I read I Thessalonians 4:11 this morning.

It sounds just like the main focus of our homeschool...particularly the focus we have adopted from Montessori.

"And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you."

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times:

"This is ________'s work. Go get some work for yourself." To the busybody.

"Please go find some work to do." To the aimless wanderer.

"I can hear you. Please use a quiet voice." To the yeller.

In all seriousness, these oh-so-important instructions cannot be taught only by my words. Is there a yeller in the house? I need to be an example of quiet speech (ouch) and be attentive to him so that he need not yell to get my attention. Wanderer? I need to be an example of diligence (ouch again) and make work available that piques his interest. Busybody? I need to let him do his own work without my interference, let him experience the thrill of figuring it out on his own, and then be insistent that he allow his brother the same thrill.

Like so many things, I can't pigeonhole this focus as "home" or "school" because it bleeds over into every aspect of everyone's life...even Mom's and Dad's.