Less and Slower

I've copied a bit from our private blog here (is there any such thing as a private blog?!) - its the place where I don't withhold their names and am literally charting where they are each at with their learning. I think if I find pseudonyms to use for them I might just attach the blogs together, trusting that after this initial year of change and transformation, there will be a gentler flow of learning for me to share aloud in blogworld.

There are many great blogs literally explaining day to day happenings in home educating families, some of them are on my blogroll. I love being in touch this way and sharing experiences.

A new plan of ours is to have more one-to-one time with each of the kids. It has already strengthened the link as I've had a few hours each with the girls this week. Time to follow their particular interests and loves. Hopefully the more frequently it happens, the less of an 'event' it will be and these times will add in to the gentle tapestry of how we grow and learn together.

I'm reading Mary Poppins to them all at bedtime which is working beautifully, they're all in to it. I'm intending to simply start at the beginning again when we finish as I'm really embracing this idea of Less. Where before I have wanted to pour information into them, stretch to the highest mountains in search of books, experiences, now I want to hold back and let them climb their own mountain. The world around us can hurtle and flash its lights at us as much as it chooses! We're going to grow our way in our own natural timings.

There is no way that I can know precisely what they need to know for their individual growth (though I'm the best placed person to guess if it is needed!). We write, we read and we do numbers - that much is agreed. The rest is flowing moment by moment and it feels good to trust that. If I find myself worrying about their development, all I need do is stop and listen. The evidence is right there in each question they ponder, each expression they experiment with, each idea they follow.