I just got my hands on the updated second edition of Sarah Mackenzie's Teaching from Rest which I have been reading as we prepare to start back to school next week. A couple of quotes I noted:
" 'Morning Time is not about reaping a quick harvest of spinach or lettuce after a few cool weeks,' she said. '[It's] about faithfully tending and orchard over long, long years knowing that the future harvest will be far more valuable than any quick crop. Maybe it isn't even an orchard – this is homeschool carbon which will produce a harvest of diamonds for those who have the patience and the courage to go for the long prize.' " (quoting Cindy Rollins, p.46)
"Ultimately it doesn't matter if you hit every math problem, get through an entire spelling lesson, or whether your child loves learning the way you want him to. You are cultivating your child like a tree, and trees will bear fruit in time. We are taking the long view. Consistency over time goes a long way toward tending our orchard. Faithfully tending to your work each day is what success looks like for the homeschooling mother. What matters is that we seek to imitate Christ. That we order our loves so that our hearts better reflect His. Many days, checklists will go untouched, books will go unread, and ducks will not line up in a row, no matter how much we strive. Cease striving." (p. 70)
~Sarah Mackenzie, Teaching from Rest: A Homeschooler's Guide to Unshakeable Peace
These words echo loud and clear the message that the Lord has been speaking to my heart this summer through my own reading and reflections and through the speakers at the conferences I attended. Faithfully cultivating relationships – with my children and students as Persons, with others around us, with the world through our studies, and with God Himself – that's the priority. That's what really matters.
My Bookbag This Week:
Devotional: Job with a commentary: Job: The Wisdom of the Cross (Ash)
Theological or Christian Living: Spiritual Depression (Lloyd-Jones)
AO Book Discussion Group: Ivanhoe (Scott) and finishing up (finally!) How to Read a Book (Adler)
On Education: Mind to Mind (Glass)
Topic of Special Interest: Between Books
Novel/Biography/Memoir: I Capture the Castle (Smith)
Read-Alouds with the Children: The Little White Horse (Goudge), Pilgrim's Progress (Bunyan)
Click Here for More Words
I particularly love the quote from Cindy, but the other is wonderful, too. I often forget to take the long view and the big purpose, so this is a great corrective.
ReplyDeleteMy copy came while we were gone and the neighbor just brought us the mail last night, so I haven't started yet. But soon.