Introduction to "The Summerschool Homeschool" Blog

A Summer on Purpose.  

“'I'm bored’ generally means ‘I am boring’” –Dennis Prager

 “Mommmm.  I’m borrrrrred!”  Let me just start by saying, “bored” is a bad word in our family.  We don’t say it.  Ever.  Please don’t get me wrong, I don’t think boredom in and of itself is a vice—doing nothing and having nothing to do are moments (especially in our overly entertained culture) ripe for a spontaneous overflow of creative bliss.  It’s also what I want for my birthday this year… But it is in this place of nothingness where treehouses are built, pirate hats are donned, and swashbuckling fairytales live. 

Just as all children must be taught to share, the overflow of boredom must be taught to grow away from a focus on the self and instead outward toward the great possibilities that lie in this wide world.  Sadly, however, the cure for boredom more often than not is a quick treatment of empty and temporal pleasure that does the work of play and creation for our kids, resulting in an atrophy of original thought if left unexercised for too long.  I’ve always tried to teach my children that wherever they are, THAT’S where the party is.  In other words, their external circumstances shouldn’t necessarily be the ultimate determining factor in what they deem as time well spent. The apostle Paul had his greatest epiphanies in prison, for goodness’ sake!  Boring people are bored, and that’s that.  So instead of filling our kid’s afternoons up with mind-sucking entertainment that won’t ever touch at the deeper-rooted heart issue of boredom, why can’t we first set the precedence that WE in THIS family can create our OWN FUN?!  

"Nobody is bored when he is trying to make something that is beautiful or to discover something that is true.” -W. R. Inge

I’m not poo-pooing jump houses and video arcades—let’s be real, sometimes mama needs a break.  But let’s also be purposeful, parents, on how we choose to fill our kid’s time, and let’s be a little choosier with how we spend our cash money.  I want my kids to not be idle partakers in entertainment; I want them to be initiators of creative play with wild imaginations and willing hearts to add a bit of color into a mostly gray world.  

My heart for this blog is to provide some non-threatening, easy, and imaginative options to help guide your summertime fun (or anytime fun for that matter), to enrich the minds and souls of your kiddos, and to make you wanna give yourself a big ol’ high-five come August!

Love in the Bond and in the Trenches with You,

Diane