When my 3-yr-old woke up this morning, it was 6:00am and i was in no hurry to rush out of bed. I asked him to go play quietly in his room until i got up. He did!! I never went back to sleep, but i had time to lay there and pray and think. So when i did get up, i was in a good frame of mind. We greeted each other with smiles. This is my best homeschooling time with Josiah because it's usually just me and him for the first couple of hours in the morning. What did we do? We read the Bible, which is one of his favorite books. We made breakfast and talked about food. We colored pictures and talked about different animals. We have begun to write his name (his idea...i just made sure he was having fun). Reading and communicating ideas are the basis of a great education. Smiling and laughing are ESSENTIAL. If we can't have fun while being with our children day after day and doing these things with them, then what's the point? It's up to the parents to make life fun and to create a good homeschool environment for them.
Next, my oldest woke up. When he woke up, Josiah transformed before my eyes into a whiney monster. At times, he tries to make sure that it's all about him, that he gets the attention of mama, and he doesn't like it when i pay attention to Caleb. So he turns to whining and doing wrong things to get attention (i have only recently diagnosed this disease). To cure it, i simply try to make his whining get him the opposite of what he's after. So instead of giving him my attention, i gave Caleb a big hug and smile and talked to him (remember that i had just spent the last two hours totally engaging with only Josiah), and i sent Josiah to his room, explaining that he could not come out until he changed his attitude. He could not have fellowship with anyone until his heart was seeking the good of all and not just his own good. You may think that's too much for a 3-year-old to grasp, and for many i'm sure it is. But Josiah is wise in this way, and he understood. He was only in his room for like 60 seconds before he came out smiling from head to toe! He went on to play happily with Caleb for the next hour!! That is truly bliss, to see the problem, find a remedy and watch it work. The Lord is good!
So our homeschool lesson this morning had to do with sociology. Josiah learned that whining was not the way. He learned it pays off to make himself pleasant to be around. He got the fellowship he was after, but he got it in the right way.
Some days, it is the little one who is acting good and the older one who causes the trouble. Because we homeschool, we are there to detect the problems and try our best to deal with them. If you send your children off for eight hours, you don't know who they're talking to, what problems they encounter, you aren't there to guide them as to how to deal with issues that arise, etc. So when they come home, they are a mystery to you. You have a harder time diagnosing and curing because you have no idea what they've been doing and thinking all day long. And equally important, they have no idea what you have been doing and thinking all day! SO even though i have plenty of difficult times, i rejoice that we are together, experiencing all of life's joys and trials as a family. I believe that is how it was meant to be.
Again, i want to stress the importance of not burdening yourself to teach your children things like reading, writing, history, math. That isn't where you should start. Start with the heart (your own first, and then the child's), with the environment, with the attitude, and go on from there. Make your life more simple, or you will quickly get overwhelmed. And PLEASE make your husband feel at home when he is home. Make his life better, more rich, more sweet. Don't see him as only someone who needs to do his share and help you. See him as one you want to bless, one you want to love and serve and cherish. If you do, you will add to that lovliness of the home. You will be homeschooling when you do this, because the children take in so much more than lessons. They take in your frame of mind, your relationship with your husband, and how you deal with problems and disagreements.
It's up to YOU, mama!:) Change your thinking. Have fun. I tell myself this every day! It really does help.
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