homeschool musings

From the porch a few minutes ago, I watched my younger two, Elijah and Ella, running around the yard. They exclaimed over everything. As I pointed the older children to their lessons and read to them from several books, I kept an eye on the others in the long grasses (yes, we need to mow...however the kids love the long grass...).

Elijah guided Ella in their play, telling her the names of things in the yard that he knows with great gusto, asking her to lay in the grass with him or to hide behind a tree. She happily complied with giggles. A little later on, they came back on the porch and commandeered a history book to look through together. He is three, she is 15 months. They live in an environment of teaching. We have not always, but since we started homeschooling, it has really become apparent to me what a great dynamic is possible. We teach them, they teach eachother, and by realizing they have something to share in knowledge, they learn to respect themselves- and eachother.

It makes me laugh when my older kids are amazed by the few things I do know how to do or at least know a little about. I don't think they'd respect their father and I in the way that they do if they didn't see us daily struggling to guide them in academic instruction, in faith, and in every day things. They see when I am tired, frustrated, or just plain lazy, and they see me push forward for their benefit. And they see when I choose not to. There is an unspoken understanding between us the older they get. It keeps us steady even when the seas get rough. We're making it, and we're doing well, together. Their effort is as essential to their learning as mine. I don't know that we'd be able to experience this together if they were not homeschooled.

We also must accept that we know everything about eachother. Homeschooling means spending most of your waking moments constantly together. I sometimes entertain the idea that life would be easier if they were off to school, but then I remember what good has come of this. Maybe some parents don't want their kids to know that they don't know everything. It's hard to get so transparent, even with your own children. The older they get, the more apparent this becomes. I think part of homeschooling is allowing yourself, as the adult and parent, to really connect with your kids on a deep and revealing level.

They are all finishing lunch and are going to blow bubbles for a while. I can already see their team effort, the older kids blowing bubbles for the littler ones to chase, the little ones dumping their bubbles on the porch...and I can stand back and do nothing but observe, knowing they will work it out. Someone will run for a towel. Someone will soothe those who lost most their bubbles. Someone will offer to share.

We are not the best homeschoolers, or the most pious, or the smartest. This I know: we are doing something genuine and special.