Ok, so I’ve considered homeschooling in the past. Really, I have.
I’ve wondered what it would be like to sit my little ducklings down at our kitchen table and re-live my own education again as an adult, walking hand in hand with my children.
Teaching and at the same time, re-learning the wonder of the ancient civilizations of our world, Egypt, Babylon and Asia. Alexander the Great. William Shakesphere. Then of our own country, from the Founding Fathers to Martin Luther King, Jr. Pearl Harbor. JFK. Neil Armstrong. From the Gettysburg Address to the Alamo. All the history of our country and our world that combine into one big story of us. And remembering the magic of science, studying the planets, the water cycle, and all the intricacies of the food chain, pointing to how God created all of us and all of this world to be connected. Sharing my love for creative writing, devising characters from your own imagination and writing them into life in a short story. Family Field trips and hands-on learning at museums, nature centers, zoos and farms. Teaching real-life skills like sewing, cooking, budgeting, and building something with a hammer and nails. Oh and I guess, math.
Of course, this time it would be sans overhead projector pointed at a white pull-down screen while writing on a transparency with a dry-erase marker.
But no. Today I am not homeschooling my kids.
And I’m not sitting at my computer waiting for my kids’ teachers to send me a curriculum. I hope they know they don’t owe it to me. Or to my child. Not right now.
Because our kids need something more than curriculum right now.
And so do we.
They need us. And we need them.
Friends, nobody is getting ahead right now. Nobody is keeping up with the homework or meeting reporting objectives. Nobody is retaining any new knowledge at this point.
When we all walk out of this thing, we’ll all be on the same level playing field.
So here’s what we’re doing at our house as long as it takes.
We’re creating art. Not fancy art. We’re gluing construction paper together to resemble an Easter egg and the preschoolers are practicing cutting with scissors, creating a huge pile of confetti on the ground. We’ll pick it up later.
We’re kicking the soccer ball in the backyard, playing keep-away from the dog. Sometimes, we play in the front yard instead.
We’re drawing with chalk on the back porch. Writing our names in fancy letters and making a chalk race track for the Hot Wheels cars. The next time it rains, we’ll have a clean slate so we can draw something new.
We’re growing a garden. We planted seeds on the last day of school before this extended spring break. We’re observing them grow and talking about the amazing miracle of seeds inside of all living things that create new life...yes even humans. We will transfer our seedlings outside in a few weeks and water them and watch them grow in the sunshine. Hopefully we’ll eventually eat them!
Speaking of eating, we’re making homemade cinnamon rolls and watching how yeast makes dough rise. We’ll knead them and punch them down and drizzle them with butter and cinnamon sugar. And then we’ll stand around the kitchen smelling them until the timer dings.
We’re building forts in the playroom and pretending to be knights and princesses.
We’re dropping letters on our neighbors front porches...and waving from the sunroof as we drive away.
We’re FaceTiming with people we love and reminding each other of how absolutely wonderful it will be to be together again in person. We were created for face-to-face living, so when we get to do that again, we’re going to flippin’ celebrate.
We’re riding bikes. Vacuuming our own rooms. Matching socks. Baking cookies. Having tickle fights. Reading stories. Then writing our own stories. Watching 90’s sitcoms. Memorizing bible verses. Raking leaves. Playing board games. Brushing the dog. Building Legos. Waving at the trash man. Catching rolly pollies. Climbing trees. Watching Cake Wars. Blasting worship music. And taking pictures with all the annoying filters that make my kids belly laugh.
We are claiming the life we’ve always said we wished we were living but we’re too busy for. Busy seems like a lifetime ago and I hope we never go back.
So yes, I may homeschool my kids someday. But not today. Not because of covid19.
And when we emerge, I hope my kids remember this moment as a gluing together of our family. A time when they learned about LIFE. A time that they never felt more safe, more loved, and more cherished.
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