Homeschool: Morning Devotional / Mom School

I promised I'd write more about homeschool awhile ago.  And while I'm sure no one else cares too much, I have this (sometimes) baffling sense of responsibility to follow through with things I say like that on this blog.  I can't rest until I've checked it off my mental list.  My blogging ability is waning horribly, and I doubt I have more than a handful of readers left, but if this is helpful for even one of you- to see how our schedule plays out in detail, I am truly glad. 

I am not a perfect homeschooling Mom by anyone else's standards.  I'm certain of that.  I'm a little off the beaten path even as far as most homeschoolers go.  I am simply trying to do what I've felt inspired to do for my own children right now.  And it's very much a work in progress.

I wrote about our homeschool scedule in an earlier post, here.  Shockingly, we're still following that basic schedule with the following adjustments:

1. We do not begin at 7:30 am.  That one makes just plain makes me laugh.  All I can say is I'm grateful that no other force requires us to begin that early.  We generally get started somewhere between 8:30 and 9:30, depending on the morning. 

2. We have removed "Skill Binders" from the schedule, and simply work on them here and there as the opportunity arises to teach/perfect a home skill, or when Luke is off track. 

3. Afternoon "Free Time" is now called "Project Time."

Other than these adjustments, everything else on the default schedule remains the same.  We tweak here and there as needed.  I still LOVE the flexibility.  We need the schedule to give structure to our days, but we are not slaves to it by any means.  We roll with all the variables life throws at us, and wherever our learning takes us.

I'm going to break the schedule up into sections and write about each section in detail.  Today's homeschool episode begins with....

Morning Devotional / Mom School

This is my favorite part of the day, by far, and judging by the reaction of the girls every morning when I signal time to get started, I think they quite like it, too.  Morning devotional is really where it's at.  We begin with a song and a prayer.  Following the prayer, I start off with a scripture story and lesson.  I've chosen to study the Bible with them this year.  I picked up a used book at the D.I. in the summer, titled, Illustrated Stories from the Bible, which doubles as a collection of Bible stories as well as a Bible study guide for older children. I really like the commentary it provides, sparking all kinds of discussion about what we read. 

After our scripture lesson/discussion, the older girls each take a turn reading a short story of their choice to highlight virtues, morals and character traits I *hope* to instill in them somehow.  Miriam usually chooses a story or two from The Friend magazine.  Abby usually reads a selection from The Book of Virtues (William J. Bennett), which is a collection of moral folktales from around the world.  And Luke, now that he's off track again, has been reading sections from Seven Miracles that Saved America.  This is what morning devotional generally looks like:

The point is not just to read together (although that has it's own merit), but to talk about what we're reading.  So, I try to let the discussion flow.  Some days it lasts 5 minutes.  Some days 45 minutes.  One day we talked and talked and talked -and listened- for 3 hours straight!!  I kid you not.  They had question after question after question about truth and right, and I gladly indulged them.  This is my favorite part of the day, because I get to teach them what I feel is most important for them right now, and to share with them thoughts and ideas I have that don't often get shared in the busy-ness of life.  For now, academics are taking a back seat to character development.  This is what I have felt strongly impressed to focus on with our homeschool, though it clashes with the prevailing wisdom on childhood education.  I have had the same impression and conviction over and over again, but figuring out how to turn that impression into reality has been, and continues to be an exercise in faith.  I'm taking it a day at a time, knowing that I may never be able to calculate the impact of what we're doing right now on their lives.  I just have to trust. 

After stories, we move into "Mom School."  This is a title I picked up from A Thomas Jefferson Education for a period of time when I get to teach whatever I want to teach them for the day.  One of my hopes is to expose my children to a variety of subjects, peoples, cultures, and ideas that will spark curiosity and a love of learning in general.  Right now, I'm using an online tool called This Week in History as my main resource.  It provides a list of historical and recent events in the arts, math, science, geography and history for each calendar date and includes links to additional resources and activities for each subject, encouraging futher exploration.  We read through the events for the day and I let the kids tell me what they are most interested in (or I just follow their cues,) and we explore together.  For instance, yesterday marked the day that the largest snowflake known to man was recorded in Montana (something like 15 inches wide and 8 inches deep!) There were links to more information on snowflakes that we followed, including a small experiment to determine the volume of water vs. air in snow (pretty timely considering the piles of snow outside right now.)  Yesterday was also Mozart's birthday, so we talked about his life and discussed what it might be like to be a child prodigy.  This led to discussion of talents and gifts and the true definition of "genius."  During project time, I slipped in a Mozart CD for a little background music.  I absolutely love This Week in History. Because the content is so valuable, it's a time saver and a life preserver (for me) in our homeschool.   

Following This Week in History, we work on memorization.  My extended family is memorizing The Living Christ this year, so we work on sections of that regularly (Luke and I memorized it two years ago when he was homeschooling, so we know it's possible!)  Here's a site with some helps for memorizing that Luke and I used.  The ultimate goal is to have the words of this testimony become written in our hearts and minds so that we can recall them throughout our lives.  It's been pleasantly surprising to actually hear Luke and Abby recite random phrases in various situations or discussions from time to time. 

If we're not working on memorizing The Living Christ, we're memorizing poetry.  More on this soon.  For now, I will say this: Poetry is powerful.

Mom School usually ends with direction for the rest of the day, and on Mondays, with meal planning and scheduling for the week.  All told, we usually spend about an hour and a half  together for devotional/mom school, and we usually just call it "Devotional." 

I mentioned this already, but Morning Devotional is where I find the greatest fulfillment in homeschooling so far.  The few times we've skipped it, the day just doesn't feel right.  When my three older children were in school, and life was busy and hectic and chaotic when they were home (usually trying to meet the demands of school !!), this is precisely what I was missing.   I am basking in the freedom I have right now to spend time with my children during hours of the day when we are awake and alert and completely unfettered by outside commitments; peaceful time to just talk and learn and listen and be.  It's so satisfying after knowing the contrast.

Someday, when my girls return to school, I'll have to figure out how to carry on some semblance of what we've started.  I'm sure it's possible.  I know that other people do it successfully.  But something tells me it will require rising long before 7:30 in the morning!

Heaven bless the day I must...