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Thursday, June 16, 2011

Keep Your Eyes Ahead

Every month at Pack meeting I get to give my "cubmaster's minute".  It's where I give a nice little thought and wrap up the evening with a bow.  A few months ago I told the boys that goals are like driving.  You have to keep your eyes ahead to stay straight and stop worrying about all the little lines on the road of you'll veer off.
I feel like that with my parenting.  We've been homeschooling for 2 week now (yes, that's why I haven't blogged much) and I can see how easy it is to get bogged down in little details.
"You didn't do your grassland worksheet today!!!"  Like it's really that big of a deal.  Nevermind that we went outside and looked at grass and talked about how it flowers and spreads it seeds, he didn't do the worksheet!
I'm struggling to decide how to do this.  I feel like I have to have all this work to show anyone who criticizes our choice.  "See, he did all this work, that means he's learning."  And I'm not focusing on the big picture, on showing him the incredible things he can learn about. 
We're supposed to learn about the Hittites next week.  I mean, I find the Hittites fascinating, but then, I also got a BA in world history.  I can promise you I never learned about them til college.  So why am I adding them to a second grade curriculum?  I'm not sure I want to take them off either, I'm just debating these things on here.
When I focus too much on the curriculum instead of one just letting him soak things in, it hurts the process.  I think this is a problem for teachers too.  So many worksheets to prove your kid didn't waste their time.  I've read so many homeschooling books and spent so much time planning and not enough on my knees asking the One who knows my son best what I need to be teaching him.
My husband is still nervous about this whole homeschooling adventure and wants updates, and I don't blame him.  I want to do a good job, I don't want to fail my child.
But isn't there a time and a season for everything?  I'm kindof thinking this season is for him to develop secure family relationships, not be able to name every class of vertebrates in less than 10 seconds.
I know I do this a lot day to day.  I worry too much about whether the chores were done or clothes were put away and not enough about whether the spirit was in our home that day. 
Gotta keep my eyes ahead.

1 comment:

  1. It's hard, isn't it? But I'm glad that you remember that God will let you know how to lead your little boy.

    I think we all need to keep our eyes ahead more, in every aspect of our lives.

    (And, wouldn't so many worksheets kind of prove the opposite? I mean, how much more do kids learn from experiences than from being told something?)

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