AWAKING WONDER - CHAPTERS 7-8

AWAKING WONDER - CHAPTERS 7-8

This morning finds me out in the swing under the kids' playhouse enjoying the beautiful sunlight and delicious breeze. Thoughts and plans for the upcoming homeschool year dance in and out of my head as I read Sally Clarkson's words. I enter in as she opens the door and allows us to peek into the Clarkson family homeschool. I breathe a sigh of relief as I am handed a bowl of popcorn and a mug of hot cider and hear the sounds of crinkling pages as Sally finds her place in the read aloud.

I love this picture. I love the warmth, togetherness, the discussion, the growth, the results, the trust in Christ to bring fruit to the work that was done. This is not what my current homeschool looks like. But, I get this! I long for more of this, and I put it in where I can!

I love Sally's 4 steps to cultivating the intellect. Giving kids purpose and responsibility in their learning is a gift that lasts for the rest of their lives.

How do you give ownership to your children in their learning journey?

Character. We can't leave our chapters today without discussing the character issue. We all know people who are highly educated who have no character. We all know how dangerous they can be in society with no moral compass to steer the boat.

Many years ago I took the idea of a character study from a curriculum and tweaked it to fit us. I had a list of character traits with accompanying Bible verses I picked up somewhere along the way. I developed a four day rotation of activities. Day 1 - write the character trait with a definition. Day 2 - look up verses and copy 1 underneath the definition from Day 1. Day 3- write about an example from life, the Bible or literature that demonstrates the character trait. Day 4- write about an example from life, the Bible, or literature that demonstrates the lack of that character trait. It was a pretty powerful Bible time that opened the door for a lot of discussion. I'm thinking this may be a good one to revisit this year.

I loved where Sally brings us to the crux of the character discussion. The time where our children take the reins in the responsibility of their lives. The "you have the ability to choose..." speech. We will cheer you on, we will encourage you, but we cannot force you. As a momma with kids spanning a lot of age differences, this talk is very important and has the ability to enable our children to live in freedom or caged in blame for the rest of their lives.

How are you demonstrating or teaching character in the lives of your children?