Every day at lunch, while the children eat, I read them the Bible. Since we have a 'no talking with your mouth full' rule that we (for the most part) abide by~ this keeps me from eating my lunch while they eat theirs. Instead, I wait until they are all resting (and it is nice and quiet with no interruptions...ahhhhhhhh....) before I eat and (being the multi-tasker that I am) one thing I enjoy doing while I am eating is watching something. Not a "soap" girl myself (har har), I lead a much more boring life by watching things like TED speeches or various sermons/lectures on the internet. Keeps one toe in the grown up world and all that.
I particularly liked this one today:
A favorite quote of the speech:
"Our education system has mined our minds in a way that we stripmine the earth-for a particular commodity. And for the future, it won't service."
One constant thing in the back of my mind these days is how to do this whole "educating" thing right with my children. After all, I can't blame the school system, or the teachers, or the principals or even the 'dreaded peers' for the failure of my child to succeed. Any finger pointing, when it comes to homeschooling, would be turned right around on me, plucking out my own eyeballs.
How can I change our days to be a more suitable environment for my children to grow meaning: how can I make the childrens' lives a veritable petri dish for growth? How can I foster greatness in our home/attitudes/opportunities/experiences? What areas do I fail in? Where do I succeed? And, at the end of the day, what is the goal anyway? What do these children fundamentally need to know and how do we get there?
I think the answers have less to do with "academics" than you would think.
More on that another day... when the thoughts whirling around my head aren't swirling quite so fast.
PS. Thanks to all who voted for me during the TOP 25 HOMESCHOOL MOM BLOG contest. My 121 votes were piddly compared to the almost 2,000 votes of #1, but they were 121 more votes than I thought I would get!
So, if you popped over and voted for me- thank you bunches! And thanks to your comments, I know who SOME of you are! Thanks! :-)
I think you're spot on with the statement that "the answer has less to do with 'academics' than you would think" and I wholeheartedly agree!
ReplyDeleteI think for us there are two goals. Number one is that our children would "apply [their] hearts unto wisdom" and that they would "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ". Number two is that we teach them [i]how[/i] to learn and then also to [i]love[/i] learning. If we can teach our children those things then there is not much more "teaching" that needs to be done. They will have the desire to learn and the ability to find the answers to any questions they might have.
I second Leah T.!
ReplyDeleteThe more I carry out this home education thing, the more I LEARN myself that it's got far less to do with academics and more to do with KNOWING AND LOVING THE LORD WITH ALL OF OUR HEARTS.
The daddy and I included. {period}
We are a marriage...
A family...
A model of Christ and the church and everyday, we die to ourselves a little more...
And everyday we step farther away from the world and draw closer to HIM.
Were just pilgrims passing through and your right on the money when you say that in the end, we can't blame anyone but us. But in that lies a beautiful thing...
We have answered this humble call to take our childrens education in our hands and despite the many mistake I'm sure we make, God is well pleased with the fact that we are willing to lay our selves down to do what we are doing.
It's no easy task.
.....................
love that photo below of your children in the school room.
And,
I'm certain I need to grow some calendula now. Why shouldn't you let it go to seed?
I have nettles that I was going to make into a green smoothie and I read too that you shouldn't juice stinging nettles if they have gone to seed...
What are your thoughts?
Leah T. and Amanda. Well, you girls 'get' me. Precisely! And it is very good to hear from you both!
ReplyDeleteAnd for your questions Amanda~
As for calendula going to seed- calendula will continue flowering, flowering, flowering if it never has an opportunity to go to seed. Once it begins putting up seeds, it stops flowering. So, for the summer, I will be harvesting flowerheads as often as possible to keep the blooms coming (and do they come!) and then in late summer I will stop and let it go to seed (when I am ready for them to die!) so that I can then save the seed for next year. I explained this to my Farmer Boy Andrew as he couldn't understand why we would not WANT seeds! :-)
As for the nettle- once plants go to seed, their nutrients are stripped (for energy to make the seeds) so they aren't as healthful. Also, because they are older, they are not as tender but more tough. So it is best, with most greens, to get them while they are young. That said, there is no rule that you CAN'T harvest older ones. So-if you want to...do. :-)
This makes so much sense!
ReplyDeleteI think I will get out tomorrow with some gloves and begin cutting my nettle back and see what happens. It's supposed to be rich in iron and mama is in need of this whilist still nursing a one year old around the clock.
I'll be looking forward to getting some calendula next year!