Don’t Just Settle for “Not Bad”

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Do you work? Do you worry that you can’t teach your kids because:

  1. You don’t know how; or
  2. You don’t have time; or
  3. They’ve already been at school for 6-9 hours today and they’re burnt out on learning and you’ll just make them hate you?

How about 4. All of the above?

Yep, #4–That’s been me. #3 has been part of my continuing fear about changing schools too.

There’s just tons and tons of stuff that I want to teach my kiddos that they might not get in school in the future. Things that I think are culturally important (like reading true classic literature–not the abridged and adapted stuff!), things that I think are character-shaping (like the foundational role of Christianity in the shaping of our nation), and things that I think are just plain crucial to their worldview (like holistic natural systems) that I don’t think they’ll necessarily get in school unless they’re homeschooled.

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But God’s been working on my heart and telling me over and over in every conceivable way that my job is to work with where we are today and not be afraid of tomorrow. I don’t know what our school choice will be by this fall. But my job of mothering is about living in the moment–right now. And part of that job is to teach.

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A turtle crossing our yard is just waiting to be a lesson in biology, zoology, botany, ecology, entomology and more. It’s also the perfect way to introduce appropriate use of the computer for research–and using diligence and discernment in research sourcing! It’s a lesson in cause and effect–and patience!–and holistic systems. It’s a lesson in spelling!

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I’ve been reading the book Educating the Whole-Hearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson and every page has just made my heart sing! Sure, a good portion of it is a proposal for homeschooling. But their concept of whole books, living books, and creating a learning and discovery environment throughout the home are all just as applicable to a home that doesn’t homeschool full-time.

Our home can be a thriving place of learning, living, and growing even if we aren’t there all day!

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Some of the things we’ve done and are doing?

We’ve been saving jars (some glass and some plastic peanut butter jars) and using them for the kids “collections” of feathers, rocks, leaves, sweet gum balls, bits of old brick, and other “discoveries” which they can bring inside and study at their leisure. This is clearly working because the Ladybug has asked for a magnifying glass to help her with her “observations.”

We’ll be encouraging more of that this summer by giving them each a composition book to make into a nature journal and doing some nature notebooking as a family. We also might incorporate some observation prompts like Nicole (one of my new Titus 2:1 friends!) used for her children’s bird watching.

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We are also really enjoying family story time again. With a good book it’s easy to turn it into a learning moment. We’re reading through Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder right now and every chapter is a new discovery for us! We’ve stopped to hunt up a real silver half-dollar and talk about the value of money. We’ve stopped to hunt up our real hand-shearing clippers and talk about the history of mechanization. We’ve stopped to plug-in our Where the Red Fern Grows movie and watch how they used the grinding stone to sharpen blades.

It’s just about taking our time and savoring the moments together. Not rushing through to the end.

And they’re enjoying it! They’re not burnt out about it. It’s their favorite part of the day!

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The key is that you can’t just settle for things that are not bad--you have to hunt up things that are actually good. Don’t just pick movies that don’t tear down your values–find movies and books that actually reinforce your values. They’re still good for entertainment too. Don’t just pick wall art that’s pretty–pick something that also educates or edifies. Children can have just as much fun at a museum or nature center as at a bounce house or Chuck E. Cheese. They can have as much fun coloring in a Barbie coloring book as in an American History coloring book.

As an intentional parent that is not home full-time right now, that is not homeschooling right now, I need to not waste the moments I do have. And I’m excited to share more ideas for making your home a learning home this summer!

Morning by Morning New Mercies I See

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I sit here feeling like I survived yet another Mother’s Day–but I’ve got the anniversary of my parent’s accident staring me in the face this coming Sunday and these huge life choices looming for this Fall–and I don’t know what to write about anymore. Words just tumble over and over again through my mind.

But we’ve been faithful to be in the pew Sundays and Wednesdays lately and the Lord has been faithful to feed my heart through our preacher’s words and here’s what keeps popping out of the mire for me…

“Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed, thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.” (Great is Thy Faithfulness, hymn)

boys will be boys“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.” (James 1:5-6)

“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! Oh what a foretaste of glory divine!” (Blessed Assurance, hymn)

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18)

“Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” (Joshua 1:9)

“The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.” (Lamentations 3:24-25)

 ”Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shall thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord: trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgement as the noonday. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him…” (Psalms 37:3-7)

Family Time and Homesteading

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The longer we parent, the more convinced I am that chore-time is essential to our family dynamic and each of our personal growth–or it can be. If you choose to be intentional about it. If you choose what is best instead of what is good. Homesteading just seems to bring God right into our…well…yard.

We have a few kid-sized garden tools that make it really fun and easy for them to help.

We all do chores here at The Lowe Farm. All. Day. Long. Especially in the spring and fall. And laundry and dishes have never been my favorite part of the day! But I’m learning to love chore-time because chore-time is family-time. Chore-time is learning time. Chore-time is character-shaping time. Chore-time is come-alongside-me-and-talk-about-life-purpose time. Chore-time is see-what-I-don’t-understand time. Chore-time is teach-me-to-understand-Biblical-truth time. Chore-time is show-me-how-to-shine-my-light time.

Our gardening skills and adventures are constantly evolving.

When they are finally tucked into bed, sometimes I mentally review how they’ve spent their day and part of me thinks–Wow, they didn’t watch any TV today, they didn’t do any art projects today, they didn’t play any sports today, they didn’t go to any clubs today, they didn’t have any computer time today, they didn’t play dress up today, they didn’t build legos today, they didn’t play on a swing set fort today…and they had a good day and went to bed tired and happy!

And sometimes I review the day and think–Wow, they didn’t have a good day, we must have made them worked too hard.

You know what the difference is, usually?

Me! {Well, me and Mr. Fix-It.}

I always recommend just starting with 2-4 things until you get the hang of it. It can get overwhelming fast!

The difference is, did we make it special family-time? Did we make it “team-building” time? Did we make it about serving the Lord and shining our light? Did we make it about stewardship and gratefulness? Did we use our moments together to talk about deep truths, amazing science, or creative expression? Did we laugh and praise and enjoy each other?

Or did we make it all about work, work, work, and use our words to grumble, complain, demand, and correct?

And only grow things you eat the first few years. Or ever. (Why grow things you don't eat?)

We try hard to be intentional about our time together, and lately we’ve been talking about wasting food around here a lot lately.

We’ve been talking about stewardship and how stewardship is about being grateful. We talk about how waste is not stewardship and is basically being un-grateful for the abundance we’ve been blessed with. And we’ve been talking about how a grateful heart shines the light of God.

And we’ve been talking about how Speedracer needs to eat his broccoli.

And relax! Be forgiving! What's worse--kids that always hate gardening--or a few trambled plants?

And the Cowboy said “The chickens will eat it. It’s not wasted.”

And then Speedracer followed up with “I’m sharing with the chickens. God wants us to share too.”

And the Ladybug said, “The chickens have chicken food.”

And the Cowboy said, “They eat garden food too.”

And the Ladybug said, “Broccoli is people food.”

And Speedracer said “My teacher told me that God wants us to share with everyone.”

And the Cowboy said, “Daddy put broccoli in the chicken bowl, I saw him!”

And the Ladybug said, “That was left overs. That was–”

And I said, “Who wants fruit snacks?!”

Do you have gardening or homestead plans for the weekend?