How is your summer going?

I am wondering how your summer is going as a homeschooling family.  Is there any learning going on? Sometimes we head into summer with great aspirations to continue "school" and "do school" through the summer.

I have found that if I help to create and encourage the boys to have a lifestyle of learning, they will do exactly that and we don't have to "do school." When they were younger, it was important to make sure they kept up on their times tables, reading and things like that.  Now that they are in high school, that is all changing!

Over the last couple of years, I have let go of the strict school schedule and have tried to instill a love for learning.  I don't necessarily want the boys to have a love for studying a textbook and taking a test.  In my experience, that goes into some sort of temporary bank in the brain and in the not so distant future, is let out.

Instead, I want the boys to love learning.  When you love to learn, you explore.  In order to explore, you have to open your mind to other possibilities and outcomes.  When you do that, the unexpected often happens and then... you learn!  In that process, you apply yourself and when you experience something, it seems to stick and you remember it.

Being a lifelong learner is so beautiful!  I know a few very intelligent men who continue to learn in their "old age."  (At least, that is what the world would say of them.) I personally think they are young.  Their minds are beautiful and young.  How can a mind stay young and be "old" at the same time?

These guys don't get stuck in their ways.  They are open to other ideas.  Even in their "old age" they continue to WORK and to learn.  That's right! Neither one wants to retire and they both love for others to "use" and benefit from their intellect.  They are always willing to look  into a problem and help.  These gentlemen not only help, but they teach you as they help you so that you can learn from the experience as well.

That's the way problems and situations become learning tools.

I think that is beautiful!  That is what I desire for my children, and myself quite frankly.  I want them to love to explore!  I want them to love to learn something new.  I want them to learn and for others to benefit from their experience and intellect.  I want them to teach as they sort through issues.

That being said, our big aspirations to "do school" in summer usually get flushed.  Nice talks, genuine learning opportunities, and exploration step in and do the job that no textbook or test can do.

My advise it to trust God and step aside!  Let the Holy Spirit lead your child into a life of learning and exploring.  ...and while you're at it, let Him lead you there too!