Posted in Schooling

Maybe not always so clean and well lit...  LOL  We are in our 8th year of homeschooling and I can honestly say I still don't have all the answers.  I am not sure I will ever have all the answers.  I merely know what works for my children and our family and that still has a tendency to change on occasion.  I am not sure what happened along the way but I stopped buying everything on the market to try and find what works.  We developed a philosophy along the way and we are moving comfortably into it this year.  It seems that after 8 years I might actually have hit my stride.  We are ready to go with only one book to purchase... period!  ONE BOOK!!!  It feels good. 

Along the way I stopped looking for books on parenting, too.  Oh, it is not because I have all the answers there either... remember, I have a teenager and a preteen in the house right now.  I think it is that I am looking in the Bible more instead of other sources.  There are some really great parenting books out there but I think we developed a philosophy there, too and I really only read stuff that supports that and most of it is on my bookshelf already with bent and folded pages and highlighting all over them.  When I read a book I really READ a book.  LOL 

I had a question about our summer schedule and I must say we have not had much of one this summer.  We took off sometime in June and stayed off of a regular schedule until this week when the planning started again.  I already have schedules and curriculum planning done.  It gets easier every year and it all goes into a little notebook with the year on it.  I also set up our school calendar to coincide with Dan's school calendar.  We already know when we have holidays and my personal calendar (which I have been keeping one for 24 years - It is my brain!!!) is loaded with Bible study, classes for college, scouting dates and piano lesson days as well as any other extra curricular activities I already know about.  My fall is already packed!!!  LOL  I laugh out loud a lot when I write about this stuff don't I?  I am so predictable and that makes me laugh.  I wrestled with this kind of planning for years and wondered if I was shutting the work of the Holy Spirit out and I must say that He shuts the whole calendar down whenever He has other plans just fine.  Much of the planning is done with a great deal of prayer anyway.  I have to do things that way or nothing gets done.  Now, if I could just figure out the housework thing I might have an organized existence. 

Anyway, we are back on track starting the 20th and then we go until Thanksgiving (an American Holiday the third Thursday of November) and then three weeks at Christmas.  If you have been reading for any length of time you probably already know that Autumn is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE time of year.  I love the clothes and the food and the weather and the flowers and and and...  EVERYTHING ABOUT IT. 

I always try to read a homeschooling book this time of year to get me spurred toward a new year.  This year it is Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit.  I believe Cheri was the reason I bought this one...  I must say I have NOT mastered that part of homeschooling.  People always tell me they could never homeschool because they don't have the patience.  I always tell them I did not start with that patience, it is developed over time and I am still working on it.  We are still working on mastering the Charlotte Mason methods, too.  I am still reading, ever so slowly, her series and, maybe, by the time my youngest graduates from college I will have finished them.  They are quite enjoyable, though.  I highly recommend them.

Here are some links to past homeschool post if you are interested in knowing more about what we do:

*   The Mommy Conference
                Part One
                Part Two
               
*   Switching gears and some curriculum recommendations

*   Homeschool Meme with lots of info

*   Lots of Resources
                Installment #1
                Installment #2
                Installment #3
                Installment #4

*   Before Charlotte Mason we studied the Moore Foundation philosophy and we have combined the two very nicely over the years.

Well that is a weekend full of reading right there.  This is the annual homeschooling post unless something of great importance happens I don't usually talk much about this here.  I figure we are all so different and individual that I don't need to post everything up, just the things that might be of some help to someone else on the path.  I always welcome questions and will answer them as soon as I am able. 

Thanks for reading!!! 

~Leann