Tuesday, 19 February 2008

• Currently Reading All Sail Set: A Romance of the Flying Cloud (Nonpareil Book, 35.) By Armstrong Sperry see related

  Did we do "school" today?

     As much as I love home schooling my children there are those days, more often than I like to admit, that I feel insucure. Doubt creeps in and fills my mind with questions. Are you doing a good job? Good enough? Are you doing enough? Who says? Are your children going to be able to function in a society with cultural norms so different than those you've created at home? *gasp* Will they be able to compromise and integrate?

   

  And then I think, "Shoot! Should they have to? Life is good. Life is what you make of it."  I don't want them to compromise their ethical standard, the Bible. I don't want them to integrate and be socialistic little robots.

  Sometimes our doubts, insecurities, and self-examination can be tools the Lord uses to shake us out of the doldrums, awaken our passion and  sharpen our vision for home. Have you done school today? Why do you homeschool? Or send them off to public school for those who don't? There ought to be a purpose for these big decisions.

  Usually on the heels of such questionings I'll get a big wonderful dose of encouragement. This time it came in the form of a wonderful creation of my son's.

  Not unique but, creative and spontaneous, nonetheless.

  

  This is an old radio David pulled apart once as an "Experience" as he calls his science experiments. He's modified it to be a flashlight. He ran a wire from the batteries through to the inside and to a light bulb. I don't know where he got the bulb, but he's welcome to it. Then he rigged a switch with a pop can top. Could you rig a switch? I'm not certain I could.

  I think he's got a brilliant mind and who cares if we skipped math again. Multiplication doesn't take years to learn like the govm't schools would have you believe. I remember memmorizing my 7x's all in one day, at home no less. Of course I was in trouble for not learning them before, but we won't go into that. I think kids are capable of amazing things if we'll give them the information to build on, the time and  freedom to try, and the resources to accomplish it. Boys especially need to explore things and do things on their own. And I, as the favored and blessed one, get to be here, available to them, to applaud their successes.

   

  SO, that's my soapbox for today. LOL

   

  Wonderful job David!

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