unschooling davening

More on the idea that if I want my kids to do something, instead of hocking them about it, I should focus on it myself.

I have been taking my own advice and been davening out loud since October.  I like to daven first thing or I get lost in the day and have a hard time getting back to it.  But some mornings I go to work (or have to get ready to go) before they are awake.  Some mornings they are watching videos or wearing headsets.  Some mornings they actively leave the house when I start davening.

Some mornings, it's just lovely.  I say birchas haTorah out loud, then kriyas shema with brachos out loud.  Then I move to my silent shemona esrei.  It takes about ten minutes, no big deal.  Hallel on hallel days. (I'm considering expanding my repertoire to baruch she'amar, ashrei, yishtabach, and aleinu, but "tafasta meruba lo tafasta," grab too much and you grab nothing, so I'm sticking with what I'm doing for now.)  Some mornings they are just quietly playing video games while I daven.  Some mornings they keep catching my eye and I smile at them, and they sing along different parts with me. 

So many times I felt there was not a lot of point in doing this in terms of them learning the tefila.  I felt there was value in them seeing me daven every day, there is value in me davening out loud, but does it help them learn it at all?  Especially with videos blaring at the same time?  But part of the magic of davening is that it is תדיר, it is frequent, and over the course of many, many, many, many apparently meaningless times, you get times with great value and meaning. 

I'm actually surprised that it has only taken four months and they sometimes sing along.  Elazar utterly surprised himself when he discovered he apparently knows a good bit of Shema with trope, all learned effortlessly because it was happening around him.

I remember when they were toddlers and babies, I felt bad that our homeschool didn't have "davening" to start the day.  Now I have the time and I'm glad.  And the boys?  Who knows.  They see their mother davening.