We had a great weekend. We have been working on our house all weekend, except yesterday, we went to church. We are almost done with our decluttering. It's amazing how much joy can come over you just seeing your house all neat & tidy. I'm happy!

     We have finished our schooling for the day & are on our way out the door to the library to meet our HS group for our children to give their monthly book report. This month their book reports had to be on the origens of holidays. My DD chose Thanksgiving & my DS chose Independence Day.

     Well, they just informed me that they are all ready so until next time, Traci

     Every year around this time we usually study the pilgrims & The First Thanksgiving. I feel like we have given adequate attention to that topic so I asked my DC if they wanted to let's take a different approach this year in our study & they said yes. That's when we decided to study the Indians & their side to the story.

     It has turned in to a major indian study, not just the Wampanoags that were at the First Thanksgiving. We started with the Wampanoag & then my daughter wanted to study Sacagawea. So now we have pulled in the Shoshoni & the other tribes associated with them. My son said he wants to study Geronimo so we are going to pull in the tribes associated with him.

     We are going to do lots of comparisons with clothing, homes, traditions, tools, diets, etc. I have an indian DVD set that come from Sam's that has a great deal of the different cultures so we are going to use that. Between these DVDs and our library books we should have an abundance of study on our hands. I know this is going to take us through Christmas I'm sure.

     Oh, & I almost forgot, their dad & they are building a wigwam & a teepee. The children are excited over that. They are actually going to camp in them & cook like the indians. I don't know any better way to learn something better than just putting your hand in it & doing it. Hands on, they should learn so much.

     Our other studies are coming along. I need to clerify that I have a fifth & sixth grader. When I say we are getting ready for the S.A.T. it is the Standard Acheivement Test. Don't ask me why, but our covering that we are under calls it the S.A.T. so I have gotten used to calling it that also. This will be our first year to take it. We have wanted to do it in the past, but something would always prevent it. Hopefully this year in March we'll get to.

     We are just sitting here tonight riding out the storm from Ida. So far it's just a lot of rain. The wind hasn't been bad, thank God.

     Enough for now. I think this is a pretty good update of what we are currently doing. Until next time, Traci

     Our field trip was a huge success! Once again, I was reassured that my DC can be educated by reading great living books. The nuggets that my children are grasping from great living books are enough to say they know about that subject. Like all homeschool moms, from time to time, I go through the mind trauma wondering are my children really getting anything out of this, Are they learning, What if they are not grasping anything  from these books, As their teacher, amI presenting the material in a manner to them that they can fluently present the material to others to show that they know about that particular subject?

     I am soon reminded by handfulls being dropped on purpose in my field that I can gleam. God is still watching over us & He still has everything under control. All we have to do is keep trudging, which is moving when the cloud moves, like the children of Israel & He'll keep leading. The cloud is my children's interests.

     Just as Ruth was allowed to gleam from Boaz's field, sometimes God allows me to be able to gleam from my on field. He allows me to see that cloud the size of a man's handjust to let us know we are still on track.

     Our field trip was one of those times to gleam. We had an awesome trip that transformed in to a marvelous Science class. The instructor taught us about Alabama's migrating birds & its poisonnous snakes . His demonstration was super. He knew how to present the material & use questions to open a discussion floor. I was thrilled that my DS took control of that floor the biggest portion of the time while  it was open. My DD had it another portion, & to my amazement their weren't many more trying to get on the floor.

     Reading living books & discussing them had prepared my DC for this day. They had picked up enough nuggets from the books to pass their oral test with the instructor. Our goal had been reached, fluently being able to discuss the matter.

     On our way out from our field trip we stopped for a bit of nature. We saw a turtle (Common Snapping Turtle) crawling across the grass so we stopped & let the children pencil in a nature drawing with colored pencils. Here are a couple of picts from that experience.  

      We took a nice long walk after that for exercise & last we went by Party City to pick up the plates & napkins for our bowling party on Monday night. I would say we had a fun FILLED day. Traci

        Our schooling has been a bit different this week. We have been working on a Spectrum Test so I can see where my DC are lacking in their subjects. I want them to take the S. A. T. in March. I am trying to see what areas we need to cover between now & then.

     There are a few things on the Spectrum Test in math that my DC haven't been acquainted with. I want to pick up some worksheets or a math program that would just cover those areas so I can familiarize them with those areas. I have been looking at Math Mammoth for an opption for this. Is anyone familiar with this program? I have not used it in the past. If so, how long  are the lessons & can you cover about two lessons a day without it going overboard in time?

     Things have been some what strenuous wwith our studies this week, but they'll level off tomorrow. We are going on a field trip. They will get to be with some of their friends so they can unwind. We will be outside the greatest portion of the trip so they'll get plenty of exercise.

     Well, it's not time for me to unwind just yet so I'd better go. We have to get back to the books. I just got on the computer long enough to let my DC get a bite to eat. Until next time, Traci

     My children & I are so excited! We have a new expansion to our home library. We had gone to a store in our local area & we found great books for only $1.49 each. I picked up a few of them, but there were many of them that I desired to have in our library.  I thought, I'll just purchase a few of them & order the others later on line. Whhen I got home I looked them up on line and soon discovered the blessing that I had received. These were books that ran from $27.00 to $34.00 each.  What does a homeschool mom do when she realizes that she has come across a great bargain, yes, your right, I went back the next day & loaded my buggy with some different titles than what I had purchased the day before. I spent about $60.00 but if I had purchased them on line or at a book store I would have only gotten 2 books for that price. I count my blessings, Praise God!!!!

     Here are some pictures of our blessings:

     Now we are only having one problem with all of these great books. Which one will we begin with on Monday? Oh, & what makes these books & even greater blessing is that we are studying United States history this year & at least 3/4 of these books make up our curriculum.

     I had started using living books & my DC loved learning that way. So This year I thought I would use A Beka's United States history for a scope & sequence & pull in books to go along with it. A great portion of these books will do the job. My God always does all things well. He has blessed me again.

     I may fail God in so many ways & have to pray for forgiveness & mercy, but He has not failed me yet. Thank you Lord for your blessings on me, Traci 

     Our schooling is moving right along. We haven't been in the books, but we have been schooling right on.

     We have another book report coming up on Monday so we have been reading library books & research on the internet to get them together.

     We have been listening to the audio of "Anne of Green Gables" as we travel in the van. In which my children are dearly loving.

     We came out of our A Beka math book to pull in some extra worksheets and other things for fractions.

     They brought in mosquito larva in to look at under the microscope. Why mosquito larva I don't know, but it's all educational.

     Lots of out door time for nature.

     My DS is reading a biography on Mark Twain & my DD is reading a biography on Cleopatra VII.

     Our library books have been about plants & wetlands so much Science.

     We have just been enjoying our selves. Maybe we'll get back to our routine of my lesson plans soon. If not, we'll just keep trudging along in the areas they are interested in at the present moment.

     Well, I'd better let that be all for now. We are on our way out the door to get my Niece. She is coming for the night.  Until next time, Traci

     We are a few days short of finishing our first nine weeks for this school term. I am so proud of my DC. We have covered so much material since the beginning of school.

     We are on lesson 40 in our math books, we've covered  the explorers in history, there are several entries in our nature journals, we've pulled in Raphael for art, Mozzart for Music Appreciation, on lesson 9 in Sequential Spelling, along with puzzles & vocabulary print outs, worked out of several English workbooks, covered germs, bacteria, fungi, volcanoes, & rocks for Science, and Beatrix Potter & her books for Literature. We are currently reading "Anne Of Green Gables" for Literature. We are also reading "Kidnapped By River Rats" for a library read aloud. It is about the Salvation arm & the Booths. These are just the things I can think of off the top of my head. We have also had a couple of field trips to Science & History Museums.

     One other thig that we have done is a book report with a presentation. They just made their presentations this week in front of our homeschool group. This is why this blog is called, "One Proud Mammma." This was their first book report and presentation. I just knew they where going to get in front of the group and clam up, but they didn't. As a matter of fact, my DD doesn't seem to have a bashful bone in her body acted a bit nervous, but she did great. My DS, on the other hadn, is very bashful so I was looking to have to step up and help him along, but to my amazement he stepped up and took his position and just went with it. He did better than my DD as for not being nervous. I was so proud of them. I have picts I'll have to get them posted. 

     Oh, and how could I forget, they are bowling for P.E. They are getting so excited seeing the improvement in their scores. Things are really going great for us so far.

     We have another field trip tomorrow. We are going to a farm and they are suppose to get to milk a goat and taste the milk, along with cows, and other things.

     I've rattled enough for one post. I'd better start pulling things together for church. Until next time, Bless you all, Traci

     As everyone knows, last year we started using the CM style of education & it has been working so well with my DC. We have just taken each subject slow & have accomplished so much.

     Math facts are one of those things I was beginning to wonder if they would come, but this year they seem to be doing great in their math. They are doing super with their work, but I want them to train their mind to respond quickly.  I have been using a lot of different types of puzzles hoping to obtain this action. I have noticed them focussing more since we have started using word finds. It seems as if the word finds have made them more alert.

     Also, I have been using puzzles that have their Spelling words scrambled & they have to unscramble them. Using the many types of puzzles has caused them to become more alert in all of their subjects.

     We have started our year with A Beka's United Staes History & Christian Liberty Press's Exploring American History as our Scope & Sequence for our history this year. Of course, we'll pull in many library books along beside it.

     Science I have been using library books, science videos, Magic School Bus books, and some of Considering God's Creation.

We have made it to the 5th grade grade A Beka math book. So far things are running smoothly.

     Our Spelling has consisted of a collection of Spelling words I have chosen and I have used puzzle makers to make up puzzles to go along with them. I purchased Sequential Spelling to try that. We'll start that next week to see if that is an option for our family. My children read a lot so they are pretty good spellers so maybe Sequential Spelling will be all that is necessary for our spelling other than vocabulary.

     I also purchased Rod & Staff Reading so that I could use it for Bible & Reading. We will also begin that next week to see how that will work out. We'll read the scriptures that go with the story & have discussion.

     Raphael is our artist, Mozzart is our musical appreciation person, Daddy has several Library read alouds picked out to read to us, missionary stories, & other biographies are on our list for the year, like the one we just finished "Beatrix Potter". 

     Studying Beatrix Potter and reading her books are a must read. My children has enjoyed studying her so much. We read a book called, "Nothing Is Impossible" The Story of Beatrix Potter by Dorothy Aldis and then my DC drew pictures to narrate each chapter & they have loved it. We read Beatrix's books first, & then read this book. My DC were excited to see how Beatrix's books derived from her childhood.

     We have also purchased spiral bound sketch pads along with some water colors for our nature studies.

     I'll be receiving our Grammar game to go along with our English. My plan is to use the game to drill the English rules in them.

     Our platter is full for the year, but they can handle it. I'm sure of it. The both of them have turned in to book worms & has just let their knowledge grow through books. As long as they continue to do that & let their minds continue to program through great books we are going to be fine with our schooling.

     I'm going to blog around some now after my suppose to be short update on our new year. Bless you all, Traci

     Here it is, almost half of our school term for this year is winding down next week. This year has flown by. We've covered quite a bit. I only have a couple of things I am trying to get them finished up with by the end of next week. I am wanting our Australia study wrapped up, our A Beka math book so we can start the next one after Christmas, & our copy work that we are presently working on.  Other than those things, I will say my children have done super this half of the year. Now it is time for me to revamp & gear up for the second half.

     As for Christmas, we have finished our shopping, got most of our gifts wrapped, & are just waiting for it to get here. My children are so excited. They are going to be even more excited come Christmas morning. We don't have a huge income so our children don't expect much, but I have done some bargan shopping & shopped a little along & have been blessed with a nice Christmas. We know the real meaning of Christmas is the birth of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ & Christmas is all about giving to others, but I like to give to my little blessings also beings this is the only time of the year that they usually get presents.

     Well, I was going to blog some, but my little blessings have finished their math so I'll have to catch it later. We have to finish our other school work so we can get ready for church tonight. Our mid week service is on Thursday night. Until next time, Blessings to you all Traci

     Well, this week we have been in revival at our church so school hasn't been strenuous. We have accomplished quite a bit though.

     I had plans of putting our reading on hold until next week & just pulling out some math & copy work, but my DC managed to get a chapter in one of our Australia books read anyway. This was by their choice, praise God! We managed to get copy work done, two Saxon math lessons, 13 pages in our A Beka math book, a Ben Hur DVD for history, a couple of Bible devotions, & our revival every night, which I use for Bible.Sounds like a pretty productive week for no lesson plans. I know this is only through the help of my heavenly Father. He is so faithful to help us right along.

     Here's a news bulletin, our school hours are over, my children see on the news where the last known survivor of the Titanic was on the news & immediately that caught my DC's attention so they jumped up, ran to the book shelf, pulled down books on the Titanic & started looking at different facts about it. As in my last post, school days never end for homeschoolers.

     Now, back to my blog post. We also baked cookies today. Here are some picts of my DC doing the baking. 

Making & shaping the cookies

 In the oven they go!

 Our finished product

 Doesn't it look like I have some great cooks? We are working on some home economics this year. Our next thing that we plan to cook is our Australian meat loaf. I can't wait! There is also some Australian biscuits, ummmn. After we top our Australia unit study off with these, I suppose we'll be wide open with the holidays by then.

     Guess that's about it for this time. More later, Traci

     My children & I have been having a blast with their studies. We are finishing up our books that we had chosen to study for the past 5 weeks & they have been so rich to my children & I.

     I just have to tell about one of our days. One day while we were reading in our George Washinton book, we read about the Battle at Brooklyn Heights. This battle caught my son's attention. We had done come through the French & Indian War, along with many other battles, but not much was said. When we reached this battle my son quickly let me know what he would have done & just how he could have won that battle for George Washington. 

     George Washington & his men lost this battle. Let me set the scene for you. George Washington & his men were setting on go just waiting for attacks to happen. They new they could win this battle against the British. They had their cannons set, facing the seaside, knowing that as soon as the fog lifted the British would attack.

     Unfortunately, this is the way it went: Most of Washington's troops were on Brooklyn Heights. They were protected by thick woods, steep hills, & 8 forts with 29 cannons. They were sure they would win any battle with the British.

     On August 27, the British began their attack. Unfortunately, they new more about local geography than Washington did. Loyalists from near by Queens had shown the Red Coats 4 passes running through or around Brooklyn Heights. The Americans outside the forts were in danger of attack. They had to surrender or flee.

     A bone filling rain fell on the battlefield. In some of the American trenches, water rose to the men's waists. Fog clouded their vision, and the British seemed to be everywhere. American soldiers struggled to keep their gun powder dry. Others gave up & threw away their guns.

     Washington was stunned. The Battle of Brooklyn Heights was a disaster for his army. He watched from a fort as a group of brave Maryland soldiers tried to hold back the Red Coats so others could reach an American fort through a marshy canal.  The British army stood between the men and the fort. British bullets showered them like hail. The enemies fire power was overwhelming. Still the Marylanders advanced on the British not once but four times. "Good God, what brave fellows I must this day lose!" Washington shouted. Deaths numbered 259, and about another 100 were wounded. The few men who survived crawled out of a mucky creek, looking like water rats.

     My DS informed me that if he would have been a general in George Washington's army he would have won that battle. "I would have had my men & cannons set up in a circle surrounding the Forts. That way when the British came we could have seen them from all sides. Didn't they know when you are up against an enemy you have to watch everywhere, not just toward one side." "If I would have been a general in George Washington's army, we would have won that battle." "My men would have been on lookout from all directions. We would have gotten those British good."

     My little man loves guns & hunting. He may be a general in the United States Army one day. Here are some pictures of my little general. Doesn't he look like he'd make a good one?

 "Ready for battle George"

"I  wished I would have remembered my booths, oh well, they'd get stuck in the mud anyway. "

"POW! POW!......I got him Sir!"

     100% boy, speaking of that, I'd better go for now to see where that little boy is. There really is no telling. Until next time, Traci 

     Well, things are just going with the flow around our house. I have made my plans as of where I would like for us to be in our subjects at a certain time, but not really pushing each day we have to do this & we have to do that. We have been just getting up & going with the flow. The children are loving it.

     We do our math and everything else just falls in place. We choose what book we want to read from and start reading. As we read, we pick out the important contents about the material we are reading & notebook it, or more of a lap book style in a note book.

     My DH bought me a new camera so I plan to put some picts of what we have been doing on my blog, just as soon as I get him to put them on here for me.

     I was showing my DH their notebooks today & they are filling up. We have covered so much material in 4 weeks. I have been walking around my house asking my DC questions about the material we have been covering every chance I get to see if they are getting it.  With this being our first year schooling with this method, I am very precautious, wanting to make sure this is going to work for us. I believe it is. I've seen many  changes in my DC's learning habits. (My DS even got caught reading, HURRay!!!!!)

     One of the things my DC are so excited about with their schooling right now is our play we are putting together. We have been reading about the Boston Tea Party & I found a play on the internet of it so we are making our props right now for their big performance. How excited they are. 

     We even found a cute cartoon about the Boston Tea Party on the internet & my Ds love's it. He has been walking around quoting the captions over & over.  I can tell already this is going to be a part of history they are going to remember. Having fun & education work great together.

     If any of you out there are having a time with your DC wanting to get involved with their school work just lay off of school & say let's have some fun & spice it up with hands-on. It seems to motivate them again in their studies. For some reason my DC don't think they are schooling when we are reading, cutting out things, printing things to go in a notebook, or painting cardboard boxes for our history play. Oh, but what learning Mamma can see going on!

     Well, more later on our studies. I've got to get the poem out that I told you all I'd put on here from my last post. Blessings to all of your homeschools. Traci 

     Why is it that I get up each morning wanting to put in a hard day at work (you know, schooling) & my children & I always have different things in mind. Here it is, after a good nights rest we should be ready for the books, righ? No, that's not my children's theories. We're good & rested Mamma so lets play! So here I go trying to tell them the importance of getting in our books & doing our work for the day. And it is as if my children have a whole that goes straight through their head, as if their ear drum was missing in both ears. They don't hear anything I'm saying about important, school work. What is this? Are my children the only one's like this?

     Well, soon God moves & we manage to get to our books & get most of our work done, but not always what I'd like to get done. But thank God for what He did help us accomplish. We survive the day.

     Later at night, I say bed time & tuck my little one's in all snuggly & tight, put them on an audio to listen to so they can just drift off in to la,la land. I start for the bathroom & then discover my children feasting with good books. Let me remind you, what was that I had been trying to get them to do all day? Getting in to their books. It makes me question myself. Do we need to just school at night? God help us to know your direction. Prayer can bring unity. My children & I will get on the same wave link after a while.  All of you pray for us.

     Hope all of you are having productive days, Blessings, Traci 

     Well, we started school last week & I was wanting to jump right in, but things hasn't worked out that way. My DS is having a little bit of a problem getting back in to the swing of things. I had thought for sure, this year, he would be ready to just jump in & do his school work without some motivation.  That's not the case. I had thought after 3 years of schooling he would know that the faster he completed his work, the faster he could go play. Guess he hasn't figured that out yet. We desire all of your prayers.

     We have been enjoying what schooling we have done. We've done some English, Math, Spelling, History, Bible, & Science. Our history & science has consisted of reading books. We also have been doing our library read aloud & reading our Literature (The Bears of Blue River) & my children are loving it. my children love read alouds! They beg for more. One chapter is never enough. Most of the time my DH just has to say, "That's enough for one day." I'm always sitting there thinking, "He should know wy they are begging for more. They are like their mommy & daddy, they love reading."

     Charlott Mason believes a child can retain much knowledge from just reading books. I have to agree with her. My DC have learned so many things from just reading books or our read alouds. We are going to try doing our history this year by just reading good living books. I am going to do a trial & error thing. I want to see if they pick up on more information this year with just reading, or do we need to go back to the text books. (Oh, how I hope not.)

     Our Science is going to consist of many different things: reading books, experiments, kits, etc.

     If I could just convince myself that my DC could learn to become great spellers by just reading, our school would be a very relaxed one.  Lot's of reading, some notebooking pages, our copy work, math, Bible, & a bit of English.

     Well, I must cut this post short. My dear sweet hubby has just prepared me a burger to eat so I'd better go. I was blessed with the greatest husband. I couldn't have asked for any better. He spoils me so much. He also has our children spoiled. Just the other day our DD was giving me a long list why she could never have another daddy. The entire list was ways that her daddy has gotten her spoiled and she just knew no other daddy would do those things for her.

     Children are so funny. They come up with things like that & I'm thinking, your daddy is not going anywhere. I love him too much to let him go anywhere.

     Well, out of here for now. Blessings to you all, Traci 

     We started school yesterday after taking the summer off. It was pretty exciting, but a bit hectic on the other hand. I had finally decided to use the Old Fashioned Education site 4th grade level for our main focal point & take some things away & add a few things of my own. It has turned out that it is a tremendous amount of material we will have to cover this year.

     We managed to get the most part of our work done yesterday, it took us a while. I am hoping it is just because the DC & I are just out of the swing of things. I am going to moniter the situation and see if I neded to drop or rearrange a few things. I truly feel like my DC could handle the material, the time is just so consuming.

     I really like the books I have chosen for them to study this year. I feel like they will give them a well rounded education with all of the living books. I love the C.M. method of education, but we are reading so many books at one time. I don't know if my little ones will be able to follow so many books at one time. I watched to see today if they were getting the books confused with one another, but they didn't.

     Surprisingly, they kept them sorted very well. I guess my worry may just be that motherly instinct in me trying to protect my little biddies. I know I should enhanse our curricula a bit more each year, but I just don't want to overwhelm them with too much. If anyone has any imput on this, please feel free to comment. I am going to try to get the books posted we are using for everyone to see Then maybe someone can give me their point of view.

     I guess I've rambled enough for one day so I'd better go. Praying that you all are having a great summer/new school year. Blessings, Traci

     Hi guys, we haven't been doing any real schooling this summer. We took the summer off, or so the children thought. We did participate in our summer reading program (school that they don't consider), swimming in their Aunt conny's pool (,more school, P.E. they don't consider), counting their  money they have earned from time to time (school, they don't consider), & of course, all of the science that has been found in our backyard. No real schooling,but much more than they realize. My DD has even brought me notebooks & showed me her copy work/penmanship. We took the summer off, but have accomplished so much.

     I am looking forward to August so we can get started back with school. I think my DC are actually looking forward to it also. The only problem with starting back up with school is that my mind is scattered in many directions on what we want to study/cover this year.

     The last few months of last year we used the Charlotte Mason method of teaching & it went so well. I want to make the same approach this year, but not sure if I want to use my curriculum I have, Ambolside, or Old Fashion Education. I may just use a bit of all of it. I like spontenuity getting up each morning with something new to dive in to. Using many different things will allow us to be able to do that. 

     Our school year may involve lots of spontenuity this year. Because of Elton becoming disabled & us having to go on disability, our income is not that great & I may have to get a job. My heart is torn in this. I want to go to work to make ends meet & be the help mate I need to be to my sweetheart, knowing that he is not able, but then there is that mother side of me that wants to be home with my babies. Should I get a job, it is going to be hard for me & my children. We have never been apart for more than a few days of them spending the night with a grandmother or aunt. Being apart every day will be a hard bridge to cross. We desire all of your prayers.

      I'll keep you all posted on what happens. I'd better go for now.  Blessings to you all, Traci

     We got up this morning with plans of getting in a good school day so we could be ready for Homeschool Expo with Cindy Rushton tomorrow, but not long in to the day, our plans were changed. My aunt called & said she was sitting at a gas station & she didn't know if her tank had a whole in it  or what, but the gas was running out on the ground when she  was trying to pump.

     I thought, here goes our school day, but when a neighbor is in need it's an opportunity for a good deed. so we got ready & off we went to see if we could be of any assistance.

     I grabbed the library books & said, "Beings we are going that way, we'd better make a library run too."

     We got to where she was & thank god my hubby immediately spotted the problem. We had prayed when we got in our van that God would show him the problem and again God was faithful. There had been a limb that had gotten caught some how & it was stuck between the gas tank & the van & it had knocked the hose lose from her gas tank. Thank the Lord for showing him & soon she was on her way again.

     We went on to the library & that is when our fruitful day began. Here it was, I had thought our day was shot for any school, but God had other things in store, little did I know.

     My son is getting better, but he is not what you would call an advid reader. Today I could tell God wanted to shine some light on our homeschooling. Everyone was picking out their books to bring home or just brousing around & my son & I went in the children's reading room (a place where the librarian reads to the toddlers) and he got a book and sat down & began to read to me. He read three bookx! WooWho!!! We're on a roll. When we left the library, he started reading in the van. We went to my M-I-L's house & when we left there, he started reading again. God is on the move!

     Not even in the plans for the day & so much accomplished.

     My son started drawing a picture & I asked him what he was drawing & he said a carriboo. I asked him, "Do you know what a carriboo is?" He said, "Yes, Mom." (This was in one of the books he had read to me.) So I asked him, "What is it then?" He said, "A deer." That's good enough for me. Great job done! I'll take that as a naration. I can tell that he had learned something today. We are having a blast with the Charlotte Mason style of teaching.

     We found some great movies to go with our studies this week about stars, sun, moon, solar system, galaxies,.... I think this will make our library book on galaxies come alive to them. I have never seen my children more happier about schooling than they have been in the past month. I thank God for leading us down the right paths to follow.

     Well, I am going to go for now. I got me a great book to read also, now that I got me a program that goes on my computer & will read books to me. I got me a book called "Things We Wished We'd Known" compiled together by Bill & Diana Waring.  Anyone familiar with that book? I am looking forward to getting to do lots of reading. If anyone has any great suggestions, please feel free to leave them in a comment or email me. Wep, better go, Blessings, Traci