Essentials and Homeschool Blessings

I was delighted to read this article on the FAR Above Rubies website today; at which I am a new contributor.

As I've been pondering my New Year's Resolution of "exulting in monotony" (see post before this one) I found this article to be quite timely and pertinent to the things that have been on my mind and in my heart lately as I gear up to forge ahead into 2012 with my family.

Here's a small portion of that article (which I hope you'll take time to read because it's really worth it):

Richele, the author of the post, writes:

Essentials to add in to your homeschool...

• Morning devotions
• A teacher that walks with the Lord.
• Read aloud books
• Play time
• Tea time: a small break you take together and discuss the day, goals, or just sit and laugh
• House Rules
• A family cause: such as helping the homeless, joining a ministry at your church, sponsoring a child
• Chores for everyone so all feel a part of the family and an important part of running the home. 
• Life skills
• Character training
  
  
  I smiled when I read the above because one of the bullet points is something that I've recently just decided to incorporate into our homeschooling days...TEA TIME! (One of my favorite books in the world is "For the Family's Sake" by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay...I have read it a BAJILLION times and picked it up again this past week...the author proclaims, quite enthusiastically, the blessings and benefits of a regular "tea time") I must admit, it takes a bit of getting used to...in a busy, homeschooling household, to intentionally PAUSE for a respite in the middle of the afternoon...instead of dashing straight on in to supper preparations, laundry, and whatever other myriad of tasks have been waiting for us while we were in school...but I can tell already that I LIKE "tea time"...a LOT. (Even if some of us have coffee, LOL)
  
  As to the other "essentials" that Richele has listed, above...her list warmed my heart and I gave praise and thanksgiving to God...for I realized, as I read...that we do ALL of these things on a daily basis at our house...I felt so completely blessed to be at home with my children as I considered the things that were listed as being "essential" to the homeschooling day.
  
  It also gave me pause to ponder something else. What if I were NOT at home with my children each day? What if they were in outside schools...in the public school system?  Would these essentials be a REGULAR part of the 8 hours of their school day?
  
  Here is the list again and my thoughts:
  

Essentials to add in to your homeschool...

• Morning devotions: Although I have read of the renegade public school, here or there, allowing its students to gather 'round flagpoles or meet in a general room for "devotions" before or after school...I don't think that my children would be able to truly center themselves in prayer as we do now in our homeschooling environment...I love to listen to the intentions of my kids...they don't just give "lip service" to prayer...but they truly THINK of whom they'd like to pray for and why...sometimes, it brings tears to my eyes as they will often remember to pray for someone in need that I, in my shame, have forgotten. It would be difficult, in my opinion, for the children to exercise their freedom of faith and be able to boldly proclaim the LORD and His Word if they had to leave our home and attend schools where GOD is clearly NOT welcomed.
• A teacher that walks with the Lord: I DO believe that there are MANY wonderful teachers "out there" who love Jesus and try their best to live according to His ways in their daily lives...Sadly, however, for the most part, I think that the system forces them to keep this "private" and "away from the school" whether directly or indirectly. Again, there are those who will "buck" the system...but for the sake of this article; which was meant to help us think of these things on a regular, consistent, and daily basis for our children...I think that it's difficult for a teacher to truly walk with the Lord if he/she is not allowed to share discussion or sing praises of HIM during the average school day. I am so thankful that I can "wear my faith upon my sleeve" in our homeschooling atmosphere...truly, EVERYTHING we do begins and ends with GOD in our average and every school day...I am able to share my faith and my journey in Christ with my children for the (approximately) 8 hours that they would be without that if they had to leave our home and attend school in the public system.
• Read aloud books: This is something we do on a daily basis in our family and it happens to be one of my favorite parts of family life...the memories that have been created through the time we spend snuggling under blankets on Mommy's bed or on the couch or under a tree or at a favorite spot in our clearing...are priceless and add to the legacy of our life...my grown children read stories to their children that my husband and I read to them...I have been reading some of the same stories again and again for 27 years now...and never tire of it...the kids laugh at me for there are some tales I literally know by heart. It's not so much that children who attend outside schools can not find time to "read aloud"...they can...at school AND at home...by choice...however...it's more of WHAT is being read to them that I find to be vastly different from the types of books we read in our homeschool setting. In an effort to mirror "the world" the stories in the schools now-a-day sometimes do anything BUT build and restore FAMILY...train up children...inculcate character and conviction and faith...I have actually been rendered dumbfounded upon seeing some of the books that are on the "reading lists" in the schools today. MANY of the books, I would not even allow in my home; much less read them out loud to my children.
• Play time...Just this evening, before our family rosary time...I smiled as I entered the living room to find 7 of the 8 kids still at home with us huddled around in a tight circle on the floor...building Lego blocks together! The eldest in the group was 16, the youngest, 4...they were laughing and talking and bantering over choice blocks; trying to persuade one or the other why THEY needed a certain one for their unique and special creation. Earlier, they had been enjoying a game of Hide-n-Go-Seek in the dark down in the basement...and a bit before that, they all made copies of Saint Agnes (from our new, fancy copier that my husband gave to us as a gift) so that they could color together at the dining room table.
  Please don't misunderstand...we are a family who greatly enjoys Wii and computer games and other electronic gadgets (that we usually get to use when we visit people who have things like those "DSI's" and such)...but, I can accurately state that MOST of the play time my children get EVERY day is a natural form of play...make believe...board games...running and racing games outdoors...dolls...army...cops and robbers...I Spy...word games...building blocks...building forts...tents...clubhouses...playing house...playing dollhouse, etc... This list goes on and on for us...and I am told (and have read research to support the opinions) that many children of today's society do NOT get play time like this anymore...many of the schools have done away with Phys Ed altogether...and they have "banned" games of tag and dodge-ball and the like on the playground...that is SOOOO sad to me. One study I read stated that there is scientific evidence to show that kids today are actually losing the ability to "pretend" and "imagine" because so much of it is already done FOR them and they merely click a button or stare at a screen to "play". There are certain synapses in the brain that connect and thrive ONLY through imaginative play and many, many kids today do not get this on a regular basis.
• Tea time: a small break you take together and discuss the day, goals, or just sit and laugh As I said earlier in this post...I am surprised at how much I am enjoying this new addition to our homeschooling day. I have always loved homeschooling lunch time because I get to eat lunch with my kids and we laugh and hang out together after working hard all morning...but this new little "tea time" is providing something else...something that enriches and refreshes and revives us before we head into the late afternoon and evening hours. I think the English were really on to something when they decided to make this a regular custom in their society. Obviously, if my children were not at home with me each day...I could not put a kettle on and share a cup of tea with them mid-day...I COULD do that after school...but in thinking back to the time when my older kids WERE in outside schools...there was next to NO time left after getting them off the bus...to pause and relax and enjoy a tea time together...we often had to rush back out to a school event...or do HOURS of homework, and work on getting the papers signed and backpack loaded for the next day etc...(Sheesh...I don't miss that, I must say)
• House Rules: I know that there are wonderful, strong, loving families, whose children attend outside schools, that have "house rules" at home and try to teach their children a sound set of Christian beliefs and convictions so as to raise them up for the Lord. However, I also know, that there is a HUGE AGENDA which is being systematically played-out in schools today...wherein the enemy is succeeding in his attempts to ROB children of their purity and innocence and character and any convictions parents might have instilled at home...each day...I think of how, if my kids were to return to the school system...every day, that influence would have "rule" over them...and at the end of every day, my husband and I would be in a battle to UNdo what is fed to them there and attempt override it with our own set of core beliefs and morals.(Been there, done that...and once again..sheesh...I do NOT miss that, at all!) As time goes on, that gets tougher and tougher...we need only take a look at the breaking- down of families in America to see the effects...there IS an enemy who does NOT want our "house rules" to rule...there IS an enemy who wants to make the God--ordained and traditional family in America obsolete and invalid...I am SO thankful that my children need not be exposed to that in such an affronting way on a daily basis.
• A family cause: such as helping the homeless, joining a ministry at your church, sponsoring a child This is another blessing of homeschooling for our personal family. We have a very flexible schedule. As such, my kids, when they reach an appropriate age, have always been able to volunteer at local (and sometimes not-so-local...like in Baltimore MD) food shelters to assist those in need in our communities.
  We can also help out at Church during the day...and write letters to our sponsored child as part of our writing curriculum! I love how this is able to be so easily merged with our "school days"...these things are a natural part of our learning environment and education, in general.
• Chores for everyone so all feel a part of the family and an important part of running the home: It's so nice to work along-side one another as a family. I love that I have been able to teach my girls about homemaking and that all of my children can take part in the keeping of our home on a daily basis. We are here at home EVERY day, ALL day (for the most part) and that provides me with many opportunities to instill a good work ethic through the implementation of daily chores. Yes, if my kids were not here with me each day, they'd still have chores...but again...how much time could I really devote to training them to do the jobs well and to carry on all of the wonderful discussions and life-lessons that occur while we are doing our chores together? More than likely, chores would become something we merely cram into our day since most of our day would be spent apart from one another if they were at school for 8 hours or more.
• Life skills: I can't begin to express the benefits and blessings that homeschooling has brought to our family in the way of "life skills". It has always perplexed and somewhat humored me when people, who are against homeschooling, say things like "you are not allowing your children an environment which reflects reality and life in the world"...I have always seen it quite oppositely...where, in the "real world" will my children grow to hold jobs that have a room full of 30 other people born within a couple months of themselves? THAT is not "reality" at all...at home, we have a mix of generations and must learn to work together, communicate with one another, help those younger than ourselves (and older or infirm, at times) and...generally speaking...learn to work "as a team" with varying age levels, skill levels, personalities, and more...to me...that atmosphere is MUCH more similar to "real life". Having said that, "life skills" are what homeschooling is all about...we are teaching "godly living" day in and day out...sometimes we FAIL, miserably...but the point is that we are able to persevere and keep trying...we are able to teach things that are falling away and becoming obsolete in society...things like baking and sewing, crocheting, writing letters by hand, balancing a checkbook, counting back change correctly, table manners, ball-room dancing, how to stand and greet people in a receiving line...taking care of babies...gardening...and more. These are not "electives" or "extras" in our curriculum...but a natural, routine part of our average day (except the ball-room dancing of course...but we HAVE sent some students for lessons periodically!)
• Character training: There IS "character training" in outside schools today. However, I think I've already made the point that the "character" that the school system thinks my children need does not coincide with our Christian way of life. That is sad...but true. I am blessed that my children are free to learn what it means to be a gentleman and a young lady. I can train them according to the Scriptures and we needn't treat our Christianity as something separate from "character training". When I teach the kids about compassion, empathy, forgiveness, integrity, work ethics, respect, etc...I am able to do so from a Biblical foundation and the "characters" we are training on a daily basis are formed in the image and likeness of GOD. We strive to increase in virtue, wisdom, and stature...and we there is no one in the next room trying to undermine or do away with the foundation that we are trying to lay for our children.
  
  This post is not meant to be a "dissing session" on public schools. Rather, it is meant to express how thankful and blessed I feel to be able to be at home with my children each and every day. I'm so glad that my own daughter (who was NOT homeschooled) is now homeschooling HER children. I hope my son and his wife will choose to do the same when the time comes.
  
  
  For now, I hope that those who read this post today, who have perhaps considered the idea of homeschooling but have been hesitant to take the plunge and make the lifestyle change...will find encouragement and HOPE in the thoughts I have shared on Benmakesten.
  
  
  With the presidential debates heating up and all of the issues that America currently faces, it is my firm belief that the only way to restore this nation is to restore the FAMILY...and I think that homeschooling provides an opportunity to do that.