“Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life.” ~Rachel Carson
The past few days have been very encouraging to me. We have returned to our normal days, with less just-getting-by strategies, and more purposeful routine. And like every unforseen road the Lord takes us down, I am seeing a small glimpse into the lessons He has for me in this place. For one, this week the boys have reminded me, unknowingly, why I love this home schooling lifestyle.
It took me over half the school year to get used to the slower pace of home schooling. When Jaybird was enrolled in a private school last year, there was a constant flow of activities. Meetings or volunteer time on committees, extracurricular activities and lunches with friends after school dictated our calendar, not to mention the daily 20 minute commute (each way, twice a day) to school. A simple weekly trip to the library was even a difficult promise to keep. The life we had chosen for our family was busy and filled with things away from home. There was also a fair
amount of good things, but our busyness was one of the negatives.
This year, it is not uncommon for the kids to finish school and chores and have 4 hours a day of time leftover. My children have never (not once!) complained or asked to return to the life we had before. But, to my surprise, I missed it for a while. I missed seeing my friends in the carpool line. I missed asking my best friend if she and the kids wanted to join us for a lunch date. I missed being part of a team. Now, we have friends over maybe once a week. We take "fun" homeschool classes (pe, lego club, etc.) once a week. We go on a field trip once a month. Other than that, we are mostly at home or doing things together as a family.
I think it really took me until December to come into my own with our choice. And now, I see our choice to walk this path (that is a little less traveled-no pun intended) as an excellent option for our boys. I could try to articulate why I feel this way, but instead I will share a list of observations from Monday until now.
Here are the things I have observed my boys doing that they did not do when life was busier:
It took me over half the school year to get used to the slower pace of home schooling. When Jaybird was enrolled in a private school last year, there was a constant flow of activities. Meetings or volunteer time on committees, extracurricular activities and lunches with friends after school dictated our calendar, not to mention the daily 20 minute commute (each way, twice a day) to school. A simple weekly trip to the library was even a difficult promise to keep. The life we had chosen for our family was busy and filled with things away from home. There was also a fair
amount of good things, but our busyness was one of the negatives.This year, it is not uncommon for the kids to finish school and chores and have 4 hours a day of time leftover. My children have never (not once!) complained or asked to return to the life we had before. But, to my surprise, I missed it for a while. I missed seeing my friends in the carpool line. I missed asking my best friend if she and the kids wanted to join us for a lunch date. I missed being part of a team. Now, we have friends over maybe once a week. We take "fun" homeschool classes (pe, lego club, etc.) once a week. We go on a field trip once a month. Other than that, we are mostly at home or doing things together as a family.
I think it really took me until December to come into my own with our choice. And now, I see our choice to walk this path (that is a little less traveled-no pun intended) as an excellent option for our boys. I could try to articulate why I feel this way, but instead I will share a list of observations from Monday until now.
Here are the things I have observed my boys doing that they did not do when life was busier:
Resting after lunch with a book, calming down at night with a book, waking up in the morning with a book >Writing their own manuscripts for books and movies>Making cards for people without prompting>Tasting honey suckles>Digging holes to see what's under the dirt>Stopping at the sight of a drop of dew on a clover and yelling, "Mommy! Come look at the diamonds!">Playing long enough in the creek to learn to skip stones for the first timeI am very thankful for this time for them to enjoy these normal, childhood activities. I think that many children who are in school all day long enjoy all of these things. But for us, I never made the time to just let them roam loosely when we were busier. These things take time, especially time at home. So I am only speaking of what works for us, and I never mean to insinuate that home school is a better option for any one else. It just feels good to finally feel at home with this new lifestyle. While I am actually working harder, our life is simpler and lighter. And while I do not believe this schooling option is for every family, it feels good to know it is good and right for us.
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