Two Children’s Impressions of Homeschooling
After church yesterday, Ray and I had the joy of a long car ride with one of our daughters and her children. I had a great seat in the back of the minivan between our seven-year-old granddaughter and our five-year-old grandson. We sang; listened to music; and played Go Fish, Simon Says, and I Spy.
We all had a rolling picnic of Larabars©, strawberries, grapes, dates, dried apricots, and crackers. We ate out of paper bowls, by the way. Little rolly things stay put better in bowls than on paper plates. Ray and I have made a personal decision to stop the car to eat in a non-moving location when we travel now, but we had lots of car meals when our kids were growing up. It is one of our secrets to taking our children to forty-eight states. Car meals save time and money.
Our destination yesterday was Rock City, near Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The reason we went yesterday was that it was the last day for the Rock City Raptors show until next spring. I took these photos when we were there last Saturday with our older daughter and her children.
Wondering how I could be gone all day and get this post written before you receive it on Monday morning, I decided to interview the children about what they like about homeschooling. I didn’t set out or even expect to get Notgrass Company endorsements from the children, but on their own they mentioned a couple of our products, so I’ll pass them on.
Let me say first that our son-in-law is a great, active dad (who had a conflict and couldn’t go with us yesterday), but since these posts are mainly directed at you mamas, I only asked questions related to their mama. First, I asked these two grandchildren what they like their mama to do with them. Our grandson said he likes for her to play with him in their playroom and he likes when she plays “Skip to My Lou.”
Our granddaughter said that she likes when they have tea parties and when they play Mapletown®. We collected Mapletown toys in the 1980s and our daughter kept them for her children. Now they have some Calico Critters® to go with the vintage Mapletown toys.
Then I asked the children what they liked to do in “school.” Our grandson said he likes Draw to Learn. That is a Bible and art program we have. If I remember correctly, the particular book they are using is Draw to Learn the Book of Psalms.
The seven-year-old said that she likes Our Star-Spangled Story “because it’s so cool.” She also mentioned Draw to Learn and doing history crafts.
After these grandchildren told their top choices, I asked them to tell me what else they liked about “school.” The five-year-old likes to do the letter crafts his mama does with him. The seven-year-old said that she likes to read about spiders, moths, wasps, and stuff in her science book. She also mentioned that she enjoys her mama doing eye therapy with her and reading Little Pilgrim’s Progress before bedtime.
When I asked what books they had enjoyed their mama reading aloud, the five-year-old mentioned Wacky Wednesday and A Zoo for Mr. Muster. The seven-year-old mentioned Sammy and His Shepherd, Toliver’s Secret, Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin, and all of the Little House books.
I even asked what meals the children enjoy most. The seven-year-old was specific. She likes scrambled eggs and biscuits for breakfast; peanut butter, carrots, and crackers for lunch; and chili and chips for supper. The five-year-old said that he likes bacon for breakfast, bacon for lunch, and bacon for supper. They both mentioned cake and ice cream and the five-year-old added chocolate. Those are rare treats for the children of this healthy-cooking mama. That adds to the appreciation, I think.
I also asked the children why they are glad that their mama homeschools them. She said, “I like it.” He said, “Because it’s better.”
God gives parents the responsibility of training their children. Some of that training doesn’t feel particularly pleasant either to the parent or the child. God loves us enough to discipline us, but He sends wonderful joyful times into our lives before, after, and during that training. He wants us to do that with our children, too.
Fathers, do not exasperate your children,
so that they will not lose heart.
Colossians 3:21