Today it is wonderful and glorious, glorious and wonderful!  A clear, blue sky stretches as far as eye can see, with no cloud, nothing to mar it.  The sunshine is bright and warm, it pokes through tree and bush, and spills from the roof over to the porch, where I am sitting.  Baby lilac buds are beginning to show next to our fence and there are not a few soft buds on our apple tree.  Kale and spring onions are spontaneously growing in the garden from seeds long buried, sown last year but which never came up.  Birds are chortling in the trees and zipping hither and yon, busy and happy.  Today, I feel deeply every one of my blessings.  Just being alive feels exceptional!

So...What are we doing today in our little homeschool?  Zero.  Zip.  Nada.

Today, we are swinging, building a tent over our covered swing, jumping on the trampoline and running in the neighbor's sprinklers.  Mama is cleaning and decorating for Spring.  All the windows are open for fresh air.

Okay, well, I did extract some fervent promises that at least reading and copywork would be done tonight, but that is all.

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You need to know that our family is only on Week 17 of homeschooling so far.  Two surgeries and other life issues have made for an interrupted school year.  Normally, I would be obsessing about all we need to be doing, but today I will glory in just the day and leave the rest for next week.

Part of my joy is that this weekend is Easter, my favorite holiday of the year.  With Easter comes renewal for me, spiritually, mentally and even in some ways physically.  I love all that the holiday (holy day) means for me and my family.

Tonight, we will begin viewing "Jesus of Nazareth", a yearly tradition, to help prepare our hearts.

It is my prayer that all of you who may visit here and read these words will be filled with the joy and promise of the Season.  Next week, we can get back to work.  For now, let's find joy in BEING!

Elizabeth

Spring has come in fits and starts.  One gloriously warm and sunny day is soon followed by days of wind, rain, sleet and showers of pea-sized hail.  It seems that our hopes are similarly raised and then dashed by the weather.  We so want to be out of doors, enjoying the beauty of much loved trees and bushes as they blossom in pastel profusion. 

Homeschooling during weeks like these seems to go in fits and starts, also.  First we are too excited by the warm sunshine to remain seated.  Math and copywork are a sullen chore when one could be swinging or bouncing on a nice warm trampoline.  Next, we're depressed through and through by the rain and dark skies, certain that Spring will never come this year and it will remain dreary forever. 

It is our beloved books that see us through this on-again/off-again time.  No matter how we may be feverish with spring or blue from rainy skies, our books and tales pull us in, taking us to other places and times, helping us to forget, for awhile, what is outside of the window.  This week it is "Ginger Pye" and Lamb's version of "King Lear" that has us enthralled, as well as beloved stories from the Child's Illustrated Bible.

I am thinking how like Life are these ups and downs of this Spring.  We have all weathered  periods that start ought nice and then the storms of Life blow and threaten to knock us off our feet.  During times like these it is another book or books that provide the anchor, that pull me in and transport me to another place and time.  These are the holy scriptures, words of the Lord's prophets and of our Lord Jesus Christ.  I am so thankful to have this anchor in my life which shelters me during the tumult and promises of a spiritual springtime.

As we look forward to this lovely of time year, I pray that we will all feel deeply the glorious beauties of the Lord's Creation and be extra thankful for the many blessings of our lives, not the least of which is our knowledge of Him.

Blessings,

Elizabeth

I love the Sabbath Day.  It is an opportunity to drink deeply from the Lord's word and to renew our commitments with Him.  For me, it is also a time to look back over the past week, to evaluate my successes, to take note of areas where I need improvement, and to make course corrections, where needed.

When I look back over this past week, one of the things I am re-accessing is how my homeschool is going.  As I mentioned in my last post, we are just beginning using exclusively the free curriculum offered at Ambleside Online.  I am happy and excited to begin in earnest this new course of study.  We've already read many of the books for Years 1 and 2, while also utitlizing another curriculum, so we are not entirely new to AO.  In fact, the beautifully rich literature that is required reading for AO is what finally made true "converts" of us.

I am praying that God will touch the hearts of my children with the same love and enthusiasm which is a part of my soul as their teacher.  I pray that they may develop a thirst for beautiful words and wonderful ideas.  I pray that this course of study will enoble their minds and and help to shape their characters to be worthy children of their Heavenly Father.  It is also my prayer that the dear Lord will help me, in all our striving for earthly knowledge, to not neglect their spiritual needs, but to bring them to feast daily on the words of the Lord that they will gain a testimony of Him in their hearts.

It is a wonderul, marvelous work that we are about, schooling our children.  This is our opportunity to raise up a righteous generation, to bring up children who are unspotted from the world, who have the gospel of Jesus Christ written in their hearts.

I pray for the Lord's blessings to be upon you and your families as you seek to do the same, today and always...

Love and blessings,

Elizabeth

Whenever I am presented with a blank sheet of paper, the possibilities seem endless and the choices impossible.  So it is with this new adventure, the first entry on my blog.  I am at once excited and baffled about how and where to begin.

First, let me start by introducing  myself.  I am Elizabeth.  I reside with my family in Utah, but this has not always been my home.  I am a Southern girl, a transplant from North Carolina.  It was while living in North Carolina, after the birth of our first child, a magnificently beautiful baby girl (Sarah Elizabeth), that I first heard of homeschooling.  Oh, I had heard brief mention of it before that, but associated it with extreme lifestyles and the like.  It was at a local womens conference at my church where I met my first, honest-to-goodness homeschooler.  She gave a mini-class on the subject and the whole hour I sat there mesmerized.  As she discussed the different philosophies of homeschooling, as well as some practical advise, a window opened in my mind and I began to see limitless possibilities.  I knew then and there that I wanted this for my daughter.

Another child was born (Robert Randall), we moved to Utah and a few years went by with many family challenges that convinced me to put my daughter in school.  She had a successful Kindergarten year, but another move and new school shocked me back to my original sensibilities about homeschooling.  I'll never forget walking into my daughter's class and catching the children sitting and watching endless cartoons on the class TV, because the teacher said the children were tired of learning.  That did it for me.  I pulled Sarah out of school.

I was not quite prepared to suddenly begin homeschooling, but since my daughter had been the youngest in her class (her birthday is right before the cut off date for class enrollment - so I had been given the option of waiting a year to begin her schooling), I figured it would not hurt her to come home even if we were getting off to an uncertain start.  From that point on, I spent every free moment I had immersing myself in books on the philosopies of education, especially for homeschooling, homeschooling how-to's and surfing the web for any and everything on the subject.  It was during this process that I was first introduced to the teaching philosophies of Charlotte Mason.

What first attracted me to the teachings of Charlotte Mason?  A number of things instantly fascinated me.  Her gentle way of teaching Language Arts through copywork, dictation and narration, her reliance on great works of literature to uplift and inspire the mind, her usage of "living books" to teach most subjects, immersing the child in a time period rather than forcing the memorization of dry dates and facts, all convinced me that this was the approach I needed to cultivate my children's potential.  I was also delighted by her strong emphasis on the Fine Arts.

It has taken me a couple of years to fully put into practice Charlotte Mason's teaching methods.  Recently, we have begun using the free Ambleside Online curriculum, with great results in our homeschool.  We are excited, eager learners - all of us - as we implement these methods and make Education :

"An Atmosphere; a Discipline; and a Life" (Charlotte Mason).

Come back often and share our journey with us!

Love and blessings,

Elizabeth