We're nearing the end of the school year which is hard to believe, and also met with much welcome. As the days grow longer and warmer, the children grow restless, forgetting the rhythm and responsibilty of school. I find myself impatient, frustrated as all discipline seems to fly out the window. But maybe in May it is time to let expectations fly away just as the spring birds outside our window are winging by. I'd like to remember the purest visions I had for homeschooling because all of the expectations of our charter school and extracurricular activities cloud my minds eye until I'm in a fog, far from the purpose and beauty I began the journey with.
The things that really matter are:
Loving nature and knowing it well, having the ability to draw and create things artistically with skill, loving literature and possessing a large bank of beautiful words and stories, an undying curiosity for the things that went before (history) and the diveristy around us. I suppose math must get thrown in their though I can't hide my absolute inadequacy as a math teacher.
And then there is much to be said for loving other people, feeling confident in one's self, being able to see a job that needs doing and doing it, being kind to one's siblings, being unselfish, using tools, washing dishes, watering a garden-these things matter, too.
Yesterday I took the children to Down to Earth garden store which is filled with more than you can imagine. A rainbow of dishes, fertilizers in a wide range of smells from slightly repulsive to utterly unbearable in odor, some very sharp japanese gardening tools, hummingbird feeders and Evie's favorite, tinkling wind chimes. It was nice that everyone got along (mostly), that they laughed and played while I picked out Cinderella pumpkin starts, Empress of India Geraniums and a slightly wilted eggplant.
In the afternoon, the older two were off to ballet. The little two were set up neatly in the garage with water color paints and thick cardstock paper. A mere ten feet away, I worked furiosly to paint my beautiful window box (crafted by M as a mother's day gift) as gray clouds approached with increasing speed and foreboding. Alas, just as I finished the job raindrops began to fall and I had to haphazardly cover the whole thing in plastic. Meanwhile, the little two continued their painting. I thought to myself, the children should be painting a few times a week, if not everyday. Why haven't I remembered to get the paints out for them?
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