School started for us on Tuesday. None of us were that eager to start, which is unusual. Usually we’re eager and excited, but we all felt reluctant for the slow pace of summer to come to an end.
But start we did, bright and somewhat early. New books, new schedules, and a few new subjects, even. My daughter is a senior this year {#whendidthathappen?} and in a lot of ways her school schedule is the same as last year. But my son is in high school now, and things have changed a lot for him. Specifically, the schedule. Junior High included a lot more sitting with me, going through subjects one at a time, and then sending him off to do his independent work. But now that he’s in high school {#whendidthathappen??} I want his schedule to look like hers does. That means a lot more independent work.
So now he, like she, gets his assignments a week at a time. Monday morning I have everything written out for the week. We still sit down together every day for math, and maybe another subject or two, but they are responsible for getting everything done. They can do all their history for the week all in one sitting if they want, or they can do each day’s work on the assigned day. If they need help, all they have to do is let me know, and I’ll be there for them. But getting it done is up to them.
That freedom is going to be hard for my boy to get used to. I know him, and he’s a bit of a procrastinator. She’s very self-motivated, but he’s got a much more carefree attitude toward life. That’s good ~ it will keep him ulcer free throughout life. But it’s not a great approach to schoolwork, so he’s gonna have to work to stay on pace.
Freedom is a tricky thing sometimes. Maybe even a lot of the time. We make choices every day about how we spend our time, and our money… about the words we use and whether we are going to serve others or ourselves. We choose to grow or plateau in our faith, to obey or disobey.
We think of free will as a gift, but it comes with some strings attached. There are consequences, both good and bad, and no escaping that. Makes good sense to seek His wisdom in our decisions, eh?
Light Expectations 