“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6
God gave parents the responsibility to raise and teach their children. Teaching comes in so many forms not the least is practical training. As a homeschooler who has six kids, I’ve noticed my “style” has adapted over the years. I have become more aware of the importance of skills. My children still learn the basic subjects. I love school learning too much to not give them the opportunity to learn much about our world. However, I have learned that there is so much more to be learned outside of the basic subjects.
A very sweet lady gave Melanie a stamp collecting kit recently. One part of our homeschooling day was Melanie organizing the stamps as she wanted. While she was doing that, I was reading to her. We read, pretty quickly, the book One Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes. Amazon gives a good description of this book.
This Newbery Honor classic, illustrated by a Caldecott Medalist, is a beautifully written tribute to the power of kindness, acceptance, and standing up for what’s right.
Wanda Petronski is ridiculed by her classmates for wearing the same faded blue dress every day. She claims she has one hundred dresses at home, but everyone knows she doesn’t. When Wanda is pulled out of school one day, the class feels terrible, and classmate Maddie decides that she is “never going to stand by and say nothing again.” A timeless, gentle tale about bullies, bystanders, and having the courage to speak up.
Reading while she does something like a craft is a great way to have time with Melanie. I love reading to my children. I have always read to them.
In the midst of one reading session, Stephanie wandered in to check on us. We are relaxed so we stopped reading while she came and checked out the stamps. Can you see in this picture what Stephanie’s working on? She is our main cook and this is a skill she will not learn in school. Stephanie plans meals, budgets the groceries, shops for the groceries and then cooks one main meal a day for us. She is doing so well and her future family will thank us when they experience the amazing meals we get each day.
Teaching isn’t just opening a textbook (although I love them as the resident nerd). It is so much more. Melanie also continues her childhood with daily dressing up in different period costumes. I am so loving watching her live her best life right now. She turned 10 this week and I’m so glad I’m around to watch her daily escapades.
Whether you can homeschool or not, take the time the children are home to read to them. Encourage them to use their imagination and experience childhood at it’s best by using said imagination.
