A Love of Learning

     I know, I know, it’s Labor Day.  How dare a mom do such a thing to her children!  Alas, here we sat this morning…learning of all things.  It was our first day back today.  I made it light, just an introduction of each course and tried to tell them that they would not wither away from lack of sunshine for the two to three hours spent in the school room.  I was right, they didn’t.  They are both doing well.  The older child likes her free time and it is difficult sometimes to get her motivated.  The younger has a mindset much like his mother.  Sit down and get it done, then I can do what I want to do.  He is also a year ahead in math and reading.

     Abbey watched a documentary with me this week called “Waiting on Superman”.  It was about the public school system and the level at which the U.S. has now dropped in ratings in school performance compared with other countries.  Recently our country was ranked 14th in reading, 17^th in Science, and 25^th in mathematics out of 34 countries.  It is pitiful and she told me all about how she didn’t want to end up with the same fate as some of the students that leave school and begin their adult lives already failing.  She wanted to start trying harder and learn all she can while she has this chance.  I had to remind her of those aspirations this morning.  She forgot.
     I suppose it’s a goal she needs.  She needs to see that a simple math assignment she does today, helps her reach that goal.  Even though she can’t see how knowing the radius of a circle will help her with a career with horses, it’s my job to keep reminding her that it will do just that.  She needs to know the steps that she has to take to get that career.  I need to tell her that she may never need to figure out the square root of 14 in her adult life, but she may have to take a test or a required course in college that will ask her those questions. 

     They need to know what God has to say about hard work and perseverance.  Proverbs 14:23 says “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.”  Real life lessons will speak to them, nagging won’t.  I have to be patient, continue to teach with discipline, and trust God to show them the truths of His word about a fruitful life.  I do pray that they both end up with a job that they love and never feel like they are working.  But they need to know that if they want that life, they must work to get it.