Required to Learn

Every quarter of our school year, Coby is required to create an output or a project that would be included in his quarterly portfolio. I’m not such a fan of this requirement of TMA but I’ve learned to love the process throughout these years. The output has allowed Coby to think out of the box and be creative in producing a project that would highlight his learnings for the quarter.

In his younger years, I would help him decide what projects he can present. He has made all sorts of output from craft projects, building projects, video interviews, experiments and other out of this world projects. But now that he’s older, I let him do what the thinks is best.

For the final quarter, I have suggested that he use the project I saw at the Barnabas Craft Book we bought last year. The project was a simple Pentecost Prayer book.

Coby learned about Pentecost this quarter for Bible. It was when the Holy Spirit came down to the apostles of Jesus and they began speaking in different tongues. After being filled with the Holy Spirit, the disciples were transformed spiritually. Best example was Peter who was Jesus’ friend yet denied him three times because he was afraid. But after Peter was filled with the Spirit of Jesus, he was no longer fearful but bold to share the gospel to others and do the task Jesus called them to do.

^{Matthew 28:19-20}

¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

I hope that Coby would use the Prayer book for his own quiet time. Because of the simplicity of the project, it was done in about 30 minutes. I thought it was merely a project for him. But then I was wrong. That afternoon I saw him alone in the living room writing something in his prayer book. I commended him for using the notebook for writing instead of tapping his fingers on the iPad or the computer. He asked if he can write anything and I told him that that’s his personal property and he can do with it whatever he wants. (Hoping he would be writing his thoughts about God, really???)

Of course, I couldn’t help myself, I asked him what he was writing. He said he put in some verses there. (Clap, clap for me haha) But then more than the verses, he was doing some creative writing. That night he even shared with me his writings about sharks and how one shark learns to become a predator. I thought it was cute and then he said that it was not yet complete and he had to write some more 🙂

What I thought would be an ordinary homeschool requirement enabled Coby to be serious with his quiet time and improve on his creative writing skills.  Talk about teachable moments 🙂

 

^{Deuteronomy 11:18-20}

¹⁸ Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ¹⁹ Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ²⁰ Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates, ²¹ so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.