Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation ~ Psalm 25: 4-5

Friday, August 24, 2012

A Great Surprise

 

School is back in session!!  

We began our seventh year of homeschooling last week and for the first time I wasn’t excited to get started.

I have three boys who are happiest when they are outside being boys.  Building, fishing, hunting, climbing, swinging… they’re all over that.  Sitting still, listening, paying attention, not talking at the top of their lungs… not so much.

My middle son threw a fit at the end of his first year of school when he realized that he had to do school again the next year… his exact words were “Can’t you just tell people I’ve graduated?”  He still asks me at least once a week when he can quit.

They would be ecstatic if we used a multiple choice, plug in the right answer and move on, type of curriculum.  Unfortunately for them… I’m their teacher!

This year we are doing A LOT of reading.  We started a new writing program and are learning to read a paragraph or passage or book and isolate the main ideas and write a concise summary. We do plenty of hands on learning, too… but the bulk or our education is coming from reading, reading, reading and then discussing, summarizing and writing.

So I was very hesitant to get started this year.  My expectation going in was that they were going to balk… and balk big time.

I have to say…. they have blown me away!  They are doing an awesome job!!

I love when they exceed my expectations.  Being with them all day, every day it can be really easy to just focus in on the areas that need improvement.  They’re in my face constantly so every little thing becomes magnified… it’s good to step back and realize that they are really great kids! 

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