29 September, 2010

School and Sanity

So how does a woman home school around farm life and keep her sanity? One word.....flexibility. Make that two words. God and flexibility. And don't compare yourself, your life and your children with others. Seek God's heart, pray that He would show you how HE wants you to teach YOUR children, and enjoy the ride. I have to remind myself of that on a regular basis. On the farm, no two days are alike. Take for example the week that a cow had a dead calf and almost died in the process. Marlin made up some wicked tinctures with garlic, cayenne and vodka, (left over from vanilla making) and him and Eric spent most of the day working with her. That week we also had a cow that was growing a fifth quarter (we have a knack of buying freako cows) so he got to watch surgery first hand. So how did we do "school" around that? That was his school for the day and if i can keep that focus, i can walk in peace. So for now, this is what our curriculum looks like. Kind of.

Math-Emily and Zac are doing MCP math, Eric is finishing up last year's that he needed brush up on.

ENGLISH-copywork from Queen Homeschool,and language arts from a book i bought at a yard sale for 50 cents. We're sitting down and working at it together. We'll see......they also have a journal they write in that we are also incorporating spelling with.

SCIENCE-live cow surgery, dead kittens, sick cows and home remedies, mama cows eating placenta's and finding out why they would do something so sick, elderberry hunting only to discover that we're preparing to harvest pokeberries.....on and on and on the list goes, every day something new. I would like to study the human body this winter but for now this is more than enough.

HISTORY-Listening to countless stories from Grandpa around the table. He has a wealth of stories ( He is a HUGE reader and a very expressive story teller) and if that is all the history they get this year it is enough, not to mention that they will remember for the rest of their lives the time spent with him. However, i do have a plan for a bit later but we'll see if it works out.

They are also doing cursive, and have reading time, and more importantly than anything else, they are building life skills that will benefit them into eternity. Yes, i most definitely see gaps and Lord willing, we'll be working on that but my constant prayer has been that God would show me how to teach them what they will need for the future. I do not have lesson plans or a schedule, we simply work each day on the next lesson or do review if needed, and while there's a big part of me that would love a schedule, it's not even feasible at this point. Every year i always had a basic routine, but i've had to lay all that down and trust that God and Marlin know what they're doing. As i continue to lay down my control and simply surrender and TRUST, i walk in peace. The moment i start comparing and worrying that they will NEVER learn, i lose any sense of peace and panic builds.

You know, i'm convinced that homeschooling will look different for each family. This is where we're at and as long as my heart is to glorify Jesus Christ and not big mama Weav, i truly believe He will honor that and our children will have a far richer education than i could dream of. Our relationships as a family over the last several months has gotten so incredibly richer and i treasure that far above anything else. So Emily may never get very far in algebra? I could give less of a hoot as long as her heart is to follow her Lord.......and since she just informed me the other night that she longs to be a missionary, i may need to put her on a path to language study instead. :) The fact is, we don't know what God will call our children to, so there is no one better to place our trust in on our homeschooling journey.

4 comments:

  1. this is another attempt @ commenting...Tori is here to help!! Again Amen to all your observations!~pauline

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  2. Daughter's are good things, aye? :) Good to "see" you here.

    ~Darla

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  3. Good morning, just commenting on a previous post about pre-spray, does this work ok with colors? I want to try it, I have used the soap in the past but quit when my kids skin got worse ( they have dry skin issues) thanks and God bless your day- Gina

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  4. Hi Gina, Yes i use it on colors.

    ~Darla

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