I have my daily, weekly, and monthly plans for all the schoolwork the girls and I do together. I try to be flexible, and things change sometimes, but our plan is generally followed. Our days are filled with movement, stories, play, books, crafting, writing, reading, discovering and learning. Our days are good and we are thankful for this rich life we're living.
Today was just a bit off. This morning Alybug and Em didn't remember much from the story I told them yesterday, and then when we drew from the story, they were both discontent with their drawings. Pumpkin wouldn't cooperate with our cultural dances, and made such a fuss it wasn't fun for any of us. I got distracted with some housework and our usual afternoon practice time never happened. I tried to work some math word problems into our dinner prep and the girls weren't interested. At the end of the day, I felt ready to chalk this up as just one of those days, knowing that tomorrow will be a fresh start, a new opportunity for all of us. But also in our day was some great creative play involving Johnny Appleseed, Little House on the Prairie, a finger knitted horse harness, and 3 giggling girls. Today the girls checked on the drying progress of their hand-dyed yarn from yesterday and made plans for their next knitting projects with this special yarn. This morning as I putzed around the house, I heard singing from all 3 girls on the hammock in our backyard. Maybe, just maybe, those things were more important than the story recall or the math practice games.
It's so easy for me to get mired down in looking at my girls' skills- math and reading, I mean- and I lose sight of what it is that really matters. Are my children loving life and are they living fully? Are they asking questions? Do they believe in themselves? Do they know how to create? Do they take risks? I think these are the most important things.
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2 comments:
I definitely think you're on to something here. For the first time this year I've fallen a little bit into the panic-trap of "am I doing enough?" But when I try to do more, the kids (especially Zoo Boy) complain about not having enough time to play and just do stuff on their own, and that's important, too -- some could argue MORE important than what I'm trying to bring to them. So I think a bit of letting the kids self-regulate on this is wise. At least that's what I tell myself when we go weeks without painting or doing practice work....
We all have those days. I like your last paragraph...very nicely said.
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