Friday, April 29, 2011

Knitting, Education & the Fabric of My Kids Souls

Yesterday the kids and I sat around the computer and listened to David Wilkerson's A Call to Anguish. By the end of the 7 minutes there was a palpable silence in the room.  I asked the kids what they felt anguish for. Their answers did not surprise me but the depth of their feeling did. Not because my kids don't feel deeply, but because the things they anguish over are God sized things, not 8 and 11 and 16 and 20 year old things.

We'd finished reading Joshua the day before and I asked them what they wanted to read from the Bible next. Feeche suggested Nehemiah, based on the sermon. We sat outside around the fire pit, roasted gargantuan marshmallows and read and talked and applied what we were reading. It was a time of sweet, and, thanks to the gargantuan marshmallows, sticky, fellowship.

My husband is reading Our Father Abrahamand I picked it up and read a section in the back on education:

"In comparison with other cultures, Jewish education was meant to be education with a difference.the quintessence of Jewish education: "the ideal of holiness, of separation from all other peoples in order to belong to God." In contrast, the Greek world did not understand education to be tied to holiness of life....The aim of the Jewish teacher was not so much to develop certain intellectual or practical faculties in his disciple but rather to summon his learner to submit to the authority of the divine message of the Scripture upon which he was commenting. Here the Jew's whole personality is involved; to be called for radical obedience to that higher divine reality outside oneself. To sum up this point, we may state the contrast no clearer than this: "The Greeks learned in order to comprehend. The Hebrews learned in order to revere."
(pg.289-291)


I thrill to these words. They make my heart sing. I resonate with these words like I do when I read anything by Chiam Potok. Potok describes an education that encompasses the whole person. It is not compartmentalized learning that divides science from faith, faith from action or self from God. It is learning that pushes and grows and demands exertion and maturity, struggle and firm foundations.

I think about education a lot. It's what I do. It's what I do even though nobody pays me (though if you want to send me money, I'd be happy to give you my paypal account #). And I have a clear goal for the educating that I do. My goal is to knit in to my kids a culture that is based on something bigger than themselves, their family, place of birth, their own goals or dreams. I want them to get the principals of God's culture; mercy, justice, humility, work, love, joy, belief, heaven, hell, salvation, eternity. To be trained and challenged to revere.

I do not sound hip or postmodern or tolerant or accepting of other's beliefs systems, I know. Sometimes I surprise myself with how pedantic and rigid I sound. But the noises that I emit are born out of belief system based on the person called Truth. It's not something I've made up, it's someOne I try to live up to.

So, listening to an old time gospel preaching like David Wilkerson crying over the church today and talking in hushed tones about the anguish of our hearts, reading the Bible outloud and discussing with each other at odd times of the day is all part of our homeschool. Because our homeschooling is about creating a hunger for deep things, a call to worship and reverence and a hope for reality that transcends a subject area or skill set.

Our home school is about knitting into the very fabric of our children's beings a reality that they'll love, that they never want to be apart from, that they are not ashamed of, that they bind their hearts, minds and souls too.  I love it when we have moments like we did this week. The kids quiet and contemplative, thoughtful and reverent, broken by deep things, compelled by compassion. seeking answers, prayerfully considering. It's like the joy of knitting home spun wool in a lovely color. Creating something amazing and beautiful and lasting.

Find more inspiration at Pebble Crossing & Legacy of Home

Thursday, April 28, 2011

LotsaThoughts

A Call to Anguish,  by Pastor David Wilkerson,  mighty man of God. He will be missed this side of eternity!



The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America. This is a very reactionary film, if I say so myself, even though I agree with a lot of the facts. What do you think?




READING
Grooming the Next Generation for Success by Dani Johnson. A must read for anyone wanting to parent with intention. I'll be doing a longer review soon. I highly recommend it.

The Book of Joshua, in  the Bible. If you want a non threatening forum for  talking with your kids about anything and everything, read the Bible out loud to them!
If you are looking for a good flick we LOVE the movie Joshua and the books by Father Girzone were very much worth reading, too.

Completed
ETC 8 and Flower is done with all phonics instruction.It's kinda weird, teaching my last kid to read. It's one of the greatest joys of parenting and homeschooling, imho; giving one's child the gift of reading. You open their eyes to the world!
And if you are looking for an excellent, inexpensive phonics program, I will, forever and always, recommend
AlphaPhonics in conjunction with ETC.
Writing TalesII
Health 6
Sea to Shining Sea- American History
IEW American Lit
Minute Math 3
Co-op ends this week. It's been a great semester. I'm glad it's about over! It's been a blast but I'm ready for a lighter schedule!
I  planned summer school and started planning coursework for fall. Feeling pretty organized! I still don't have history planned. I am still throwing around TOG. Someone convince me, or throw out something else! I want to do history with all 3 of my kids, grammar, dialectic and rhetoric stages. I want to be doing history together again!
And I did decide on Singapore with LoF thrown in. The Story  Problems are fantastic. And I want to get Problemoids.
My list is long, and not inexpensive!

Gardening!
We put in lettuce and spinach and finally have seedlings coming up! It's supposed to get up to the high 60's this week-end! We might put away our socks and sweaters here yet!

Writing
I'd love it if you took a minute to read my post on Train up Your Child to Grow Spiritually and leave a comment on Heart of the Matter on- line. And I'll be posting on Saturday at HSV on Taming Curriculum Addiction. Any ideas or burning questions you have for my regular "how to" column? Lmk!

For You
Don't forget to sign up, if you haven't already, for a chance to win The Artist Within program and book!
And if you need prayer, comment here.

Link up at Conversion Dairies; Home is Where You Start From The Homeschool Chick

The Artist Within Program/Book Give Away and Author Interview

It's time for Part III of my interview with artist, author and creativity coach, Whitney Ferrere. When you are done reading, sign up to win    
one FREE Meet the Artist Within Program
(this is a $75 value that includes a copy of her book, The Artist Within)

but everyone who signs up will automatically receive a free ebook. How cool is that?

This is part three of my interview with author, creativity guru and artist, Whitney Ferrere. Enjoy!

How easy would it be to incorporate "creativity/art" training in our homeschool program and how will it benefit the homeschool student /mom and other classes.
Here is the beautiful part about my approach, at Creatively Fit, to creativity training. JUST DO IT! Honestly, our mind responds just like a muscle, so the more you do it, the better and stronger it gets. FIRST STEP for you: keep blank paper and markers, etc. in the kitchen. STEP TWO (for older kids): keep how to draw books around. As they get older, kids want to draw things more realistically. Provide them with the tools they need. THREE: Give each kid a sketch book. When they are bored, upset, in a tizzy, or needing an idea let them draw or make a collage from old magazines.
When my fifth grader and I study history, we always draw something from the chapter. When she is preparing for a writing paper, she writes ideas and looks for pictures to go along with her ideas.
Kids learn so many different ways. Attaching the visual element adds another way. I am sure many of you do this already. A HUGE part of this is simply to set the INTENTION to encourage your child’s creativity BECAUSE you know they are, in the process, learning invaluable life skills.
I have written a whole book about this, 33 Things to Know About Raising Creative Kids is available on my site at http://www.creativelyfit.com/ and, really, my other book, The Artist Within, is the perfect companion because it has even more activities, Creativity Workouts, that kids will love!

Thanks, Whitney!
Stop back next Thursday for the next and final installment of our interview and your last chance to sign up to win!!

 In order to qualify for the give away follow this blog and leave a comment, and join the Creatively Fit newsletter at http://www.creativelyfit.com/ (where you will all receive a FREE eBook about how to get into right brain thinking).


Giveaway Day

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Striving, Blogging, Praying

True Confessions
When I do something I really do it.
 If I'm gonna have kids, I'm gonna have a bunch of kids.
If I'm gonna read, I'm gonna read a.lot.
Homeschool? For decades.
What's the good of one degree if you can have more?
You get the idea.
Some people might call that OCD. I prefer to think of myself as... passionate.

So, I figured, if I'm gonna blog, I'm gonna really blog. And I started getting stressed out cause it seemed like others (you know, the 18 million "others" in bloggerville), had more followers, more comments, a better page, or whatever. I was still committed to blogging but I started striving. Striving for what I don't even know. Just something....else.

So, I made a decision. Every time I started worrying about this blog, what it was or wasn't, I was going to pray for the people reading it. So I've been praying for you.
Praying that you are blessed, encouraged, built up, challenged, inspired.
 Praying that your day is full of joy, that you are content, that God's  love envelops you.
Praying that you are at peace.

My friend Mae (you are such a trouble maker, Mae!) shared an idea that she saw on another blog (which I can't find) and I want to share with you.

It's this.
 Leave your prayer request as a comment and I'll pray for you specifically.
When you leave your comment, spend a minute in prayer for the person who commented ahead of you.

You should know that I don't enter in to this lightly. I do not tell people I'll pray for them unless I do.
You should also know that I do not beleive in my ability to pray. I believe in the ability of the One I pray to; the One True Living God.

So, if you ask for prayer, know that I believe that God loves you, that He has a perfect plan for your life and that it is His good pleasure to hear and respond to the prayers of His people. The outcome of prayer is not my problem. But I know that I know that there will be an outcome to our praying. Just saying ; )I figured if I'm gonna pray, I'm gonna pray.for you. specifically.

That's it.
Ready? Let's go.

Find more inspiration at Legacy of Home

Perspective

photo courtesy of KB
And my photo of Flower, My Baby's DeLightful, was 1 of 2 winners in Jenny's weekly photo challenge at Home is Where You Start From.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Legacy Cont.

My friend Mae, (the crazy for God one) and I were talking earlier today about the definition of success.  Mae has some challenges in life, one small one being a 3 year old very special needs daughter. They adopted her from Haiti and if she wasn't living in their house, there is no doubt that she'd be dead. This adoption has cost her entire family in terms of money, energy, sleep and probably years off of their lives, though they embrace her as their own. Yet Mae wonders, as do I, if what we, as homeschooling, stay at home moms,  are investing in is "worth it," i.e. generating success. When I look at this child in her arms, very much alive,  I think,  "Yes!"

Maybe you are different than Mae and I and never wonder if what you are investing in is "worth it," generating "success," creating a "legacy."

Honestly, I want my kids to succeed.  But then we come back to defining success. In my more shallow (though Mae says, "not shallow, worldly") moments I define success simply as making money. Having the American Dream; choices, wealth, freedom. But then I read a book like "Daughter of China" and I think that in light of others who will risk torture and death for the name of Jesus, that's much too narrow of a definition. It might not be good enough at all.

And I consider family members whose lives are already completed and consider what they were successful at, or not. Some leave behind a legacy of self;  their lives having been determined by individualism. Others leave behind a legacy of giving at costs that were great to them.

Homeschooling is part of the legacy I'm leaving my kids. Some days I do it very well. Some days I fail. Some days academics reign and some days, like yesterday, we work on character issues and read aloud and discuss the Bible for hours at a time. It's a time of great fellowship and sharing, growing together and strengthening each other in the Lord. And I think, how many families do that? This one does. Our kids think that's normal. It's part of the legacy my husband and I are knitting into the fabric of our kids and our family and we trust that it will be a strong thread that lasts far beyond our selves.

What legacies are you creating?

Shared at WFMW

Legacy

I've been thinking about legacy a lot this year. The legacy that my sister left was... funny; she was bossy, naggy, crabby and everybody knew it.  She suffered with MS for a long time; it changed her personality and what she was capable of doing but she left a legacy that shines brightly behind her. She poured into others and they responded to that, despite the bossy, naggy, crabby aspect. 1000 people showed up for her wake, 300 for her funeral, her childhood sweetheart called her "the love of my life," her 3 children are beautiful and accomplished and generous people of substance. Her funeral was sweet and hopeful; a happy ending.

I've struggled a lot since my Dad died in November. The legacy that he left me and my sister and his grand kids was complicated. He loved me and I loved him; definitely. He offered me much in life, but it seemed to be given in obligation. Gifts given were often dismissed.  These were just symptoms of philosophical and world view differences that made connection of the heart almost impossible. My Dad's funeral was an excellent representation of how the relationship went. Awkward and out of place, with others standing closer in.

I've been in a fog this past year and a half; a fire and the loss of 2 close family members within 13 months will do that, and I feel like my head is just clearing. I see attitudes and behaviors in my own kids that I've let go that need amended. Frustrations and strife in myself that just tears me up from the inside out that I need to place on the alter at the Lord's feet and leave there. The disappointments and hurts, rejections and strivings are too much for me and I am weighed down by the burden of it all.

The reality is, I can't focus well on legacy- what's ahead- until I've forgiven and made peace with the past. I can't focus well on legacy until I steward well what needs attended to in the present. I have a vision for the legacy that I hope to gift to those I come in contact with but I've been distracted by deaths and old business; hopes and dreams that were thwarted by death.

I'm planning for what's ahead even as I put to rest the things that are behind me. Preparing the soil. And picking out weeds as I go.

Monday, April 25, 2011

My Baby's DeLightful

Easter morning JOY
My blogger buddy Jenny hosts a photo challenge every week. This week the theme is "light."

This photo has some natural light, of course, but the true light is our beautiful girl, who lights up our life with her charismatic personality. You can find her singing and humming day and night, handing out hugs and generally being delightful.

Find more terrific pics at Home is Where You Start From

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Hospitality in our Home

With the brief exception of a 15 month stint during a military assignment, my husband, kids and I have always lived hundreds of miles, and hours away, from extended family.So, we've refined the fine art of being hospitable towards each other; and inviting others who don't have family close by. Our African brother and a couple of empty nesters will come over later for dinner and  croquet.  We've tried to create meaningful holidays with our kids; days that are celebratory and full of fun!
Hospitality offered to the others in our home.  


 Easter baskets are full of food for the soul. And lots of chocolate : )


 Cub loved the devotional book and the Klutz astronomy kit KB picked out for him!

A mid-morning walk to the river that borders our property, enjoying the beauty of the day after an exceptionally long and cold winter, the birds singing, the sun warm; spring beauty!

Coloring Eggs!

 The Hunt!
 Croquet!
Symbols and traditions that nourish the soul,

and the body.

On the menu this evening:
brats and hot dogs,
fresh grilled asparagus
deviled eggs
potato salad
cole slaw
chips
lemonade
&
banana cream pie.
Yum! 

Wish you were here to enjoy it with us!
Praying that you had a blessed day celebrating the resurrection of our Lord!

What are your favorite holiday celebrations?

He Stands in Victory!




Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
 Alleluia!

People rejoice, nations hear:
Christ is risen, and brings the joy!
Stars dance, mountains sing:
Christ is risen, and brings the joy!
Forests murmur, winds hum:
Christ is risen, and brings the joy!
Seas bow, animals roar:
Christ is risen, and brings the joy!
Bees swarm, and the birds sing:
Christ is risen, and brings the joy!

Angels stand, triple the song:
Christ is risen, and brings the joy!
Sky humble yourself, and elevate the earth:
Christ is risen, and brings the joy!
Bells chime, and tell to all:
Christ is risen, and brings the joy!
Glory to You God, everything is possible to You,
Christ is risen, and brings the joy!

(A  Serbean Paschal song)

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Of Love More Deep




Easter Even
Christina Rossetti

The tempest over and gone, the calm begun, 
Lo, “it is finished” and the Strong Man sleeps: 
All stars keep vigil watching for the sun, 
The moon her vigil keeps.

A garden full of silence and of dew 
Beside a virgin cave and entrance stone: 
Surely a garden full of Angels too, 
Wondering, on watch, alone.

They who cry “Holy, Holy, Holy,” still 
Veiling their faces round God's Throne above, 
May well keep vigil on this heavenly hill 
And cry their cry of love,

Adoring God in His new mystery 
Of Love more deep than hell, more strong than death; 
Until the day break and the shadows flee, 
The Shaking and the Breath.

Friday, April 22, 2011

The Victor!






"With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion who stood there in front of Jesus heard his cry and saw how he died, he said "Surely this man was the Son of God!" Mark 15:37-39




Spring Break

INSPIRATION
Good Friday.
A time of sober reflection, remembrance, wonder at our own ability to remain true in dire circumstances.
My friend Ana shares this excerpt (Nocturn II, Breviarium Romanum (1962),He was hungry for their salvation, and said : Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
Amen

Seder meal. Lovely and meaningful.
Walked to the river and through our  fields Wednesday, taking pictures and praying. The day  warmer and sunny and the birds singing a spring symphony. It was just the boys and I at home and the day felt uncluttered and lazy. Our road is flooded and the banks eroded, the water rushing past. I walked, and rejoiced in walking, my leg bending the way it's supposed to and felt free and happy and carefree, snapping pictures of the barn and wild asparagus and beaver felled trees.

WORDSMITHERY
Wrote words and more words. Check out my regular Saturday Special at HSV.  I'll also have an article at  Heart of the Matter On Line. I'm a monthly contributor and my article, "Train Up Your Child Spiritually" will be posted on the 28th.

DECORATING
Made grapevine wreaths from the varmint pruned branches. What do you think? I am going to hang them on our old 8-paned windows as a wall deco.  And I scored a medicine cabinet at the REStore that is square and chunky and black with a beautiful mirror for the off the kitchen bathroom. It will give me great joy to get all of our toiletries off the counter! Spray painted candlesticks that were rugged, rusted metal and turned them into cool, sleek, black elegance.

DROOLED
Rivendall Sanctuary. It costs an arm and 2 legs, but it looks like a blast.


ORGANIZED
Re-did my blog links. Check it out on the right hand side bar. If I left you off, lmk! I have great plans to link up my book reviews, too. Time, though, it fleets and flies.
Did little school even though we are just 1 lesson away from completion in several areas. The kids read alot, both enthralled with thier grade level of "What Your Child Needs to Know", played oustide, helped me clean and cook. We listened to music and partied. Guess I'll count this week as spring break. Thanks for the cookies, Mae, and the laughs this week. Flower wants to know why we can't all just live together!

PLANNED, SHOPPED & COOKED
Baked Bread, Portuguese sweet bread, braided and ready for feasting on.
Planned 2 brunches and a cook-out, an egg hunt and baskets. Found some delightful devotional books for the notsolittles baskets and Bonhoffer for the Man Cub. We'll be decorating eggs this afternoon, cooking and baking some more. Flower's favorite desert (thanks to Thanksgiving at Uncle Dean & Brenda's) is banana cream pie. So simple and perfect. A pink Hyacinth for the centerpiece and the smell makes us giddy with the longing for spring!


P.S.'s
Don't forget to sign up for The Artist Within give-away.

And, if you like what you read here, could you please vote for me by clicking the Circle of Mom's pink button on the top right side bar. I think Golden Grasses is on the 2nd page. I'd be obliged.

Past Lives


Photobucket


/>

The Homeschool Mother's Journal




Thursday, April 21, 2011

The Artist Within Program/ Book Give Away & Author Interview

It's time for Part II of my interview with artist, author and creativity coach, Whitney Ferrere. When you are done reading, sign up to win    
one FREE Meet the Artist Within Program
(this is a $75 value that includes a copy of her book, The Artist Within)

Everyone who signs up will automatically receive a free ebook. How cool is that?

This is a 4 part interview that I'll post installments of each Thursday. The winner of the program/ book will be announced after the 4th interview installment on Thursday, May 6th. Enjoy reading and don't forget to stop back each Thursday to read more!
.
Whitney, how important is it for us to teach/train our kids to "be" creative?

It is so tremendously important right now—now more than ever. Have you read the Newsweek article, “The Creativity Crisis”? Google it right away if you haven’t. It is full of all the reasons why creativity is such an important skill for the future (including the IBM poll that named it the #1 Leadership Skill for the future).
What has happened is that we have put creativity in a box. OR, imagine an iceberg. We all know that we can only see the very tip, such a small % of the whole, from the surface. That is how creativity has been in our culture for so long. The only part of it we chose to see is the crafty, great-for-kids and the “Martha Stewart’s” of the world, but not necessary.
Our sense of HOPE is directly tied to our confidence in our ability to CREATE change. The opposite is the victim mentality. We want our kids to be filled with hope about their lives and to know that it is, ultimately, their responsibility to CREATE the life they desire. This is where traditional school lets us down, and where, as homeschoolers, we have such opportunity. The real world is not at all like “School”. The real world doesn’t assign you a schedule, that if you complete will result in rent, benefits, happiness, etc. Our kids will have to create their life from the ground up.
For example, when I taught clay to K-2nd graders (maybe 3rd and 4th too) they would have a blast! When it got to junior high, the kids would start the clay project and then I would find them just sitting there. “What is up?” I would ask. “IT isn’t working.” BIG shift from the younger kids. I explained that IT did not do anything unless we did. So, is it too fat, too tall, too thin? What don’t you like and how can we change it? Just like life. IT doesn’t do anything automatically, WE are the artists of our life. This is the connection you make with creativity education with your kids.


Thanks, Whitney!
Stop back next Thursday for the next installment!

 In order to qualify for the give away follow this blog and leave a comment, and join the Creatively Fit newsletter at http://www.creativelyfit.com/ (where you will all receive a FREE eBook about how to get into right brain thinking).

Giveaway Day

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Yet Another Reason to LOVE Homeschooling

No arbitrary age/gender segregation.

Exhibit A:


My friend Jannell snapped this picture at our weekly after co-op get together. S baby #9 was snoozing on her blankie, woke up and was cooing for attention. Big Bro and friends got down on the floor with beautiful baby and surrounded her with LOVE.

You tell me homeschoolers aren't socialized and I'll tell you that they just aren't socialized to be average joes. I love that.

What's one of your favorite reasons for homeschooling?


Tuesday, April 19, 2011

It's Carnival Time!

If you are looking for a few good blogs on classical education, homeschooling and creating a home, check out these carnivals.
Ritsumi hosts the Classical Homeschool Carnival

Small World at Home is hosting the Carnival of Homeschooling this week.

Both have links to fantastic posts on homeschooling, method, curriculum, home management. Etc.
And don't forget to check out yesterdays Legacy of Home carnival, hosted by Mrs. White

Happy Reading!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Living Memory



This is an excellent, short video on the importance of the Seder and the DEEP and PROFOUND meaning of
Passover.

More than that it is an excellent apologetic for Days of Celebration, Ritual and Remembrance.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Pasch

We've been preparing for Pasch (Passover) by participating in a Bible Study on Exodus 1 thru 14.
Tomorrow we'll be fellowshipping with Rebe Nate and sharing a Seder meal with friends from church.
 On the menu:


  Matzo Ball Soup (pictured is the soup sans matzo balls).  I was a bit dubious becausee the recipe called for parsnips and zucchini but it is delicious, even without the matzo balls.


Our traditional spring salad. It is as healthy and wonderful as it looks. Even though there is snow on the ground, we believe that it must be spring somewhere else in the world because strawberries are everywhere and on sale.


Fresh fennel. The smell (star anise) is divine. The salad dressing (Orange fennel vinaigrette) also calls for fresh thyme (which I have growing in the dining room). The ingredients for the vinaigrette are incredibly aromatic.



Chopped fennel bulb, fronds and shallots. Mmmmm.


Ready for fresh spring greens.

We'll also be whipping up a chocolate truffle pie before this evening.

Next week we'll be celebrating Resurrection Sunday (the more we study the less comfortable we are with callling the Holiday Easter). We'll still decorate eggs, have baskets for the notsolittles, and have our annual logic test egg hunt. In reality it won't be much different from how we normally celebrate Easter with the obvious difference that we recognize the power and value of naming things well and accurately.

While Passover and Easter are completely different celebrations they both represent God's grace. His angel of death passed over the believers of Israel during Passover, and His angel of death will pass over all who believe in the resurrected Son of the Living God,

Yeshua Ha'Mashiach

Shabbot Shalom!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

7 Habits of Highly Effective Homeschoolers

1. Have a vision. Why do you do what you do? Proactive visions are easier to stick by than reactionary visions. Start with the end in mind. What kind of person socially, emotionally, physically, intellectually do you want to be interacting with at the end of your homeschooling endeavor?

2. Gather your stuff. Educational supplies like blackboards and whiteboards, pencils, paper, books, CD's, scissors and curriculum. It can be complicated and expensive or simple and free. Be intentional. Serve up feast instead of famine food.

3. Use your stuff. If you don't use the stuff you've gathered it goes from being educational supplies to junk. Plan your work and work your plan.  Having self discipline is essential.  Having a yearly, weekly, daily, seasonal schedule is helpful.

4. Laugh out Loud. Don't take everything so seriously. Work your plan and then give it time to take hold.  Life is serious stuff, keep laughing at the little things, with each other, at yourself.

5. Read voraciously. I mean you, as the teacher. Keep learning and growing. Read to your kids, outloud and for hours.  Require them to read, every day. Have them read words that stir their soul.

6. Converse about everything. Your vision, hopes, dreams, what you are reading, your faith, sex, politics, money, the state of the union, your love story, God's love story.

7. Share your faith.   How does your faith affect you, change you, grow you, challenge you, comfort you, invigorate you.  How do you live it? Live it. Include your kids.

Friday, April 15, 2011

A Literary Week; Complete with Drizzle and Blessings

Read
The Artist Within. Check out the GREAT give away and author interview that Whitney Ferre has so generously contributed and sign up to win a FREE program!
The Simarillon Feeche has been reading this to Cub every evening. Love that.
Shipwrecked Part of the Story of the World IV Activity Guide. Excellent read.
The Littles We are quickly making our way through the series. Flower has been reading chapters on her own
I Can't Remember Anything Nora is funny. My review here.
Love & Respect Good stuff.

Watched
Tangled. Actually funny. Went to the Red Box to rent Waiting For Superman but they didn't have it. I'm 73 on the library queue. Not sure if I have the patience to wait that long. Tangled was a good replacement. Watched it with the fam, eating popcorn and cracking jokes the whole time. Fun times.
Salt.  Transgendered Bourne. I like Bourne better though I've been a fan of  Liev Schreiber since Kate & Leopold.
Friendly Persuasion An old Disney movie about the Civil War.

Educated
Cub is well into Singapore story problems Grade . Ran in to a problem I didnt' get even looking at the answer key. It's challenging stuff. Excellent math, logic and thinking skills.
Found a partially used Horizons 4 math book I'm filling in with Flower. She is nailing place value and division.
Writing With Ease with Flower and Friends. Dictation is work for them but I so see the benefits with Cub.
Story of the World IV. The hours and hours of listening to SOTW CD's are serving the kids well. I love the outlining included.
Battle of the Light Brigade this week. In Section II of IEW's Linguistic Devleopment Through Poetry Memorization and one of the notsolittles fav poems. It's a great narrative.
Cub is one lesson away from finishing his writing program. It has been excellent. A paper a week. It's challenged him but he has grown tremendously.
Feeche wrote another paper, ordered his last books from the library Flannery O'Conner's Everything that Rises Must Converge, A Good Man is Hard to Find andBarn Burning. He's been having a blast working on Oral Interp as well as MacBeth for Shakespeare.
 The kids thrill to our co ops Music program each week. The songs are excellent, "Always Friends," "Kyrie," and so many other beautiful, soul stirring, uplifting words and music. They sing throughout the week and when one starts a song, the others will join in. Our Friday mornings are so rich. The music alone is worth it, but we also get the added bonuses of art, unit studies, friendship. Worth every. single.penny and the hour long drive.


Reconsidered our weekly grocery budget in light of this
www.newsmax.com

Scored
Milk for only $3 a gallon. It's almost a toss up: A gallon of milk or a gallon of gas. They are both pushing 4 bucks a gallon. How much where you live?

Discussed Colloquialims
Ya'll, All Ya'll, Youse and Yurn. And borrowed you that. How do ya'll talk?

Spring Taunts Us
Had a couple of lovely spring days. One of which I sat at a park with my beautiful inside and out,refined by fire, solid gold friend, Ann. Later that day had the pleasure of hanging out with joyful.,beautiful inside and out, God crazy Mae. Talked with my beautiful insdie and out dear friend Myrna on the phone who continues to testify to God's glory and goodness despite challenges and trials. God continues to churn up and heal past stuff. Winter has taken a long time this year. I'm ready for spring in my own head and in our corner of the world. Thank God for good friends, husbands and children that love and laugh and accept me where I'm at. I am blessed.
 Turned the heat back on and pulled on sweaters and socks . A winter storm warning for the western part of the state complete with snow. Wind, rain and just barely above freezing temps. Spring, where art thou?

 Link up with Jen or WUH