One thing that makes us uniquely human is our constant desire to learn and grow, to always know more. The title of this entry happens to be the motto of our homeschool, but it could also serve as our family motto. We are always learning new things, stretching and growing. For those who’d like an update on our personal growth and the kids’ progress, here is a list of what our family is learning this summer:
For our light summer session, schoolwork has focused on English grammar. Sound like fun? With an old book my friend Tina found at Google Books, it has been. Grammar Land (1878), by M.L. Nesbitt, is a courtroom drama which teaches the parts of speech, verb conjugation and various tenses, cases and rules. There is a short exercise at the end of each chapter to reinforce each new skill. The children are all learning how to write a good paragraph, some more willingly than others. We are doing a basic Spanish workbook and CD for the month of July, and will be brushing up on our math skills in August before starting a new year (covering History from the fall of Rome to the Renaissance) in September.
We are also learning some very important life skills, like how to be hot and bug-eaten without complaining. We are tough! We keep telling each other that, but I’m not sure if it is working. We are all learning the intricacies of using the dinghy and our feet as our main modes of transportation. We are learning to trust God’s timing as we make decisions on the go…we used to plan everything, and now we plan nothing, but wait for the plan to reveal itself! It’s not really a leap of faith, more like a very slow crawl of faith.
Individually, we are learning a host of new skills.
Jay is exploring the world of electricity as he tries to optimize our power generation and consumption. He’s spent some time learning to communicate with our inverters. So far, so good.
I (Tanya) am reading a book on navigational charts. Unfortunately, the material is less than exciting and I am so tired at the end of the day that I only manage about a paragraph each night before conking out. I’ve just about given up on teaching myself to use the sextant and find our position by the stars, so it’s probably time to take a class or get private lessons from an Old Salt. I’m also doing science experiments on myself and the children as we figure out which brand and type of insect repellent works best for us. This would be good to know before we get somewhere where we must keep Malaria away.
Eli (8) is learning the joys of getting lost in a good book. He’s on fire for the Narnia series of books by C.S. Lewis. He’s also reading a book which seems to be improving his chess game. (Watch out, Mom!)
Aaron (7) is learning to play the guitar. There are free lessons at a Methodist church nearby. He goes to music camp for a week later in July, which is something we’ve never done before. He’ll be giving Dad lessons when he returns!
Sarah (6) is learning to play the piano, as she was interested in the music classes, too. She’s also learning to sew, using a kit she got for Christmas. She’s able to complete small projects on her own now.
Sam (3 1/2) is learning to play chess! I never introduced the game this early, but since Eli’s had it out all the time, Sam can set up the chess board without help and is learning how each piece moves. He is also learning to read using a series of easy readers (Very Early Readers by Candlewick Press) which came with a sticker chart for fun and motivation.
In case you couldn’t tell, the learning rolls downhill, with the youngest benefitting the most from all the smarty-pants above him. Unfortunately, Jay and I, at 35, are starting to feel like we may be past our prime. We used to be smart (we think) but learning something new is a lot harder now than it used to be. As we refresh our knowledge through teaching our children, we realize how much we have forgotten, and some things which we never learned to begin with. Supposedly the brain is the only container that expands as you fill it, but my head feels a bit full at the moment, and I’m headed off to rest it!
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