Nathan Works

Recently, I have had some comical reminders of homeschooling and our efforts to teach our kids to work hard. Admittedly, we have a unique homeschooling approach. Very little actual textbook curriculum, with a focus on inspiring a desire to learn within our children while also teaching them the value and habit of good hard work. Mary spends a good portion of each (or at least most) week-day(s) with the kids doing "family work time" which ranges in tasks from a larger, more regular household chore, working outside in the yard or, most frequently, helping prepare dinner. Our three oldest kids (ranging in age from 3 to 8) know how to cut some, if not most veggies safely and adequately. So this is a common family work time responsibility, wherein they work alongside mom at a task that needs to be completed to benefit our family as a whole. Another emphasis that comes and goes in application by the kids is serving others. So, here are some comical and somewhat unique manifestations of these efforts by our 6 year-old, Nathan.

First... We were at my parent's house for our two youngest girls' birthdays and my grandparents came to be a part of those birthdays. At one point, my 85 y/o grandma was asking Nathan about school and about what he was learning. I think my grandma is a little skeptical about us homeschooling in general. Nathan seemed confused by her question, so he figured his best answer would be "I'm homeschooled" (like, you know, I don't really learn anything because I'm homeschooled). She said "I know you're homeschooled, Nathan, but what are you learning?" He was really uncertain as to how to answer this question because, although he is learning a lot, his learning comes naturally in the flow of his different interests and pursuit of those interests. He probably figured that she was really asking "what are you being taught?", so he stated "Well, I wash walls". AWESOME! What does my grandma think now! It's true though, we are trying to teach him to work hard and that week, one of the larger "family work time" undertakings was to wash the walls in the house, something that took several days. I hope he represents what he has learned from our efforts better when the results of those efforts really matter, like in 10+ years.

Second... Each morning our kids have a few standard and routine responsibilities that they need to do after we read scriptures and before they eat breakfast to "get ready for the day", which includes getting dressed, making their bed/folding their blankets and putting their jammies away.. They know that it is something that they need to do and sometimes some are quicker at it than others or sometimes they drag their feet, literally. Anyway, on one of these days we had just finished scriptures and Nathan was in a big hurry to finish his chores. He folded his blankets and got dressed quickly. Meanwhile, I was putting my lunch together and getting my shoes and coat on before heading to work. I overheard a conversation between Nathan and his mom wherein he was asking her to give Sarah a certain morning chore (set table) and he was really being persistent and insistent about it. This was between Mary and Nathan so I wasn't going to intervene but I was thinking "I don't think we want our kids deciding what their siblings chores are", so I was surprised when Mary agreed to it, while I thought "this is setting a bad precedent". As soon as Mary agreed, Nathan hurried and set the table with plates, cups and utensils and then sat beaming at the table until Sarah emerged from finishing her "getting ready for the day" responsibilities. As soon as Sarah entered the kitchen, Nathan said "Sarah, I served you!" and then proceeded to explain to her what he had done. I was a proud and humbled Daddy, to say the least.

Third... we have a great, widowed neighbor who is a helicopter pilot for Search and Rescue in the Navy. She is so sweet and our kids LOVE HER. She has a hard time coming or going from her house without being accosted by our children in some respect. If she has to spend some time outside doing something, they want to be there alongside her. We have watched her dog for her and recently she hired Sarah to feed her cat while she was away. Recently, she was weeding among her strawberry plants in her front yard and our kids were helping her. She went to pick a dandelion and was only able to pull off the stem without any roots. Nathan noticed this and immediately commented to Leah that "if you don't get the roots, it's just going to grow back". I love that kid. She said he stated it matter-of-factly with a tinge of criticism/consternation in his voice. Leah said it was pretty funny. Yes, our kids have done a lot of weeding and yard work alongside their parents this spring.

We feel like our efforts take a lot of persistence and sometimes some nagging but we are hopeful that our hard work will pay off in raising hard workers.