In the midst of doctor's appointments and worry about John, I was planning the new school year. I had a pretty good idea what would work well for Maddy and I knew it would be a good fit. I'll share about that later.
As I thought about Lilly, I wasn't quite sure what to do. She expressed a very strong desire to NOT be tied in with her younger siblings any longer, so planning for Continents and Cultures for her was out of the question. With so much going, I thought perhaps the best thing to do would be to just fall back on boxed curriculum. I looked over at Mother of Divine Grace and decided to use the 7th grade syllabus (even though Lilly is in 8th) and plan to definitely add in the extra reading assignments. I thought, perfect, its done, I don't have to worry, she'll just follow along in the syllabus and that's that. No tweaking, no planning, just trust someone else, there will be grace there.
Except.
Probably within a day of writing out the book list and preparing to start ordering, I hated it. I knew, I just knew, that not a single thing about that curriculum spoke to who Lilly is and the young woman she is becoming. I kept telling myself to get over it, she would deal with it. But I hated it and I knew she would too.
I knew Elizabeth and Jennifer had been working on plans for their daughters. When I first saw them, I sighed. I love Anne. Love her. I thought about using them with Lilly, but quickly dismissed the idea.
Lilly has a strong personality. She values toughness and strength. She is quick to speak her mind. And this coming year she will be really pushing her abilities in athletics. She has always loved playing basketball. I told her the other day, I knew the first season she played as a little fourth grader that it was true love. This summer she was able to attend a very good camp at a local University run by the women's basketball coach. It has inspired her to get better, play harder. She has big basketball dreams. With all this in mind, my first inclination was that those beautiful plans would seem all too feminine for her and she would resist. At the same time I wondered if they just might help strike the perfect balance...
3 comments:
I can't wait to read part two. My daughter is the same, but 5th grade and softball.
Well, I, too am waiting with bated breath. I loved the Anne plans, but my girlie---isn't so girlie! She's a 6th grader and all about swimming and battles (not with me, thankfully!--more LOTR, etc.)
Excited to see what you have up your sleeve.
Maria, I think Anne Shirley and Lilly Ashwell will get along quite well -- no shrinking violets here!
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