School Days

Last month a friend called to say that there was a Christian family home school conference in Lansing and would I be interested in going? Would I! I was so excited to find a resource close to home and with people who think similarly to us about home school. She and I drove over for the Saturday sessions. We knew there would be lots of things that weren't applicable to us because we weren't looking for (or needing) doctrine, but I needed insight into the "how" of home school. We attended a session on the Charlotte Mason method of teaching - I won't explain it all to you - but suffice it to say that CM is based upon understanding that children are people, intelligent and curious and they want to learn. She believed that children learn great things from great literature. I was so inspired by what I learned! It made me think of the great books in my life and how they changed my life. I can point to a very specific book and extremely supportive parents as the pivotal point in my life. That book is not classic literature, but it inspired me to great things and I did them. Every one of my children will read "If Talent Were Pizza, You'd Be A Supreme."

After that particular session I felt the day was well spent; we spent the next hour in, and immediately out of, sessions more doctrinally-based. We finally found a class where the presenter told us HOW she home schools, HOW she runs her home. Hearing how someone else does things really gets my brain going about what I can do. It gives me ideas to start from and build upon. It makes me think of the possibilities for our family and it helps me figure out what I don't want. I was thrilled beyond explanation to have found this woman - and we'd spent so much time trying to find her that we missed half of what she said. I think we heard the better half because now I know where to start. I don't know all the answers and probably never will, but the seed planted years ago in Burlington, Kentucky has begun to sprout and bring forth good fruit. I have lots of work to do to prepare for the coming school year, but I will get that done. We will succeed.

This same friend also told me about a home school used curriculum sale by home schooling moms in the area. Wow! There are so many great resources out there when you get connected. Many thanks to my friend for connecting me. I have some incredible home school moms around me and I'm humbled when they share ideas and information.

I also decided that we'd take the summer off. As I say that, Katie is on the computer learning sign language and Alex is at the table with math manipulatives. You see, you can't turn kids "off" from learning. They want to "do something" all the time so I've decided that our "something to do stew" (that's a Blue's Clues reference and it's just sad that you had to ask!) always includes some kind of learning. That said, I believe that play is a vital part of learning. The conference session where I learned so much also taught me that only 13% of children go outside and play after school. 13%! I was overwhelmed by that statistic. It's largely a result of our culture; if your mom is at work it is not safe for you to play outside. Children must be safe. In our family we have the luxury of a mom at home and a few acres on which to play. Our kids love to explore the forest (and they're better at it than we are!) and I have learned how to not have a heart attack when they disappear into the woods. That statistic helped me to remember that we have to play. And we need summer vacation.

These pictures of the girls are from one of our last great art projects. Alex did a workbook page that taught about the order of processes using a recipe. She put the steps in order for making "Bread Buddies." When I was a kid we called it salt dough... A few days later we pulled out the recipe and went to town. Here are their buddies.

I could go on talking about home school for a long time. I really love seeing the development of their minds. This morning we were finishing up Alma chapter 5 (which is the best chapter of scripture and takes forever when you are an early reader) in which the Lord is called the good shepherd. We are promised that if we follow him we will be protected from the ravenous wolf. "What's a wolf?" asked Alex. I explained that a wolf was a wild dog that was very dangerous; he would eat her head! I remembered the wolves in our chick flick, Beauty and the Beast, to give her a visual. Andrew was lying on my lap and he raised his head and said, "The wolf wants to eat the three pigs." There you have it. A two-year-old learns from classic literature and he can relate to the scriptures to teach us all.

Speaking of classic literature. We just finished the original Winnie-the-Pooh book yesterday. It was so fun to learn about who Pooh is and explain original works as opposed to dumbed-down Disney versions to the girls. Since we talked about that Alex always asks if what we are reading is the "original?" We laughed and laughed at Pooh's ideas for rescuing Piglet from the flood and Eeyore's very long statement on being the end of the line when followed by countless numbers of Rabbit's friends-and-relations: "...If I'm going to be the end of the Expo-what we're talking about- then let me be the end. But if, every time I want to sit down for a little rest, I have to brush away half a dozen of Rabbit's smaller friends-and-relations first, then this isn't an Expo-whatever it is- at all, it's simply a Confused Noise. That's what I say." What joy. We looked forward to another chapter every night. The goodbye chapter 10 was almost too much for me. I even got to teach them about Roman Numerals! Books are wonderful. And Edward Bear will always be our friend.