I hear this idea that gets thrown around a lot in the parenting world that it is all about ‘quality time’ with your children. As long as you get the ‘quality time’ in then it is all good. Quality time is wonderful, I totally agree, but I really do believe that children, need quantity time just as much.
This is probably one of the most commonly quoted scriptures in the Christian homeschooler arena, however it has had such a huge impact on our decision to educate our kids at home…
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
(Deuteronomy 6 v 4 – 9)
I am no Bible scholar, but it sounds to me like God is saying that children will learn to love God with all of their heart, soul and might because their parents do and because of that they teach them diligently to their children that as they go about their day with their children.
Quantity time needs some serious hours and one of the biggest blessing of homeschooling is that we have access to all of those hours.
A Little Perspective…
A child is born and as the parents we have the immense privilege of having them in our home for eighteen ‘ish’ years (God willing). Get this…
Belle (our eldest) is almost seven… that is around 39% of her way through her time at home with us
*let me just throw up*… owch.
If I had a $ for every time an older person has stopped me when I am out and told me to ‘enjoy them whilst they are little’ or ‘it goes by too fast’ or ‘blink and they will be grown‘ then I would have …. like $146. The point is, they grow up super fast and so sending them away for 6+ hours a day, 5 days a week, 36 weeks a year for 12 years. That is a LOT of time to hand over.
Time for Childhood…
I want my children to squeeze every last moment out of their childhood. Don’t get me wrong, we do love the book work. We spend a couple of hours a day sat down working through our core subject work … but that is it. A couple of hours – max! Now my children are young and right now I am teaching a Kindergartener and almost 2nd Grader, so those formal education hours will build up in the next few years but for now… it is just not that much. When you are working 1:1 or 1:2 it is amazing how quickly you can get through the work.
The rest of the time my children are spending reading, or playing outside, or painting, or cooking, or fixing something. They are playing with other home schoolers at the playground or we are at the store and they are adding up items and learning how to use money. They are taking a pottery class or visiting a museum. And some days that are totally lost in a three hour train track building extravaganza at home and we have time for all of that. It is ALL learning.
Just today, I was busy putting together a unit study on Insects. I was deep in books and research pulling together a plan for this unit that I want to start this summer. Then the kids called me from outside. They had found a queen ant in the yard and all four of them (6, 5, 3 and 1!) were sat in the shade patiently studying the queen ant and her colony. That experience was far better than any ‘Ant’ worksheet that I could have found. Kids learn so much through play and exploration.
The more hours the better…
Is it possible to ‘teach your children diligently’ if your kids go to school? Absolutely. But just on a very practical level, there are simply less hours in the day to do it.
I think about the conversations that I have with my kids in the everyday, normal moments. As I load and unload the dishwasher, as we drive to the store or as they sit by my feet as I fold laundry. We have all this time to be together and to develop these close family relationships and I get to be there to answer or talk about whatever is on their hearts.
I remember what school days looked like in my home growing up, especially as we got older. Waking up early, snoozing alarms, racing to get ready, fighting over the shower, pounding some cereal before flying out of the door to catch the bus, spending 6/7/8 hours at school, after school activities, getting home exhausted, TV, family dinner squeezed in around everyone’s classes and evening activities before racing through homework and falling into bed late to start all over again. There are just fewer hours, more busyness when you are in school.
People often ask “how do you do it?” with having all the kids home and schooling the big two. The reality is that Home Education can offer a slower more relaxed pace of life that we are really enjoying. It may also bit a bit of the Southern California vibes rubbing off on us too!
We are generally not rushing around or limping through the final weeks of term. We school year round and take breaks when we need them or when they work best for us. We actually choose to school through the summer months because where we live is SO hot in the summer months that we are stuck inside most of the day anyway! Then we take more breaks in the cooler months when we can be outdoors more. I just love that flexibility.
I think the main thing that I am trying to convey is that time (along with health) is our most precious resource. It is the thing that we cannot slow down or create more of. We have the time that we have been given and it is up to us how we allocate that. Home Education is giving us the gift of more time with our children and as a family and I seriously doubt that we will ever regret that choice.
Even if you are not home educating, I think it is just a good reminder for all parents (myself included) that the time is going to pass (quickly!) and so let’s grab control of whatever we can. That might be protecting a day of the weekend or a weeknight where there are no activities and where you focus in on family time. It even might be saying no to a church commitment because whilst it is ‘good’ it isn’t worthy of the sacrifice to your family. It might be saying no to a family event or trip because it isn’t a good allocation of your time. Or maybe you have the balance all figured out … if you have please call me and share you wisdom! This is something that we are constantly reviewing and working out as seasons come and go and the kids get older.
Time is precious … Amen!?
