Summer School for Mom

Posted by Melissa | 0 comments

It’s not hard for me to look at my bookshelves and see what curriculum just did NOT work for us this year. There’s always something that just wasn’t a good match. I expect it, actually. I’m happy we have so many things that do work well, but for various reasons, there will always be some program that I had high hopes for that didn’t pan out.

So, like all good homeschool moms, I try to pinpoint what didn’t work and more importantly, why it didn’t work. Then the fun (at least in my book it’s fun) begins—researching what will replace it. I’m always hopeful that I’ll find something to replace it that will make our homeschooling more effective the next year.

It’s easy to be critical of the curriculum. And with a little thought, it doesn’t take much effort to figure out what the problem with it was. But what if there’s something that needs fixed in my homeschool that isn’t sitting on a shelf? What if it’s me? My attitude? Or my habits? There’s not a curriculum in the world that will fix that for me!

I realized this year that some of the areas of struggle within my little one-room schoolhouse were all about me. I need more self discipline. Although I get a lot accomplished in a day, it’s not often all the necessary stuff. I have a tendency to skip the mundane things, like grading math, for the more exciting sidetrack options, like sharing a good find on my blog. Although I have weekly homeschool plans, I need to have more specific goals attached to them to keep my eyes focused.

Although there’s no website I can go to and add ‘self discipline’ into my shopping cart, there is a Book that can help. God has given me all I need for life and godliness (1 Peter 1:3). That sounds like hope and help to me!

Ephesians 5:15-16: Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

How I live is what makes up my life. Am I making the most of every opportunity? Could I be more prepared or steadfast in meeting the challenges of each day, no matter how dull the task before me is?

This summer, between purging bookshelves and throwing old glue sticks away, I’m going to be working on the character in my children’s teacher. It won’t be as much fun of a project as tweaking my homeschool room, but if done well, it will outlast the shiny whiteboard and orderly bookshelves. Even if it’s just baby steps to start, I know My Teacher is patient and faithful. “He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” 1 Thess. 5:24

What about you? Is there a characteristic you need to grow in your life to improve your homeschool?

Melissa Morgner is a happy wife of 17 years to her college sweetheart and mother to six loud, but lovable children ranging in age from 14 down to three. After ten years of homeschooling and sampling way too much curriculum, she takes an eclectic approach in their little schoolroom, choosing resources that best suit the children and the teacher. Her busy household puts her gifts of juggling and winging it to the test each day. She steals moments here and there to write on her blog, Half Dozen Mama, about the lessons she’s learning from the Lord in the routine but privileged tasks of mothering and homeschooling.