Homeschool journey

Hopefully this will just be a summary of a few thoughts that have been rattling around in my head lately. Thoughts of how my charts and forms oriented brain started homeschooling some 10+ years ago, of how organized my day was - with only a 2nd grader and preschooler, how motivated and fresh everything was. Flash forward to today with that 2nd grader graduated from high school and in community college, the preschooler enrolled in public high school as a freshman, and my two youngest in 6th and 1st grade. Things aren't the same now. We don't keep to the same rigid schedule though we do have a plan for the year. Hopefully we allow ourselves to take side journeys and explore hobbies and interests that we come across.

My youngest whom is in the tree above is a perfect example of how perhaps I've loosened up my approach to life in general. In my earlier parenting days I would have never told my kids to go ahead, figure out how to get up that tree, have fun. But I find myself there today, and my kids are loving it.

All in all, I keep coming back to the words of Charlotte Mason, an early educator whose writings I have followed at times, that all children need three things as they are growing up in order for them to succeed in life: someone or something to love, something to do, something to think about. If they have our love, the love of their God, or a special pet; if their chores about the house make them an integral part of the family; if they are presented with learning and information to spark their minds and creativity; then we are nurturing their souls, their character, and their minds. The rest will fall into place. What more could we ask for.