Everything I Need to Know I Learned Homeschooling a Kindergartener

We did it! We managed to get through our first year of official homeschooling. Not only did Bobo get quite a bit accomplished, we all grew a little in wisdom and grace. The biggest surprises for me were how much I would love this thing called home education and how much I would learn.

• PATIENCE. I'm not a particularly patient person. I get anxious at stop lights, I finish other people's sentences more often than I'd like to admit, and sometimes (gasp) I even hurry my children along (Let's go, let's go, let's go!). Homeschooling has taught me to enjoy the journey. To stop once and in awhile and thank God for giving me this great privilege. To allow my children to be children.
  
  
• PERSEVERENCE. We're Charlotte Mason/Classical in our approach to learning. That means we spends lots of time reading great books and less time on seatwork. Somehow, more than one math book got completed, 2 copybooks, 3 McGuffey readers, and a spelling book to boot. Not to mention lots of history and science, which my daughter doesn't consider school because "they're so fun and we read them on the couch." Slow and steady may not always win the race, but it definitely gets the job done.
  
  
• PLAYFULNESS. Last week my daughter was singing her math facts as she did her worksheet. It probably took her twice the normal amount of time. I almost told her she'd get it done faster if she stopped singing. But then I came to my senses. Isn't this the reason we're homeschooling? So that she will enjoy learning, have fun in the process, and even whistle while she works? I started singing right along with her.
  

Patience, Perseverence, and Playfulness...That's all I really need to know. And I'm learning it right here at home. Thank you, Lord, for the joy and the privilege.