Trial by Fire

School has started! Officially we are in week two. Or three maybe? This week I learned a valuable lesson. I often tell my families that I work with to remember that it is 'homeschool', not 'school at home'. Parents must go through a time of de-schooling themselves in order to effectively homeschool. I have had parents buy Bingo games for one child. I have had parents do circle time with one child. These things don't sound very fun to me! Today I was in need of de-schooling, and de-educatoring, and de-just-about-everything.

Tuesday I got out my neatly typed lesson plan and schedule for the day. It included Language Arts activities in handwriting and reading, math patterning, science reading, and history worksheets. It seemed very standards based, very organized, and very goal oriented. Half way through the first worksheet and about 3 minutes into our day, Moriah very dramatically threw herself over sideways onto the kitchen table and declared "My body is sooooooooo tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-red. I dont WANT to do more work. I have been talking alllllllllll day." Ugh. Not a good start. And so went the majority of the morning. A little work. A long 'recess'. A little work. A long break coloring pictures. Frustrating!

Somewhat later in the day I finally thought about the day before. An entirely different day. We had gone to the free zoo day in town. We spent the morning observing animals during feeding time, petting a box turtle, boa and tortoise, and talking to docents. Moriah learned and practiced reading a map as she guided us around the zoo. We learned how giraffes drink water in pairs because they are vulnerable when they drink and need a look-out for lions. We talked about how God designed things like giraffes to reflect Him, and how it shows us it is important to look out for our friends. We counted things, read speed limit signs, and finished off with a fun ride on the Merry Go Round. What could be better? It was such a fun day! And...involved no table time. No worksheets. No drill and kill. And LOTS of learning. Ugh.

OOPS. I think my next task will be to write down all the things I frequently tell other parents, so that I can look in the mirror and read them out loud to myself!