The Letter Bb, Banana Bread, and God's Gentle Affirmation
This year we are trying a relaxed and gentle approach at homeschool preschool. We've been focusing on a letter a week, along with reviewing colors and shapes and adding in a couple targeted lessons on things of nature, science, history, and the like. We also have a Bible lesson the we focus on for the duration of the week and a Proverb that is written on our small chalkboard above our lesson cards. Our older boys are 4 and 3 and they really have been enjoying our structured learning time. I have noticed that our day flows smoother when we follow a simple schedule flow and so much more gets done!
This week the boys have been learning the letter Bb, reviewing the colors blue and yellow, learning more about buses and boats, and studying the story of Noah. We have also spent some time learning the difference between squares and rectangles, and ovals and circles. On Wednesday I felt as though our lesson time was just falling apart. The boys just were not doing what I wanted them to do. That evening I read a blog post about another mom's top ten reasons she chose to homeschool. (You can find that here ... It is WELL worth the read!) I realized that I had my expectations far too high and I was focused far too hard on them doing what I thought they needed to do. I took a step back and looked a little deeper. I do not just want my boys to learn their letters and numbers. I want them to learn so much more. I want them to learn how to be kind. I want them to learn why we love and share what we have with others. I want them to learn how to explore and find simple joys in God's creation. I want our boys to love learning. Most importantly, I want our boys to love and obey God and understand that all we do we do because of who He is.
After I read that blog I started to rethink my "why" and decided I wanted to change up a bit of our weekly flow. I desperately want our children to learn how to share with others and why we should. We had an overabundance of bananas this week so I thought why not bake some banana bread and let the boys choose a neighbor or friend to share it with? I ran the idea by Tyler and after receiving his full support we dug in.
Thursday afternoon while Isaac was napping I brought the boys' school table into the kitchen and invited them in to help make the bread. They were excited. They are constantly pulling chairs into the kitchen to "help" me while I prepare our meals and this time I was INVITING them to help. Needless to say, they were more than eager.
I gave them bowls full of bananas and a fork. They were given the task of mashing the bananas for the bread. While they did that I prepared the dry ingredients and added everything that remained except the bananas. They poured their mashed bananas into the rest of the batter and mixed it all together. Of course I had to help a bit, but they were so happy to be helping. I poured the batter into the bread pans and they walked them over to the oven where I slid them in to bake.
While the bread was baking the boys constantly ran into the kitchen and asked if their bread was ready. We took a few peaks in the oven to watch it transform.
After the loaves cooled I pulled the boys to the dining room, set a loaf on the table, and drew a circle, square, rectangle, and triangle on their small chalkboard. They climbed up where they could see and we did a quick review of those 4 shapes. Jude instantly made the connection that "the banana bread is a rectangle!" It may seem silly, but his simple exclamation sent a wave of affirmation through me.
This morning we shared our banana bread loaf with our neighbor who was overjoyed to receive it. This simple exchange showed the boys the joy of giving and receiving. As we walked to our neighbor's home I encouraged the boys to do all of the talking. They were so excited. They interacted with our neighbor so well.
I'm understanding more and more that the process of homeschooling our boys will be a journey. I will find things that work well for our children and things that end in failure. I am trusting that God will gently show me the paths He wishes me to lead them down. There is so much more to their learning than numbers and letters, facts and figures. The fact that I get to help guide that in the direction God is leading is an incredible blessing.
I know how much I care for my children and how important it is to me that they mature into God honoring young people. How much more than I does the Lord desire the same?
This week the boys have been learning the letter Bb, reviewing the colors blue and yellow, learning more about buses and boats, and studying the story of Noah. We have also spent some time learning the difference between squares and rectangles, and ovals and circles. On Wednesday I felt as though our lesson time was just falling apart. The boys just were not doing what I wanted them to do. That evening I read a blog post about another mom's top ten reasons she chose to homeschool. (You can find that here ... It is WELL worth the read!) I realized that I had my expectations far too high and I was focused far too hard on them doing what I thought they needed to do. I took a step back and looked a little deeper. I do not just want my boys to learn their letters and numbers. I want them to learn so much more. I want them to learn how to be kind. I want them to learn why we love and share what we have with others. I want them to learn how to explore and find simple joys in God's creation. I want our boys to love learning. Most importantly, I want our boys to love and obey God and understand that all we do we do because of who He is.
After I read that blog I started to rethink my "why" and decided I wanted to change up a bit of our weekly flow. I desperately want our children to learn how to share with others and why we should. We had an overabundance of bananas this week so I thought why not bake some banana bread and let the boys choose a neighbor or friend to share it with? I ran the idea by Tyler and after receiving his full support we dug in.
Thursday afternoon while Isaac was napping I brought the boys' school table into the kitchen and invited them in to help make the bread. They were excited. They are constantly pulling chairs into the kitchen to "help" me while I prepare our meals and this time I was INVITING them to help. Needless to say, they were more than eager.
I gave them bowls full of bananas and a fork. They were given the task of mashing the bananas for the bread. While they did that I prepared the dry ingredients and added everything that remained except the bananas. They poured their mashed bananas into the rest of the batter and mixed it all together. Of course I had to help a bit, but they were so happy to be helping. I poured the batter into the bread pans and they walked them over to the oven where I slid them in to bake.
While the bread was baking the boys constantly ran into the kitchen and asked if their bread was ready. We took a few peaks in the oven to watch it transform.
After the loaves cooled I pulled the boys to the dining room, set a loaf on the table, and drew a circle, square, rectangle, and triangle on their small chalkboard. They climbed up where they could see and we did a quick review of those 4 shapes. Jude instantly made the connection that "the banana bread is a rectangle!" It may seem silly, but his simple exclamation sent a wave of affirmation through me.
This morning we shared our banana bread loaf with our neighbor who was overjoyed to receive it. This simple exchange showed the boys the joy of giving and receiving. As we walked to our neighbor's home I encouraged the boys to do all of the talking. They were so excited. They interacted with our neighbor so well.
I'm understanding more and more that the process of homeschooling our boys will be a journey. I will find things that work well for our children and things that end in failure. I am trusting that God will gently show me the paths He wishes me to lead them down. There is so much more to their learning than numbers and letters, facts and figures. The fact that I get to help guide that in the direction God is leading is an incredible blessing.
I know how much I care for my children and how important it is to me that they mature into God honoring young people. How much more than I does the Lord desire the same?
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