Home Schooling and Happy Accidents

Time to write has escaped me lately. It would be tempting to blame it on a newborn, but in actuality we're four weeks into our school year. I should be wakening the girls as I type, but seeing how the little man has already gone back down for a morning nap and the girls are induced to sleep by the overcast morning, I'll write. Too bad I'm not a coffee drinker; I think this would be the perfect time for a cup.

Lately, I've been challenging myself. I'm working on developing a philosophy of education and a mission statement for our little school at home. Part of my desire is to instill in my children a life-time love of learning and an appetite for exploration. I am aware that my children will look to me for example. The old adage of "Do what I say, not what I do" doesn't work. So if I want my children to love learning well into their adult years and explore new areas to grow, I must be willing to go there myself. I have found that change often comes in small intentional steps toward a larger goal. So I have set baby goals for myself to become the person I want my children to mirror.

I wrote before about my attempts to maintain a tidy house - a real struggle for me. It's working nicely. I made a new "rule" recently that whenever I bring a big box into the house, it will leave full of "stuff" to send to Good Will. You'd be surprised how easy it is to do! That's a domestic step. I also have been trying to read at least one book a month. To some of you that may not seem like a lot, but when you have four small children, it can be a challenge! Most of the books have been on home education, but I have snuck one in on running a small business. That's an intellectual step. I've also started taking a ballet class! I am an introverted person, so going to a ballet class (when I've never taken one in my life) with a room full of people I've never met before was a real challenge for me. I love physical activity, so that part was not an issue. The girls were so excited when I got home so I could show them what I learned! (Something, I often ask them to do for me). It also gave me a guaranteed hour a week to work-out. So that was a physical and emotional step. I think you're getting the idea. Have you taken any small steps lately?

One thing I'm still exploring is a teaching style that works for me. Last year I tried a canned curriculum. I failed miserably! I hated it and was bored out of my mind! This year, with the guidance of books on home education, I'm doing my own thing. It's working so much better for me because I can challenge myself at the same time I challenge them. Yesterday, we had a happy accident. Some time ago, I decided to do a unit study on Guatemala and Compassion International because Evelyn took a real interest in learning about the children we sponsor in that country. I ordered several "living" books that are either about Guatemala or are based there, one was called Abuela's Weave. The girls have also been selling lemonade with my mom at the farmers' market to learn about money. Evelyn has been wanting to also sell a "real" product, so at the recommendation of friends we went to Crafts2000 this weekend and bought materials to make pot holders. Yesterday, we sat down and read Abuela's Weave, which turned out to be a story about a little girl who weaved garments with her grandmother and took them to market to sell! So of course, directly after reading that, I got out the pot holder materials to weave. As if that weren't coincidental enough, a few minutes in, my mom knocked at the door and sat down a weaved a pot holder with them! It was definitely a happy home school moment!