My Week in Review: A Thought-scape

I can hardly believe the extent to which this Practicum deal-eo has worn me out. It was three days in Gardendale, which meant just over an hour's drive each way over the course of three days, and last night after sticking my children in their beds, I was done. This morning I still feel the effects.

So what happened this week?

I spent a lot of money. I drove through heavy rains such that all I could see in front of me was the next car, and the white lines rushing past between us. I learned from the lady sitting behind me in lecture that the best way to teach my three year old beginning reading might be to spend ten to fifteen minutes with him on starfall.com every day. I did this with Parker without intentionality. Isaac has not gotten similar treatment.

I have no expectation of Isaac being an early reader, but right now he seems interested, and we certainly need some little something to do together on a regular basis. I firmly believe that children learn to read at their own pace. Some will latch onto in early; others will drift into it late, and that is okay.

The point is that I don't know about Isaac whether he will learn to read the same way Parker did or not. He may. He may not. This is an opportunity to learn something more about my child, if I can somehow pay attention. What may I learn about each of my children today?

On Wednesday afternoon someone said to always examine your expectations with your children. There are certain things they need to accomplish in the course of the school year. We mean for them to master a few particular skills, and we shouldn't be in a rush to move on to the next things before they master them.

You know this is an issue in my own life. I'm always, and I mean always, in such a hurry to move on to the next book that I often rush through the one I am reading right now. It's as though time were the enemy, and not a good gift from our good God. I'm reading Eugene Peterson right now, who is teaching me at present that time is part of God's good creation.

And I have rambled, but you see the inter-connectivity here. This is one of the things this Classical Conversations curriculum emphasizes, and one of the things I like about it. It is a true description of reality that we have been trained to miss. Math and science are not only related to each other, they are related to literature as well. The book I am reading this morning isn't an isolated work; it is related to a conversation that has been going on since creation. Not only that, but I find that two books I am reading right now, chosen independently, are about the exact same set of ideas discussed in very different ways. One reinforces the other even if only by contrast.

Um, I guess I'd better stop now.