4-H Fashion Revue

I had a conversation with a mom whose three daughters are in public school. She wishes to homeschool but her husband does not agree that it is the best for their family. She describes herself as a "traditional" mom and is troubled by the attitudes her daughters are exposed to and imitate.

We also discussed extra-curricular activities. She said there is pressure to participate in everything that comes along. You don't want your children to miss any opportunity to broaden their horizons. She has decided to cut back and be discerning in choosing what activities to do. I came to the same point with my girls. It was getting too stressful and we were running ourselves ragged trying to keep up driving them here and there every evening. Also, financially we could not keep up with it all. But we did find one great organization! 4-H!

On my other blog I described how we found our niche in 4-H two years ago. My girls enjoy sewing and this is the second outfit Arielle has made. Every Saturday morning she spends three hours with a volunteer who teaches her to sew. This year she had Mrs. Martha, a dear elderly woman with a gentle and kind spirit who patiently taught her. I am so grateful to Martha for caring for my daughter!

The season ended with a fashion show. What fun it was to watch all the girls cross the stage in the clothing they created. Once again, Arielle won a ribbon and is eligible for the regional revue. But the winning is not what is important. Arielle learned perseverance and patience, to stick with the sometimes tedious steps of garment construction. She enjoyed the fellowship of other girls sewing alongside her. She learned from the example of Mrs. Martha.

The 4-H adventure doesn't end here. In July we will work on organizing the fabric sale that helps to fund the sewing projects so parents only pay $12 for a whole year of 4-H. (What a bargain when compared to other activities.) Then in August the girls will have their projects on display at the 4-H County Fair. For anyone also at a crossroads in deciding on outside activities, we highly recommend 4-H.

Moms' Day Out

Every year for two full days I attend our local homeschool conference. It's a struggle to arrange care for the girls and coordinate everyone's schedule but once again it all worked out so I could go. My friend and I drove through the countryside early in the morning full of excitement. What would God reveal to us? How could we make our homeschools better? How can we better connect with our children and build our relationships with them--so much more important than any academic learning that takes place.

We didn't have a plan of approach to the conference because both of us had been so rattled by the earlier week's events. (And it is certainly better to come prepared.) For me, I had spent many hours on the dreaded PORTFOLIO, an end-of-the-year state requirement. But that's a topic for another day. So spur of the moment, we chose the lectures we would attend. We made good choices!

We heard Ginger Plowman, Tammy Duby and Susan Kemmerer. Each of these godly women imparted a wealth of wisdom on a variety of topics. Here are some of the gems we took home:

• Good advice on training our children in righteousness--getting to the heart of their behavior with thoughtful questions to help them understand their motives and make better decisions.
• Good advice on practical matters for moms--how to keep our homes in order and have time to cook healthy meals.
• Relief from guilt--that our homes are not orderly and spotless, that some people are just disorganized when it comes to keeping house. Unless you're just plain lazy, it's not a sin, just differences in personalities. Disorganized people are project-driven rather than time-driven.
• Relief from guilt--that we might we leaving gaps in our children's education. We can't teach everything. No one can, not even public or private schools. We need to get serious before God and seek his will for our particular children. Then we choose the gaps we will leave. Our goal is to grow life-long learners. If we leave a gap that our child later on desires to learn, she will be equipped to pursue that interest on her own.
• LAPBOOKS! Wow! What a great idea! I kept hearing this word but could not get a picture in my mind of what they were. Now I know. Tammy Duby had a mini-workshop and all of us moms created one in an hour. What fun we had! My girls will love this. To top it off, someone was giving away an old set of encyclopedias and I hauled them out to the car. They will provide many pictures to cut out and add to our lapbooks.

My friend and I came home refreshed, inspired, and encouraged. I am grateful to God that he has allowed me the privilege of teaching my children at home. Yes, it is exhausting work at times. But it is the work God has called me to do and he will give me everything I need to do it. I'm ready to begin the new school year tomorrow!

Slow Learner--Me!

I believe God chooses our children. Each one is exactly right for us, to challenge us, to teach us life lessons, and to bless us with joy. We are just the right mom for that particular child too, the one to help her on her journey to become the person God created her to be.

Arielle has always been so easy to teach. We have the same learning style. We're detail-oriented, logical, and goal-driven. If I want to explain a concept to her, I tell her in a way that makes sense to me and she understands. Liana is so different. She is challenging me to change my teaching style to suit her unique needs. Gradually I've learned not to try to mold her to my vision of who she should be, but rather allow her to be who she is. Isn't that what homeschooling is all about?

I'm learning to leave behind my straight and narrow road with the clear goal in sight and let her take the wandering path and trust that it will lead to the same outcome. Liana does her work better if she's allowed 20 minutes of poetry reading before we begin each morning. She hates her phonics reader but doesn't complain about reading books on bamboo flutes or Egypt or John James Audubon--her latest interest. That sparked her desire to learn bird calls and now she wants to study birds next year. Well, that wasn't on my agenda for science, but I think we should pursue it. Maybe she is ready to move beyond excavating the terra cotta warriors for awhile.

I'm dense sometimes, and most veteran homeschooling moms already know these things. But maybe it's not too late for me or for Liana. And maybe Arielle would enjoy an adventure of her own along the way.