How to Find Miracles in your Homeschool

Just read this poem today in school; Walt Whitman’s “Miracles”.  I so appreciate his take on miracles.  And I am realizing, as I pursue homeschooling intentionally, the simplicity of miracles.

What really constitutes a miracle?

Miracles by Walt Whitman

(1819-1892)

Why, who makes much of a miracle?
As to me I know of nothing else but miracles,
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,
Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,
Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the water,
Or stand under trees in the woods,
Or talk by day with any one I love, or sleep in the bed at night
with any one I love,
Or sit at table at dinner with the rest,
Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,
Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive of a summer forenoon,
Or animals feeding in the fields,
Or birds, or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,
Or the wonderfulness of the sundown, or of stars shining so quiet
and bright,
Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon in spring;
These with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,
The whole referring, yet each distinct and in its place.

To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,
Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the same,
Every foot of the interior swarms with the same.
To me the sea is a continual miracle,
The fishes that swim–the rocks–the motion of the waves–the
ships with men in them,
What stranger miracles are there?

The best way to find miracles in your homeschool is to look for the miracles in your life. It is the little moments that make the greatest moments. And these moments are teachable.

• Be in the Moment.

  Stop rushing everywhere.  One of my biggest regrets in homeschooling is the rushing.  I haven’t entirely figured this one out.  Sometimes my saying no isn’t the easiest thing to do.  I read Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown.  He offers a valuable insight into how to do only what is most important in your life.  When you slow down long enough, there is time to see what you are normally rushing by.

“To do two things at once is to do neither.” — Publilius Syrus

• Pray for miracles in your homeschool.

“Eucharisteo—thanksgiving—always precedes the miracle.” Ann Voskamp

I see this in the miracles Jesus performed.  He gives thanks before breaking the bread and feeding the five thousand.  ¹¹ Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. John 6:11  He also gave thanks before the miracle at Lazarus’ tomb (John 11:41-44) and many other miracles.  With Jesus as our guide, we too, can take His example and give thanks first.

Pray with thanksgiving.  Even in the hard times. Daily. Hourly.  What a lesson for our kids to see us giving God the glory for His beautiful gifts to us every day.

• Make a grateful journal.

  You can’t ignore the science of gratitude journals. Keep a small notebook in your pocketbook or in your car.

  When you start looking for miracles, you will find them.  Involve your kids.  See who can find the most gifts today.

• Homeschool intentionally.

  Read together, pray together, laugh together.  Make  learning a part of all of your waking moments.  Miracles are in the little moments, where we live.

  To be honest, one of the main reasons I wrote Alphabet Smash is that I wanted to recognize the simple miracles in being with my kids; learning and experiencing life together. Not only in our homeschool but in the living of our lives.

 

Although extremely simple to use, Alphabet Smash is intentional.  Intentionally spending time finding the extraordinary of the ordinary in straightforward lessons you share with your child as you adventure through the alphabet together.

So many memories!

 

I think what Walt discovered is the miracle of the beauty God gave us in the every day.  We don’t have to look far.

Alphabet Smash is one way to intentionally do school with your beginning learners, realize the miracles in the every day and ‘oh! the fun you will have!’

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If you would like to try Alphabet Smash for free,

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I found this video, which is done so beautifully.  It takes Walt’s words and creates a visual adventure.

So what miracles have you found in your homeschool today?

 

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