Tuesday, April 28, 2009

The Best Parts of Our Day

For years while we were home educating three children fairly close in age, our home educating days all began the same way.  The children would do a few chores after breakfast while I tidied up the kitchen and enjoyed a second cup of tea.  Then I would brew a pot of herbal tea and gather them together in our family room.  I would read a chapter or two of a book aloud to them while they sipped their tea and stirred in as much sugar as they could.

We followed that every day with our Bible study and then with the other subjects that they worked on together.  By the time they were moving into high school level subjects, they might just be sharing the novel and Bible study.  Those mornings are some of my best memories of home educating as we read together and talked about books, and enjoyed a peaceful way to learn together.

With only one child involved now in our home education, our routine has shifted, but still I read to her every day, and we begin our actual school work with Bible study every day.  I heard a speaker at a conference long ago say that we need to start with the thing we want our children to value most, so Bible study is pre-eminent in our home.  Next, we always do math.  Even if that's all we achieve some days, I know that the other subjects will get worked in over the course of the week even if they are not done daily.

Our daughter is a strong reader so I often have her read to catch up if we've fallen behind in a subject like science or history.   I've learned that every topic we cover in those areas can be returned to later if our first study of it was not deep enough, and that most curriculum retraces its steps quite consistently.

Today we begin a new book: Pilgrim's Progress in an abridged edition (the original is readable for older teenagers, but the message of the book is inspiring for much younger children as well.)  We've chosen the book partly because it's referred to over and over in Little Women, which we listened to as an audio book on our trip to Calgary.  

I'm off to make some Tea!

4 comments:

  1. Dear Kathy, Thank-you so much for sharing your blog with me. Your homeschool days seem so much more relaxed than ours. As we are stepping into our high school years with Maegan and Noah I hope to have the same resolve that you do...to share what is most important to us...a love for the Lord and His Word! So glad you are healing well. I would love to hear more of how you planned your highschool years.
    Blessings to you,
    Caralee

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  2. Kathy,

    Thanks for sharing. We are in our 9th year of school at home and have enjoyed many books together. We also begin by reading aloud and are currently reading Pilgrims Progress! (Sonlight grade 9 curriculum) It is encouraging to hear that you have 2 graduating from university. I do find myself worrying about covering enough for them to succeed in college and it is great to hear success stories from others on a similar journey. I also value the memories of spending time together, reading books and studying God's word.

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  3. Kathy, what a delight to see you've started a blog. No doubt you'll be a wealth of information and inspiration for other homeschool parents out there. Way to go.

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  4. Kathy, thank you for taking the time to start this blog. The big building down the street was starting to look like it had the only answer to prepare my children for college. Your well-timed blog shed some light on my fear of leading them down a road of "No College For You." Hope you find the time to mentor us a little more with your experience and musings.

    Gratefully,

    Nina

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