Out of the mouths of my babes…
I asked each of my boys, “What is the meaning of Christmas?” AJ (5): Jesus’ birth CJ (4): It’s good, and there’s snow, and we get presents. JJ (2): Yights (translation: lights) and (pausing as he searched his 2 year old vocabulary) points to the gifts under the tree As I reflected on my boys’ replies, I was reminded of how we parents try to teach a lot through words, but end up teaching more through actions. Which is truly a good thing, but can feel like a large responsibility at times. So, I was led to think about what Christmas means to me and how that spills over into what my children believe Christmas means. The meaning of Christmas has changed and deepened for me over the years, and will likely continue to do so. As a young child, I knew the real meaning of Christmas as summed up by AJ above, but in my heart, I was with my little JJ and his gesture at the gifts under the tree. Christmas meant PRESENTS! And, oh, how I longed for Christmas day when I could open my gifts. My wonderful and wise parents always read the Christmas story from Luke 2 prior to opening gifts as a reminder of the true meaning of the day. As I grew into my teen years and accepted Christ as my personal Savior, Christmas became less about presents and more about Jesus and His birth. Christmas also came to be a special time with family around a table full of delicious food. When I think about what Christmas means to me now, I would say that Christmas is indeed about Jesus’ birth, but it is more than that to me. It is about Jesus’ choice to step down from His heavenly throne into our world the same way we all enter the world. It is about the love that it took to make such a choice. Love that left all to know what is like to be man. Love enough to come knowing that the end of the physical life began at Christmas was going to be a cruel Roman cross. Christmas reminds me that He came for me. As a mom, Christmas also reminds me of the joy of new birth. I have said to some friends recently that I think with the birth of each of my children, I realize more and more what a miracle birth is. Some of that is due to growing older and hearing more stories from other people that didn’t experience the healthy birth of a child. But, I think it is also God’s way of reminding me anew that birth is truly a miracle and reason to celebrate. I think Mary and Joseph were caught up in all the normal emotions of having a child. I think they counted his fingers and toes, traced his cheeks, and snuggled Him close while they marveled at the miracle of His birth and wondered what it all meant. As you look forward to this Christmas week, reflect on not just what you say Christmas means, but what your life says Christmas means. As I thought more about my boys’ responses, I can say with CJ, that Christmas is “good.” It is full of good things – a Savior for the world, family, presents, food, peace, decorations, lights, joy, and the list goes on! Merry Christmas!
2 Comments
Be sure to read my intro post and Part 1 before reading this. Today, I will continue a list of tips to survive homeschooling with preschoolers in the house. Please remember, I'm not an expert, nor do I "have it all together." These are just some of my thoughts, ideas, and goals shared for your encouragement. 4. End before they do By this, I mean, end the activity at hand before it ends in boredom, fighting, etc. This is hard to do when things are going well, but, so necessary! When I wrap up our school hour for the day with CJ’s lesson, and AJ is playing contentedly upstairs during his “alone time,” it is tempting to get some work done while he is occupied. However, I found I must cut their time slots for various things like “alone play” and “reading chair” time to make them feel like it is a privilege. 5. Be flexible I clearly remember walking into my Education 101 class at Harrisburg Area Community college in my freshman year of college and hearing my professor (a wise, retired principal) saying, “If you aren’t flexible, then just walk out the door now. Don’t enter the teaching profession.” He was right, of course, and his wisdom applies to homeschool too. Days (especially days with preschoolers) aren’t going to go as I plan. And I like plans. My tendency when things don’t go as planned is to get frustrated. This, in turn, teaches my children to get frustrated when things do go as they planned while playing with their siblings or friends. Humbling, but true. This flexibility thing is an area where I’m trying to grow. I have no advice to offer, just encouragement to roll with the punches and respond calmly to your preschoolers. 6. Have a special “reading corner” Above is our reading corner – a special chair brought home from Brazil by Daddy on a trip to visit relatives. Make up your own reading corner, but keep it special only to be used during school. It doesn’t have to be anything much – a simple blanket, pillows, and/or stuffed animals will do. As for the books, I found that corralling all the public library books in a crate is necessary to avoid all-out-all-over-the-house searches for library books. So, I simply keep the library crate near the chair. This keeps the books fresh, new and exciting for “reading chair” time. 7. Get them to help with chores This one is hard, really hard with preschoolers, but it seems to me that God has planted in young children’s hearts a desire to help. That desire seems to fade over time, and I’m not sure why, but, fellow moms of preschoolers, let’s capitalize on that willing spirit! The reason I find this so difficult is that is easier and faster to just do the chores myself. (And, in the case of egg collecting, often more profitable if I do it myself!) However, the reason I included it as a tip for homeschooling with preschoolers, is that this is a busy season of life, and I need help. It may require some more work now, but it will be huge dividends as your children grow older. I feel as though I’m already reaping those benefits with my five year old who can fold nearly any piece of laundry and do some of the vacuuming.
I’m going to give you a brief snapshot of how we do chores around here. Let me say, this is a work in progress. I would love to hear from you readers how you handle chore time. We do the tried-and-true chore chart. We have collective family chores and individual chores. Our family chores are a cleaning task assigned to each day. For example, Wednesday is “clean the bathroom” day. We all tackle the job together – basically they all grab a rag and scrub away. I have found that anything involving spray bottles usually excites young boys. (That goes for machines as well, such a vacuum cleaners.) Every day has its own cleaning chore that we do together, and they are the same every week. I strive to keep this an upbeat time. If I’m dreading “chore time,” as we call it, then they will to. At ages 5, 4, and 2, my boys enjoy “chore time,” except “basement cleaning day.” Then they have individual chores. Each boy has a daily chore and helper task for the whole week. For example, AJ’s daily chore could be feeding the chickens and his helper task could be helping with the laundry. So, for the whole week, he feeds the chickens and helps with laundry whenever I request his help. Other helper tasks I do are a “dish helper” (unload dishwasher, set table, anything with dishes) and “anytime helper” (take table scraps to chickens, get items for me, etc.) Even as I type this, I’m thinking about how easy it still is just to do the jobs myself. And, I confess, there are some weeks where I don’t call on my laundry helper at all. But it is the goal, and I will keep working on it. 8. Savor, savor, savor! What young mom hasn’t heard the words, “Enjoy them while they’re little, they grow up so fast!” Usually I smile, and think, “You’ve just forgotten what this stage is like and how much WORK it is!” But then, upon reflection, I know they are right. This is a stage, one that many moms refer to as their best stage in life. Savor the unabashed hugs and kisses. Savor the sticky hands after pancakes for breakfast. Savor the words, “Mom, come look what I did!” Savor the newborn snuggled up to you at peace with world because she has all she needs. Savor the joy that young children have for life. Savor being able to get your kids excited about whatever you are excited about. Savor, savor, savor! And take pictures. 9. If all else fails, feed the baby while you teach phonics Yes, if need be, do what has to be done in the moment, and try to be joyful about it. I have found myself feeding my baby while teaching a school lesson. That’s okay. When I think back to my days as a teacher, those students have a lot of distractions in a classroom of 20 or more kids. Having your mom feed the baby (or whatever other task a preschooler may need) while teaching is a minimal distraction. Not convenient for you, but as I read in Loving the Little Years, remember that whatever you are dealing with at the moment will probably be past in 20 minutes. In conclusion, view your preschoolers as an asset to your homeschooling environment. Embrace them and their exuberance. Yes, it is not always easy, but God is faithful. I asked a veteran homeschooling mom to several born-very-close-together children, “How did you do it when you were homeschooling with preschoolers in the house?” She looked genuinely puzzled and said, “I don’t really remember.” And she didn’t. I thought, “It must have been so bad, her mind has blocked out that part of her memory!” So, in order not to forget, I’m going to do some posts on how we are homeschooling with preschoolers in the house. First, these posts wouldn’t be complete without giving credit to a book I read that has changed my life. Not many books, except the Bible, change my life. They may change my way of thinking, open my mind to different time in history, or teach me something, but few change what I do in my day-to-day life. This life-changing book was called Managers of their Home by Steve and Teri Maxwell. In her book, Teri encourages scheduling every minute of your day and your children’s days in ½ an hour blocks. For my detail-oriented personality, this was a fabulous idea. (For those of you a bit more free-spirited, it will work for you to because you schedule in “free time” for you and the kiddos.) Teri also suggests ways to build your children’s schedules to allow you one-on-one time with each child. She gives many real examples of schedules as well. Two of the biggest scheduling tips I took from the book are – have a schedule for everyone and schedule “alone play” time for everyone with a special set of toys. To help you understand the dynamics here at Russell Homestead, let me review with you the ages of our munchkins. (I refer to them on my blog using made-up initials.) We have AJ leading the pack at 5 years old, followed closely by his brother CJ, who is 4. Next, comes our 2.5 year old boy JJ, and we finish up with the little 9 month old girl of the household, MJ. In the 2015-2016 school year, AJ is in preschool. CJ and JJ aren’t officially “in school” yet, but I’ve told many people that I feel like I’m homeschooling 3 children, not 1. And that’s okay.
In my next posts, I will explore topics such as our school schedule, how we handle chores, how I attempt to keep the house clean, etc. I hope you busy mamas out there – homeschooling or not – can pick up a tip or two to keep your household running smoothly. And I would love to hear from you as I do this series! Read the next two posts in the series by clicking on Part 1 and Part 2. |
AuthorVanessa from Russell Homestead. Follower of the Lord Jesus, wife of my knight in shining armor, mother of 5 wonderful children, and joint-keeper of the Russell homestead. Thanks for stopping by! Archives
March 2023
Categories
All
Vanessa Russell
Independent Field Representative ID#20249934. |