Our formal school work is on the back burner but we have done some learning today even with a sick teacher. These kids are on fire for anything related to cooking. They will grab up ingredients and start cutting and mixing (and spilling) and tasting (and spilling some more). So the "learning" that comes from all of this consists of problem solving, fine motor skills, measurement, sensory input, maybe a little chemistry, home economics, health, serving, etc. The list really does go on and on. Grayson (age 6) had a salad of romaine lettuce, mushrooms, green peppers and broccoli this morning, prepared entirely by himself. Keilan (age 8) did some work on https://www.khanacademy.org/ and some of a math work sheet. In a little while here we're going to run through flash cards and do some reading.
Many home school families would call this a successful day but I struggle very much with days like this. I tell myself that making a salad is all kinds of schooling but deep down I'm not convinced. I mean I know it's good for him and he struggles so much with fine motor, but it's a salad. I'm discouraged. I'm worried that surely we'll fall so far behind we'll never recover. I hear the voices of people in my life that I either know disapprove of our home schooling or who I suspect disapprove of our home schooling. I hear them talking to other people about how sad it is that those Leheney boys were taken out of school; that surely they need the structure of regular school more than any child. What will become of those poor children left to draw pictures of robots all day? NO really? What will become of them?!! All because I'm sick just this one day, surely we will fail. See what I do to myself?
I thank God for the gift of a new day. And I thank God for these highly creative children. And I pray that we'll be 1st and 3rd grade educated by the Spring.
