sowingseeds

Growing Season-The number of days between the average date of the last killing frost in spring and the first killing frost in fall. Vegetables and certain plants require a minimum number of days to reach maturity, so be sure your growing season is long enough.

I was reminded of this idea through a couple of comments I heard today. We all know that our children do not all progress and mature at the exact same rate. Each one is unique and struggles with individual things, as well as possess their own personal strengths.

One homeschooling mom was somewhat lamenting the fact that if her child was in public school, he would be considered "behind" in a particular subject. She was feeling bad, both for herself and her son, when she realized the joy that she has found in the fact that he is progressing within his own "growing season". He is being allowed to move at a pace that is right for him, he is learning, he is comprehending and he is enjoying it. What could be better for a child's growth? Even if it does not fit perfectly into another's ideal time frame of maturity.

As parents we can be sure that we will watch our children progress at their own individual rate. We can take pride in his or her own special growing season. This time passes by all too quickly as it is. We need to be sure that we are allowing the child to grow and progress at a rate that will keep them out of the frost, but will also provide enough time to allow them to reach their own full potential. 

Pinching Back: Utilizing the thumb and forefinger to nip back the very tip of a branch or stem. Pinching promotes branching, and a bushier, fuller plant.

In essence, pinching back can be very similiar to pruning. In a way, though, it can be seen as less drastic than pruning, as you do not have to completely cut off the branch, but only nip it back a bit.

Pinching back is a process we can use in our kid's lives if they have not become very deeply involved with a bad habit. It could also be used to reinforce new habits if we see old, bad habits begin to re-emerge.

Pinching back could be actually nipping a habit in the bud, before it begins to develop and take root in our child's heart. Hopefully, pinching back will be a process a little less painful for both the parent and child than the pruning process.

Once we begin to see those bad habits pinched out of our child's life, we will likely begin to see new growth, new branching out, resulting in a fuller life for our child.

Pruning: The cutting and trimming of plants to remove dead or injured wood, or to control and direct the new growth of a plant.

When pruning a plant, we realize that it does no not cause any pain to the plant. The pruning process does no harm to the plant, and in fact will aid in its future growth. However, when it comes to our kids' lives,when the time comes for a bit of pruning, there can indeed be a little pain involved, even though we know that this process will indeed shape and enhance his/her future growth.

As we have seen, there can often be pests that infect our children. These can be any sort of outside influence that serve to stunt our children's growth, whether that growth be physical, emotional, mental or spiritual. When we begin to see the effects of these pests in our child's lives, we often do not like the results often displayed in our child's successive actions. As parents, we may then determine that some pruning is in order.

We may decide that our child must cut off either all or some contact with the outside influence that is stunting his/her growth. This can cause much friction at times between the parent and child, but the parent can keep in mind that this pruning process is a means to aid and direct the growth of the child.

When habits become manifest in our child's life, we may then see another opportunity to get out our pruning shears. This time, too, can be painful, as cutting bad habits out of one's lives can cause some distress. Once again, the parent will be reminded that this is a successful way to enhance the child's growth and development.

Although pruning may seem to be a troublesome way to aid in our children's growth, we can learn from the gardener that in the end it will result in a hearty, healthy plant.

Drawn: "Excessively tall and weak growth, caused by plants being grown in too little light or too closely together."

We can often see children who get lost in the crowd, who fall through the cracks. They may appear to have substanitial growth at first glance, but upon closer inspection, we can see that they in fact are drawn. Plants show their drawn situation by appearing excessively tall and weak. Though a child's stature is not an indication of his drawn nature, it is evident in other ways.

It seems as if weak would apply to the drawn child as well as a drawn plant. He may have a weak will, or he may have weak standards, or even weak ideas or a weak ability to follow through on those ideas.

This drawn state of course could be the result of any variety of factors, but in correlation with plant growth, I believe being given too little light or being grouped too closely together can really affect children, some more so than others.

Being given too little light could be seen as the child not having enough guidance in his/her life. Perhaps the parents are not able or willing to give the child the guidance s/he needs. Perhaps the child is left to himself to sink or swim. It is impossible for a child to do this without the light (guidance) s/he needs. The child may appear to have growth, but it could be found the child is actually weak due to the lack of "light" in his/her life.

Many children do not grow to their own full potential as a result of being lumped together from an early age and developing into the herd mentality. Although I am not sure it is good for any child, it really can weaken some children's growth. Crowding them together in childcare where it is possible for their individuality to get overlooked could possibly stunt some growth in a child. Herding them together, saying that what is right for every child every step of the way throughout their school years can really weaken some kid's growth, causing them to be unable to reach the potential they might otherwise have attained.

The drawn state could of course be the result of many things, two of which have been touched on here. Of course, children, like plants, need plenty of light and room to stretch their roots for proper, healthy growth.