No need to worry

M works shift work, so when he is off during the day we don't get much "school work" done. I honor and cherish the time we get as a family and don't want to lose the little time we have together indoors doing "school work". I didn't realize how little we had actually been doing until I thought about how long it had been since we'd been to the library.

Often times when I wonder if I'm doing enough, I'm reminded that I'm a "Deuteronomy mom".

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." (Deuteronomy 6:5-7)

My husband and I use every possible moment as a learning and/or teaching moment. We know, understand, and respect that children are smarter than most people give them credit for.

I was talking to a homeschool mentor the other day when I mentioned that we haven't done much "school" lately. Sure, we have been reading books, almost every day, at least every night at bedtime, but not 3-4 books a day like we had been. I was beginning to wonder if I would be able to teach him the things he needs and wants to know.

I'm blessed to have a son that has a true love and curiosity for learning. The boy walks around the house sounding words out. I hear him say, "uuuuuumbrella, hhhhhouse, ttttractor, bbbball." You name it, he probably knows what it starts with. I got caught the other day when he asked what our lawn guy, Jorge, starts with. Jorge doesn't sound like it should start with a J, so when he asked me how to spell it, he got a little confused. Luckily, he wasn't very interested in the rules of the language and he went on to something else.

So, as I began to ponder about our past weeks and the things we had (or hadn't) done, I quickly realized he's only 3.5 and he needs to be a kid. He doesn't have to know everything, but will learn the things he needs to because I have completely surrendered homeschooling to God. God will provide when it's time.

This evening, about 8:30, K asked to do some school work from one of the books I bought last summer at the local bookstore. As we sat down together, he began to trace some different letters. He then tried to write them on his own. He doesn't do too bad. He'll eventually get it between the upper and lower lines. As of now, he just writes wherever he wants and that's OK. Well, for some reason, I decided to write h-a-t out. For the next 30 minutes he read over 20 different 3 letter words to me, my mom (on the phone), and his dad (on the phone). As he read each word, he got increasingly quicker. He started by sounding out each letter. Then, he would sound out two of them together. As soon as he realized what he was saying, it was like a light bulb went off and he just spouted out the word. It was one of the cutest expressions I have ever seen. It was such a mommy moment. I wish I could have captured the look on his face when he realized he was actually reading.

I guess us not doing school work for the past few weeks didn't hurt his love for learning too much.