We've neglected the lessons, from time to time, when people are in hospitals or we travel to far away medical centers, or the side effects of cancer burrow their way into our routines. The loveliness of homeschool is that somehow, we catch up. Because we can do it any time of day, in any order we please, using whatever tools and ideas and books we please.
Today we circled chairs around the couch - the best way to get four kids varied in age and intellect onto the same page - and did our lessons. It was a beautiful thing, for this Mama's heart.
First, a book about nocturnal animals, the older girls drawing pictures in their dictation journals as "prompts" for their memory later on. The younger ones at rapt attention as we learn about mouse eyeballs and leopard teeth and the way the pads of their paws are designed to reduce point pressure and allow them to walk silently through the underbrush and over the twigs of the forest.
Next, Rosy and Amy dictated their stories to me, Rosy copying hers out for handwriting practice. Katy wrote her own, checking spelling with me from time to time. Caleb sat at his desk to draw pictures of leopard teeth. Then on to French vocabulary and pronunciation, and finally, a French cartoon from Netflix to finish as the afternoon sun shone bright across the floor of le salon.
I left the chairs, circled around the couch, just for the pleasure of seeing it. I never imagined I would be this mother, this teacher of small children, the point of focus for the circled chairs. Oh, the joy!
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