Caring for sick children is never on my list of things to do, but when I get the opportunity to care for a sick child, I am blessed. Not that it's easy, or I enjoy cleaning up after a sick child, but I get a new closeness with that child. When she is feeling awful, and looks to me for comfort with those pleading eyes, I hate that I can't make it all go away. I can, however, make her feel a little better with comforting words, back scratches, cuddling, and reading some favorite stories. After she is feeling better, she comes to sit on my lap, and tells me I am the best mommy. Makes it worth every minute!
Well, since I missed posting yesterday, I thought I'd step back for a moment, and begin my next series of Monday posts with a quick note about teaching what we might often consider to be the 'extras' in education. In fact, some of these subjects may end up far enough down our list, that we seldom get around to doing them. Why is that? For me, I think I used to think of these things as dessert. If we get all the 'academics' in today, THEN we can do a picture study. After math, we can read some poetry. We'll listen to beautiful music after we get done with our reading lesson. Of course, fidgety little ones, needing to care for the baby in the midst of lessons, my own moods, lack of enthusiasm in my children, and the cares of housework often intruded on our lessons, and by the time I had fought my way through the basics, I was done in for the day - and so were the children!
It wasn't until I had been teaching for several years, that I realized that I had been thinking about these 'extras' all wrong. They really aren't extras at all! Picture Study, Poetry, Composer Study, Handicrafts, Foreign Language, Shakespeare, Hymn Study, Folk Songs, Nature Study - these are NOT just some extras to throw in when you have some time and energy! These are the studies that breathe life into our education. These are the things that make for interesting discoveries. These are the subjects that our children will probably enjoy the most - and us, too! These are the studies that will cause us and our children to be well-educated, and well-rounded as persons.
Have you ever been around someone who knew all kinds of interesting things about the world? They saw how the happenings in the world around them now were similar to a Shakespeare play, or a poem by Longfellow, or some scene reminded them of a painting by Fragonard. Didn't you just want to talk to them for a bit, and soak up some of their knowledge? We will discover over the next few weeks that our children can become those interesting people that see the beauty in things all around them - if we just take a few minutes a day to infuse them with the beautiful things that have been created by the greatest. Not only that, but you may just find that your days go better when you include some of these interesting items right at the beginning of your day!
How about you - what is your 'extra' that you most want to include, but find it's tough to do?
