The Days Are Long but the Years Are Short

Shortly after my first born son was born, my pastor said to me, “The days are long but the years are short”. I really didn’t realize the truth he spoke to me in that moment. I wondered why he would say such a thing to a brand new mom. After all, I was a sleep deprived zombie at the time and what I needed was an encouraging word or at least that is what I thought I needed. Wasn’t there a better piece of advice, some piece of wisdom that he could have said?

The more the years pass the more I understand what my pastor had said to me.

Now that my first born son is entering his high school years, this statement is ringing ever so true in my mind. I feel as though there isn’t enough time to teach him all he needs to know before leaving our home. I don’t feel there are enough days much less enough years. I don’t feel ready.

The days are long but the years are short.

Now that I am longing for more long days, I don’t think there is anything more important than that piece of wisdom that someone can share with a brand new mom. You are sleep deprived, you are a walking zombie but hold on because the days are long but the years are indeed entirely too short.

Making It Your Own

We are experiencing A New Season in our homeschool. Our gears have switched, our paths have shifted, but we are still home educating.

We have completed a few weeks of Tapestry of Grace. Although most of it has been great, Who am I kidding? It’s been less than stellar! All of us have been on quite the learning curve! ToG is a full, rich curriculum that utilizes a unit study approach while keeping with the Classical model. It incorporates not only history and geography but literature, art/activities, and church history. You have many choices in what to teach in your homeschool and what resources you will use. However, there are some books that is best not to substitute or you may not be able to complete a worksheet or you will need to adjust your reading schedule if the page numbers do not match the ToG written plan.

Like I said, it’s been a learning curve. I love this program so much that I wanted to do it ALL! Repeatedly, in the videos I watched, the author says “no one can do it all” and “no one is expected to do it all”. Somehow, I felt like we would be the family that could do, maybe not ALL, but most. How wrong I was!

It has taken some tweaking and some adjusting and some bending on my part, but we are in a groove now and it feels so good! The boys are happy with their workload schedule and it seems to be the right fit, at least for now.

Seasons change and as they change, we change. God never changes but He is constantly changing us when we are yielded to Him. When things are hard and there seems to be a struggle, it maybe time to step back and reevaluate. Look at your curriculum, look at your students, and talk with them to gain their perspective on how THEIR education is going. Ask them if they like the books they are assigned to read. Ask them if they are feeling more confident with their math or science, etc.

So when you are creating your lesson plans, remember to make them your own. Just because XYZ is written into the curriculum it does not mean that ABC can’t be used instead or that XYZ can’t be used in a slightly different way.

In this new season, I am learning to make it my own.

 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

**Disclaimer – I am not paid in any form for giving my opinions on Tapestry of Grace. I have not received any incentives and they do not even know I am writing about them. This is my fair assessment and I’m sticking to it.

A New Season

In our area, Classical Conversations is starting their 2013-2014 educational year. My family and I have been a part of CC for the past three years and it has been exactly what we needed. This past December, I started feeling a change coming. I knew it had to do with our homeschool but I just couldn’t put my finger on it. I had thought about taking a more active role in CC – outside of being a full time tutor, and I had talked about joining a new community that a very dear friend was starting for the upcoming school year. However, none of it seemed “right”. Though my foot kept trying out these different paths, none of them seemed to fit.

After praying and talking to my husband and asking for counsel from friends, we decided to join my friend’s new adventure of being a Classical Conversations Foundations/Essentials Director. Our oldest son would be moving into the Challenge Program so we registered him there while registering our grammar boys for Foundations and Essentials. There was no room for my gift to tutor Essentials in the new community and if I chose to tutor Foundations, I would not have the morning to go in and sit in my son’s Challenge seminar. Which I most definitely needed to do since I would be the one teaching him at home and my Latin is sorely lacking!

Now everyone was registered and I had surrenered to the fact that I was going to be “just a mom” in the new community.

Something still wasn’t fitting.

Something still wasn’t 100% right.

Still praying, searching for that right fit!

Then a friend introduced me to Tapestry of Grace! After reading almost the entire website and many blogs about ToG, I developed a love-hate relationship with this program!!! I hated it because I LOVED it!!! But the boys were already registered. After talking with my husband some more, we decided to make the switch!

Next week will be our “official” first week with Tapestry of Grace and I am so excited to begin this new journey which is on the same path as a Christian Classical education.

So although it does feel a little strange that our friends are beginning their new CC, there is much anticipation and excitement in me about our new season!

More to come on Tapestry of Grace!