Day 13- Listening

I try to listen to what my children are saying. Not hear what they are saying, but listen...really listen. Nonetheless, I still catch myself doing the whole "yeah, hmm, uh huh, cool..." thing, but not really listening. When this happens, I stop whatever I'm doing (this usually means putting my phone down), I look into their eyes as they speak to me -- and I do my best, my honest best, to give them a genuine and thoughtful response to whatever they've said. You wouldn't believe how hard this is to do. It is so tempting to half-listen or half-respond. It is so tempting to let my mind wander to the next thing on my to-do list, but I feel that listening (closely) is one of the most simple, yet most profound ways, I can serve my children. 

Day Two - The Panic

“School presents daily exercises in dis-association. It forces unwelcome associations on most of its prisoners. It sets petty, meaningless competitions in motion on a daily basis, pitting potential associates against one another in contests for praise and other worthless prizes.” ~ John Taylor Gatto

Sharpshooter, my nine-year-old son, was at his papaw’s most of the day today so all we had time for was his gymnastics class and about thirty minutes of family time before bed. After I sent the kids to bed I went through my step-children’s backpacks to check and see if they needed lunch money. As I was going through their backpacks the panic hit. There were at least fifty worksheets in Katniss’ folder! There were math work sheets with times at the top showing how fast they had been completed, there were grammar worksheets, and reading comprehension worksheets and on and on. Am I depriving my child by not giving him such a “rigorous” education? I know my son couldn’t complete twenty multiplication problems in 1.56 minutes and I know he doesn’t know what a preposition is. Feeling a little sick to my stomach I put their folders back in their back packs, pray, and read a few of my favorite unschooling blogs for encouragement. I’m quickly reminded of my priorities and of the times I tried these same types of worksheets with my son and how little he enjoyed them, how frustrated they made him, and the tears he cried over them. Learning should be fun, I remind myself, and worksheets are NOT fun!