Prfekte Teechre

It's just getting better and better.  And quite frankly, after tonight's message on the board from Ella, I don't know if it can get any better than this.

We prayed for learning spirits before we ever started school and the Lord is truly blessing us with this answer to prayer.  It's such a joy to see the girls take an interest in what we are learning.  They are excited about school and Ella told me tonight she "loved it".  That just makes my heart melt.  They are thriving and it thrills me.

As I mentioned earlier, God is changing my perspective on schooling.  Something we can't get enough of is living books.  Though we've always read to the girls, there is a difference in their interest and joy of reading when it is a living book.  Right now we are in the middle of On the Banks of Plum Creek (The Little House series) and Old Mother West Wind.  In fact, the girls beg me to read more... And I'm not just talking at night in an effort to stall bedtime (wink).  This is in the middle of the day they ask, "Pleeeaaaasssseeee read another chapter, please!"  I have to force myself to put the book down in an effort to save my cotton mouth.

But, there really is something magical about reading time.  I love to hear their imagination take shape when they talk about the book with me.  I love them curled up beside me listening with wide eyes.  I love laughing together and hearing their sweet giggles.  And, of course, every mother wants their child to love books. And that's what is taking shape for us.  They love reading.  Thank goodness!  It took me 20+ years to appreciate good literature.  I'm so thankful they have a head start. 

Passiflora Incarnata

There are numerous reasons for why we homeschool.  What happened today is just icing on the cake.  God is moving me (us) to live more simply.  I could go into a whole blog post about that one, but I'll save it for another time.  But, I am also approaching our homeschool more "simply".  "Gentle schooling" is really the best word to describe it.

When I first started a few weeks ago, I thought school had to be... well, school.  Everyone sit down, pencils ready, raise your hand, reading from 9:00-9:28, math from 9:29-10:03... Yada, yada, yada.  OK, maybe I wasn't that meticulous, but you get the point. Well, as you can imagine, that worked for all of about 3 seconds.

God opened my eyes to the fact that our schooling didn't have to mirror institutionalized schooling... Or look anything like it, for that matter.  Life is learning.  We want our kids to have learning spirits and, well, the way I started wasn't accomplishing that goal.  If fact, it was giving me opposite results.

So here we are.  Three weeks later and moving in the direction of doing school the way that works for us.  I won't take this post to go into all of what that is, but here is a little glimpse.

Thanks to my sweet friend, Lia, the girls had some fun friend time with her 3 little girls ages 5, 3, and 1.  Because Lia is a homeschooling momma, she also has the desire to develop a learning spirit in her girls.  Instead of staying cooped up on a beautiful day, she took all 5 girls on a walk.  Not just any walk, mind you, an exploration in the simplest of places: her neighborhood.  The girls came back with a bag full of fun finds.  This was the treasure of them all:

 The Purple Passionflower

Passiflora Incarnata

So, this became the central learning of our day!  When the girls came home we journaled their find in a nature notebook.  Lia sent me information on the flower and we talked about some really cool facts on it.  Bet ya didn't know this is the state flower of Tennessee.  Also, Spanish missionaries used it as a beautiful illustration of Christ's sacrifice on the cross.  The 3 stigmata, they said, represented three nails used in Christ's hands and feet, and the five anthers were the 5 wounds he received in his flesh.  How neat to find a flower with such unique beauty and history! AND it's named of all things, the Passionflower. 

Hannah's Illustration

Ella's Illustration

I can't helped but feel incredibly blessed to be doing what I'm doing after a day like today!

Best Day Ever

Have you ever watched a caterpillar creep through tall grass?  Ever played with it a little letting it tickle your skin?  Have you ever kept one in a jar "just to see what might happen?"  I did this all the time as a kid... But only in books.  I've read about the metamorphosis of a caterpillar.  I've seen hundreds of pictures of cocoons and chrysalides.  Heck, I've even happened upon a real butterfly every now and again. 

But this time, it was for real. And I was fortunate enough to experience this for the first time right along side my precious babes.  During our first week of school, we collected some caterpillars from our garden.  We found a mesh container and gave them plenty of leaves and sticks.  Then we watched and waited.  Every day we read about butterflies.  We read about moths.  We made charts and noted our little caterpillar's progress (yes, only one survived).  And we even classified our little friend.  Mommy was certain the green creeper would be a moth.  A white lined sphynx moth to be exact.

But Ella was insistent it would turn into a butterfly... Not due to a higher level of classification skills, mind you, just wishful thinking.  And if it was a swallowtail, well, even better!  So, on our final day of our first week, we noticed that her chrysalis (which I now know was, in fact, a chrysalis because moths make cocoons) was beginning to become transparent.  This was a sure sign that she was going to emerge soon.  As we were beginning to leave for a trip to the beach, I asked Ella to check on our friend one last time.

She dawdled off to the school room only to rush back downstairs a few minutes later, "Mom! Mom!  It's a butterfly!"  I could hardly contain myself.  We all, Daddy included, rushed upstairs to find that our green little squishy caterpillar had become the most beautiful swallowtail butterfly.  She was hanging still to her chrysalis letting her wet wings dry.  This allowed us an amazing opportunity to "play" with her a little.  She crawled on the girls and let them hold her.  Gracyn, too, felt the butterfly tickles.

After a short while of playtime with our sweet friend, we placed her outside near a flowering bush.  She would need energy from the nectar to take flight.  Who knew where she was headed but we were thrilled she let us be participants in her journey.  It was the best day ever.

Homeschool

The word alone conjures up a whole host of emotions.  I know some of you reading this have strong opinions on the matter... Positive and negative.  Internally, I struggle with whether or not to even take time to post about my reasons for doing so.  But, I trust that you know me well enough to know this decision did not come lightly.  I spent two years praying about it and two more preparing for it.  And here we are.  And I know God brought us here. We are (this year) a homeschooling family.
Our name?  Themelios Academy.  Yes, it is an official school, registered with the state of South Carolina.  Themelios is Greek for foundation, the basis or groundwork for anything.  My two years of prayer kept bringing me back to "How will we provide the best spiritual foundation for our family?"  And, there it is.  That is my heart.  I want nothing more than for my kids to grow up loving Jesus, serving Him, and finding joy in their family.  How can we best provide that?  For me the answer was homeschool.
So, we kicked off our year a few weeks ago.  It hasn't been perfect; it hasn't always been easy; but through the ups and downs of it all, each day I feel so blessed to have this opportunity to pour into my children... To disciple them... To watch them grow and learn alongside them, as well.  They are teaching me, and God is growing me in ways I didn't see coming.  For that, I am so incredibly thankful to have this opportunity.  A dear friend once told me, and oh how true this is:  the days are long... but the years are short.  I'm praying to walk in that truth each day and to stop taking for granted these precious years.

Ella's and Hannah's First Day of School!