Reflections

Posted by Kysha | 0 comments

I have always loved teaching Science, Math, Art and English to my children. I have always approached these subjects with great excitement and enthusiasm with each new topic.

But there’s one subject which I had absolutely loathed. Well, maybe that’s a strong word. I had rather disliked… and that’s history.

During my education, history involved my struggling to stay awake during high school and college lectures. How did I find the most monotonous teachers for these courses? I remember feeling well rested after each lecture due to the power naps that I had taken during class. I can also remember numerous facts and dates being hashed out for my memorization. Unfortunately, this experience had influenced the formulation of my view or opinion of history in general which was that of something very much “boring and unnecessary to life”. Boy, was I ever wrong!

Now, I am teaching the same subject to my children. Over the past year, I had noticed how my children were beginning to dislike history also. Oh, I could see the eyes roll and the long sighs whenever I would reach for our history book. My younger twin would say his famous line whenever he became frustrated with something, “Mom, this is giving me a headache!”

For some strange reason, I couldn’t put two and two together. “Why aren’t y’all getting this?” I would asked in my southern drawl, of course. Then I had a light bulb moment. How much energy am I investing into this subject? Am I only viewing my mirror image in my children? I had never been enthusiastic about history so my children weren’t either. Surely, I could display a “face” but children can always see so much more. How could I be upset or frustrated with the way they were ‘reflecting’ what I had been displaying?

I had to step back and take a different perspective on history altogether. I had to change my attitude to that of gratitude in a sense. I had to learn to appreciate history for the first time in my life and its valuable place in our heritage. I had to embrace history and become one with history. Just kidding! That’s a little extreme but I think you get the picture. I began to invest time and energy into our history studies just as I had done with the other ‘fun” subjects. After I had discovered a wonderful Charlotte Mason History curriculum, we soon began our journey with notebooking, narrations, discussions, reading many library books, taking more history based field trips, dressing as characters and creating history based dramas for the family. I had to prime my creative juices a bit for this subject. Eventually, my children said those wonderful words…” We love history, Mom. It’s fun!” Naturally, I was so excited to hear those words but I want my children to love and embrace history and learning as a whole. I want them to have wonderful memories of their history teacher also.

A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.
Proverbs 15:13 NIV

Amazingly, I was the source of my own frustration if you will. It was me.

Today, my children are reflecting a much better image or attitude. Children are much more intelligent than we can ever imagine. Not only do they reflect my attitude toward their studies but my spiritual walk and life in general. When I get angry at the person who just cut me off during rush hour traffic, when I get frustrated at the clerk for making the incorrect change and getting price checks on every item, when I am disputing an unwarranted charge on a bill with a sales rep., when I am having conversations with my  friends and whatever else I do behind closed doors when I think no one is looking. Others may only view the “Outside Mommy” but our children know, learn, absorb then reflect the “Inside Mommy”. Of course, I’ve always known that children will imitate behavior but as a Christian mom, I thought I had always reflected good and positive images. So this revelation was a little eye opener for me in so many ways and aspects of my role as mommy teacher.

What are your children reflecting?

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. Phil.2:5 NIV

Kysha is a mom of five beautiful children from ages 2 to 18. She enjoys blogging, fishing, reading, and working in children’s ministry. You can find her at Love’s School.