Getting Back to Basics

During the course of our homeschooling journey, I found myself starting strong and finishing frazzled. In the early days of teaching the kids, our days were filled with new discoveries outside, watching documentaries on TV, learning math with manipulatives and reading Mc Guffey readers straight from the pages of Little House on the Prairie.

As the kids grew, I started to become more concerned with making sure they were learning the information that their public school counterparts were learning. I knew some homeschooling Super Moms. They all have 5 or more children excelling in all subjects, sitting at desks in a neatly organized room in their home complete with a whiteboard and pull-down maps on the walls. Wow. If they can do that with a flock of children, why do I find it difficult to finish math and reading with my two?

As time went on, I tried to get our school day to more closely resemble theirs. We had multiple texts on a variety of subjects, student desks, Trapper Keepers--if it looked like you would see it at school, we had it. Of course, our drop-down maps came in the form of those US map placemats you find at Walmart, but still--we had maps! So, if we were learning tons of information and plugging along, why were we all frustrated, bored and crying? Oh, I knew the answer. I just didn't have permission to "do school" the way that I knew was right for us from the beginning.

Funny thing, permission. Being a firstborn, I always feel like I need it. But I have learned that until I get permission from God, I will never get permission from myself. God heard our cries and caused me to stumble on to a book by Barbara Edtl Shelton titled Senior High: A Home-Designed Form+U+La. God allowed Barbara to speak comfort to me to once again focus on what God wants for my kids. My goal is to help each child discover God's will in their life, teach them how to recognize and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, and then assist them in planning a path that will take them to the destination God has for them. It's that simple. Once you know where you are going, getting there becomes an exciting adventure. Sometime you will need a textbook, and sometimes you will not. Either way, each child's education is their own.

Not that Super Moms who operate a "school at home" are doing anything wrong if it is working for their families. In fact, I know many a family whose children thrive on such an education. But for those of us who are being asked to be flexible, to adapt to the unique needs of our children's purpose and passions, I am convinced there is no other way than to be sensitive daily to the leading of the Holy Spirit. He is there to guide us to guide them.