to accomplish the goal. The Lone Ranger & I had a chat about our heart for homeschooling & the motives behind it. My hope is to have our goals hanging in our school room as a reminder to myself. Those goals create a litmus test that prevent stress & that drowning feeling. Over the years these objectives might be added to or amended, but currently these are the goals for our Davidson School for Girls:
1. To raise children who love & follow Christ. (Deuteronomy 6:5, Colossians 3:23)
2. To equip our children to be disciples & to make disciples. (Matthew 28:19)
3. To teach our children how to learn & decern truth. (Romans 12:2)
As we choose curriculum, make lesson plans, & further delve into to homeschooling lifestyle bearing this agenda in mind will keep our hearts & minds in check.
Here are some of the adventures of homeschooling thus far.
Just yesterday we got together with a fellow homeschooling family & had a Fall Fun Day. At the end of each term the momma of this crew & I will be alternating planning events & activities for the kiddos.
Midterm we had a 'field trip' to the Children's Museum. My Sweet 'N Sassy is a Dino lover so this trip was right up her alley!
Sick Days are inevitable, but unless buckets are needed, we still try to get the meat of our curriculum in so that we can keep on track with our 180 days. A late summer cold caught everyone unawares (especially poor Sassy), but with pj's on & Piggy in tow, she was able to make it through an abbreviated school day.
Thursdays are our grocery/errand days. When you live 20 minutes from town, you don't venture there too frequently. In the car & throughout the grocery store we do oral learning in the form of Recitation & discussion on current lessons. The gaggle gets a kick out of this (and so do fellow shoppers).
When we return home, the paperwork begins as I unload groceries & fix lunch. Goldilocks thrives on independence so I set her up with her daily binder & away she goes!
Fridays are a little hectic (for me) as I begin the next week's preparation as soon as the current school day is complete. I switch our command center's Letter of the Week, Christ-Quality, & Artist card. The living room is then overrun with binders, hole punch, highlighters, text books, & workbooks as I refill Goldi's daily binders (my version of work boxes). My goal is always to have all preparation done so that Saturday & Sunday are completely school free days.
This first term of the 2014-2015 school year has FLOWN by! We've laughed...we've cried...we've bonded...we've disagreed. They've learned oodles, but I've learned more. We've got 30 days in the books & 150 left to go!
The greatest lesson for myself has been this:
I am wholly and richly blessed...to be wife to the Lone Ranger & momma/teacher to the Gaggle. When all is said and done I LOVE this life & the opportunity I've been given. The days ahead will continue to be both idyllic & less than so...but at the end of each day He is good, & "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me". (Philippians 4:13)
