A Life of Learning

I have spent a lot of time lately feeling like a flunky homeschooling mom. Ever since preparing to put our house on the market (back in July, was it?!) I have been playing catch-up. I have always taken an unstructured approach to homeschooling, following the interests of the kids, with a heavy dose of reading aloud. But without a structured curriculum to follow, it's easy for me to look back and think that we have accomplished nothing this year. So in this post, I will attempt to remind myself of the great amount of learning that has gone on this year in spite of a lack of consistency.

 My children have learned:

The importance of setting goals and working hard to achieve them, as their Dad has trained and run in several half-marathons this year.

The beauty of God's creation, and the spectacular show we have been given the privilege of witnessing.

The reality of God's mercy, especially to their sometimes over-stressed Mama. The importance of saying sorry and asking for forgiveness.

The reality of hard work around the house. It's not fun, but somebody's gotta do it... and it can't all fall on Mom.

 

The harder reality that sometimes, a person's gotta clean up a mess they didn't make.

Science.

 

 

Civics.

Art.

Reading.

The fact that sometimes Mom is just going to lay around and do nothing, so they'd better come up with something to do on their own. (They've sure gotten good at this one!)

The beauty of a call to the religious life (after attending the final profession of Sr. Nikopoiea)

An appreciation of the outdoors, and the endless possibilities for creativity found in a pile of sticks, rocks, and dirt.

  

 But especially the importance of looking out for one another, because family is here to stay.

Even though they spend 90% of their time together (or maybe because of that exact reason!), they are the best of friends. They miss each other when they are apart for even a short time. They can't wait to see each other every morning. They play together for hours on end. They truly know and love each other, and I couldn't ask for anything more!

If they have learned nothing else this year, they have learned to love more deeply. And they are simply bursting with excitement to shower that love on their newest little sibling in September!