Homeschooling Thought

Some days, homeschooling is joyous, miraculous even: to see your child learn is fabulous! But some days, it's mind-numbing, boring, frustrating, and insanity-provoking. Thankfully, the good days out-weigh the bad, the 'ah-ha' moments are more than the "I don't want to do math moments," and the "I believe in what we're doing" thoughts are more frequent than the "I could be doing something else with my life thoughts."

I read this quote this morning and it resonated with the way homeschooling feels many times:

"To be really great in little things, to be truly noble and heroic in the insipid details of everyday life, is a virtue so rare as to be worthy of canonization." -Harriet Beecher Stowe

Today, managing homeschooling, while dealing with all the insipid details of the day, would drive many people NUTS! But, the laundry is going, the dishwasher unpacked, lunches made, carpooling figured out, dinner prepped, checkbook balanced, and the basement storage area cleaned out. And my daughter is clueless that it's all been getting done while I'm teaching her.

(Learning at the Colonial Market Fair, in costume!)

What has been taught today, you ask? We've read to each other, worked on a nutrition lesson that I tied into the Brownie Badge My Best Self, done copy work to answer questions from a scout leader, worked on two math lessons (one brand new concept), watched a Reading Rainbows about micro-organisms that tied into germs which ties into the Brownie Badge My Best Self.

And it's only 12:30. She's now hopped into a friend's car to go to scouts. I will walk to Home Depot to buy goodies to take care of a new tenant in our basement: a mouse.

I think many people rise to the occasion to do all the little, boring tasks of day-to-day so seamlessly that it's not noticed that they even get done. But, they have to get done, and when they are done without others noticing, it shows that a pat-on-the-back is deserved.

So, if you can, take a moment to recognize someone who is "truly noble and heroic in the insipid details of everyday life," be it through homeschooling, working full-time, care taking, etc.