An example: writing clarifies thought

Fro the first time in our home school career, we have fallen off the rails enough that we are having a hard time getting back on. You understand this is not the first time we've derailed! It's the getting back up that is the problem.

I know that ideas sustain, that true learning is hard and is done by the students as they interact with the ideas found in the great books, tell those ideas back in some way, think deeply. This is what we do. I know that to get outside is science that will not lead one astray even if the science pursued later becomes more specific and detailed. We have learned to see nature so that it is just a part of our life. We are in no way complete in this work. I just mean that we have done well.

And now, we are in the later of "do this later, when they are older". My children are all in high school and one is nearly finished.*  The habits we have laid down have depended on the starting point in our day. And this starting point seems elusive now. I'm floundering to understand what has happened....no, not true. I'm floundering because the habit has been blown apart and my feet are seeking the solid ground of a new habit. A new starting point.

Ah, this is what I need. Thank you, dear Words, for helping me see and understand. To know now the point that has me struggling will give me the momentum to start afresh. Please continue to listen and work this out with me.**



*Except we both know that she isn't really finished--she has much more she wants to learn before leaving home. She is just finding her feet in a sense. And the thought that she has ideas gives me encouragement that we have done the right thing through the years.

**perhaps you wanted to know how I think? Peek into this little window....

A regular Wednesday made special with sushi for dinner.

Socks

I have spent months working and reworking my first knitted sock ever. Finally I begin the second. Perhaps this one will go ahead with fewer mistakes and I can wear these before winter is over.

18 Years Ago

I was woken this morning by my dear Pieman wishing me a happy birthing day. Eighteen years ago I put in a long day's work for the best reward. 

It's been 18 years. How can such a long time be so short? My reward has been a treasure that I've always known I will send on its way "one day". While that day is not imminent it is closer somehow with this new number. 

She's no longer a child. But she's still a treasure. And she's still my baby. 

I'm so proud of BTG!

A couple years ago or more, my friend Nancy tagged me in a homeschool meme. At the time I was not able to get to it and have, if you're still paying attention, not written much at all. I don't blame you in the least for not paying attention to the blank screen here. But, today I will answer these questions.

1. One homeschooling book you have enjoyed -
      Charlotte Mason's 6 volume set but I got started on these way back when through For The Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay.

2. One resource you wouldn't be without -
      Again, Mason's 6 volumes. Also, my Mason community; so much inspiration comes from them.

3. One resource you wish you had never bought -
      Mapping the World by Heart. We just never used it and it was more expensive than it is now. It took me a while to sell since I kept thinking we'd try it 'next year'.

4. One resource you enjoyed last year -
      While I didn't make it last year, I try my hardest to attend the Charlotte Mason Institute conference, the Living Education Retreat, and (I did make this one) the L'HaRMaS retreat.

5. One resource you will be using next year -
      Definitely the Truth Quest History guides. Alongside our history readings we use Laurie Bestvater's Book of Centuries.

6. One resource you would like to buy -
      Just more living books. Just a couple more....

7. One resource you wish existed -
      A teleportation device. We do a lot of driving. My youngest keeps promising to make it so we better up the science work.

8. One homeschool catalog you enjoy reading -
      I don't read these really.

9. One homeschool website you use regularly -
      I really spend too much time as it is online...

10. Tag six other homeschoolers -
      So. It's taken me 4 years to answer this meme. If you want to do this, consider yourself tagged!

while it is still called today

Today is a gift.

I see it written on the wing of a Monarch butterfly; wrapped in a cigar roll leaf that holds a caterpillar cocoon; tucked into the pods of a touch-me-not and spotted along the back of the leopard frogs in the muddy pools.

Today is a gift.

I walk, I rejoice, I glory in the hot sun of a late September day after a cooler than usual summer.

Today I could shout it from the rooftops or dance it out in a newly mown field.

In the back of my mind is tomorrow.

One of these tomorrows will bring snow and icy blasts that make me fight with the door to open it. The drafts running down my back will remind me that my schoolhouse was built before insulation. My electric blanket and fleece pajamas will run overtime and hot drinks keep the kettle bubbling.

However,

Tomorrow will become today and through gritted, chattering teeth I will remind myself that today is a gift. It's harder to believe but I have chosen to insist on believing it. When that last shoe drops and getting out of bed seems pointless, my song becomes a prayer: "Oh Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the works thy hands have made...."

Each and every day is a gift.

No Daffodils Yet

It's winter today all over again as temperatures dropped yesterday and the rain turned into snow. Lots of snow and still snowing lightly. Unlike in December, my family is not overjoyed but we also know this is short lived.

With Good Friday and Easter Sunday approaching, I have a sense of anticipation that seems to go hand in hand with this year's longing for Spring. I am waiting differently than in previous years: patiently, daily, and somewhat cynically. Cynical of the impatience of others. It's unfair of me and I know it. I do not doubt that Spring will come as I know that Christ has risen, he has risen indeed. Others know this too and have not lost the excitement in that knowledge. My very bones wait for warmth and sun. It seems deeper than excitement.



*While you wait with me, perhaps you'd like to try out one of my Easter traditions? Paska is a sweet bread that harks back to Eastern Europe and my own Mennonite tradition. Here's a recipe similar to mine.