Nov. 10, 2009 - Deep Onto Deep
I am always in awe at how God works. I probably shouldn't admit that. I should just expect wonderful, amazing things from Him, but my humanness allows me to continually be in awe at how He works things out and together. He takes my breath away.
Yesterday morning, due to the happenings of the past week, I was lamenting the fact of the scarceness of deep friendships. I have many superifical relationships (you know the kind, "Hi, how are you? but you know that if you replied that you were a mess, they would still go on their merry way without missing a beat) but these are not satisfying to me. The people that I have these relationships with were no where to be seen when I needed them the most. I need more than this.
I have been blessed with two friendships that go way beyond surface. These women and I always travel into the nitty gritty of our lives and hash things out. These women know the real me. Not the one that I put on display in public. Not the one that always has a smile pasted on her face, even though her heart is breaking into a million pieces. These two women have helped me put those pieces together many a time. They know exactly why my heart pieces are lying shattered on the floor and they still stick around. They stil come around for more. These are the kind of friendships that I need right now. I know that I should be very thankful to have two of these kinds of friendships. Many people don't even have that many. I do feel very blessed that my realness doesn't scare these women off. I just want more of this.
I was wondering yesterday morning why being real scares so many people. Not only that but why does other people being real scare others We all have stories to tell. Does it make us feel more secure when we can pretend that we have it all together? Does it make our reality less real when we can pretend it away? I am tired of pretending.
Yesterday afternoon, a fellow homeschool family came for a visit. The purpose of this visit was to show the mom our reading program as she has just been told that her children are dyslexic and she wanted to see if our program would work for her kids. I have known B for a few years now. I really like her but she is a tough cookie to get to know. She keeps you at arms length. During the past year, though, I have felt that she has been drawing me closer. She has been a bit more real to me. She has been willing to let the facade crack a bit. She is one of the few, who called regularly to see how life was going for me in the past months.
We sent the kids outside to play on the hay bales and we settled ourselves in the living room. She asked me how I was doing. I told her of still feeling a bit fragile and explained to her why this feeling was still lingering. I don't really know how it all came about but B began to flow forth with realness. She began to tell me how life really was for her. I, then, reciprocated (because I didn't want her to be all alone, dangling on that branch) and started to divulge my own realness. In the span of an hour and a half, I was shocked (mortified?) at how much I had told her. We were both so real that it scared me. Not only were we real, but we were able to get deep in this realness. We didn't just share our stories but we tried to figure out how to give them a happy ending. We laughed, we cried and we prayed. We were deep.
Isn't God amazying? We came together under the guise of looking at a reading program but God had other plans for that afternoon. He knew that we both needed a friendship of depth and he gave it to us. Just like that. Both B and I knew that our friendship had just passed through deep waters. We couldn't get back into the land of supericial even if we tried. Thank you, Lord.
Nov. 9, 2009 - Dickens-isms
Mia and I are reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens this month. I stumbled upon this site yesterday and decided that I would use some of Dickens' quotes in starting a commonplace book for Mia. I think I have talked about this type of book before. It is a book solely for quotes, songs, poems, or Scripture verses that speak to you. Some people use a Commonplace book for figures of Rhetoric, others use it for examples of the virtues or the Great Ideas. For now, I just want Mia to use this book to put in quotes that speak truth, beauty and goodness. She will use these verses for copywork and use her best writing. I haven't decided if I will have her do it incursive (she is still a bit shaky with this) or printing. I am hoping that if I get her started well, she will be able to do this on her own without any prompting from her mom.
Anyway, I want to use the Commonplace Book for some quotes from Dickens. There are many to choose from so we might do a few a week until we are done his book of Scrooge. Here are some interesting ones that I copied.
A wonderful fact to reflect upon that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.
An idea, like a ghost, must be spoken to a little bit before it will explain itself.
A day wasted on others is not wasted on one's self.
I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order and diligence, wihtout the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time.
In the little world in which children have their existence, whosoever brings them up, there is nothing so finely perceived and so finely felt as injustice.
Life is made of ever so many partings melded together.
Whatever I have tried to do in life, I have tried I have tried with all my heart to do it well; whatever I have devoted myself to, I have devoted myself completely; in great aims and in small I have always thoroughly been in earnest.
Nov. 8, 2009 - Book #47 -- Tell Me Pretty Maiden
I think I have found an author who is fast becoming a favourite. Rhys Bouwen is author of many books. These books belong to three different series. I have read books from two of her series (Her Royal Spyness and Molly Murphy) and have enjoyed them all. I keep picking up Bouwen's books at the library, meaning that I stumble upon them, I don't order them. I always feel like I have just met up with an old friend when I come upon one of her books on the shelves.
The most recent book that I have read of Bouwen's is from the Molly Murphy series' Tell Me Pretty Maiden. It is set in the 1900's. The main character is a female detective with wildly boisterous friends that always help her to solve her cases. This book, as with all of Bouwen's books, is chock full of action and is all tied up in a neat bow at the end. These books are definitely full mysteries but, oh! they are delightful fluff
Nov. 6, 2009 - What We Did This Week
This is our first weekly report of the school year. Why? Well, this is the firs week that we actually did something on consistent level. We actually did full days for the entire school week. Wahoo! It felt so good! I was thinking of continuing the survival mode of schooling that we have been doing since our little cancer bump but last weekend I had this overwhelming need to get back to life full tilt. So we did! We had an awesome week, too!
Math
We have been doing math for the past two months but it has been hit and miss. Mia is working on rounding numbers and applying this to division. Long division has been the thorn in our side as of late. It is hard for Mia to remember all of the steps as well as remembering when to multiply or subtract. Today, though, she did two sheets of her MUS book and she did them all on her own without pleads of help to me.
Rocky is still working with fractions but this week it has flowed over to time and money. He has done very well with this. I think our little foray into living math last week helped him in understanding what fractions were all about.
Missy is doing very well with math right now. I was a little concerned last year as she still didn't know her numbers. It wasn't for lack of teaching, either. She knows her numbers very well now as well her tens. I am doing the happy dance in my heart because I honestly didn't think she would ever get this. She is able to recognize the higher numbers as well. We did some adding this week with help from the abacus. We also played Swim to Ten, a Right Start game.
Language Arts
We had a major breakthrough with Mia's spelling this week. She wrote a story today about King Arthur. She wrote it on her own and did not ask for any spelling help. She was able to figure out the words by finger spelling, a strategy that is taught by Bartons Reading and Spelling. This program is worth a fortune but it is worth it! I have seen such progress in Mia's spelling and Rocky's reading. We have picked up Classical Writing again. I am enjoying this program. It is challenging but fun. This week our model was a fable by Joseph Jacobs. MIa diagrammed and marked sentences for parts of speech. She is doing very well with her diagramming. I think with more practise the marking will come along, too. We have finished Little Women this week. We had our 'end of the book' discussion today and talked about the themes of the book. I am very impressed with Mia's thought processes. She remarked that she thought Jo was a female version of Peter Pan because she didn't want to grow up. Mia also started a paper on the book. This is her first attempt at this sort of thing so I am giving lots of input to help guide her. The paper is simple enough, she is to discuss the characteristics of the four March girls. This is initiating her into writing an intro paragraph and how to support that paragraph.
We aren't doing grammar for awhile yet so Rocky didn't have too much work this week. He has started reading The Magic Tree House books. I am so proud of him. Last year at this time, he couldn't even read Level 1 readers and now he is able to read simple chapter books. What is even better is that he is proud of himself as well. He is on lesson 4 of Level 3 of Bartons and he is getting close to the teaching of the spelling rules. This will be a great challenge for him. Rocky is also doing more copywork. His writing is very sloppy so I have had him rub out the illegible letters and attempt them again. This has brought many tears and hissy fits this week. I think I have won the Mean Mom award of the week. If it means that I will have a son who can write so that you can read it, then I gladly accept the award.
We are still plugging along in teaching Missy the letter sounds. The problems she had with numbers last year are alive and well with her letters this year. We are moving very slowly. I am going to order a program that will, hopefully, help her with phonemic awareness but this program is so expensive and we just can't afford it right now. So we plug along with my feeble attempts.
History
We are now learning about King Arthur, Knights and Castles. Rocky loves this era so he is in his glory. We read about what makes a knight, what a knight wears and how they all came to be. The kids wrote narrations as well as stories about King Arthur. They also wrote Codes of Honour for themselves in true scroll-like fashion. We read some puzzle books on knights. My kids really like these Usborne books. We are also reading The Sword in the Circle by Rosemary Sutcliff. I have never read this book before but I am thoroughly enjoying it. The kids are liking it, too, but it is a bit over the head of Missy. She doesn't have a clue what is going on, but she hides it well.
Morning Time
Missy is memorizing The Castle Builder by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Rocky's poem is Bed in Summer Robert Louis Stevenson and Missy completed Singing Time by Robert Louis Stevenson today. We are still in the middle of Hamlet for our Shakespeare reading. For Greek Myths, we read The Tale of Arachne (Missy), The Gorgon's Head--The Wnder Tales (Rocky) and Baucis and Philemon--Age of Fables (Mia.)
Read Alouds
Missy and I started Matilda by Roald Dahl this week. Missy and I both love Dahl books. Matilda is one of our favourites. Yes, I know that the parents are nasty and it is wrong for Matilda to get revenge on them but it makes my heart sing when Miss Honey comes to give Matilda the kind of life that she should have had with her parents. I feel the warm, fuzzies with this book.
I am still reading The Return to the Hundered Acres Wood with Rocky. Nothing or no one can replace A.A.Milne but this book does well, considering. Rocky doesn't care who writes it as long as it about Pooh.
Mia and I started The Christmas Carol by Dickens today. We aren't going to have book discussions for every book so this is our 'just enjoy it' book.
We have a new family read aloud. We finished The Magic Half by Annie Barrows on Wed. The Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder was next on our list. The kids and I have been able to have some good discussions on bitterness after reading about this book's Mrs. Brewster. That woman is the epitome of bitterness.
Miscellaneous
We bought Model Magic this week and the kids have had great fun in making all sorts of creations. This has been our art class as I am not ready to do anything formal yet. Mia also started her art class at the Art Gallery. She is making stamps for this class. She thoroughly enjoyed it. We were able to do some baking, exploring, nature walks and we saw the most amazing sunrise yesterday. There is nothing like a Saskatchewan sunrise (or sunset) to nudge you to give thanks to the Lord for his awesome creation.
I am going to do something really nasty. This post has taken me way too long to write and it is past supper time so I am going to press SEND without editing. Please forgive me. I promise I won't make a habit of this but I can hear the herd rebelling up above me.
Nov. 5, 2009 - MIssing Out
I met a friend in the library earlier this week. I haven't seen this friend in awhile. She knew all about our little cancer bump, through hearing it via mutual friends. She asked me how I was feeling then said the old familiar words:
"I was going to call you but, of course, I didn't. I figured you wouldn't want to talk about it."
I had two immediate thoughts: 1) she made that decision (about whether I wanted to talk or not) for me and 2) the more accurate statement would be that she did not want to talk about it.
This has been a very common experience for me the last two months. People that I thought were my friends have avoided me like the plague. Some have even walked by me without acknowledging my exixtence. I know why they are acting like this: they don't know what to say, their uncomfortableness suffocates them into inaction. I totally understand this as I used to be like this as well.
I have been thinking about this very hard the last few days (it is at this point that my husband would back away in fear, so proceed with extreme caution,) and God has given me insight into this whole thing. I initially was hurt by the library incident (and every similar incident that I have encountered in the last two months) but now I just feel sadness for my friend. By avoiding me, she is missing out on amazing stories about how God has worked in my life and my children's lives in the past two months. She is missing out on glimpses of God's Glory. There have been so many ways that God has ministered to me in the past little while; ways of miracles. In avoiding me, people miss out on being encouraged by stories of God's healing, His comfort, His strength, His peace, etc. I could go on and on. The short of it is, though, that they are just plain missing out. They do not get to see glimpses of God. This saddens me.
An elderly gentleman from our church is in the hospital right now. He wants so desperately to die and be with His Father. He is having a very difficult time, as is his wife. B. C. (Before Cancer) I would have prayed for this couple but I would not have called or visited because my comfort zone would have held me back. Last night I called this lovely woman. I would have liked to have visited her husband in the hospital but he is deaf and is in a hallucinative state, I didn't want my kids to see that., so I called. We talked for half an hour. This wonderful woman told me story after story about how God has answered prayer, not just in this situation, but in times of the past. These stories were so encouraging to me. I thought later that if I had chosen to avoid that phone call, I would have missed out on all of those stories that gave my glimpses of God's glory and power. Her stories encouraged me.
Isn't it funny how God works? We make an effort to help someone or to encourage them and we end up being helped or encouraged. If we hadn't made that effort, we would miss out on all of that and so much more.
Nov. 4, 2009 - Getting it All Done
Ever since MIssy joined our learning time, I have had the darnedest time to get everything done academically. Unfortunately, it seems to always be Missy that gets left in the dust. Due to reasons that I won't get into right now, Mia always goes first with doing school with me. Then it is Rocky's turn. By the time I get Rocky finished, it is lunch time and Missy's work hasn't even been touched. I like to keep the afternoons for the content subjects as I consider these the 'fun' subjects and we all need a bit of fun in our days. I always think "Well, we'll get to Missy tomorrow. We'll have more time tomorrow." Tomorrow has never arrived.
We have started doing more school this week. I decided it is time to address this issue. I can't keep sloughing Missy off. The girl needs to learn. I just don't know how to cram it all in. Every element of our morning is important and I don't want to give any of it up.
Our Morning Time usually takes an hour. Part of the problem is that we have been starting at 9:00 as I can't get the kitchen clean before that time (I like to have at least a clean kitchen before school starts.) By the time I get to Mia it is 10:00. Another problem is that I have chosen curriculums that are teacher-intensive. I can't just give my kid the book and say 'Go at it." I have to teach the lesson first. This was done on purpose. My feeling here is that this is why I homeschool; to teach. I do not want to give up these programs as they are working for us and I think they are excellent programs, but they take up a lot of time when you are teaching more than one child.
Getting back to our day: so I get Mia started on her math (if I don't have to walk her through the lesson then I, at least, have to stay close if she has any problems) now I might be able to do math with Rocky but I have to stay at the kitchen table close to Mia. After math, I do all of Mia's subjects (spelling and writing) then move on to Rocky's. While I am working with Rocky, Mia does her independent work. By the time I get finished with Rocky, it is time to get lunch started. I might have time to read to Missy but that doesn't even happen most days.
I have been giving this alot of thought. Here is what I have come up with so that MIssy can spend some learning time with her Mama. Even if it means starting school with a messy, jam-sticky kitchen, we will start our Morning Time at 8:30. Also, MIa will not always be going first when working with me. We will do this through cycling. Each day, one of them will take turns going first so that it won't always be Missy getting short changed. If it happens that Mia or Rocky do not get their work done in the morning, then we will have to carry on where we left off right after lunch. I don't like this as it makes our school day that much longer (we are already doing 5 1/2 hours) but I can't see any way out of this.
We tried this new plan yesterday and things worked out very well. We started as close as we could to 8:30. Missy went first in learning with her Mom. We were able to get every one done, but we havent' been doing Grammar this week. Once we add that in, we might topple over into the afternoon. Oh, well, a price you pay for having more than one child.
Nov. 3, 2009 - Knights and Castles
During the last few months, we have not done much with History or Science. We have done bits and pieces here and there but not anything of any consistent value. With the beginning of a new month, I decided that I wanted to start back with our original plans. In a perfect world, we would be starting Knights and Castles for the first two weeks then would be moving on to Shakespeare. So I decided to pretend that we were, indeed, in that perfect world and start with my original plans. We may not get very far or as deep as I had originally intended but at least we are doing something productive.
Yesterday was our first day on this subject. We read The Sword in the Circle by Rosemary Sutcliff. This book is about Merlin and King Arthur. The kids have been making King Arthur's castle out of lego the past few days so this book will give them a great jumping off point for their play.
We did alot of reading yesterday about knights and just exactly who they were and what they did. I have a few Usborne books as well as a Kaleidoscope book on knights and castles that give us our information. I really like using Story of the World as our spine for these units but it doesn't have very much info on this part of history so I have needed to look elsehwere. Elsewhere isn't as well-written to garner outlines or narrations from. But we plod on.
Each child then did a narration about what we had read. This is where things went south. Missy's narration was fine because I write hers out but Rocky had great difficulty with his writing. He left out a few sentences so I made him do it over again. This did not sit well with him and a hissy fit followed. I gave him a break (aka sent him to his room) and we started again but it was very difficult for him to get those few sentences out. It hit me, yet again, that this boy needs consistency with his school work and he just hasn't been getting it the past little while. He needs to be writing every day for whatever reason. So this is my goal for the next few months: do copywork or writing narrations daily.
I had Mia write out a paragraph about how the knights and castles came to be. This was difficutl to do as the sources we used are not written very well. She managed, though, with alot of help from me. Her writing is pretty bad as well, so I guess consistency is needed with her, too.
Even with the few little bumps yesterday, it did feel good to be doing something other than math and reading. It felt very good indeed.
Nov. 2, 2009 - Those Who Have Gone Before Me
I quickly discovered two months ago that those people who have gone down the same path that I was embarking on were the ones who truly ''got it.' They understood perfectly the emotions, the rollercoaster ride that I was going through. There was a pure sense of empathy there that I was never given anywhere else.
An online friend, who traveled this path last year, understood my thoughts and emotions. She would offer words of encouragement and support that comforted me beyond words. I didn't have to justify what I was going through (as I seemed to have to do with everyone else) she just understood. I consider that a gift.
A gentleman at my church has recently gone down this path as well. He was just told that he does not have to have anymore radiation treatments, so his experiences are still fresh. When I told everybody at church that I had cancer, he made a beeline to me, with tears streaming down his face, gathering me in a very strong hug. Yesterday, he came to me as soon as church was over to see how I had made out at the cancer clinic. When I told of my emotional rollercoaster, he nodded and said he knew all about that ride. He knew all about the draining emotions and the emptiness you feel after it was all over. He got it.
Yesterday, a woman on my e-list asked for prayer for her 40 yr. old friend, a mother of 6, who had just discovered that she had cancer. I stared at the computer screen and started to cry, reliving all of those emotions, but this time it was for a total stranger. I do know now a little bit of what she is feeling right now. My heart hurts so deeply for her.
I guess that I have now been initiated into a strange sort of club, the Cancer Survivor's Club. We, at the club, have a sense of empathy that you cannot attain anywhere else until you go through the journey yourself. I pray that this membership into this club will enable me to help those in the future as those cancer survivors have helped me these past two months. It is also my prayer that God will never let me forget what I have gone through these past two months. I pray that this empathy will be alive and well inside of me for a long time to come.
Nov. 1, 2009 - Book #46 -- Wuthering Heights
I think I may have a penchant for dark and depressing stories. I have heard many people say that they disliked Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights because they are creepy and depressing. I loved both of these books! I got so much out of reading them. They gave me much food for thought for days after I read them. This is, to my way of thinking, a sign of a great book. If it can get you to think long after you have put the book back on the shelf then the author has done its job.
In Wuthering Heights, I have to agree that the darkness was a bit too much in parts. The way Heathcliff treated his son and Cathy was disheartening, to say the least. But there were a few things that this book said to me. 1) No person can derail the human spirit-- Heathcliff treated Cathy and Hareton abominably but after he was dead, they were able to attempt to have a 'normal' life. When Lockwood comes upon them at the end of the story, the two are teasing each other somewhat lightheartedly. This says a great deal about the perseverence of the human spirit.
2) If there is no repentance for a life of sin then that life is lived in torment. Heathcliff had many opportunities to make things right and repent but he chose to keep on his dastardly path. As a result, he lived a tormented life even up to the end.
I am sure there are many more things to say about this book but the above 2 were the things that jumped out at me. Now I need to find another dark book to sink my teeth into.
Oct. 30, 2009 - Book Talk
Okay, enough cancer talk. Let's move on with life, shall we?
I wanted to start having more literary discussions with Mia this year. I didn't want these discussions to be formal or complicated but I wanted us to start just talking about the books that we were reading. I had visions of introducing literary elements and just getting into the habit of discussing. Discussing is something that I am not good at. I am good at thinking, boy, I can think up a storm but talking about what I am thinking is a whole 'nother ball game. I was hoping that these book talks would help both Mia and myself.
It's hard to tell whether these are helping or not as we haven't been able to have consistency. We have been reading Little Women since the beginning of Sept. It has been slow going and our discussions have been a bit stilted but I have hopes that, in time, the stiltedness will disappear as we both become used to this format.
In a perfect world, Mia is to read her book on her own from Mon. to Thurs. That usually translates to a chapter a day. Then we get together on Fridays for our talk. I use Teaching the Classics as a jumping off point for our discussions. At the back of the syllabus, there are lists of questions for each of the literary elements. For Little Women, I am concentrating more on character as this is an easy book for that.
I am also using the suggestions in The Well Educated Mind (Susan Wise Bauer) to teach Mia how to read a book well. For this year, I am having her write out narrations for each chapter. I am stressing to Mia to just write out the main happening or idea in each chapter as she is notorious for telling each and every detail a la Charlotte Mason. I don't want detail for this exercise, I want main idea.
I have been thinking about what I want her to do at the end of our reading. I want to start having her write out papers for each book. When I say papers I mean a paragraph about the book. I don't want her to write a standard book report (I like this book because....) as I think these are useless but I do want her to write about some element in the story and to be able to back up her words. I am only expecting a paragraph for this year. I think that for LIttle Women I will have her write a paragraph about a character of her choice. I just want her to describe that character and use examples from the book that back up her thoughts.
Even though this book is going slower than I had anticpated, I am happy with how things are going. This is a good test run for both of us. If slow and steady wins the race then I think we are in a good place right now. I think if we continue on with the discussion, it will become easier for both of us. Consistency is key.
We have 3 more chapters to read in LIttle Women, then I think we will move on to The Christmas Carol by Dickens. I don't want every book we read to be up for literary discussion. I want us to be able to enjoy some of those books without analyzing them to death. So our more formal book talks will be for every other book. We will just read The Christmas Carol for enjoyment. I am sure discussion will come up on its own but there will be no formal discussion. I haven't decided what book we will use for our next book talk, though. I am thinking either Prince and the Pauper by Twain or Oliver Twist by Dickens. I have a few weeks (at the rate we are going it might be a few months) before I decide.
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