Wow, what a wonderful week we have had. On Monday we met with some other homeschool families at a local park to kick off a new group for our area. We had a great time and so did the kids. They laughed and played the whole time and their clothes and faces showed evidence of the good time they had. The most pleasant surprise of the day was seeing a friend that I had not seen since High School and finding out that she was homeschooling her two children. I am glad that we will be able to visit again with each other and catch up on some lost time.

I also got to see a new friend that is also a member of the Ron Paul group I am in and a participant on the WV Yahoo group that I spend much time posting on. Our children got to meet for the first time and the two of them really hit it off. They both like to play hard and have great imaginations, so they came up with some interesting scenerios to play out, all involving sticks and villans to fight off. This is childhood at it's BEST!!! When Caleb was in PS they did not have much time if any for outdoor playtime and then, OH MY, Heaven forbid, that they should brandish a STICK....for shame. But  I digress,,,,,,We got a  lot accomplished and are looking forward to our next meeting, and to seeing what kind of neat ideas that we will come up for things to do together. One of the members has a daughter that is a StoryTeller and has her own little business for this...NEAT. 

I started a little part time job this week at JoAnn Fabrics, the sewing bug has gotten hold of me. I haven't sewn for 20 years, but I suddenly feel the need to express myself with fabric. It is also a great place to get materials for all kinds of homeschool art projects, so I went to work there for the extra money to get all this stuff. My little business is still coming along well, but it gets a little slow this time of year. I am only working 15-20 hrs a week through the Christmas season. This will be a chance to make some more new friends, and some sewing buddies, too, I hope.

I have been on line most of the morning looking at other homeschool blogs and reading articles on Christian Unschooling. This has lead me to some authors that I must read: Terri J Brown's book: Christian Unschooling looks wonderful as well as the more secular author John Holt's books. We are learning that an hour or two at the table is about all that Caleb can take and that when he is on his own he is looking up things that are really interesting to him. He has a BUNCH of new books and loves to sit for hours reading them and asking us questions about the body, plants, chemistry, bugs, animals.....I am loving it!!! So I am looking into learning more about the idea of Unschooling (though I suspect this is what we have really been doing, anyway). I use our curriculum as a guide and study the manuals for hours, but if I would actually stand up and teach the lessons exactly as they suggest, Caleb would never learn anything. He learns fast, and the quicker I get to the point, the better. So I do not spend a lot of time theorizing and discussing the lessons...its "just the facts, mam, just the facts" as they used to say on the old Dragnet TV show. He seems to retain things better this way.

I am glad that I have this little blog to come to so that I can share our journey with other dedicated Home Ed families. This is a wonderful group of people and the Front Porch is one of my favorite places to hang out every day. I hope that your next week is as wonderful and eventful as my last week has been. Stop by and see us again soon,

Love in Christ,

Char