Spring Rhythms + Homeschooling With a Baby
Snow still covers the ground and most of our temperatures are below freezing but I feel hints of spring in the air and I know it will be here soon. The first of our brave crocuses have gingerly made their appearance. We have only five (5!) weeks of Classical Conversations left for the year, one of which we will miss due to an upcoming road trip, and Easter is less than six weeks away. Each week I hear a few more birds than I did the previous week. All that to say that yes, I do feel justified in calling this a spring homeschool update!
School is going well. This could mean almost anything, but to me it means: we are plugging along, doing our best, and growing. Some days are fairly smooth and we manage to hit most subjects on my list, while other days we stumble through with bad attitudes and short tempers and Mom cuts the “school” work short to send the children outside and gulp down her coffee in peace. There are hurdles every day, some small, some large, but we keep going and keep trying and somehow, eventually, I can see that we’ve actually come quite a long way since September. It’s hard to see the mountain when you’re still on the path, but every once in a while we turn a corner and get a peek at the progress we’ve made.
One of the difficulties of young children is that as soon as you’ve got a good rhythm down, something changes. Either someone needs to drop a nap or someone needs a later bedtime or someone has a growth spurt or someone can suddenly reach everything on the dining room table which means you can’t leave your projects there anymore.
We have been doing school during Baby Brother’s morning nap but he’s now shifting to one nap a day which means we must pivot and find a new rhythm that works for us and for him. It’s another hurdle – but we will figure it out eventually. Now you may ask, is Baby Brother finally sleeping through the night? He is, after all, 17 months old. To that question I would give a tentative, qualified yes. As long as he’s not sick, teething, emotional, crabby, or otherwise disturbed by any circumstances beyond his control, he will usually sleep until 5 or 5:30 in the morning. This is a bit too early for me but is still an improvement so I will not complain. I have a wild dream of someday, somehow, being able to wake up before any of my children and do something productive with that quiet time. Crazy, I know, but I am stubbornly optimistic that it will someday happen.
A few things I’m loving about homeschooling right now: our kids, along with the thousands of other homeschoolers in the state, will be the first to dash outside on that first warm day. You know, the one that surprises you because it’s really not quite spring yet and there’s still some snow on the ground, but you happen to walk outside to get the mail and realize you don’t need a jacket, the birds are singing, the sun peeks out, and you suddenly feel about three inches taller? That first warmer day of the year is one of my favorite times and you can bet that we will all be outside, possibly gloating a teensy tiny bit about the fact that most normal kids are still stuck in school. Early spring, in my opinion, is the worst time of the year to be in school and the time I’m most thankful that we don’t have to be. Winter is long and cold weather is tiring and all of us, kids especially, are eager to be out of doors again and free to roam.
Another perk: hands on life skills practice. We recently decided that Little Sister needs her own room, so the last few weeks have involved room switches and a mini-makeover because being the only girl with four brothers means your room must be pink. There’s no other way around it. So we painted and cleaned and moved beds and hung cheap curtains and assembled a new “dresser” for her clothes and listened to the brothers complain that “It’s no fair!” and tried to explain that yes, she will almost certainly always have her own room, and you almost certainly will not unless we move into a mansion with six or seven bedrooms and more bathrooms than I care to clean. In the process of all this we took a short break from Normal School to focus on Shop Class (assembling furniture and painting a room) and Economics (discussing how to fund our purchases) and Interior Design (explaining to one brother that, no, red is NOT the same as pink and we will not be painting any of our rooms red even though it is indeed a lovely color and I understand that you really really love it). I am so thankful that the children don’t miss out on these real-life decisions and skills; they are with us to help, to learn, and to see all that’s going on, for better or for worse!
I was reminded recently how God cares for our children and is working in their hearts and lives. One boy had a series of eye appointments and was very nervous about getting eye drops. It’s easy for me to dismiss this concern because I know it’s not a big deal, he’s going to be just fine, and it could be much worse – but in his eyes (very sorry for the pun), it is a big deal! It’s a real trial in his little life and I need to respect that. So, before the appointment we prayed together, asking that God would help him be brave and that it wouldn’t hurt and that he could be calm during the appointment. We got there and found out – contrary to what I had been told – that he actually wouldn’t need eye drops at all. He was thrilled. Afterwards, on the way out the door, he smiled at me and said, “Mom, I guess sometimes God does things that are even better than what we ask for!” Very true, little guy, and I’m so glad for it. Let’s not forget to bring our children’s cares to God, even though they seem insignificant – once our child has trusted in Christ, the Holy Spirit works in them just as he does in us, and I would do well to remember that.
Looking ahead to the rest of the spring, we’ve got two family road trips planned that we are all excited for – one of which will be remarkably educational and the other of which will be time with family, both equally valuable in my mind. Our last road trip to Minnesota consisted mainly of repetitive vomiting alternated with time on the toilet or prostrate in bed (charming), so it’s high time to redeem those memories with another, hopefully healthier road trip. In between those two trips we will do our Easter unit study again, finish up Classical Conversations, participate in a piano recital and a choir recital, wrap up our school work for the year, and hopefully spend a boat load of time outside.
Happy spring to you all!
Originally written March 3 2023
