Homeschooling with a MISSION

With a “twitter and a tweet” [I mean the nature alarm clock style not the social media version], we were back to our regular wake up, get up, and get dressed for school schedule this week. One particular day, we finished K4 DVD and headed into town for lunch and grocery shopping. As we sat down to eat, AbiNoelle asked if she could pray like she does for Mrs. Wasser in Bible time. I said that this was fine and we bowed our heads and folded our hands. She began, “Our Father, which art in heaven…” She forged ahead beautifully, “… Give us this day our daily bread…” And without missing a beat she continued with

“…and our food and ice cream, And forgive us our debts….” Of course, Mommy had to stifle a giggle and take a quick peek to see if any neighbors had overheard, as our serious and understanding child finished up her prayer.  Oh the joy that has filled our hearts this week as we have seen the benefits of “school time.”

Frederick Douglass said: “When men sow the wind it is rational to expect that they will reap the whirlwind.” How thankful we are to have not sowed the wind when it came to preparing for this homeschool year. Already in this third week of school we are reaping not a whirlwind of blunders, disorganization, boredom, lack of achievement, mediocrity, or whatever else may have come from a lack of sufficient planning, but handfuls of blessings. To name three:

• Not only has AbiNoelle memorized The Lord’s Prayer and her three other

  

  Bible time verses, but her own personal prayer life has increased. After listening to other children on the DVD program pray during Bible time and receiving instructions and examples from Mrs. Wasser on how we can/should pray for our friends, country, President and thank God for our food, belonging, others, etc., she is now stepping away from her typical little prayers and expanding her conversation with the Lord as she talks to Him – what a precious blessing to witness!

• Prior to the K4 DVD, she (I will refrain from using the word hate, but…) intensely disliked coloring. Mommy was actually dreading the coloring pages,

  

  racking my brain as to what kind of incentives I could used to get her to complete the K4 papers. However, since day one, she has willingly listened to Mrs. Pintar’s instructions, and actually ENJOYED completing her papers. She is holding her crayon correctly, of which she was not managing well earlier, and she loves repeating with Mrs. Pintar, “Daddy says ‘Buckle up,’ Mommy says ‘I love you,’ and the children say ‘we will obey’,” as they remember where all of their fingers should be positioned. She is becoming quite the artist!

• AbiNoelle is BUSY. She is a doer. She is not about to let time pass her by. The K4 DVD is structured for a full morning – 8:30 to lunch. That’s a long time for an active four-year-old! Nonetheless, she is working hard to be “big” as Mrs. Pintar has instructed and to learn to have self-control and be attentive. With great success, she

  

  completes everyday’s required lessons and waits with great anticipation outside our classroom while Mommy transforms the visuals, chalkboard, and prepares for the next day.

• This week, AbiNoelle had her first opportunity to write her letters on her own without tracing. That’s a big deal!

  

  

  Wow! She was so excited to see her careful, hard work in it’s completion on the writing paper. That paper went on the refrigerator for Daddy to see when

  he came home.

Needless to say, these days have been far from a whirlwind. Robert Louis Stevenson said, “He who sows hurry reaps indigestion.” Sometimes we have to hurry, but glad we didn’t hurry with school preparation. It has already paid off – no indigestion here!