Spring Time Homeschooling

If you are like me the lovely spring weather calls to you, aches for you to 'come play outside'!  As homeschooling Mom's we can feel guilty for our desire to be outside when, we have to school the children.  We need to be doing school for X amount of time a day and yadda yadda...  Don't get me wrong, I am not saying we don't need to be schooling, that is not it at all.  What I am saying is while we have this glorious weather take advantage of it and make sure your kids do too! 

School is not a set environment, when it is a beautiful day get out in the sunshine!  Grab your kids sketch books and run!  Find a spot, have them look for anything that is interesting to them, a bird, flower, rock, tree, clouds, bugs, how something is built... whatever!  Let them draw what they like, and then talk about it together, what is it, if it is something that needs classification, classify it!  Learn about it together! 
If it is planting time, grab your plants and set out to the garden together.  Teach them how to plant, what they are planting, when it should be planted, how far away they should be planted from one another, when you should expect a harvest, how often you should water.  This is learning at its BEST!!!
If it is laundry day, take your laundry out with your littles, have them help by handing it to you while you pin it on the line, talk about how long it takes to dry in the sunshine, how much energy your dryer uses when you run it, how much money this is helping to save your family if you do this all month,  how warm is it outside today?  So much to be learned from Mom and Dad... So much can be learned from our little ones.  They have a natural God given desire to learn, a natural inclination to help if we would just cultivate it!
My challenge to each of you as well as to myself is to include your children, let them learn alongside you, learn to love and appreciate them as little ones.  We should teach ourselves to be patient and kind with our words, to instruct with love.  I know it seems easier to say, now you go play over there while I do this.  They are out of the way, you can surely get things done much faster by yourself, right?  We are robbing our children and ourselves when things are handled this way.  These are precious moments that we will never get back and these are prime opportunities to 'school', nurture, grow, love and make memories...
So don't feel guilty when the gorgeous sunshine is beckoning you out of doors or your plants are needing tending to in the garden...  Grab your things and your children and go school!  Some of the best times will be for the making!

My Cup Runneth Over...Chas

07:26 - Wednesday, May 7, 2008 - post comment

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Chas,
Thanks for another great reminder/encouragement! We don't "officially" homeschool yet, but I already feel that tension of household chores that "need" to be done, versus spending time with my sweet girl. I know that the two can easily be combined (and should!), but sometimes I just need a little reminder...these days are precious, and going by all too quickly! And, I want to make the most of every opportuntiy to teach her - whether that includes "formal" schooling or not! :)
Have a blessed day!!
~Veronica
(http://www.thewhitleyfamily.net)

Veronica - 11:09 - Wednesday, May 7, 2008

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:)

Such a good message in your post. I sometimes tend to say I'll just do it myself and get whatever the task is done quickly:-( I really need to take the time to stop and let the children help with the tasks.
#1 It will be a help to me.
#2 They will be learning to do the life task ie gardening, mowing, laundry, dishes. cooking etc.
#3 When they have done it several times it may be a task they can do by themselves that will help get things done quicker so we can have more time to do other things.
Thanks Chas, as always giving us something to think about:)

Blessings,
Tammy Lynn

TammyLynn - 11:17 - Wednesday, May 7, 2008

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when beautiful spring (or winter or fall) days beckon.....we just follow our hearts. the powers that be only tell us how many days we must school our children, not WHEN they must be. we usually catch up on summer days when it really is too hot to do much else. works for us! LOL

love,
jayedee
http://lifeinthelostworld.blogspot.com/

Anonymous - 09:35 - Thursday, May 8, 2008

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