Little ways to find God in your daily lesson plans

Hi friends. Did you know that writing to you is my therapy? I don't know who needs to hear this, but you are precious and amazing, just as you are. And I see you. I know, being a teacher can be overwhelming, especially if you're homeschooling. There is always a mountain of things undone. That monkey on your back never shuts up. If you do stuff with the kids you should be doing housework, or laundry, or cooking, or, or, or. And if you work around the house, bad you, you're  neglecting the kids. 

Well, Teacher Omi (grama) is here to tell you that neither is true. You don't have 8 arms or 48 hours in every day. You can't be in two places at once let alone everywhere. Even if you spend the day reading and eating chocolate chips, it's okay (kids, remember "The Musgrave Ritual" on that summer day?) You are a human being, not human doing. God doesn't expect as much of you as you expect of yourself. And having said that, here are some little ways to find God in your daily lesson plans. 

You know what I'm going to say, here. Go for a walk. In the woods or beach if possible. But down a street will do to. I used to take my kids and later grandkids on walks when they were babies. I babbled on about all we saw. I asked them questions and they answered in their baby ways. We talked about cracks in the sidewalk and foofers (dandelions gone to seed). We observed insects and birds and squirrels. We admired the work the neighbor had done on his roof and another's pretty flowers. 

I think those walks held my soul together. Spending time with children, with no particular aim or plan except to enjoy and give thanks, IS quality time and also worship of God. And you can do that too, anytime, anywhere, with 12 kids or one. You can fancy it up by having them keep a science journal, if you feel the need. Or you can just make memories. You can make it 10 minutes or two hours. You don't need any materials, lesson plans or lecture. Nature speaks for itself if we will just listen. If you're city bound, you can notice the cool buildings or nice people you meet. (thank you, Mister Rogers 🥹) 

When we went to Louisiana to visit this year, one thing my second oldest baby grand Moses wanted was to go for a wander with Opi (grampa). I loved wandering with my Opi along the Big Lake (Michigan) dunes. We didn't bring anything, no water bottles, sunscreen, and certainly no phones. We didn't talk about God or even talk about much at all. We just appreciated God's handiwork. He really outdoes Himself in a back dune woods. If you've never walked the beach of Lake Michigan, do yourself a favor and come visit.

We'd walk for hours. Even the dog got sick of it and went home. But he was an overweight poodle. I'd come home from our walks, footsore, weary and thirsty as all get out! Grama always joked that she thought we'd gotten lost. And in a way, we did. Lost in our wander wonder. I loved every minute and treasure those memories. I wanted to live there forever. I'd go back to the woods with grampa in a heartbeat. I'm making myself memory-cry just recalling those days. 

He's swimming in the big lake of  heaven now. But I can and do take every opportunity to enjoy wherever I am with my grandkids. We took numbers 5 and 7, Milo and Juno on Grampa's and my woods walk to Mona Lake channel.  I told them how happy I'd been walking with their great-great Opi, how lucky I was to be able to take them and that maybe someday they'd take their grandkids and tell them the story. Heavy stuff for kids. But Milo smiled and said, "Omi,  I want to live on the great-great Opi beach forever!" That's my boy.  

So this has kinda digressed from lesson plans, but not really. My goal in teaching and hopefully yours too is to make (as Dr. Montessori showed us) every moment a teachable one. 

(Picture is a much younger me and Emma Grace, not at Lake Michigan but nearby at Bass Lake, in Pentwater.)