Thursday, January 27, 2011

Flowing beautifully

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I began this journey feeling that I need, or rather should, stick to a schedule.  That we should begin school at a certain time and end by a certain time, that we should eat lunch at so and so hour and dedicate a certain amount of time to studying this subject or that.

We tried it the first few days and honestly it quickly became evident that it would not work, I won't say my children are not cut out for structure, I will say that for some reason, maybe the fact that they despised this public school they attended and caught a lot of bad habits there, they were in desperate need of a break....some unschooling if you will.

Now there's days where it's chaotic and stressful and we can't figure out which way is up and which way is down but then there's days like today, where everything flowed beautifully.

From the minute we got out of bed things just fit.

First let me explain that the style in which we homeschool is based on our own preferences, with our children's needs and desires being the biggest consideration.  Everyone is different, children learn at different paces and require different things and to me that is the beauty of homeschooling, knowing that I can tailor it to what works for us.

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We got all the schoolwork out of the way before noon and then I did laundry

They played together on their Nintendo DS's

I worked on my crochet a little bit more

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They watched a movie

We had popcorn and hot chocolate

Nicholas played a game on his computer, Jasmine read one of her books

I read a book for review

They ate chocolate chip cookies for snack

I made the best chili ever for dinner and we all enjoyed it.

As this day draws to a close, I am sitting on my bed with my laptop typing this post and I hear their voices coming from Jasmine's room.  They are giggling and laughing and being silly and I'm smiling because the biggest change I've seen in my children, other than the joy on their faces, is the bond they've created.

The sibling rivalry is at a minimun, they love each other and it shows.

There's nothing like watching Jasmine teaching her younger brother, I've heard this often happens in homeschooled kids, the oldest take the youngest under their wing and they teach them and I'm seeing that happening already.


So I close this post with the memory of a beautifully flowing day and one single thought deeply ingrained into my mind that this is why I homeschool, this is why no matter what tomorrow may bring I can be certain that we are doing what is right and what the Lord has shown to be the best path for our family.

The rest???  It doesn't matter.

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