A Spark of Joy

Posted by Tammy | 0 comments

For those who follow the traditional school year calendar, a couple of months worth of schooling has been completed and the routine is settled.  It’s easy to get into the ho-humness of it all, especially if you been homeschooling for many years.

And then suddenly, it happens!

A spark of joy!

And I’m not talking about the student, but about the teacher.

It happened here recently when my nine year old daughter finished up a spelling review lesson.  Since it was a review and not a regular lesson, she asked if she had to read the poetry selection that was scheduled.   Being a mom of details and charts, my answer was a quick, “yup!”  Off she went to look up the poetry pages and then began reading while I was busy doing something in the kitchen at the same time.

“By the shores of Gitche Gummee,
By the shining Big-Sea Water….”

“STOP!” I shouted, scaring her half to death.   Immediately I came over where she was standing with her book in hand.

“Start again!” I pleaded, causing her curiosity to grow as I sat down to listen closely.

And she began once more and I corrected her pronunciations as she went stumbling along through four stanzas of the poem “Hiawatha’s Childhood” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.   When she had finished the stanzas, I took a turn reading it so that she could hear the wonderful rhythm found in this writing.

A spark of joy!

For as soon as I heard the first couple of lines, it took me back to my early homeschooling years when my firstborn read this poem for the first time.  I enjoyed the poem so much that I was delighted to unexpectedly run across a book in the library that had the complete selection of “Hiawatha’s Childhood”.   My joy increased when I found out that this was only one section of the original – The Song of Hiawatha – which had been written with twenty-two sections covering the life of Hiawatha from birth to death.  The lyrics and music of the words used in this epic poem instantly put a smile on my face.

Will hearing “wah-wah-taysee, little firefly” instantly put a smile on YOUR face?  Probably not. However, one of the things about homeschooling that I’ve surprisingly learned through the years was that it wasn’t just about helping my children learn and find particular studies THEY enjoyed, but that often I found MYSELF learning and enjoying different studies, too!   It’s a different topic for everyone…..like learning about a certain period in history or the constellations of the winter sky or diagramming sentences or the intricacies of the human body or archaeological finds or writing proofs for geometry or….you fill in the blank.  It’s YOUR unique spark of joy!

It’s about teaching your children that there is JOY found in learning.  And it doesn’t mean that you  will find JOY in the same topics, but that your example will encourage them in areas of studies which cause them to smile.

“When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God Almighty.” ~ Jeremiah 15:16

And my hope is that your greatest JOY is found in learning God’s Word.   The grace and love it imparts is the best example you can show your children and truly is the heart of the matter!

Married in 1980 and still living in the same house in a woodsy rural setting, Tammy’s homeschooling journey began in the fall of 1987 when her oldest turned six years old. As rather new believers professing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, homeschooling was a way to live out the principles found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. Through all the challenges of life Tammy has stayed the course growing to a family with nine children who presently range from preschool age to college graduates married with children. Her role has transitioned from learning everything she could about homeschooling to becoming an encourager to others coming along the way. Please visit Tammy at Garden Glimpses.