Thankful Thursday: "... the child in pursuit of knowledge ..."

"What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, 

and not knowledge in pursuit of the child."

- George Bernard Shaw

This week, SC goes back to her bi-weekly "mother's day out" program at a local church.  I am hugely thankful for this program, and not just because it has allowed me time to myself twice a week.  

The program focuses both on academics and Christianity, and has honestly helped fill in the gaps for things I just would not have thought about teaching SC on my own.  For example, last year she came home singing a "days of the week" song, and later, a "months of the year" song.  It may seem obvious that a child needs to know these, but in the day-to-day of life, and even adding in the small amount of homeschooling we did last spring, it just didn't come up.  

The program has also afforded SC with various "field trips" that I could not have managed on my own, like bringing a petting zoo to the school, or the firemen or police officers coming and talking, plus the various dress-up days that give each child an opportunity to be creative within a theme (with mom's help, of course), and see how other children were creative.

This is the one part of our life now that I do not know how to fill if we make the decision to homeschool full time.  It is not just the social aspect, because SC does many activities like gymnastics, dance and piano, where she has the opportunity to be social and interact with other kids.  Honestly, I do not know if even public school can fill the gap that will be left when she "graduates" from this mother's day out program in May.  We have been hugely blessed by this program, and I am thankful that it is available for SC to attend.