One of the richest blessings of teaching our kids at home is the freedom it provides:
- We are free to slow down the pace;
- We are free to wrap the learning experience up in a blanket of love, assurance, and acceptance;
- We are free to give all of our kids a customized education that meets their specific needs;
- And, we are free to invest far more time and energy in each of our kids than any “professional” would ever dream of being able to do.
Over the next four weeks, we will explore these specific freedoms that provide our children a richness in living, learning, and being loved that is unparalleled. Today, let’s look briefly at being free to slow down the pace.
I recently saw a picture of an enticingly beautiful wooded area, complete with meandering stream, slippery rocks, and delightful vistas beckoning. The caption read, “The Original Play-Station.” Profoundly true. Though it would take far more time to go exploring in the woods, discovering bugs under rocks, sticks that become imaginative teepees, and tadpoles in the stream, it would be so much more fulfilling—so much healthier for a child—than the fast-paced video version.
If our children are going to have the time to engage in imaginative play, to explore areas of learning that allows self-motivation to arise, to read endlessly the books that delight them—and do the normal chores of life like eating, sleeping, dressing, cleaning—then, perhaps, we need to actually consider schooling on the “slow,” rather than on the go.
What happens to their learning when we slow down?
A vivid illustration for me has been unfolding over the past few weeks as I keep watering my little parsley plant (who is waiting to go outside in the garden). When I am in a hurry, I pour water in and it immediately flows out of the bottom of the pot. Interestingly, the water that emerges from the bottom is murky brown. . .a bit of soil, with all its nutrients, is coming out each time.
However, when I take the time to set my parsley pot into a bowl of warm water and leave it there for a while, something entirely different occurs. The roots have time to absorb the water—without being rushed—and none of the nutrients from the soil are lost. Sometimes it will absorb ALL the water, sometimes it just absorbs SOME of the water. It’s not up to me. . . The plant takes in what it can use without losing any of the soil or nutrients. And, when I do that, it flourishes!
Our children also need time to absorb things. If we are racing madly through the curriculum, trying to finish up in a hurry, it will undoubtedly “flow out the bottom”. . . And, it may cause them to lose interest each time in learning. However, if we can slow down for their sake, if we can let them absorb what they’re reading, what you’re discussing, what they’re trying, something amazing happens! They have the time to begin to flourish, they begin to engage with their own questions, their own discoveries—they begin to enjoy learning.
And that is worth all the time it takes!
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