On the Breakfast Table

When the kids and I talked about our new goals for the school year one of the things we decided was once a month we would have Saturday School. In my mind not a typical let's go to the classroom, but an intentional time where we make time to do a little extra schooling. 

They are all lawyers in the making. Sometimes they follow the debate process other times it random out the blue, very opinionated with no valid support to make their conclusion on. So I have made Saturday Schooling our little Debate Club time. One of things that I strive for and make doggone sure it happens is that they have experiences in our homeschool that they would never be able to have no matter what school they attended, and I know for a fact that no school in Michigan has school on Saturdays:)

                                                                         

 After I finished cooking breakfast which I never do(see isn't Saturday Schooling sounding like a lot of fun). I let them sleep in until 10:00 because they need rest, so no helping with breakfast sleep outweighs this in this particular situation. I called them down to eat and they were flabbergasted by the above National Geographic Magazine November 2006 issue. After they finished eating we passed the magazine around so that we could turn take reading the article. The question that came from this reading is Is this child an human or a monkey perhaps?

This time around the debate process didn't really take place because we all agreed that we think this story is real. The kids trust what the National Geographic has reported and I couldn't find anything while researching to dispute it. Then the conversation led away from the question to a different one, Can we trust everything  we read? This became rather heated in discussion, we all knew we couldn't believe a word that is in gossip publications like the Enquirer, but what about our local newspaper, what about USA Today, etc. We left our discussion on a pleasant note with more love for Saturday Schooling and well I think debating is here to stay for a long time.                                                                

Here's what is really important, the influence we have on our kids. My kids trust National Geographic because I have introduced them to it. While thrifting over Thanksgiving holiday I went bananas over a set I found.

                                                                          

 It was at a bargained price of just $10.00! All the magazines that were published in the 1900's on CD ROM.   The kids believe that what I bring in the house must be true! Which is most often the case but I am very capable of bringing in garbage. There was a book one time that I hadn't pre-read before reading to Michelle when she was about ten . I can't remember the name but it was by Judy Blume, who is one of my favorite authors by the way. This particular book was talking about boyfriends, kissing, etc. Which in my opinion is garbage for a ten year old, the book would be great to read at a much older age. We stopped reading the book after a couple pages. I think if I had continued to read the book to her, Michelle's head would of  been filled with garbage thoughts, which could of led to a number of things. Even some National Geographic magazine issues aren't appropriate for children.  One of the many blessings of being a parent is watching them grow, becoming independent thinkers and praying one day every generation gets better. I am not perfect in anyway and neither are my kids. But it does feel good to know that I can have some positive influence on them and I know I must continue to raise deep thinkers so even if mom accidentally brings in some garbage they will know when to throw it away.                    

Saturday Schooling turned out to be a great day ! The conversation continued while they washed the dishes, wiped the table and swept the floor. Before they knew it school was over and the rest of the day was spent sledding.                                

Do you Saturday School?  

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