Some Magical Homeschool Moments

I'm happy to report that it's been a good week of school so far. There have been several moments of real joy in our learning and working together. The boys have embraced the tougher schedule pretty well and also some increased responsibility (aka chores) around the house.

 

This morning Ray and I were working through his English lesson about writing a paragraph. I'm really pleased with the Seton English text so far. It was, however, dragging out the process of writing a paragraph. In the middle of the lesson some kind of light bulb went off in Ray's head. He said, "That is so cool! I want to write a paragraph right now!" Well, ok. So we closed the book and he wrote a really nice paragraph. He was so proud and excited about it.

Truly, it put him in such a good mood. He kept talking about how much he loves learning. And I was just proud of myself for being flexible enough to allow my lesson plan to change. ;)

 

A few days ago we did our art lesson on the back porch. It was so relaxing and fun. We sat out there and mixed colors and talked about shading and tinting. We painted together and really enjoyed it.

 

 

 

These are the kinds of moments that I really want to hold on to. It's not like this all day every day. We did have some tears this week as lessons were challenging. We didn't have fantastic healthy dinners every night. Adam's reading really well, but won't stop climbing on the furniture like a monkey. There will be tired, difficult days.... but it's so worth it. And now I have this post to look back at and remember..... and be inspired when things aren't so great.

 

Here's a beautiful article written by a friend of mine: http://www.setonmagazine.com/topics/featured-families/a-straight-and-narrow-path. She so beautifully sums up the vocation of homeschooling. It's more than an educational decision. It's a lifestyle choice. It's beautiful and wonderful and hard and messy.

 

And now I'm headed off --- on this commemoration of the beheading of John the Baptist --- to lead my first homeschool group meeting. I'm looking forward to seeing so many other Catholic homeschool moms.... but hoping my head doesn't end up on a platter if I say/decide/do the wrong thing. ;)

 

Finally ---- check out these new "Opus Domini" (our homeschool group) t-shirts! Can't wait to distribute them tonight.