Peace in the stacks

We have days: Monday grocery shopping, Wednesday library {most weeks}, Friday day off with Daddy. Weekly rituals give something to anticipate and add structure to lives that lean towards the reactionary, which wheel squeaks the loudest.

This morning, after two years of library trips, I realized I was breathing easily at the library. A little girl was crying and whining, her mom trying every trick to calm her. My girls kept giving her the 'seriously, get a grip' look while I browsed the non-fiction shelves for school material. Small one sat with a modest stack of board books, happily flipping pages, pointing out animals. Big one lost herself in the Illustrated Grimm Brothers. They sat like that for thirty minutes{!}. I finished before they did. A family milestone.

How did this happen?

Our first library trips were nightmarish. Big one emptied the board book bin all over the floor and ran circles around the circulation desk while we checked out. Small one wrapped her body around a book and screamed torture if you tried to remove it - we worked out a system where I held her over the counter and the librarian scanned the clutched book. We barely made it to the library once a month because momma couldn't take it.

Even a few months ago, small one ran the stacks in a peace disturbing game of hide and seek. Big one sat down next to a stranger and told him she wore 'big girl panties' all the time. And I snatched books of the shelf without cracking the covers hoping a few would prove school worthy.

A peaceful library trip is such a small thing, yet my heart sings. The library is one of my happy places - all those books that I don't have to pay for. Made even better by sharing it with the girls. Especially if we can enjoy the literary wonder without ruining it for others.

At least until little man discovers the board book bin...

The library is our greatest home teaching resource, even over free coloring pages. I want more for my family than an education. Recognizing the ABC's is not enough, a subgoal really. What good is reading if you hate opening books? My homeschooling hope is that they become life-long learners, seeking information after degrees are earned, when no one is testing their knowledge or offering career incentives.

A questioning mind complemented by a library brimming with answers are true tools of learning. When the girls bound for and squeal over new books, curiosity sprouting, we're on the right track.

Teaching the art of learning

School has started. When I told big one she was going to start home school this year, she informed me that she didn't need home school; she needs high school. She is two and three quarters after all.

Our schooling is simple and short. Counting, letters, art, reading, Bible, science. I plan for 30 minutes or less. This morning she surprised me by focusing for 40 and asking for more school. A hungry learner who cannot sit flat in her chair. I think my first report card said the exact same thing.

As if on cue, our first butterfly emerged yesterday. We crowded around the little habitat watching blue, orange and black wings unfold and strengthen. Within a few hours, he was ready for a release party. The girls waved and yelled, "Bye bye, Eric," as he rode the wind out of our yard. A swallowtail passes by the kitchen window this morning, and I wonder if Eric is visiting home.

My mom commented last night that I set up our cross curriculum learning well with the science behind the butterfly and practicing the letter B and an art project. It was a shame that the girls were too young to appreciate it. She's right, of course. The girls may see photos or saved scribbling in a phonic book, but they won't remember our first butterfly hatching and coloring butterfly wings. This year of school is not really about them. It's for me. I'm learning how to organize and prepare and create and teach.  Learn alongside them. Think school, so that we stay in a steady of state of watching and learning.

The title makes this post sound more authoritative than it is. I'm still studying theory for creating life-long learners. But I start with a great advantage: my momma taught us to learn and to enjoy learning. She won't give herself much credit for the job she did homeschooling us, but when I started reading homeschool theory, it all sounded very familiar. As if someone had lived it out for me. Thanks Momma.