“Today, I’m declaring a half day,” I announce,” but it will be a work day.”
The children eye me suspiciously over breakfast.
“Education is about building the mind and the body, and today we’re building the body.”
Their eyes brighten. They like the sound of that. It sounds so like something that must happen outside. Out there where Spring is driving back the winter and calling for my children to join.
“We need a compost pile,” I inform them, “and we’re going to get it started.”
They actually cheer. Cheer because they can respond to the call which has already drawn most of their attention out of doors.
We collect materials while daddy collects fence posts. We measure and level and draw lines with string while daddy digs post holes. We…wait. Where did they go?
Off exploring.
Checking on the baby chicks.
Examining the vole tunnels.
Looking at the outline of the old lagoon.
Discovering the remnants of an old garden.
I ponder for a moment the notebook pages I could assign them to encourage their curiosity and help them find the answers to their many questions.
But not today. Today is a workday. And while they may not quite grasp it, this is exactly the kind of work I had hoped for.
I homeschool my children on a small hobby farm in rural Nebraska and write about life more abundantly, from the joy of a baby's smile to the almost unbearable grief of losing a son while seeking beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, a garment of praise instead of the spirit of despair (Isaiah 61:3)
Oh to have kids young enough to cheer at compost.
Sounds like it was a fun filled day. And forgive me my ignorance but what’s a vole?
.-= Sheri´s last blog ..Success! =-.
A vole is a small rodent that looks a lot like a mouse, but a bit smaller. They live in little burrows, tunnel through grasses and eat roots. They can do quite a bit of damage to gardens and orchards so we need to figure out how to control them before we start planting!
.-= Dana´s last blog ..Half Day Work Day Success =-.
What a great day!! I am so looking forward to a few of those here pretty quick. Going to have a biology day when we go take our goat to be slaughtered. Four stomachs!!! Whoo HOO!!
Blessings,
Navah/Teresa
.-= Teresa Smith´s last blog ..….In the Cleft of the ROCK =-.
That’s going to be interesting when we get there. Mom will probably start crying and that will be a lesson they won’t forget!
.-= Dana´s last blog ..Half Day Work Day Success =-.
It is so wonderful to work together a family!
Please stop by, I have a surprise for you on dimes2vines.
Have a great dya,
Dina-Marie
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