Some of you may remember that Cassie (DD16) wants to be an interpreter for the deaf when she grows up.  With this in mind, I've really been trying to connect her with anything and everything I can to help her explore this interest.  We've signed up for an online signing class, and we've toured the Mississippi School for the Deaf.   (We're still waiting for word on whether we can volunteer there or not.)  It seems like God is in on this whole thing too as He's made an interesting arrangement of His own.  The mother of one of our friends is deaf.  (I'll call the mom "L".)  Because  our friend recently had surgery, his mother has come to stay a few weeks.  Last Sunday she taught Cassie some ASL (American Sign Language) signs for "Amazing Grace".  Today "L", her daughter-in-law "C". and "C's" mom "D", came over for cake and coffee. (I've decided I still like the occassional tea-party even though I'm 43.)  While my girls and I didn't get much done in the way of "book learning" today, we all had wonderful lessons in hospitality, cake baking, and ASL. Since none of us is fluent in ASL, it made for interesting conversation to use what we knew, plus lots of finger spelling and even paper and pen to communicate.  Not only did we learn a lot, we had fun doing it.  And we called it school!

      NASA had a display trailer set up outside the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science for three days this week.  Since Candace is studying space, I thought it would make for a good field trip.  I’ll confess I was a little disappointed (which is what happens when one’s expectations fall short of reality) in the space exhibit.  The really cool interactive floor wasn’t working and there really weren’t that many interesting things to see. L  We did have our pictures made in space suits and received a free pencil.  (Well, actually, our pictures were superimposed on a picture of a space suit.  Does that count?)

All was not lost, though, as we decided to go into the museum itself and have a look around.  Their newest exhibit is Hunters of the Sky.  It has to be their coolest exhibit ever.  Though all of them were stuffed, there were many very cool looking owls, several eagles, assorted other raptors, and even a California Condor.  We saw owl pellets, whole and dissected, real x-rays of wounded birds, and an eagle’s nest. There were several interactive stations such as viewing various feather types under a microscope, experimenting with air currents, and trying to identify different raptors.  Unfortunately my girls weren’t quite as eager to read the wealth of information as I was, but I’m sure they learned a lot anyway.

To me, the coolest thing was the eagle’s nest diorama.  It was huge!  I can’t imagine seeing such a site in real life.  I’m sure it would take my breath away. I had wondered where they got the birds since I know the museum staff didn’t go out and kill all these birds just to show them to us.  One of the plaques said that the baby eagles in the display had been killed in a storm.

Since Candace and I had been reading about owls, it was really neat to see all the different owls right there.  And that California Condor! O, my goodness, if I ever saw one of those flying over I’d think the dinosaurs were back.  That thing is huge.  It is sad to note that the one on display had died from drinking anti-freeze.  How tragic!

We pretty much had the place to ourselves which was nice.  Though we didn’t spend the entire day there, it was really cool.  I’m so glad we went.  I hope I can go again before it leaves December 30th.

When Cassie (16) discussed ending her public high school experience after 1.5 years, her one question was, "Can I learn sign language if I come back home?"  ASL (American Sign Language) has always facinated this daughter of mine, so I readily agreed. After much searching, Cassie actually found her own materials, an online course she discovered.  After checking it out I agreed to give it a try.  Three weeks into it and she loves it!  (You can check it out for yourself by clicking here.)  Truly, one of the great advantages to home education is that children can persue their interests.

Not only is Cassie interested in learning ASL, but she dreams of working with the deaf one day, perhaps as an interpreter.  With that in mind we (Cassie, Candace dd12, a friend, and I) took a tour of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and Blind today.  What a treat! Not only is the MSDB a beautiful facility and campus, but our tour guide was more than eager to show us around, answer any questions, and introduce us to people.  We popped into the end of a basketball practice, a science class, a preschool class, and a second grade class.  We talked with teachers who were hearing and some who were also deaf.  One teacher who works with blind students showed us how a braille typewriter works!  (How cool!)  One teacher mentioned having Cassie come help her with her class sometime, and a director gave the kids forms to fill out in order to be able to volunteer.  Cassie was even able to use some of the signs she's recently learned! 

This homeschool mom's heart was breathless with joy to hear Cassie, Candace, and M. talk about how interesting the tour was and how excited they'd be to volunteer.   I thought to myself, they've learned more today  on this field trip than they would have in a week of public school.  Their lives may be forever changed by this encounter in a real and positive way.  What a joy to watch your child really persue something that truly interests her (him)!  Cassie may never learn the periodic table; and if she does she'll probably forget it the next year.  But she will never forget this day and our trip to the Mississippi School for the Deaf and blind.

That's what homeschooling is all about!

God is good. 

Period. 

He blessed me Friday. 

I briefly think to myself, “Oh, I must have done something good to receive such a blessing.”  That thought quickly passes as I realize I’ve done nothing special or good; the day was a just-because-I-love-you gift (a.k.a. Grace-gift) from my Heavenly Father. 

The day started as planned.  DD15, DD12, two friends and I headed to the Mississippi Museum of Art to view editorial cartoonist Marshall Ramsey’s exhibit. We had a lot of fun enjoying the cartoons we understood and trying to decipher the ones we didn’t.

Our next planned stop was to the Memorial to the Missing located near the Baptist Building in Jackson. 

 We were all impressed with the number of pennies it contained.  It truly is mind boggling when you think that each penny represents a baby lost to abortion. 

Michael ceremoniously put in the only penny we had with us. 

Now, our plan was to continue on to the LeFeur’s Bluff State Park for a picnic, but we detoured to an interesting cannon sitting near the Mississippi Capitol Building.  Cassie thought it would be a great spot for a picture.  And so it was, along with dozens of other cool places on the capital grounds. 

There was the replica of the Liberty Bell,

the front steps of the capitol building,

the pillars and ledges around the capitol building,

the cannon of course,

and a really cool tree (that’s yet to be identified). 

A security guard passed us, so I asked if we could go inside to look around.  He said yes, so off we went to see what photo ops were available there.  Oodles!

First of all, let me say that one might not think Good Friday is an opportune time to take a field trip.  On the contrary!  Though the tour guides had the day off, so did the legislature and almost everyone else.  Except for a few people here and there we basically had the building to ourselves and we were free to explore.  And explore we did.

We admired the inside of the dome,

the massive marble columns,

(Can you see the kids at the top?)

the cool renovated elevator,

the enormous staircase,

and the stain glass windows. 

We sat in the gallery overlooking the Senate then trekked to the other side of the building to admire the House of Representatives. These three hopped the rail in the old Supreme Court room (now a committee room) to sit behind the official desk.  One spoke into the microphone only to find out it was on. Yikes! We exited there as quickly as possible. 

There were tons of things to see. 

After rambling through the Capitol we went back out and took some more pictures at the front of the building. 

 Then we found a spot on the lawn to picnic. 

The weather was cooler than I like for an outdoor meal, but it was nice hanging out with the kids and just shooting the breeze. Literally, it was a windy day!

It does a homeschool mom’s heart good to see kids excited about learning, especially when they don’t realize they are. I know that had I planned this trip, complete with tour guide, it would have been just another field trip.  What we had was an adventure full of fun and discovery.  For that I am truly thankful.

In a previous post I told everyone that my fifteen year old daughter has returned home from the public schools.  Check out her new blog here at homeschoolblogger and say hi!

ClassyCassie

Keep checking back.  One of her first homeschool assignments was to write an essay on why she returned home.  She should be posting it soon.

I was wondering if anyone can suggest some good living books for WW1.  My DD15 (Who's coming home by the way!!!!!) needs to study WW1, WW2, the Korean War, Cold War, and Vietnam War.  I'd like to do most of this through living books.  WW2 is pretty easy; she'll read The Hiding Place and The Diary of Anne Frank. But I'm at a loss for WW1 and it comes first! LOL!  I welcome any suggestions for these time periods. 

Thanks!

~ Drewe Llyn

...but I'm so glad it did.

Ever since DD15 started PS I've had concerns.  Let's face it, if you swim in the sewer you're going to get dirty to some extent.  DH and I have seen some attitudes and behaviors that have troubled us during the 1 1/2 years she's been there, and while DH has long threatened to yank her back home, I've been hesitant because she enjoyed it so much, especially being in the band.  Our suggestions for her to return were always met with "weeping and gnashing of teeth". 

Last Friday morning, when DD15 got up to prepare for school, I mentioned some recent attitudes/behaviors that had me concerned.  I mentioned the possibility of bringing her back home and that I was getting closer and closer to that point.  Once again her eyes filled with tears, but this time she said, "Yesterday during journalism I made a list of pros and cons for coming back home.  I was going to pray about it until the end of this year and then tell you."  She has 34 things on her "pros" and 7 on her "cons"!  (God has obviously been at work behind the scenes!) We kept her home that day so we could really talk about it.  (Which she and I and DH did off and on all day.)  She decided she doesn't even want to go back tomorrow.  She's ready to come home.  She sees the "sewage" and how it is affecting her and she's tired of it.

Please pray for me as I've never homeschooled high school, must less halfway through the year.  Pray for DD15, as she is very sad to say good-bye to some good friends.  This is a HUGE step of faith for her.  Pray for courage and strength.

Thanks!