Reflections on our first year homeschooling both boys
It is spring. Perfect, lovely, green spring. Today is especially glorious- rain followed by sun and everything is alive.
Last night we celebrated the end of our Classical Conversations year. My boys still have a couple months of regular schoolwork to do, but it felt like an accomplishment wrapping up CC. Those 24 weeks were rich in fellowship and learning, and I'm already looking forward to next year.
We made it through the winter- long, cold days where school felt like a drag and we were all trapped inside together. It was hard. I started researching local schools because...gosh, homeschooling is hard work! I've been worn thin. But we made it through the tunnel and slowly it seems like we know what this looks like for us now. The boys know what we need to do each day (not that they don't still complain sometimes) and in the past few weeks they've gone off to play together and I'm hearing much more, "let's pretend..." than I have before. They have so much time for free play, exploration, imagination.
The big picture is coming into focus. The boys are given the time and freedom that homeschool allows. Time to go to our local lake 3 afternoons in one week because the weather us perfect. Time to play with Legos and army soldiers and not be rushed out the door constantly. Time for read-alouds and Bible memory and conversations and watching sunflower seedlings grow. I feel like we know each other well because we are in constant relationship. They have freedom to learn what they want to learn- like seeing a bald eagle's nest and then getting books at the library to learn more. Most of the time, learning and reading is still led by me. But we all steer the ship in turn and learn together.
They are growing in responsibility. Work that is required around the home and in school isn't so hard now. I hear them spontaneously use words like, 'responsible,' and 'generous' and I just beam. They are asking good, hard, theological questions. We pray together.
We also have struggles. They still fight a lot because we are together a lot. The household chores generally fall on me during the week and we are going to work on better delegation. The boys are too often on screens because the day is loooong. Lots of room for improvement.
But I think I see them becoming each other's best friends and that is a blessing that I am grateful for.
Last night we celebrated the end of our Classical Conversations year. My boys still have a couple months of regular schoolwork to do, but it felt like an accomplishment wrapping up CC. Those 24 weeks were rich in fellowship and learning, and I'm already looking forward to next year.
We made it through the winter- long, cold days where school felt like a drag and we were all trapped inside together. It was hard. I started researching local schools because...gosh, homeschooling is hard work! I've been worn thin. But we made it through the tunnel and slowly it seems like we know what this looks like for us now. The boys know what we need to do each day (not that they don't still complain sometimes) and in the past few weeks they've gone off to play together and I'm hearing much more, "let's pretend..." than I have before. They have so much time for free play, exploration, imagination.
The big picture is coming into focus. The boys are given the time and freedom that homeschool allows. Time to go to our local lake 3 afternoons in one week because the weather us perfect. Time to play with Legos and army soldiers and not be rushed out the door constantly. Time for read-alouds and Bible memory and conversations and watching sunflower seedlings grow. I feel like we know each other well because we are in constant relationship. They have freedom to learn what they want to learn- like seeing a bald eagle's nest and then getting books at the library to learn more. Most of the time, learning and reading is still led by me. But we all steer the ship in turn and learn together.
They are growing in responsibility. Work that is required around the home and in school isn't so hard now. I hear them spontaneously use words like, 'responsible,' and 'generous' and I just beam. They are asking good, hard, theological questions. We pray together.
We also have struggles. They still fight a lot because we are together a lot. The household chores generally fall on me during the week and we are going to work on better delegation. The boys are too often on screens because the day is loooong. Lots of room for improvement.
But I think I see them becoming each other's best friends and that is a blessing that I am grateful for.
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