Say Yes in Your Homeschool

If ever there was something I could go back and tell my younger self about homeschooling, it would be to say yes more. Saying yes is a habit we’ve talked about before here at Habits for a Happy Home.

I’ve grown into the yes gradually. And this is, of course, a habit that extends beyond homeschool. So I want to encourage you to say yes, my dear, while the children are near:

• Yes, you can stay up just a little later so we can finish reading this book.
• Yes, you can play in the mud (she says as she puts towels down from the back door all the way to the bathtub).
• Yes, pull out…every…last…foam…craft…heart and have at it!
• Yes, paint every day!
• Yes, let’s go visit great-grandmother today.
• Yes, a pancake breakfast is just what we need to start the morning right. Even if it is already a little late.
• Yes, let’s make a tin foil boat and watch it float down the street.
• Yes, please make fudge! (and I will try my best to smile and not to sigh at the pile of mess in the sink)
• Yes, I will stay up late and chat with you about all sorts of things.
• Yes, I will ignore that overflowing pile of laundry and play Blokus.
• Yes, why not? Let’s go to the park!
• Yes, we can put down this and learn all about the brain today.

I’m not saying that I would have said yes and set aside all the regular learning all the time. But I would have said yes more. Because time is a vapor. See, I blinked and now my eldest will graduate in just two years. That baby of mine, my youngest, is soon to be a first grader.

Boundaries and rules definitely have a place. But so do freedoms and fun. And saying yes.

The love of the Father is like a sudden rain shower that will pour forth when you least expect it, catching you up in to wonder and praise. ~ Richard J. Foster

I’d also grab at some subtle yeses. A big hug. A pat on the back. A squeeze and an ‘I love you.’

God has called us into the joyous ministry of giving His love away to others. ~ Don Lessin

Yes, I will wear that crown of clover you made around the town! (and I hope to see you wearing yours too.)

The habit of saying yes.

Bottom line, wasn’t life itself a special occasion? ~ Jan Karon

I invite you to join all the ladies of iHomeschool Network offering up advice to their younger selves.

What can you be saying yes to more often?

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