School on the Mat

A sweet friend, Becky, gave me the brilliant idea to begin our school year "on the mat."  Not so much a Charlotte Mason-style lesson, as a reminder that there are children in the world who don't have laptops, stomachs full of food, books galore, and basic safety skills.  Becky told me about a missionary she had recently spoken to who had returned from Cambodia and observed a real "school on the mat." 

What do the children there learn?  Why they should brush their teeth if they want to be healthy.  How to avoid being trafficked.  How deeply God loves them. 

So, in honor of these children a spin of the globe away from Minnesota, we laid down a blanket and talked about why we should be grateful for our abundance and security and how, deep down, God loves them as much as us because we don't measure God's blessing in material provisions. 

We sang the hymn "May the Mind of Christ My Savior" because it's powerful words swept me away at church on Sunday, and I knew they needed to be stretched across the framework of our schooling and lives this year like a painter's canvas. 

We felt a bit like Henny Penny with her falling sky as the acorns dropped from our giant oaks.  One bounced off Grace's head and landed in her hand.  Much laughter ensued! 

For science, we followed up on our trip to the Des Moines Science Center Body Vital exhibit, where we viewed plasticized bodies in marvelous poses that were at once mesmerizing and repelling.  We drew our own bodies and will continue to add details of cells and systems as we learn throughout the week.  Five billion billion billion atoms compose our bodies.  We are fearfully and wonderfully made, indeed.  (Psalm 39)

Noah, my 8th grader, realized that his day was going to last much longer than in the past with extra required reading, especially for his Biblical Worldview course called Starting Points.  We read the first chapter of the first book and found it to be at post-collegiate level.  He was discouraged until we sat together and discussed the heady thoughts and he "got" it.  He's also reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" because it is one of my favorites.  He stumbled through the first chapter of that, too.  Stretching is painful but good.

Megan snuck off whenever she could to work on a painting when she found a canvas in the back of a closet.  I thought the colors and brushstrokes were lovely. 

Grace, the communicator, wanted to write her 2 pen pals after her schoolwork was completed. 

Add in a morning run, laundry, meal-making, and an evening meeting, and I felt pleasantly exhausted  at the end of the day.  Nine more months til summer break!

Megan said the blessing at suppertime.  It included this comment, "Dear God, please let Mom tire out by the end of the year so we can be done with school." 

This, my dear, I can guarantee!