The idea is for me to model how to educate myself to my children and invite them along. I think that a lot of moms give up and send their children to a government or private school, because they spend all of their time trying to "educate their child", sacrificing their all. My martyrdom does nothing to help my children reach their potential. If I give up who I am, stop feeding my own intellectual curiosity; I will become depleted. If I do not realize that I am expending my energies in an unwise ways, I may turn my children off to learning and growth. It is much easier to be about doing and inviting along, than to be endlessly looking for ways to package information, so it will be enticing for my children. This is a way to overcome the feeling that nothing is being accomplished. One bite at a time, chew well, and by the end of the year I will be well pleased and educationally nourished. When I share my educational experiences with them, they begin to see what I value. As I keep a victory list, I can watch it grow.

So now, I pick out what I want to learn about: artists, poets, composers, authors, scientists. I select art pieces, poems, music to study. I look for excursions I want to take-- there are many free cultural events and places to see. I make a list. I ask my children to join me on my daily walk. I ask them if they want to go with me on a nature walk on Fridays. I practice my music lesson twice each day, and show great satisfaction over learning difficult pieces. (Yes, I started adult piano lessons).

I teach myself to improve my drawing an hour each week, setting up a still life. I invite them to join me. I wanted to read the Story of Liberty and The Real George Washington, so I read aloud and discussed with my children what I read. I take an hour and a half after lunch and read and write. They are asked to do quiet things or rest. Sometimes I even nap, because I am tired.

If they read, I ask them to share what they are reading, while I fix dinner. I go to the library at least once a week, and I invite them along. Between quiet time and dinner is free time. I sew, organize, or do stained glass during the afternoon. They can work on Cub Scout and achievement day projects until their friends get home from school. On Sunday, when we have family council, everyone is invited to participate. At dinner I share what I did and learned that day, then invite them to do the same. It is better than to let them criticize and pick at each other.

After dinner each day is family time. We clean up the dishes and tidy the home together. We clean and prepare for bed. We enjoy time together reading a great literature. Some evenings the family plays games. We close our day with song and prayer. We sing until they settle down and become reverent; sometimes it takes some time to get to that point. I choose one Monday a month to prepare a foreign food and learn of another culture. We sing in the car, it keeps them from fighting. I just start and they join in. We also play the alphabet game and other word games in the car. We sometimes listen to language tapes for children.

Here is the beauty of small and simple things. There are 36 weeks and 180 weekdays between Labor Day and Memorial Day, not including a week off for Christmas and another for Easter. What can we cover a bite at a time, some things daily and some things weekly?

We can learn a lot in small bites. These learning moments can be done in the car, while waiting for an appointment, and while baby naps. During morning devotional, one can pray, learn a hymn, memorize a verse, study and discuss scriptures, and be uplifted by great art. Families can take Saturday excursions. Music can be played at mealtime. Great literature can be read at bedtime. Languages can be listened to and practiced in the car and at lunchtime, and other times. Then we can start substituting words from the language we are learning for the English words we normally use. Daily music practice can be split into two 15-30 minute sessions, one morning and one at night. Twelve hour intervals in between practices are more helpful than twenty-four hour intervals between practices. If I practice with an eye to perfect one piece at a time, I will see progress. Little snatches here and there break the monotony and give us much experience with success. As I keep a victory list, I can watch it grow.

We can fit learning experiences in throughout the day and week, some dovetailed with other activities. Do the math. What can be accomplished in six years? Even if I only accomplished a given task every other week, that would be a lot. What a repertoire of experiences shared with my family! Many of us do many of these already, this is just another way of looking at it. Many of us do not know how to organize a time to learn. We do not track our progress. We do not take stock of all we do and we miss the fruits of our labors. This little exercise is to help us see that by small and simple things great things are brought to pass. As I keep a victory list, I can watch it grow:

* 36 excursions, along with narrations to Dad. (Did you ever see a child that did not want to share their excitement? If I only took one field trip a week-- Wow!)

* 36 science experiments, just one a week.

* 36 handwork projects, or 18 or even 9.

* 36 practical handwork projects (or perhaps only six, completing one every six weeks).

* 36 new hymns; one a week at scripture study.

* 36 memorized scriptures; one per week at scripture study.

* 36 musical pieces learned; practicing to master at least one new piece a week.

* 36 pieces of art enjoyed: display a picture a week.

* 36 listened to musical masterpieces; listened to during my breakfast hour.

* 36 quotes or poems memorized; practiced while I do dishes, laundry, or during my daily walk.

* 36 nature notebook pages from 36 nature walks; just once a week.

* 180 daily walks taken to lift my spirit-my time for private prayer and meditation.

* 180 daily exercise sessions to invigorate my body.

* 36 acts of service to someone outside the family.

* 36-180 narrations, depending on if I did one a day or one a week.  That is not hard, when I read something good, I have to share it.

* 36-180 weather station entries (in my daily log), so I can track trends for my garden. This only takes two minutes.

* 36-180 pages of poems or quotes I want to remember, copied in italics.

* 180+ daily devotionals; how far would we get reading and discussing a chapter a day? What if it took us a week a chapter?

*How many great books can I share with my family reading each day?

* If I photograph bulky things, tape audio things, and bind loose pages, I have a record of a years’ work.

Little by little, I am developing a life style that I want. I have moved away from the thought that school has to be 9-2, that we need to delineate each subject by announcing: "We are now going to do school”. I also keep a journal list of what we do. No more guilt. As I keep a victory list, I can see the progress. As I become what I want to become, my children are growing too. If life gives me a blow, I just need to keep doing what I can. I can pick up on things later where I had to leave off. I remind myself that life and learning are continuums. There is no such thing as “behind”.

Direction is more important than speed. This is the direction I am moving in. I do not always succeed; but all I need do is to carry on. It is not always smooth. Sometimes my children choose to do other things. But, in small and simple ways they are learning along with mom.

They are already begging for more stories of famous mathematicians, than the once a week they are getting. They are already planning what they are going to fix for dinner next week. We are all happier when I lead instead of drive them. Very soon, I will start this year's vegetable garden. My eleven year-old is beginning to do more on her own and set her own learning goals, as her eighteen year-old sister has done for six years.

I feel I am too old, and energy to dear to come by, to waste it trying to create an artificial mandate to "educate my children". As I work towards more consistency of personal effort and see the fruits develop, we travel this road together. There is so much I want to learn!

Mahalo, Donna G.