This is the question Sarah McKenzie asks at the end of the first chapter of her book, Teaching from Rest: A Homeschooler's Guide to Unshakable Peace. I don't read very many homeschool books anymore. Probably because most of them are geared towards people just starting out or still making up their minds. Sarah's book, however, is one that speaks to any homeschooler, and says some things that we all need to hear: those who are just beginning to homeschool and those who've been homeschooling for a long time.
Homeschooling from Rest is not a how-to book on homeschooling, rather it is about how we should approach our homeschooling regardless of the particular methods we might use. We homeschool moms have a tendency to get caught up in "getting things done," or as the author puts it, "checking off boxes." We worry about finishing the sixth grade book by the end of the school year, we worry about whether our children are working at grade level, we worry about what the neighbors will think. All these cares and worries are perfectly understandable, but they cause us to lose sight of what drew us to homeschool in the first place: raising our children to know, love and serve God.
In a previous post, I wrote about the idyllic image of homeschooling I had when I first started out, and while some of my expectations were kind of silly or unrealistic, the main thing that I was thinking about in that image was peace. A peaceful family life in which we all pursue what is good, true and beautiful. Over the years, there have been moments when we have come close to that, but all too often, our homeschooling was much less about truth and beauty than it was about getting things done because I felt like we had to. In her book, Sarah writes that the first step to peace is acceptance. Instead of being frustrated by the interruptions and disruptions that slow down our progress, we should recognize that these things are being sent by God, and look at them as an opportunity to serve God and our family.
So this week I am working on the question of whether I can accept what God is sending me. Granted, we're on summer vacation and I don't have to worry about falling behind on school work, but summer is the time when I try to get household projects done, and I'm sure there will be plenty of interruptions to slow that done. Learning to accept that will be good practice for when we start up school again. I hope.
I have a tendency to swallow books whole. I get excited about a new book and read it much to fast. When I first bought Teaching from Rest I read it in two hours. The trouble is after tearing through a book the content doesn't stick with me for very long. So I actually bought the companion journal, even though I usually think of those things as kind of goofy. I will be going through the book slowly with the journal, and will also leave some notes about it here. So that hopefully some things from the book will stick with me. Also, it gives me something to blog about for a few weeks. ;)
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