Aug. 20, 2008 - Homeschool Memoirs Assignment: All About Me

I joined a meme here on Homeschool Blogger. Every Wednesday there will be a new theme,
"to not only keep a 'memoir' (posts) of your homeschool year, but to make a way for homeschoolers to get to know each other." Today's them is All About Me, "the author behind the words. The Momma behind all the homeschooling kiddos. Just write up something about you, your family, and your home. How long you’ve been homeschooling and why you decided to homeschool." Here it goes...

My name is Stacie. I'm 31 and I've been married to Audie for 11 years. We have a 9-year old son Levi, and we're starting our third year of homeschooling.
 
Levi went to public school for kindergarten and first grade. By the middle of first grade he was very bored, and started dreading school. It was his idea to homeschool. I was apprehensive at first - could I really teach him everything he needs to know?  How could I continue to pursue my writing? Would he be even more bored at home? Would I go crazy having to keep him entertained all day? We jumped in with two feet, and I've managed to keep my head above water. Levi is thriving and tells me very often why he's happy to be homeschooled.

We are very eclectic. At first we tried a school-at-home approach, which was terrible.  Then we relaxed a lot.  Over the summer we take sort of an "unschool" approach, learning by doing and living life. (There's so much real-life learning to be had on the homestead in the summer). This year we're going to try some Charlotte Mason strategies, like lapbooking and narration.

We live in a little house with a big yard, a pond and many acres of woods. We love working and playing around the homestead. A lot of Levi's learning does come from living in the country. We cut wood from our woods, stack it in the woodshed, and then use it to heat our house all winter long. We hike in the woods, swim in our pond, garden, and compost. In the spring we hope to get chickens.

I struggle with homeschooling. It's difficult being Levi's only playmate most of the time. Since he was a baby, he has always required a lot of stimulation - so I'm always trying to figure out how to keep him interested. I do know that it is what God wants for us, so I give it up to Him daily.

I like to be outside, especially in the woods. I like studying the Bible, seeking God, and writing. I enjoy learning about homesteading, simple living, nature and wildlife. I love good conversation with interesting people.

It's not the best picture, but it's the most recent one we have of all of us. It was taken a couple days ago.

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Aug. 14, 2008 - Like A Brother

Paul, Levi and Truman, taken a year and a half ago.

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Aug. 13, 2008 - I have some questions for people who do lapbooks!!!!

I've never done it before, but I'm thinking about trying.

Is there any place that I can get a kit of the file folders and paper, (all blank) so we can give it a try and see if it works for us?

How many of you make your own folders?

Any other insight, advice or opinions would be great! :-)

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Aug. 11, 2008 - The Only Child

Friday we started back with daily handwriting, spelling, vocab, typing and math. Today we haven't done any schoolwork.

Last night Levi's cousin spent the night here, so they have been doing all sorts of fun 9-year old things. Last night they went out and played hide and seek in the dark and then stayed up late playing on the Nintendo.

Today they have been playing Stratego and Jenga, counting how much time elapsed between the thunder and lightning to see how far away the storm was, and building forts in the living room. They have been playing outside, swinging, running with our puppy, playing more hide and seek (with walkie talkies) and even helped me collect hickory nuts.

Now they are playing computer games.

It's days like this, when I see how much fun and learning and imaginative play goes on between two children, that I wish Levi had a sibling. Not to mention all the quiet time it leaves me! But Levi is happy being an only - in fact he says he wouldn't want it any other way. There are pros and there are cons, but for the most part, I'm happy to have only one.

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Aug. 10, 2008 - "Prone to Wander, Lord I Feel It..."

I posted this in my other blog last week....

"...Prone to leave the God I love."

I've been hearing a modern version of this old hymn on the radio lately, and it really speaks to me. It seems in recent years I am more and more prone to wander away from my faith.

As a child and a young adult I had an unwavering faith. I read my Bible daily, attended church regularly and had very close Christian friends. I truly felt close to God. I never felt the need to ask big questions.

Then, in my mid-twenties a lot of things happened. First of all, for the first time in my life, I started getting very involved with people who did not share my faith or my values.

Also, my parents went through a hateful and bloody split. They were, of course, the ones that introduced me to God and Jesus and Christianity. They were very active in many churches - youth leaders for years, music directors, my dad was even an elder at one time. Even though they often did not live it at home, they pounded their beliefs and ideas and morals into our heads.

This is no excuse, but it is what happened. Even though they were never the best examples, when they started acting so blatantly opposite of what they had always preached, it threw me for a loop. I began to wonder if all the Christianity they had preached so loudly had ever made a difference in their lives. And if it didn't, maybe it wasn't that real at all.

I began to look at Christianity not only from a viewpoint of faith, but from a practical position. Could Jesus really make a difference in one's everyday life? I also looked at it intellectually. Was it really true? Could a smart person, a thinking person, really believe the Bible?

God brought me back after my first round a questioning, with an even stronger faith. Not just the faith of youth, but one that has been through the fire. A faith that is grounded in fact. I realized that my parents problems were their problems, not Christianity's.

Then several months ago, I once again began getting very involved with people who have beliefs that are very different from my own. This seems to be a very dangerous thing for me to do. It may be a character flaw, but it's the truth. I tend to be too open-minded. I quickly get a strong sense of a person's heart, and understand where they are coming from. And once I have seen their heart, I tend to focus too much on what we have in common, and often overlook the fundamental differences.

After getting pretty entangled with some views and ideas that are contrary to the Truth I know in the Bible, I have once again returned Home. And just like last time, my faith is even stronger than before. After seeing the other side - a place and lives without Jesus and His Love and Truth, a place full of sin and pain and confusion - it makes me more secure in the fact that Jesus is indeed the only way to peace right now, as well as the only way to life eternally.

Maybe I'll always be prone to wander. I do have many questions, and I am not satisfied with pat answers. I wish it didn't matter so much to me, but it does. I've come to accept that it is okay to ask the questions. I just need to seek my answers in the right place.

I think the best thing for me to do is, "bind my wandering heart to Thee." Hold onto Jesus and the Word of God so tightly that no matter what questions I have or alternate beliefs I'm faced with, my foundation will remain unshakable.

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Aug. 9, 2008 - All Of My Ambitions, Hopes and Plans

Last Saturday we went to a Robin Mark concert. He has been one of my favorite Christian singers for a few years now. He is from Belfast Ireland and has a great Irish accent. There was much rejoicing, clapping and toe-tapping, as well as deeply heartfelt worship. We didn't get home until one in the morning, but it was well worth it.

There was one chorus that spoke to me the most that evening, and it has been playing in my mind all week.

Jesus, all for Jesus, All I am and have and ever hope to be.
All of my ambitions, hopes and plans, I surrender these into Your hands.
For it's only in Your will that I am free

I am a dreamer and have many ambitions. There are so many things I want to study and learn, and do and be. Even other lives I imagine living.  I'd like to write a novel, write non-fiction for magazines, study the Bible very deeply, take up photography, learn to play the guitar, read more books, hike the Appalachian trail, live in a cabin in the woods with just the bare necessities, live off the land as much as possible, travel the world, go on missions trips, meet new people, adopt a child, have interesting conversations, reach out to people and encourage them. Many of these are great things, and things that could be used for God's glory. But most of them are not possible now, and may never be.

Sometimes it makes me sad when I think of all the other lives I could live. That's where Robin Mark's song really speaks to me. I need to surrender all of my ambitions, hopes and plans to Jesus. I cannot do it all. I can only do what He has given me to do right now, do it as well as I can, and do it All for Jesus.

I know what God wants me to do right now is homeschool Levi. Guide him, teach him, be there for him, show him the love of God. Be a good wife, be there for Audie, manage our household with love and wisdom. Earnestly seek God and study His word, trusting that he will reveal to me what He wants me to know at this time. Love and encourage those God brings into my life. Write when I can, and use my words to show people how Jesus makes a difference in my life. And how when I give it all up to Him, I am truly free

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