Who’s Teaching Whom?
After years of post-graduate education and experience in education, one might think I have all of the necessary skills to successfully navigate the planning and delivery of our home-school lessons and assignments, and yet I find myself at a loss almost daily on how to best present new material, to skillfully coax cooperation, to gently encourage perseverance, and above-all, to retain patience with two little boys who would much rather run, climb, jump, build, or play than read or calculate. As a result, the homeschool experience has been just as much a learning experience for me as it has for the boys. Sure, Ryan is learning to read and to calculate using addition and subtraction, and Connor is learning his ABCs and numbers, but I am learning that I always plan more than we are able to accomplish in a day; that plans are meant to be altered; that the boys and I do not learn in the same manner; and that beautiful Fall days were intended for outdoor play, not indoor study! Maybe Winter will bring more indoor study-time, days spent next to the fire with books and eager students, a real Norman Rockwell scene… or maybe I still have a lot to learn!