It doesn't have to be prepared or by the book!

Read this on another site, she found it on www.homeschoolfreestuff.com

Home Schooling
A realization from the smartest, best mommy ever!

It hit me today.

We are in the beginning stages of homeschooling our two daughters ages 3 and almost 5. Since we decided about a month ago, for sure, to homeschool, I've been saying that we won't "really" start until next month. I've been telling others that we are currently just dabbling, dipping our toes to check the water. Then this happened.

Two days ago I made an offhand comment to my girls about the planets and how I had learned their names in order. My oldest had just learned from television that we live on the planet Earth. I told her that the way I remember them is by using this sentence: "My very early mother just served us noodle pizza". The first letter of each word is the same as the first letter of the names of the planets in order of how far they are from the sun. At my daughter's request I rattled off the names of the planets, knowing that she was too young to really learn them. She nodded and that was the end of the conversation.

Then today, TWO days later, she came rushing into my bedroom and said, "Mommy! You forgot the sun!" I looked at her blankly. "What about the sun?", I asked. She told me that I should have said, "Sometimes my very early mother just served us noodle pizza." Then it clicked. I realized that she had not only picked up what I had said in just one comment, but that she'd thought about it for two whole days, found a problem with it, and came up with a solution.

So I told her that she was very smart to think of that. Then I and the girls spent ten fun-filled minutes practicing saying the names of the planets until they had them memorized. When they left to go play it suddenly hit me. My 3 and 4 1/2 year old daughters had just learned the planets without any preparation and planning on my part. I didn't have to study like mad or prepare worksheets and unit studies, and I'm certainly not a certified teacher, but somehow I had taught!

So from here on out, I plan to relax, and remember that even if I don't do everything the way I think I should, my two wonderful little girls will still manage to learn, and will think that I'm the smartest, best mommy ever.

~Jessica Elliott ~