surrendered days ::4

The weather is glorious at the moment and has been drawing us all outside. At the beginning of the week I found two long pieces of wood along the side of the house and dragged them out placing them near our play equipment. Well, they have been the main attraction at our place this week as is evident from the photos.
I guess to an observer there may look like there is not alot of 'school' going on and for that I am truly glad because there is alot of 'living' going on over in our little corner of the world and that is what prepares our little ones for the road up ahead. I so want my children to have a childhood where they can take time digging through dirt for worms, building elaborate play houses,taking time to unravel some new thought or discovery with me, working together in the daily tasks that make a home, learning sounds at thier own pace & in thier own way,discovering the joy of reading and doing it because it has meaning and significance to them. I wish I had a photo for my 8yo sons face when he came rushing in with a skink in his hands that he had eyed and then leaped on it with unflinching speed and then another photo for the 1yo as she told me all about it with her big eyes so full of wonder. We now have a pet skink which we will keep for a few days and then release back into the garden. This is one of many moments in our journey of keeping our children home and for sure there are many other moments that fill our day -sibling conflict, constant messes, sibling conflict, bad attitudes, sibling conflict but it is SO worthwhile and the days are fleeting ..my firstborn is eight yrs old! Oh my! Where did it go?
This week has reminded me to let go a little more, to facilitate and guide the creative process and the learning will follow and to enjoy these beautiful little beings in all thier uniqueness. They are inspiring.

Here is a quote that I had underlined from the very first homeschooling book I read eight years ago:
The Successful Homeschooling Family Handbook by Dr Raymomd Moore & Dorothy Moore -
"The best early academics are your responses to your children - giving yourself to them in warm fellowship, conversation, travel; reading and telling stories with moral valus; working at home chores and cottage industries together; teaching them by example how to serve others (in the home and down the street); being alert to their highest motives and interests; and encouraging them to develop their own creative ideas in the sandpile, with kitchen dough, with a telescope, in a diary, and with tools in the garage and garden. The idea that parents should hurry reading, spelling, writing, or math ahead of children's normal development is not supported by a single replicable research study in the world or by any clinical experience in history. We repeat any who push the three Rs early deny the readiness factors the Creator built in - reasonably mature vision, hearing, taste, touch, smell, reason, brain growth, coordination . . . "