The Seasons of Our Homeschool

All things have their own rhythm, and I definitely have found that this is the case with homeschooling as well.  This summer we worked somewhat furiously on fairly structured, planned activities.  It was difficult to spend long periods of time outside in the heat, so we opted for more indoor activities.  There was more time available for reading books and writing and doing indoor projects.  The workboxes system was very effective during this time.  I have found that as fall has arrived with its cooler days, we are spending great lengths of time enjoying outdoor activities.  We are exploring creeks and meeting friends at the park and taking long nature walks.  We are checking on the fading plants in our garden, looking for the monarchs as they fly south, and getting ready to plant tulips to announce springs arrival.
I am learning to be less concerned about the small picture... how many pages of math did we get done this week, have we kept up with our social studies and science curriculums, how much writing has been done.  I am learning to focus on the big picture.  I can see the year as a whole and in turn the girls' entire education as a whole.  I know that in a month or two there will be fewer nice days to explore streams and be outside.  I know that there is value in the lessons they are learning from their explorations.  I know that soon we will have to turn indoors for most of our time, and then we will return to the books and the curriculum.  I also know that spring will inevitably lead to more explorations outdoors.  I know that when those tulips begin to emerge, so will my children.  I know that, like the tulip preparing through the winter for its eruption, the girls will be learning through the winter so that they can take better advantage of the learning to be had while they are exploring nature.  And in the end, they will all bloom into beautiful flowers.