Thinking Out Loud : Love in our Homeschool

My yearly planning treck has taken me to reconsidering our Language Arts curriculum. Someone on the Sonlight forums told me about the Bravewriter program. But I don't want to go into detail about that so much in this post. I am still working things out and wrapping my head around the ideas presented in the program. What I did want to think out loud about is this post from the author/creator of the Bravewriter program, Julie Bogart. This post has sent my mind on a journey thinking about what do I really want our homeschool to look like. What does the Lord want our homeschool to look like. When Jesus taught, the basis of His teachings was love.

The Greatest Commandment

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Matthew 22:34-40


So what am I doing to show this foundational teaching to my children. Am I making them "buck up" for the sake of doing work and checking off boxes. Do I take time out to hear Princess K when she says something is too hard, or gives me an attitude because she doesn't like a particular assignment. My love and wish for homeschooling was that the children would grow up loving and knowing how to learn. I want them to "experience" learning and not just keep information in their minds till the test comes around. I fully believe that we have the curricula that could foster such an environment, but am I using it that way. I don't believe entirely. Am I approaching school like a dictator or a mentor... I would like to say mentor. I do need to work on fostering an environment of less box checking and more understanding and compassion. I didn't grow up with a lot of compassion in my home, but I want to change that for my children. I believe great progress has been made in this arena, however this post by Julie Bogart has me thinking it is time for me to take it to the next level. If love is so important to our Lord and King then it should be the foremost item of our homeschooling day.

Bad days come and go in any job and that is no different in Homeschooling your children. The encouraging thing for me is that I know this adventure I am on is because it is a request from God. I am running a race; a marathon, and every so often I have to trip over a rock, fall, look up and remember that I serve an awesome God.

The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
your love, O LORD, endures
forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands.
Psalm 138:8
(search scriptures at http://www.biblegateway.com/)

Occasionally He needs to remind me that I need to rely on Him more and myself less. I tripped yesterday, relying on my own strength and letting grouchiness to rule my mood. Today...God is dusting off the sand and helping me move along reminding me that He is in charge and I need to be looking up.

Today I watched and Thanked God for Homeschooling, as I saw all three of our children participate in Science. We are studying Birds right now. Princess K is to go out and observe any birds and draw them. Bubba followed her outside with her Pocket Nature book. When they came in and she read her assignment, she shared with me how she was amazed where the ankle is on a bird. Both littles wanted to see these pictures and Princess K was able to share with them as well. Then she hugged Bubba (he was the last to see the pictures). I just loved sitting back and watching them interact and learn. This is one of the many reasons I Love Homeschooling. This moment of time also completely erases my pill of a day yesterday! Here are her notebook pages from her study.

I do not want to end this post without sharing a new tool. Since Techie Guy generally teaches math, I have to credit this little tool find to him. We are working through getting better and more concrete with our math facts by doing timed drill. We needed a stop watch, and the Internet came to our rescue. So the site of the day (not like there is normally a site of the day... but today there is) is: http://www.online-stopwatch.com/ . It is easy to use and has become very helpful to us. I hope that you find it helpful too (that is if you need to time something). If you want to use timed drills in your math lessons but don't have sheets to do so, please check out The Math Worksheet Site . This site can generate all kinds of worksheets for you, and its FREE. Happy Calculating!