I've been noticing a particular recurring theme around the web... this phrase:  "Blue Like Play Dough."  Well, it turns out to be more than just a phrase; it's the title of a book about motherhood.  And, not ‘just’ motherhood, but as the subtitle states, “The Shape of Motherhood in the Grip of God.”   After all, isn’t that our goal… to be mothers in God’s grip? 

I’ve not been asked to review this book, nor have I been asked to blog about it.  I simply wanted to share with you that I think Tricia Goyer (the author of Blue Like Play Dough) must be on the verge of being one of the best authors of our time.  Just reading some of her writing journey is enough to convince me.  Please go and check out her site and blog… then come back and let me know what you think.

Look what my hubby made for me in celebration of four years of blogging...

Thank you, Sweetie!

I now have my very own "button" for my blog... just in time to celebrate four years of blogging!    If you'd like to 'snag' it and link to me, LEFT click on it and save it to your computer.  (I'm working on figuring out a way to make it so that you can copy the code, and 'snag' it that way.)

My thanks to Christina at Pooh's Corner for designing and making it for me!

Here's a list of 332 mom blogs that are/were a part of the Blog Link-a-Thon at Mom Dot.  My blog isn't on the list, and there's absolutely no way for me to know whether or not all of these blogs are "family friendly," but I thought I'd share them with you. 

Thanks to Sara for providing the HTML code to MomDot so that the rest of us could put this on our blogs. 

A friend of mine from high school posted this on his blog, and I thought it pretty amazing.

Ever since my dh said, "I think every homeschooling parent should read this," I've been wanting to blog about it!  What is it?  Here 'tis...

Yesterday, I checked out a new-to-me book about homeschooling from our local library.  It's Homeschooling: A Family's Journey by Gregory and Martine Millman  (New York: Tarcher-Penguin, 2008). 

Here's a quote from the introduction (this is what my dh thinks every homeschooling parent should read):

...homeschooling needn't be all that complicated.  Most of the homeschooling parent's job is to coach and encourage, help a child develop good study habits, and show how to find answers to questions.  It's not the homeschooling parent's job to know all the answers.

 

Teaching credentials don't matter in homeschooling.  Teaching credentials prepare people to work within an institutional structure -- the school system -- that has nothing to do with homeschooling.  In fact, the word "homeschooling" can be misleading, because it suggests that something like school happens in the home.  But most homeschoolers don't do the same things that schools do.  They succeed not because they do school things better but because they do better things than school.  Homeschoolers can do one thing, especially, that schools cannot do:  focus on the distinctive abilities and needs of each child, on each child's level of maturity, on each child's interests, on each teachable moment, and fit the educational system to the child instead of forcing the child to fit into a system. 

I think my dh felt that every homeschooling parent should read this because it's liberating.  We don't have to have all the answers.  We simply need to be able to point our children to where they can find the answers.  And, praise God, we don't have to have certain credentials.

So, what do you think?  Should every homeschooling parent read this?

P.S.  I just located this family's website:  Homeschooling: A Family's Journey.

I originally wrote the following blog entry on Monday, January 12, 2009 during my time away from the internet.

It's nearly 8 a.m. on Monday, January 12, 2009... nearly a whole decade into the new millenium.  I wish I could blog... not just so that I have some place to write down thoughts and feelings -- because I can do that in a journal.  (And, I *have* done that in a journal.)  I think part of me enjoys seeing how others may (or may not) respond to what I write, however eloquent or ineloquent it may be. 

Another reason I'd like to blog is so that I can respond to others' blogs.  I want to be able to leave comments and discuss things with fellow bloggers, and perhaps more importantly, with fellow home-school mothers.  My dh and I have discussed (albeit rather briefly) the possibility of putting our girls in public school.  I've dealt with depression for 15+ years; and although our girls are 8 and 6 (9 and nearly 7 as of April 2009), we think having them at home all the time may exasberate (usage?, spelling?) it (the depression).  I have trouble dealing with stress.  I tend to 'escape' to the Internet, to blogging, to playing computer games, etc.  My dh thinks that it's not a good thing for me to 'escape' in that manner.  I sorta agree, and I sorta don't agree.

I know all homeschool moms (and families) go through times of doubting whether or not we should continue to homeschool... if we all would be completely (100%) honest with ourselves.  (A few may say, "I *never* would feel that way.  However, **I** think those who say that are deceiving themselves.)  Each family is unique; and therefore, there is no(t) one patent answer to the question: "To homeschool or not to homeschool."  All of this being said, I need some encouragement from my on-line friends.  My real-life friends are encouraging me to consider putting our girls in "regular" school.  In the back of my mind, I feel like my on-line friends would discourage me from doing so. 

My challenge to you, my one or two readers, is this:  Please let me know your true thoughts and feelings.  Feel free to email me at roseinthemorning [at] gmail [com], or leave me a comment here on my blog.  And, since there *are* just one or two readers, could you please pass the word about this particular blog entry?  I'd love to hear from as many homeschoolers as possible about their opinion on this matter.  If "Miss Jocelyn" or "SuperAngel" want to make me a button (hint~hint) that others can put on their blog to "pass on" the question (or blog entry), that'd be awesome!  However, I won't 'hold my breath.' 

In the meantime, for those who read this and choose not to leave a comment or send an email, PLEASE consider praying for my family and me.  We're going through a rather difficult time (in case this entry hasn't made that obvious), and we'd appreciate your prayers for us.

Has anyone ever been to the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, Georgia

and/or gone to one of their workshops?  Our girls' group is considering going to a workshop in May, and I just wondered more about it.  Can anyone give me more info... please???