There's No Place Like Home

Last night I was blessed to stay up till 10, snuggling in bed with my kids as I read The Wizard of Oz to them.  Tonight we were up again doing the same.  Every time I tried to stop, they kept asking for more.  Michael would say "Just 2 more chapters, Mommy.  Just 20 more pages.  This is my FAV-orite book."  Too cute.  We've only read 20 pages!

The plan is to read the whole book, possibly have a Wizard of Oz themed party with other homeschooling friends, and definitely go to Terrace Plaza Playhouse to see their production of it next month!  SUPER excited about that.

Tonight though as we were reading I came across a passage that brought tears to my eyes.  In the scene Dorothy and the Scarecrow have just met and they are asking about each other's pasts.  Dorothy reveals that the home she comes from isn't nearly as beautiful as the Land of Oz, but all barren instead.  Still, she desperately wishes to return to Kansas anyway.  When the Scarecrow doesn't understand why she gives him this beautiful answer:

"No matter how dreary and grey our homes are, we people of flesh and blood would rather live there than in any other country, be it ever so beautiful.  There is no place like home."

Then my kids and I had a beautiful discussion about that phrase, "There's no place like home".  Hearing their young voices explain that after a long day they just want to be in their own room, in their own bed was so special.  And it helped me realize again, which I need, why we are doing this.  Why we are taking the sometimes more stressful, but always worth it, path of homeschooling.  This road, like Dorothy's, is one of discovery, twists and turns, and beauty that brings out family closer together.

I loved that I could take the moment to expand the topic to our heavenly homes too, reminding them that even though we like this place there is another home we come from which we will be very happy to return to someday.  A place even more Grand than the Emerald City, with all our families.  This tied right in with our Devotional time today (found on today's www.ldslittleones.blogspot.com post.)

I love that I know I can stay up too late reading great books to my kids all year long.  I love that I am the one teaching them and experiencing all of this learning with them.  Most of all, I'm glad we all agree that "There's no place like home."

Love,
Eva

 

Exceeding Expectations

I am SO excited to have a little corner of the internet to share my thoughts, pictures and ideas regarding homeschooling.  It is such a blessing to be taking this journey right now.  It can be super stressful.  It's slightly unexpected.  If three years ago someone had told me I would be embarking on this work, I don't know that I would have believed them.  But it's the right thing for us all right now, in this precious season of growth.

I don't know for certain how long I will be on it.  I don't know that I am the best teacher for it.  But I'm telling myself that I am every day.  I whisper it gently and try to believe it when I see my kids struggling.  I softly tell myself that I love my kids more than anyone.  That I pray for them and I'm in tune to their needs more than anyone.  That I would do anything to help them learn and thrive.  And all these things DO make me more than qualified to teach them and shape them.  And what little treasures, seriously, TREASURES they are!  I would equate them to a precious jewel you find in the wild, in a cavern still messy with dirt but beautiful in its rawness and valuable all the same.

It's funny how I can see the things we do and sometimes feel like it wasn't enough.  Yet, if they came home from another school and said they had done these things I would be really impressed.  So here's to breaking free from giving others more credit than we give ourselves.  To seeing the tremendous value in our children and ourselves.

"The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules (and loves) the world..."

Love,
Eva