It’s usually on days when I’m feeling discouraged that I get that panicky feeling about the children and their education. Are they learning? Are they doing enough? Am I doing enough with them? I know that they’re happy at home and that homeschooling is a perfect fit for us, but I do find myself gripped with doubt at times.
This morning I was feeling a bit this way. I decided to write a list for each child and write down what they did within a certain time frame. I started around 9am and finished around 1pm.
This morning I was feeling a bit this way. I decided to write a list for each child and write down what they did within a certain time frame. I started around 9am and finished around 1pm.
5 year old daughter:
*Spelling and writing
* Helped to make bread, figured out weighing flour on her own for the first time.
* Read books.
*Kinetic sand (hours later, she is still playing with it, making all sorts of “treats” for her “shop” and other imaginative games.
7 year old daughter:
* Online maths program, learning money.
* Worked on editing her latest stop motion on the computer.
* Read books on her own.
*Played with kinetic sand with her sister.
9 year old daughter:
*Worked on a puzzle of the world with her brother.
* Free drawing and colouring in.
* Animal feeding.
* Reading on her own.
*Online maths program – graphs and area measurement.
* Knitting practice.
*Joining in the kinetic sand game.
14 year old son:
*Working on a puzzle of the world with his sister.
* Helping his sisters with maths and other study tasks.
* Spanish program.
*Online maths program – decimals
* Film and media studies.
* Bible study.
In addition to these lists are all the other tasks that they do every day like meal preparation, cleaning their rooms and keeping the house tidy, prayer, outdoor play and exercise and so many other things that are a regular part of daily life for us.
Hmm, I think they’re doing pretty well! Maybe next time you’re feeling inadequate, you could try writing down what the children are doing and you will realise that it’s more than enough!