Preparing….

Recently I was blessed to spend a few moments with a good friend praying for and preparing for the upcoming school year.  It was so refreshing to spend some time really focusing on where we were and where we hope to be a year from now.  At this time of year I so often get caught up in the charts and planners, comparing curricula and scheduling events that I often loose sight of some of the big goals. 

I remember how, last year, I had to step back and look at my planning anew realizing that I was immersing myself in geography, literature and science lessons and yet my “big picture” goals had so much more to do with character and relationship.

I had to stop and simplify all of my elaborate plans to make way for the more important lessons like attentiveness, loving kindness, patience, work ethic, responsibility.

And once again this year I need to take that step back and make sure that I am once again putting my focus in the right area.  So, as we prayed, my dear friend and I prepared our hearts for making the right priorities, for pursuing the more important learning goals.

While we whispered quietly and the children all buzzed about around us she pointed out a beautiful little plaque that she kept on her mantle.  It read “Prepare the child for the path, not the path for the child” and I knew that I had met the theme for our school year. 

Though I will continue to spend many hours writing out schedules and choosing books to include in this year’s studies I first need to realize that if my children are properly prepared for their studies, for their interactions with one another, for their interactions with others, for life in general, then the don’t need me to smooth out the path that lays before them.

I don’t need to spend hours and hours on each science lesson, on the nitty gritty of our daily schedule, on finding just the right maps and colouring sheets.  My children and I are on a journey of living and learning together – day by day and side by side.  They will learn from my mistakes and see how I deal with my failings, they will have to take the initiative to complete their work when another sibling is sick or is misbehaving.  They will learn to walk the path without all of the bumps in the road removed for them.  My children will learn despite me.

I often have people ask me about one curriculum or another and though I am no expert, I am happy to review the resources that we have used in our home.  One of the first questions that often comes up is about “preparation time”:  “I don’t have time to do a lot of preparation as I am teaching 8 different subjects to children in 3 different grades!  Is this going to take a lot of preparation?”  My answer almost always is that I choose learning resources that require as little preparation as possible, not only because I don’t have the time to throw into long lesson plans but also because it isn’t necessary for me to break my children’s learning meals into pre-digested bite sized chunks.  They need to taste, to savour, to digest their learning times or they won’t get nearly the same amount of learning out of it as I will.

Preparing our children for the path that lies before them means helping them to develop the right habits by which to govern their lives.  This is far more important that having a complete day by day set of lesson plans that covers every recommended learning outcome.  Real lesson preparation needs to focus on the heart and not on the head.

Dear Friends, if you feel unprepared, as I do, on this first week of school, remember to pray and to prioritize the building of strong habits and the rest will fall into line.

Peace,

Cori