Look at this guy! We have a few white squirrels who live in our yard. I take the time to notice them lest they become "ordinary." They're not quite common in our area, but not entirely unusual.
Jesus said, "Do not worry about your life...look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?...But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things." (Matthew 6:25-26, 33-34).
I loved seeing him leaping this morning. He had no idea I was watching. He was going about his business, doing what God has put in him to do, under the watchful eye of the Almighty.
Parents have always been "home-schoolers," as it's always been the job of a parent to train up children. You are doing this all the time: in teaching habits (or not), in modeling behavior (whether good or bad), in how you respond to situations, and in daily life (how you manage your home, or not). All parents have abruptly been put into the role of what our culture calls "homeschoolers," or people who teach their children "academics" at home. Please quote me on this: Homeschooling is not super-human; it's supernatural. That's right; apart from God's help, you can't do it. I've been doing this seven years, and this is how I answer anyone over the years who has told me, "Well, I could never do that," as if I have some magic powers.
To this I say, "You're right! You can't do it. God can, and if you ask Him, He shows you the way." Frankly, it's ridiculous and insulting for anyone to insinuate that homeschoolers have been sprinkled with some special dust that enables us to do this thing that God actually commands all of us to do: "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." One thing that makes me cringe is hearing parents act like they can't stand being around their kids. A gentle reminder: God gave you specifically those specific kids. He didn't haphazardly throw you together. There's a reason you're you, and that you ended up with those particular little humans. You took care of them in-utero, brought them home from the hospital, kept them alive through the helpless baby years, potty trained and clothed them. You made it through all those long nights of crying, feeding, and the like.
Our culture does parents and children no favors encouraging this mentality that I observe daily, the one of "my children are driving me crazy, and I can't stand being around them." Don't fall into the temptation to go there. You, an adult by age, already went through adolescence, so attitudes like this need to be killed. I'm speaking in firm gentleness and love: if your children drive you crazy, examine why that is. You are the parent. And right now, you have them at home. Let me encourage you that (again, with God's help), you can homeschool them...and love it.
First, what new "homeschoolers" will have to do is allow their minds to be transformed as to what "school" looks like. This forced time at home should do away with the notion that learning must take place in a classroom with desks, in which sit thirty people of the same age for seven hours a day. This occurs nowhere else except in our idea of a "school" setting. It's kind of like when we started going to a church that met in the auditorium of an elementary school. An older person, set in her ways, told me "That's just not church." Frankly, I don't recall reading anywhere in the book of Acts that a church has to be a brick building with pews and a liturgy...but I digress. You get the point.
Next, throw out the idea that "learning" requires textbooks and testing. I understand...it was hard for me, too. The more I've freed myself from all of this, the more freedom there's been. From the methods of Charlotte Mason, I've come to grasp that being educated is about how much one cares. Anybody can memorize facts for a test, pass and seem brilliant, and have no idea what the information means. Let's stop this nonsense.
Did you know that you have everything required for homeschooling? You don't need to rush out and buy expensive curriculum, or worry that your child left his books at school. Here are some simple ideas for your encouragement:
1. Remember our white squirrel? Your own yard is full of the wonders of God's creation. Go outside and observe one or two a week, drawing them in a nature notebook. Surely you have an old spiral notebook lying around, or at least some paper you can staple together. Make notes about the nature you find: rocks, leaves, flowers, grass, birds, animals, trees. If you don't know what they're called, use Google! Type in, "small white flower with pink center," or whatever. For an added bonus, look up the scientific (Latin) name, and make a note of it as well. When this crisis is over, keep up the nature notebook! This isn't a project for the school year; it's meant to last a lifetime.
2. Have a look at those books you own, but are normally too busy to read together. Dust them off, and have some read-aloud time! After a paragraph (or page, or chapter), have your child(ren) narrate what they can remember. Ask them to tell in their own words. Don't interrupt them; let them talk! If they give erroneous information, correct facts after they've finished. I bet you have hundreds of books that you could use. Everyone has at least one book about the United States, or flowers, or the human body. Everyone has a copy of at least one living book: Little Women, Robinson Crusoe, Swiss Family Robinson. If you have one of your old textbooks from school, maybe you'd have fun using that!
3. Employ the above method, but challenge kids to write instead of telling aloud. These narrations on paper will be shorter and more difficult to produce than the oral ones, but even if it's a little, be glad for the effort, and build.
4. I'm guessing you have at least one poetry book at home. If not, you have the Internet, so no excuses! Now, don't cringe when you hear "poetry." Remember, we're not under the bondage that our teachers created for us by making us rip it apart and explicate it to shreds. You have permission to just read it. Yes, you heard correctly. READ IT!!! Don't ask what the poet is trying to say, don't make your child write a poem...just read a poem a day, for the sheer enjoyment of it. If you want to get really crazy, pick one poet, and study his or her work every day for a month. I recommend Frost, Longfellow, and Wordsworth.
5. Find a famous artist to study. You may have a book at home, but remember, you also have the Internet! As with poetry, just enjoy the art. Have the kids observe one painting, and narrate it, as with your reading. Tell them to look at it carefully, for details. After a few minutes, hide the painting from view, and have them recount what they remember. You'll be amazed.
6. What about math?! For Pete's sake, here you should feel especially confident about finding a few random problems a day for them to do, just to keep the concepts flowing. No need to do ten pages of fifty problems each.
7. Pick a composer (Bach, Haydn, Beethoven, Handel, Schubert, etc) and listen to the same piece by him every day for two weeks. Life need not stop as you do this; put the music on from YouTube as you do other things around the house. Soon you will all recognize the works of famous composers! It's fun later to have the kids tell which ones are their favorites.
8. Delve into those "classics" that fill you with dread because they weren't made fun for you. You'll see them in a whole new light. Don't be afraid of Shakespeare, or Plutarch, or even Homer. No one is expected to swallow these works in one big gulp. Digest them slowly, over the long haul, which I anticipate this will be.
9. Copy poetry, lines from prose, quotes, Bible verses, or anything at all. This will help with handwriting, grammar, and spelling.
I hope these suggestions help. Remember that you are a facilitator, while the kids are in charge of learning. Your job is to surround them with ideas, and let them formulate opinions. I believe you will enjoy employing these methods, as they've brought great joy to us. First thing's first: Don't do anything without praying!!
Lord, You know all about this situation and these friends of mine who are now all homeschoolers. Give them lots of grace, and show them the way. Let them proceed in freedom, not fear. Let them see the individual parts of their children that make them special, how you created them. Remind these parents that you love them and their kids, and that You are the ultimate Teacher. Thank you that we have freedom through the shed blood of Christ. Amen.
Go teach with confidence!
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