Question:Homeschooling takes a lot of time and energy output. Is child-raising supposed to take this much effort? I am too tired!
I so understand! Tiredness seems to be every mother’s companion. I think it is very natural to feel exhausted and want to rest.
Louisa and her cat
Okay, Moms. This is the crucial point. You can have the best supplies in the world, but if you can’t get the kids to open a book, it isn’t going to do much good. So the challenge is getting your kids interested so they are begging for more. And finishing their schoolwork eagerly each day!
Forgive me, Lord, for all the tasks
That went undone today.
But this morning when my child
Toddled in and said, “Mommy play?”
I simply had to say “yes”.
And between the puzzles, and trucks and
Blocks and dolls and old hats and books
And giggles,
We shared a thousand special thoughts,
A hundred hopes and dreams and hugs.
And tonight, when prayer time came
And he folded his hands and softly whispered
“Thank you, God, for Mommy and Daddy
And for Mommy playing,”
I knew it was a day well wasted.
And I knew you’d understand.
Time to learn how to get along in the big world!
Homeschool was going great until my son turned twelve. Now I am struggling to keep him interested. Why?
Because your son has reached what I call the “Eleven Year Itch.” It sneaks up on mothers, with their first child. Homeschool seems to be going along in a fairly regular, happy pattern when your oldest child becomes increasingly “ant-sy” and restless and sometimes downright unhappy. It took me a long while to figure it out with my first child in homeschool. Now I watch and expect it to arrive for every child anywhere between ten and thirteen years. It’s sad, it dampens the fun, but the final destination for our children is to grow up and be independent…so they are really just right on schedule!
Question:I just started and am so delighted with homeschooling! My oldest is 11 and we are having a great time, and he is running a little business from home and learning so much and loving homeschooling. I have mapped out a plan to homeschool my children right through high school. Is that wise? [Read more…]
Question:I could use some insights on how to get my kids to turn out better quality book reports and just writing in general. My oldest is in 6th grade and the next child is in 3rd grade, and here we’ve done grammar and writing year after year and yet so many times in journal writing or book reports I don’t see what they’re learning taking hold in everyday usage. I use Rod and Staff English books and I also switched to Winston Grammar for my 6th grader this past year, but like I said, when it comes to everyday usage they’re not getting it. Help! [Read more…]
“The constitution—it’s only keepers, the people”. So said George Washington and how true it is! How can we “keep” the Constitution, that sacred document that preserves our liberty, if we don’t know it? How can this “marked generation” that we are raising up defend it if they don’t understand it and have its words and meanings implanted deeply in their hearts?
One day when Louisa was nearly 3 years old, I told her to shut the door and she answered, “In a minute!”. I wanted her to learn cheerful and prompt obedience. I tried to explain that to her, and I made sure she shut the door, but I wondered if she really understood that “in a minute” isn’t the right response. So, that night when I put her to bed, I made up a little story about a curly haired little girl named Priscilla who said, “in a minute” and what happened to her.
This very old story is one of my favorites and I’ve kept it and re-read it from time to time to help me remember to see life through my children’s eyes, and to never forget the power of a mother in the home. —Diane Mama’s Boy Tommy began to get the feeling even before […]
