The imagination is a wonderful thing. I loved watching my kids come up with wild and crazy ideas and then play for hours outside in the little wooded area near our home. But I’ve come to realize that the imagination is just as vital for adults as it is for children. We need to be able imagine what the future might hold in order to prepare for it. Anticipation begins with the imagination.
When I am preparing for Christmas, I am picturing in my mind’s eye what I want it to look like this year. What we will eat, what everyone will wear, how the house will be decorated, etc. Once I can “see” it, I am able to make the proper plans. It is hard to anticipate something when I don’t have any idea what it looks like. It is the same with how I approach the new school year. I need to picture the day-to-day routine, imagine how the subjects will flow into each other, make sure that I am creating a homeschool that actually works for my particular family.
I have been reading books by Charlotte Mason and about her principles as well as listening to podcasts about what it can look like in our homeschools.
All of this serves to fire up my imagination so that I can begin to see how to apply these principles in my own home.
The school year is no longer something to dread. I have been shown a wonderful and life-giving way to educate my children as well as myself. Because of this I am able to anticipate a year filled with the riches of art and composer study, hymns and folk songs, poetry, beautiful literature, along with the wonders of math, science, and all the rest of the feast. Who wouldn’t look forward to that?