Back To Normal

Well, the holidays are over, our quick trip to Florida to visit friends is done, and we are trying to get back in the swing of things.  School is going strong this week, but I use that term very loosely with a toddler in the house.  Oh my - our days are NUTS!!

You know though, I have been home schooling long enough to know that when my very hyper 10 year old sits still long enough to put together a Lego with several hundred pieces labeled for 14 and up, then that's "school."  I cherish the conversation that I was able to have yesterday with that same "warrior" child as we were reading his US History lesson.  With everything going on in our nation right now, learning why so many people risked their lives to found this country is so important.  I could see his eyes light up at the question the book asked, "How in the world could an unorganized, unpaid, rag tag group of Militia Men defeat the British with their professional soldiers and extra large navy?"  The answer that even his ten year old brain could come up with is really simple - so simple in fact, it is a miracle to me that the American people can not figure it out - FREEDOM.  The Militia Men had something worth fighting for.  They desired a better life for their families, a place they could worship God, a place that everyone had a chance to make it in life - a place they could be free.  Are my children and grandchildren going to have to fight this war again??  Can we not learn the lesson that history is begging to teach us?  Can we not diligently teach it to our children?

I also cherish the prayer time we have together each day.  When we sit around the table, go over everyone's memory work, read a chapter of the Bible and then take turns praying.  This is when we pray for specific missionaries - people we know, like our dear friend Emma and people we admire but have never met like Katie Davis.   This is also the time we pray for specific prayer requests from family and friends and it is when we take the time to teach Patrick to pray for his birth family.  It is so sweet to watch him fold his little hands and pray for "Miss S" and "Mr. T" and "Grandma S and Grandpa A."

I was able to discuss with Graham yesterday the difference in "school" and "education."  I have had this conversation over and over through the years - both with my older kids and others who are curious about what we do.  I think yesterday, Graham understood, maybe for the first time, exactly what is going on in our home.  It is not simply that he gets to sleep later than his 5th grade counterparts, or that he gets to ride his long board during "school hours."  Our aim is to educate our children.  Isn't that the aim of all schools, you might wonder?  In a word - no.  There are some fabulous teachers in our country - my sister is one of them.  However, from the top, the education system in America has an agenda.  One that really has very little to do with educating the precious minds that sit under its tutelage day in and day out.  I want my children to think outside the box.  I want them to dream, invent, read, and THINK.  Henry Ford said, "Thinking is the hardest work there is, which must be why so few people engage in it."  Our culture has forgotten how to think.  Our children are so busy - with hours spent sitting in a room all day, then hours of mindless home work, then hours over extracurricular activities.  All this not to mention the hours they spend in front of the TV or computer.  They are exhausted and stressed and they have no time left over to just sit - to read a book, stare at the clouds, doodle on a piece of paper.  They have no time to be children.  I think our country is going to see the terrible ramifications of this very soon.  There are soon to be no more Henry Fords or Thomas Edisons. No more Jane Austens or Leonardo di Vincis.  Kids today can't stand to be inconvenienced and they will not spend the time experimenting.  Edison "failed" 999 times at the light bulb before he got it right. I dare say, there are not many kids in our culture who would keep at it.  It is a scary world they are growing up in.  And I fight the electronics as much as the next person, even though we home school - however, I want to give my kids a chance to just be.  I want them to read, to think, to engage.  I want them to leave my home educated - not "schooled."

This week we are getting back to "normal" which for us means staying home, playing outside, reading for hours, sludging through our math books, playing two year old games, talking and discussing things - big and small.  It is a great life - I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.