When we started our home-school journey we started school at a certain time, our lessons went for a certain time and then we did other things.  There was lots of flexibility in our schedule – we had visitors, we had things to do, life happened!

As the years have gone by though we have started to see that we don’t want to do school anymore with our kids.  We want them to learn beside us as we prepare them for their life ahead.  But we don’t want to be forever living in the future – preparing our children either.  God has a plan for our family and our children will be a part of that plan – God will use our family, not just all 6 of us as individuals.  We want to be ready and available.

I digress…

It became obvious that the children saw school as what we did at the desks with books.  They never baulked at any of the “life learning” that we put in front of them.  They were obedient children but more than that they had a love of learning so this wasn’t a chore to them.  But their language and expectations didn’t sit right with me – actually they annoyed me!

I remember the day the older two started to catch the vision of learning (rather than school).  We were having our traditional cooked Sunday breakfast, out on the veranda, and Josh was debating what school / learning was all about.  He was quite adamant that it happened in the schoolroom at his desks, in the mornings.  He was only 9 at the time.  We agreed to disagree on this one and breakfast continued.  He then asked Peter a question and the pursued a vigorous discussion on this topic.  I grabbed my opportunity.

I really hammed up the “telling off” attitude.  I demanded that they stop the conversation because it was Sunday morning and it was NOT a time for learning.  Learning happened Monday to Friday in the mornings!  I just twisted everything that Josh had stated previously about school / learning and made it ridiculous.  After the kids got over my extreme telling off position they just laughed and laughed as they saw the ridiculousness of keeping learning to the schoolroom!

Since that morning they understand where we are going and we have been able to discuss with them the difference between cultural practices and where we are going as a family.  (School holidays was our last discussion along these lines) .  They still use the cultural language of school but their hearts and minds really search for wisdom, knowledge and understanding all their waking hours.  What a joy!