It's 3:17 in the afternoon. It is a rare day in that the rooms immediately surrounding me are neat and picked up, the children are sleeping, and I am not. I was very tired this morning, in fact, barely able to keep my eyes open, while Grace and Ian played around (and sometimes on) me. George is very much enjoying his first time at Vacation Bible School this week. He comes home with descriptions of the games and is very wrapped up in the missionary story of Amy Carmichael. Incidentally, that is the name of my best friend from middle school, whom I haven't written to or called in far too long, although she has been in my dreams and in my prayers more lately. Anyway, I am glad for George to be able to do that, even though my "homeschool mind" starts to flinch a bit at not knowing exactly what he's being taught and how he is being taught it. Not that I distrust anyone running the program, I know them all well, and am confident of their content and intentions, I just HATE to miss a teaching opportunity.

I think more than anything, this desire has arisen in me over the last few months as I have been contemplating, planning for, and thinking about starting a more structured program of instruction with George. Just taking the opportunities that life and the child himself presents, instead of trying to artificially fashion them from a textbook schedule. As I begin to form my own philosophies of practical instruction and what exactly our goals for our own homeschool will be, this thought has continued to come up. I certainly will be using textbooks as tools, but I don't want the scope and sequence of any book to dictate our learning times, or style. I know I have been blessed in George in his capacity as a student. The Lord has given him insatiable curiousity about the world around him, and a need to fit it all together. I pray that I will be able to adequately fan the flames of his curiosity and only encourage his growth and continued passion for learning, and never be guilty of squelching the natural inclinations of the heart the Lord gave him. I know he will struggle in some areas, already he has a distaste for writing, but I believe that is due more to his own impatience with himself and his desire for it to be just right, than from any rebelliousness or aversion. I think once he gets good enough at it that he appreciates his own work, that he will enjoy it more. The hard part for me is convincing him that the practice to get good is just as important as the final product. But, this of course, is just one more facet of my life that I need to bathe in prayer and continually look to the Lord for direction and confirmation of the decisions I make.