Six years ago, we made the decision to homeschool because our oldest child was a self motivated learner with a tender heart.
We didn't want the school system to squash either one of those properties.
Fast forward to today and that little 5 year old is now 11. And instead of picking out Kindergarten programs, I'm making decisions for middle school.
I don't know where the past 6 years have gone.
But through it all, our main goals have been met. He still is a highly self-motivated learner. And he still has a tender heart.
And he loves to read.
My father taught me that reading was your ticket to anything you wanted. If you could read, you could teach yourself. Then you weren't bound to the limits of a classroom. If you could read, you could change your own life. You didn't have to depend on someone else to help you.
It was the key to freedom.
My oldest is figuring that out for himself and I now understand the joy and sense of satisfaction my father got when I learned that lesson. It's great feeling.
Yesterday, we had a trip to the library and I nonchalantly grabbed a copy of The Bronze Bow. "You'll like this one," I told my oldest boy. "I like all the books you pick out," he replied and then picked out a few others for himself.
All the way home, he eyed that book quite suspiciously. "I think this book may be too hard. I can barely understand the first paragraph," he complained.
"A boy stood on the path of the mountain overlooking the sea." I read. "It's a story about a Galilean boy. He's Jewish and his village has been taken over by the Romans . They killed his family. It's historical fiction. I think you'll like it."
Out of a sense of obligation and respect for me, he opened the book and began to read. He read off and on yesterday:In the van to baseball practice and back, while waiting at the school book store, during lunch and dinner.
Currently, he's curled up on the couch, still reading and ignoring all requests to eat breakfast. He's been there since he woke up.
"This is a good book," he commented as I walked past him to grab my laptop, "As good as The Giver."
"I've got a lot of good books for you to read.
4 comments:
I love to read and when I had children I really wanted to pass that love to them. My two oldest can take it or leave it, but my youngest he's 8 loves it just as much as I do. He takes his book in the car, to bed and anywhere else he happens to be going.
Big J's love of reading comes and goes....mostly for fiction though. I have to ban his light at night because I can't keep him away from the encyclopedia's! LOL
This is one of our favorites. Bravo! For suggesting this book to read. What a wonderful post. ANd what a wonderful mom you are for taking the time to teach your children a love of reading. ANd, of course, your dad was right!
I think of you often. Whenever I am tempted to whine about Race not being home. ;-)
Love this post! It gives me great hope! It reminds me of my oldest (6YO) who is also a tender hearted self motivated learner. He is currently fine tuning his reading skills.
Thanks for an encouraging post :)
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