Monday, September 14, 2009

Precious delights

We are three weeks into school and things are going well. It is my 2nd year teaching at home, and there are a number of things that thrill and inspire me.

1. I love the Classical Conversations group. It is great to have support and direction with the added bonus of good friends who are also involved.
2. We can take a day off to take advantage of special events. We went to Great America for homeschool day on Thursday. The park crowd was at a minimum. We got to stay on rides for multiple turns whenever there was nobody in line. Also, one of the ride attendants told us that this was his best work day ever- not just because there was no crowd, but more so because everyone was so polite and kind. (I imagine it was because of all of the un-socialized homeschoolers)
3. Hanna has a better grasp on the English language and is more empowered to retain and participate.
4. It is evident that Biruk was receiving a quality education in Ethiopia and that he has an excellent memory.
5. Both Svetlana and Andy are excelling outside of a large classroom setting. I feel our decision to remove them from traditional school is validated.
6. Mel is a delight to teach. His eagerness and zeal for learning is almost difficult to keep up with. Additionally, after two years home, he is now emotionally available to ask for and receive affection. If my lap is available, he demands to sit in it. Not that he verbally asks, he is just adamant about climbing on. I get to teach him to read with him sitting on my lap. It thrills my heart to finally hold him so much.

I hope that whatever difficult decision you've struggled with in the past is rewarding to you today. I encourage you to step outside of what is known and comfortable and take a chance. Teach Sunday School, take a volunteer position, home-school, adopt a child, start a blog, try a new recipe, just do something.
You'll be glad you did.

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