These tulips are ready to burst. They have been this way for about 5 days. The days have been fairly warm, but the tulips seem to be waiting for something. It may be more sun. It may be warmer soil. The tulips are ready to bloom.

I think that readiness is one of the gifts of home school faith. The kids may be ready to talk about the story of Noah after 10 days of being inside in the rain. And in home school you can do that. Or a situation in national or world wide news, may need some discussion about our place in the world and creeds. That can happen in home school.

Spend some time this weeks listening to the kids in your home school or home school coop. What topics are they bursting to talk about. Maybe you can be the vessel that helps them bloom into full understanding of a faith topic.

It is all about lifelong faith.

I am not a professional at growing forsythia. These are the only flowers I’ve ever had on bushes I’ve been growing for 5 years. We have changed their location, tried new fertilizers and watered through frozen ground. But I just got these few flowers. I treasure them.

There is a Korean legend about the forsythia. I love it because it talks about leaving and returning to family. A young man leaves his wife. He is a poet. He returns to find his wife waiting. He writes her a poem about forsythia and love.

For kids who go away to school leaving and returning is a big event. And actually in my life a pain. “Do you have your lunch, backpack, homework, show and tell and clothes?!” were the common questions at our doorway when my girls left. But there was a ritual to the leaving and coming around love.

Try doing a beginning and ending ritual for your home school children. Light a rechargeable candle as home school begins. Simple words like, “The light of Christ is with us” can be powerful as a beginning ritual. Turn the candle of at the end of your time together and simply say, “Amen.”

A ritual of love for beginnings and endings is a good way to bring faith into your home school.

A rainy day in Spring sometimes stops outdoor exploration in home school. If the kids have been outside planting seeds in cups as an experiment or learning the history of jump rope and here comes the rain. Everyone runs inside and looks longingly at the outside. So what are the faith lessons that rain can bring?

How about Baptism as a good rain faith lesson in the rain. This might seem obvious, but if you are Christian, Baptism is the center of our life in community. Children can look out the window in silence and watch the raindrops. Have them look for ways that the single raindrops come together. Talk about how Baptism is God’s way of bringing individuals together.

Native American legends include the Old Man and the Horned Snake and Rain Song. Have children look at these stories from indigenous people and talk about how rain teaches a faith lesson.

Study Noah from the Jewish tradition. How is Noah important to the Jewish people? Put out a rain gauge and measure the time it takes to get an inch of rain. Use math to figure out how much rain came in 40 days at the rate it is raining today.

Spend time researching “rain making”. What is the history involved in those who try to make rain come in human control rather than God control. Have children draw a picture of what the world would look like if humans were in charge of everything.

And lastly, pray for the gift of rain. Write prayers that celebrate all the new growth that happens right after the rain. Like this picture, new growth wins out over decay when the rain comes.

Look carefully. The small, think leaves of crocuses are coming forth to remind us that even in the damp season of Spring, new life has arrived. What you cannot hear are the spring peepers.

Yes, our home is surrounded by bog and swamp and the spring frogs are peeping to show their joy. Okay it is some mating thing but I like the noise from dawn to dusk and it sings out “Life… life…life” I want to croak too. I want to sing at the top of my voice that there is life.

Listen to the children in your home school. What is the tone of their voice saying? Is it exclaiming that life is present? Is it telling you that they are ready to jump forward. A wise home schooling Mom once told me that April and May are the months she puts all the lessons from the rest of the year into real daily life.

Listen for the Spring peepers to remind you that outside is good.

You cannot hear a child learning just like you can’t hear the running water in this picture. We hear best in silence. In the 1960′s it took 200 hours of taping to get an hour of just nature sounds. Today it takes about 2000 hours to tape one hour of nature sounds. What has changed?

Well obviously, we have more noise. For some, this noise impedes their learning. In home school, the noise is usually far less than a classroom of 30.

What you can’t hear in this picture is that water is running down the wall and through the plant. It’s like having an outside fountain. What are the ways you can tell your child is hearing and learning at home school. Think about it!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

This is a shamrock. Can you find any leaf with four petals? Think about St. Patrick; the guy who brought Christianity to Ireland. I wonder if he ever imagined the conflict with Northern Ireland.
Blessings on your day.
Christy

My husband took this picture. The sun dog has a scientific name that I won’t bore you with, but the scientific name means beside the sun.. I’m thinking that this reflects the beauty of the sun. The reflection makes both more beautiful.

We need the sun. The reflection reminds us of how important the ‘real sun’ is to our world. God shows love in the creation of the sun and I need to reflect God’s love in my life.

When my children attended public schools, we home schooled everyday. Really! In the summer they chose areas to learn about and we did it together. We did word of the day, math problems at dinner (my husband’s department) and visited museums. All-in-all I believe that public school was the reflection of our very real time of learning at home.

So now you ask, why didn’t I home school. The home school movement was alive and well. My oldest daughter’s best friend was home schooled. I think the answer is that I wanted my kids to experience other caring adults. And quite honestly I worked part time at churches and Christian preschools so I felt I had something to give to the community, too. I never felt it was an either or; home school or public school. I felt my decision was “both, to the best of my ability.” And I think that is what God requires.

My kids turned out pretty well. This week one is buying a first house and one is selling their second house. I think they can each do the math and sign their names. One home schools and one I’m guessing will choose public school. But the biggest gift I gave them is a belief that we need to reflect God’s love into the world. I guess that makes us sun dogs… or sun cats since I like cats better!!!

There is another side to winter. Somewhere in this website is a picture that is taken at this exact place in another season. A different outlook and the other side of the same issue.

When I taught public school I used to get irritated when people said “I don’t do home school”. The reality is that even when a parent chooses to send their children to public school, we are still home schooling. We do spelling words at home and read books and do reports and homework. The underlying structure of home school and public school is the same: a deep desire to educate our children in the best way.

But as a parent and a teacher, I know that the best time for a youngster to do spelling words is not in the evening. A visual learner can write the words over and over at a desk and learn them. But if a child is an auditory learner who needs to hear the words over and over, that does not work as well in a classroom.

What does concern me is the “either/or” mentality. Many home school families connect to the public schools for music and sports. Many public schools expect home schooling by parents. We are in this together. We care about the kids and we need each other. The beauty of the sun shining through a perfectly made snow structure or the blooms of summer on the same structure both still bring growth and beauty. And God is present in the process.

May the beauty of living things remind you that you too are created by a loving God. Celebrate birth of new babies, new discoveries, families and new growth.

The Faith Gardener