Love is Learning

Love is learning.  Learning about your children.  Learning what they love.  Learning to recognize their signs and cues.  Knowing when they are too tired, or wired, or toddlerish to be able to do lessons.  Loving children means not taking it personally when they are angry.  Accepting that when they are tired they will not behave the way they usually do.  It is understanding that loving them is more important than making sure you do all the lessons and activities you planned.  It is letting them know you are there for them, without interfering every time they have a small problem.  Trusting them to try new things they learn from the world around them.  Showing them that you care, without letting them run the show.  Love is all about learning.

Today was not a day of school lessons.  Today was a day of social lessons.  Communication using words even when upset or tired.  Sharing even when you don't want to.  Helping your friends if they need it.  Listening to your friends, and answering them when they want to talk to you.  Learning that not everyone has to play the same way, or the same thing at the same time.  That it is okay to like different things, and it is not okay to make someone play the way you want them to.  That even though I love them and take care of them, and would love to spend every moment playing with them, sometimes I need to scrub the kitchen floor they spilled milk on, and that sometimes they have to entertain themselves while watching Cars on the DVD player. 

We read books, and learned about leaf parts.  We acted out stories they learned.  We colored on the front porch.  Mason hasn't been eating lunch this week, and I think it is because he is too tired by lunchtime to do it.  When CJ and Eliza get overtired they won't eat, they just can't, and I think Mason is the same.  Tomorrow we will try something new.  I am going to have him take a morning nap, so he gets up and eats lunch with CJ and Eliza after resting.  Then they can play for an hour or so together, and then CJ and Eliza will nap and Mason and I will have an hour together before Miria picks him up.  Mason is a much earlier riser than CJ and Eliza so I think this schedule will work much better for him.  Plus then I have more time to work with everyone individually on whatever they need my attention for.  Eliza and CJ I know both need to learn to use safety scissors.  Mason is ready to try some advanced prewriting, such as tracing and preschool appropriate line mazes.  He has remarkable prewriting skills already.  Eliza took to holding a crayon right away, and loves to do it.  CJ is improving on holding the crayon and pencil, but his skills lie elsewhere.  He is great at molding play dough into recognizable shapes, and doing other fine motor activities.  He just isn't loving coloring.  He likes it a lot more know that he sees Eliza and Mason enjoying it, but he still tells me that it is not one of his favorite things to do.

I have to say that this journey is so exciting, especially now that we have a third child in the mix.  I love how the three of them are so different and notice all different types of things.  They all have different strengths, and different points of view.  I love the process of homeschooling with them, and I feel they are all learning so well.  I know I am learning to read them and their interests more.  I am learning how to plan things that are appropriate and enjoyable for them.  I am also learning how to tell if they are not into a day of lessons.  And one of my favorite things about homeschooling is that it is fine to say that we need a day to just watch some Disney movies and read books and color.  It is okay to push that lesson off to tomorrow, because that is what the kids need.  Love is all about learning which roads to take, and which roads to leave alone.