The Tortoise and the Hare
Excelsior, the Classical/Charlotte-Mason cooperative we are a member of, attended a play of Aesop’s Fables performed at the local community college. The kids really enjoyed watching the performers, one of which was the talented daughter of a homeschooling girlfriend. The rest of our day was spent enjoying some holiday munchies and rotating classes of science, music history, and language arts. My oldest son delivered his oral presentation of Thomas Edison to his peers. I had one of those surreal moments as I watched him speak thinking how he’s growing up so fast. It’s those moments that encourage you to continue with this homeschooling business.
Spending Saturday night with C.S. Lewis
Well, sort of.
We were able to escape to Phili this evening with our friends for dinner and to see the play, “The Screwtape Letters”. C.S. Lewis was and still is such an amazing writer. He really knows how to make you stop and reflect and ask those tough questions while trying to answer them.
Homeschooling consumes me: physically, emotionally, spiritually. I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. Most of the time I feel somewhat balanced, and thankfully my husband and I are on the same wave-length. He gets it, and my nuttiness.
But, I feel like more recently I’ve been asking myself, “What’s the point of all of this crazy absorption of homeschooling? Is it worth it, and if so, why?” Maybe it’s my middle age talking, maybe it was sitting through that play tonight, I don’t know. Society is so into the rat race, and I will bundle myself into that. But, if I step back from it all, from all of the busyness and pressure and whatever, then time itself for us looks very brief so what’s after this? My human mind cannot comprehend the afterlife.
I look forward to discussing these deeper subjects with my kids as they get older. As I look ahead to next year and the years after that of homeschooling them, I’m excited to see where this journey takes us. Maybe missionary work, maybe starting our own business, maybe we’ll all learn how to cook! Regardless, I hope I impart to them what are really the most important things about this temporary life.
Well, it’s 2 a.m.-my bedtime..
A benefit of homeschooling
Homeschooling is hard, exhausting, constant work, and I would never encourage anyone to homeschool if they really didn’t feel led to do it. That being said, there are many benefits to homeschooling. One benefit that I appreciated yesterday in our home studies was the ability to alter our schedule. My oldest son became so engrossed in a book that he didn’t want to put it down until he had finished the entire thing. I even put his lunch beside him so that he could keep reading. The only time he paused was to go to the bathroom. Seeing that his interest was peaked, I decided not to stick to my daily schedule of what I wanted to cover with him subject-wise and just let him keep reading. Now, I still have to cover what wasn’t taught during that time period. It’s not like his independent reading replaced what he needs to learn in various areas. Nevertheless, I was thankful that he had the opportunity to maximize what had his attention.
Ivy League Homeschooling 