Well it is a new year and with that comes a new attitude. Right? Well this year mine has come a little later than usual. So I guess the phrase "better late than never" would apply.
I have been rolling around in my mind the school year so far. What are the successes? Am I reaching my goals? What have I had to change? Is my pace too fast? Not fast enough? All of these are great questions and my answers kept centering on my high schooler. Where does she fall in all of this? I think my personal greatest challenge is that this year I have a high school, middle school, and elementary school child. There's a planning challenge for you! She has been the one I feel has fallen through the cracks.
Then in God's perfect timing I had a friend share with me her revelation that she had been holding on to her girls and realized that she was teaching for herself. As I pondered her words, I thought about how easy this is to do. I have never learned more in my life than I have homeschooling my children. I have never loved education more either, I am like this giant sponge soaking up everything. I love reading about history and discussing the effects or talking about a book we recently read. Meanwhile, my daughter is bogged down in busy work and struggling to find the joy in school. This has baffled me because she loves learning (notice I did not say school). She is my self-motivated learner. She asks me if she can read books! She asks me if we are going to study a particular topic! The convicting words of my friend reminded me that while I do love all of these things, this is her education and I have to let go. After all the best learners are self-motivated. I need to stop trying to bombard her with so much and give her more freedom...freedom to discover things for herself, freedom to find her passions, freedom to do experience what I experience as I learn. So the question comes for each of us. Who are you teaching for?
I have been rolling around in my mind the school year so far. What are the successes? Am I reaching my goals? What have I had to change? Is my pace too fast? Not fast enough? All of these are great questions and my answers kept centering on my high schooler. Where does she fall in all of this? I think my personal greatest challenge is that this year I have a high school, middle school, and elementary school child. There's a planning challenge for you! She has been the one I feel has fallen through the cracks.
Then in God's perfect timing I had a friend share with me her revelation that she had been holding on to her girls and realized that she was teaching for herself. As I pondered her words, I thought about how easy this is to do. I have never learned more in my life than I have homeschooling my children. I have never loved education more either, I am like this giant sponge soaking up everything. I love reading about history and discussing the effects or talking about a book we recently read. Meanwhile, my daughter is bogged down in busy work and struggling to find the joy in school. This has baffled me because she loves learning (notice I did not say school). She is my self-motivated learner. She asks me if she can read books! She asks me if we are going to study a particular topic! The convicting words of my friend reminded me that while I do love all of these things, this is her education and I have to let go. After all the best learners are self-motivated. I need to stop trying to bombard her with so much and give her more freedom...freedom to discover things for herself, freedom to find her passions, freedom to do experience what I experience as I learn. So the question comes for each of us. Who are you teaching for?
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