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Sunday, October 5, 2008

What Do You Do?

I'm teaching 4th and 5th graders for Sunday School each week and because our church ministers to all the families in the area, we have a wide array of children from different types of homes but the majority are from dysfunctional homes. I find it very interesting to hear their opinions and point of views, albeit shocking at times but it is still interesting.

In the last 5 weeks of teaching them, school experiences have been brought up a lot and I've been all ears. Today, one of my students asked what my job is and I said I was 'professional mom'. What's that? So I walked up to the board and wrote out all that I do: cook meals, maintain the home inside and out, maintain family finances, parent and disciple my children, coordinate and execute the family schedule, homeschool, and take care of myself.

They had many questions about what I wrote but 'homeschooling' really caught their eye. "Does that mean Camille does school on the computer?", "How much time do you do school each day?" , "Were you a teacher before?" and the questions kept going as I answered their questions.

"No, Camille does not have any lessons on the computer, I teach her almost like I teach this class- I have help (as I held up the teacher's manual for Sunday School)." They wanted to know so much and I truly debated whether or not to tell them because I was scared it might be harmful for them. A part of me wished Camille was in the class so that she could tell them herself but I realized that her perspective might be like salt.

I told them what we do, without a ton of detail, what our daily routine is and what a day for Camille is like. They had tons of questions after that because it seems the only homeschoolers they know use computer programs for their lessons. The bad part of all the questions was that I felt it left a sense of unrest among them, as they started to complain more about school than before.

Later when we got home and discovered the last caterpillar was gone from our milkweed plant, I realized- our kids' education is not something we compartmentalize, it is a way of life for us. Camille and Danny are drawing beside me and Camille has drawn an under the sea picture complete with sponges, sea anemone and coral, she is telling Danny a story about how the sea anemone protects the clownfish and how a sponge makes friends with a crab to travel safely together.

I love our life.

 

8 comments:

Melissa said...

Thanks for sharing this story! I have been in similar situations and I always go home feeling blessed. I'm sure you are a fantastic SS teacher and that those kids will benefit in some way from your homeschooling life & love of learning, even if it's only an hour a week.

Sprittibee said...

It has been a while since I visited. Like the new fun theme you have going on. I love homeschooling, too. I feel very blessed and very FREE. ;)

Ms Eva said...

I, too, love the new look (don't recall if I mentioned it before). I was inspired to remodel my own blog (still working out a few things).

I haven't had many opportunities to share with others about our day but when I do, I find myself so excited to share and elaborate. I love our life as well - homeschooling certainly brings one closer to their children.

Have you seen the John Adams mini-series on HBO (you can get it one Netflix)? I enjoyed it a lot! Adams and Jefferson were close friends (noticed you were studying Jefferson) and even died on the same day (the 50th anniv. of the signing of the Dec.of Independance). Throughout the series, there are also scenes of the Adams' homeschooling their children. Just thought I'd share...

Tracy said...

Yep, it is sad at how much others are missing out on! Thanks for sharing!

Carolyn de Paula said...

I can relate. Even though I'm a new homeschooler, I can see the boundaries of our home and school life blurring and a way of life developing. Please let us know how the fourth and fifth graders respond in the coming weeks to your homeschooling.

Carolyn (mother of two)

Jan Lyn said...

Hello Jessica,
I've been enjoying your blog for some time. It's a great encouragement to me!

This entry put words to so many of my thoughts. We encounter so many children that inquire about our hsing and show such genuine interest and then even eventually exclaim they would love to try it. My daughters have 2 cousins that wish they had our life style. Isn't it interesting how children can be so open compared to adults?

Many blessings to you and your family as well as teaching that SS class!

Angela said...

just found your blog thru thinking mama's blog. i'll look around more in a minute, but i wanted to comment on your post - we are just starting out in our homeschooling adventure (my oldest is at kindergarten level) - and we are beginning to have experiences like this. i find that public school kids are in awe when they find out what we do all day. i'm glad i'm able to give my little ones this childhood.

Angela said...

It's so sad - I've also run into the mistaken belief that all homeschoolers just sit in front of a computer screen all day to get their education.

If only people would realize there are some of us that enjoy the ADVENTURE of education and teach our children accordingly.

Thanks for the story.