Here we are in the house doing a very relaxed schooling today while the sound of rain is our background music. It has been a steady soothing cool rain. Right now we are enjoying a hot cup of cocoa. We are also guilty of watching Christmas shows on TV tonight. I can't believe that they are showing them before Thanksgiving. Also we went to town last night and they have all the Christmas lights up already. What's the rush? If you have noticed all of the holidays have overlapped each other. Most of the public has a need for constant shopping because of it and have lost the original meaning for the holidays.
I'm so glad that thru HSing we can slow things down a little for our families and search out history to find our true orgins for holidays and moumental figures in history. We know the real reasons for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and all the other holidays. While most public schools stay out of the Bible & Christianity we are free to teach the Word of God. When others breeze thru history and other subjects we enjoy staying on a subject matter or historic figure until we understand in depth to the fullest knowledge of our forefathers & our orgin. I am still amazed at how much our DC have learned & how they have such a hunger to learn even more.
We enforce a lot of our subjects with documentary videos & audios, read-a-louds & acting out parts of stories. Our DC enjoy using their own imagination to write their own stories or short booklets. To the public we HSers seem strange because we love what we are doing. I realize we have good & bad days but overall there is a good feeling knowing we are obeying God by teaching our children ourselves!
I pray that God will "rain" down many blessings on your HSing efforts!!!
I only have a just a second here, but wanted to say that we will be driving to Trujillo again tomorrow and next. So, anyone who reads this blog can pray! For a little more current info on our life work, see our ministry blog here:
School has been going pretty good this year. Right now I'm behind on grading papers, but tonight or tomorrow night I'll get caught up with that. I'm almost done making assignments until Thanksgiving break. I'm going to have the kids do school on Monday and somewhat on Tuesday. It will be more of "holiday school". We'll be shopping for food items, reading Thanksgiving books and watching holiday movies, but it will also be a catch-up day for my high schoolers if they need it, and they probably will.
One day, as we were innocently watching some tv, a nasty smell started wafting into our noses. My hubby said it smelled like death. All I knew was that it stunk. For about a week we searched the house for the smell. My hubby actually went down to the basement and cleaned and still didn't find the smell. Finally, I turned the couch over because I was convinced there was a dead mouse in the couch. I smelled all over the couch, didn't find the source, but then, out of a strange hunch, I smelled the outlet. There it was! The outlet stunk! That's when I remembered about a month previous to that, we were sitting in the frontroom and heard scratching in the walls. UGH! There was a dead mouse somewhere in our walls! What were we supposed to do? My hubby wanted to start tearing apart the walls - which I couldn't really blame him since the smell was just awful. We tried to wait it out for a little while. We were hoping it would go away. No such luck. Finally, hubby started surgery on our house. Thankfully, the other side of the wall that the smell was coming from was the basement stairs. So we didn't have to rip apart a wall that could actually be seen.
And this is some of what hubby found:
Creepy. Obviously, this isn't the first time this had happened. Unfortunatly, he still didn't find the source of the smell. And we are still living with it. It is definitly not as strong as before, but it's still there. I need to write a book about everything you need to know about before you move to the country.
I know this is a day late, but I'm posting it anyway. I really like this and for more details on this teacher, you can read about it on http://www.snopes.com/glurge/nodesks.asp. As far as I can tell, it's a true story.
Back in September 2005, Martha Cothren, a social studies school teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock AK, did something memorable.
On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks from her classroom.
When the first period kids entered the room, they discovered that there were no desks. “Ms. Cothren, where are our desks?”
She replied, “You can’t have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.”
They thought, “Well, maybe it’s our grades.”
“No,” she said.
“Maybe it’s our behavior.”
She told them, “No, it’s not even your behavior.”
And so, they came and went: the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom.
By early afternoon, television news crews had started gathering in Ms. Cothren’s classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.
The final period of the day came, and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the deskless classroom, Martha Cothren said, “Throughout the day, no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.”
At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it.
Twenty-seven U.S. Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk.
The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand along the wall. By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place, those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.
Martha said, “You didn’t earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. Now, it’s up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don’t ever forget it.”
I'll try to put all the "new news" in one post, for convenience' sake.
In recent weeks, we'd battled a chicken thief--a red, furry chicken thief. He made off with one, and we caught him in the act with a second, but he sagaciously dropped the hen and made his getaway. (Hubby had to doctor the poor chicken by stitching up a huge gash in her back. He had a surprisingly able assistant in Anna Kate.)
So, in addition to reinstalling and improving the electric fencing around the chicken yard, hubby's taken up yet another side hobby: trapping. To make a long story short, he's downstairs tanning the thief's (or his relative's) hide as I type.
We do have pictures of the skinning process, but I'll spare my sensitive readers. :) The older children were fascinated, and Anna Kate even got a little biology lesson (identifying organs, checking stomach contents, and other gruesome "extras").
We caught the fox on Halloween, and that same day added a new friend to our chicken yard.
He's a handsome Rhode Island Red, same type that fathered our Golden Comets. Once we find an incubator, we will be able to add to our flock!
We had a fun holiday. We went to a little dress-up activity with some homeschooling friends, planned brilliantly, as usual, by the super-amazing local homeschool mom, R.
Indoor marshmallow toasting:
Cowgirls, soldiers, fairy princesses and froggies, oh my!
Ian went as "Guy in a Flannel Shirt":
Anna Kate, as usual, went as Mom's right hand.
Don't know what I'd do without her, and neither does Aidan. Both my big girls are hugely helpful.
Making mask cookies...
We went to the pumpkin patch right down the road a couple of days later and bought carving punkins. Here is Dad's barfing pumpkin:
Lights on...
Lights off...
Once again, I tried roasting the seeds, but even though I boiled them first, the shells were quite crunchy. I liked the spicy recipe better than the sweet.
Last Friday marked week 10 of Classical Conversations. Hard to believe we are almost done with the first semester! We have memorized a large body of material. I say "we," but the children easily out-memorize me. Here is the timeline they have mastered so far:
(FYI: Those last few are not in order, I discovered later. :) )
Eight cards per week! And that's in addition to history sentences, science facts, Latin declensions, math facts, and more. The history timeline is repeated yearly in CC, and I do hope my younger students will be able to stay with the program through the three years' cycles to benefit from repetition (we are in Cycle 1 this year). It's an expensive program (for a family our size) but so very worth the investment!
Of course, my three older students are also mastering grammar and writing in the afternoons. I am thoroughly enjoying sentence diagramming, something I missed out on in school. Anna Kate and Olivia are taking ownership of their writing now, and really blossoming.
We are learning the tin whistle, along with basic music theory, as part of the CC fine arts segment. I was inspired by this gentleman's lessons to take up the tin whistle myself. So far this week, I've gotten in daily practice. I've mastered "Dawning of the Day," but still stumble through "Peg Ryan's Polka." It's fun and motivating, starting right out with traditional tunes. My limited experience with the recorder has helped a bit. Unfortunately, our only remaining computer speakers are on the fritz, so I'm not sure when I'll get to the next lesson.
In other news, we snagged a used woodstove last week, and hubby is preparing to install it to specs, and have it inspected (for insurance purposes). It's a cast-iron stove. We want a soapstone, eventually, but this one will keep us toasty warm and prevent nasty electric bills this winter. Pictures of installation to come...
Yesterday, I thoroughly cleaned and de-cluttered the master bedroom in a desperate search for missing tractor keys. We later found the keys outdoors, but I sure was glad to get a clean bedroom out of it. I can actually relax in there now that the clutter's gone. Naturally, anything I couldn't get rid of went straight to the junk room, but at least it's out of sight. The "decider" can deal with it whenever he sees fit. :) I'd love to tackle the schoolroom next.
The big girls are still involved in riding lessons. We'll take a break when the weather turns truly cold, but we've had nice weather here, for the most part. Mondays ordinarily are riding days, but this week's lesson (Olivia's turn) is on Wednesday. I'm so pleased to see them gaining confidence with the horses. Like our CC work, proper horsemanship takes much practice and repetition. It's starting to pay off! I'm even learning a bit, since I typically catch the tail end of the lesson (literally, as the girls lead the horse back to corral or pasture).
We're eagerly expecting a visit from Mama Cox and Uncle Barry tomorrow. That probably means I should tackle the guest room before the schoolroom. Heh! It's a tangle of clothing containers right now. Our CC family presentation is this Friday, and I hope all our family members will be able to come and see it, as well as introduce themselves to our CC friends. :) We're hoping Daddy can steal a bit of time from his work schedule to be there as well.
Just this past Saturday our church and some other friends went to the Estabrooks' Apple Gala!
It was really fun! (the Estabrooks hold an Apple Gala every year) We mainly played outside games like, Ultimate Frisbee, Capture the Flag, Freeze tag and Football. (there were probably....at least 50 kids there)
Mr. Estabrooks made apple cider with his 100 year old apple machine thing. It was really good! 10 or 12 of the people brought pies for a contest. (It was the "Best Pie Contest")
After it got dark, and everyone went inside, we all (the kids) played card games! We played Uno and Rummy. (from what I saw)
Sunday, we went to the Marcums' house for our friend, A.J.'s Birthday! He was turning 21!
Mrs. Marcum made a huge rib and pot roast feast. They were the juiciest most tender ribs I had ever had.
After we ate, Paulie, Luke, A.J., Mike, A.J.'s sister Emily and her husband Josh, and I went outside and played Football and Ultimate Frisbee. It was really fun!!
Mrs. Marcum made 2 big German Chocolate cakes! (A.J.'s favorite I guess)
After everyone left (except us and Mike) Mike, Paulie, Luke and I played Rummy for like.....2 hours or something. We had a great time over at their house! Thanks, Marcums!!
How is everyone with presentations? I have always been terrible at it. My DW Traci is great at presentations and hosting seminars. Now we humor ourselves at home with a little play acting along with our read-alouds. We have allways wondered how our DC would do in front of an audience. The field trip group that we are joined with now gave us this opportunity. Once a month they have a oral book presentation. They do an oral report on a book they are reading or a subject matter of their choice. I am impressed with the different mediums or ways they bring out their reports.
All the DC were a little nervous at first, but now they are doing great. I have seen poster boards, home made picture books, clip art with oral reports, and library books with oral reports. These presentations have helped the DC tremendously. They do a fantastic job with the timing and expression of their work before an audience.
Field trips, park days, and home visitations are a great way for homeschoolers to meet and make friends. Support your local HSing groups.
In a former life that I now dimly remember, I occasionally got free music as a sales associate for The Ark Bookstore in Denver. Normally, the samples were of new, relatively unknown groups that their label was trying to push. There was the rare exception, however, and those were moments that made the low wages and long hours almost worth it. Chief among those moments was when our Sparrow representative stopped by with a pre-release copy of Steve Taylor's 1993 album, Squint. It was the last—so far—studio album that Taylor would release, capping a decade-long career in the Christian music industry. Most folks don't know who Steve Taylor is. However, most Christians have likely heard the Newsboys' song, Shine, which Steve produced and wrote the lyrics to. In fact, Steve's partnership with the Newsboys is what most credit them for their success.
Steve's music has had a huge impact on my life. Songs like Hero, Meltdown, On The Fritz and so many others fed my spirit when I faced religious hypocrisy and pretentious spirituality at a young age where I needed truth and solidarity. Truth confronts, but it also comforts. One of the best examples is in the song, "Curses," where the chorus (echoing Psalm 37:25) repeats,
Never have I seen the righteous forsaken
Never abandoned in the floodlands
Never have I seen their children out begging
Never have I seen them slip through your hands
This simple refrain would echo in my mind every time I faced worries about making mortgage or buying groceries. It remains a reminder that not only is God faithful, but that I am not the first of his children to encounter financial difficulty.
There is something else about the chorus. In this modern,"lower-middle class" lifestyle, I tend to forget the meaning of floodlands. Today, modern civilization has flood control. Rivers that used to rage and ravage towns and cities are now harnessed and regulated by dams and reservoirs. The floodlands were areas that were normally dry but prone to extensive inundation. As a result, no one who could afford to build would build in such an area. They tended to be vast areas with thick undergrowth crisscrossed by a myriad of foot trails. The only inhabitants were the poorest of the poor, vagrants living a nomadic lifestyle and eating hand-to-mouth. If a river were to flood, they would be among the first victims, sometimes the only victims. Being abandoned in the floodlands would never be by choice. It would be the last stop before dying.
God is always mindful of our situation. He never lets us slip through His hands. We make mistakes, but He never does. Also, notice what it doesn't say. It doesn't say that we would never see the floodlands, or walk through them. He may have us pass through the floodlands for any number of reasons, not the least of which would be to reach out to those are also in desperate need. Yet here is the one thing that brings me such comfort: we will never be abandoned! We have a God who carries us through the fiercest storms and the highest waves. Most importantly, when it's all over, we get to go home with Him. That's worth any trek we might face here on earth.
Just in case one thinks I'm blowing smoke, I'll offer a subjective proof, one of many small miracles God has done for me and my family. Two weeks ago, my mind turned to Christmas. It dawned on me that we might not make mortgage, let alone have the ability to purchase gifts this year for my children. Rather than fret, I told God about it and asked Him to please provide Christmas gifts for my kids. Later that week, I got a call from our church saying that a family wanted to bless a family in need with Christmas presents and asked if I would be interested. "Are you kidding? I was just praying about that this week!" I told them. Needless to say, everyone was blessed at how God worked the whole thing. He usually isn't so blatant and obvious. God uses subtle and practical ways for us most of the time. But once in awhile he offers us unmistakable signs that He's there. With God, we are never abandoned.
My wife came up and told me that Sesame Street had done another spoof. This time it was a skit called "Desperate Horse-wives." I got a groan when I asked if the characters were less than neigh-borly.
In all seriousness, I'm not that thrilled with how the folks at Sesame Street parody network TV shows. While I am sure that the creators mean simple and innocent fun with their skits, I believe it also sends the message that the shows they represent are normal and acceptable in normal households. I'm not sure how normal we are, but Desperate Housewives is a show that we do not let in our house. My children know that when Extreme Makeover Home Edition is over and they hear, "Previously on Desperate Housewives..." power to the television is to be immediately terminated. It's almost comical how they scramble to turn it off, as if they were diving on a live grenade.
While it may not be a grenade, many TV shows are painfully difficult for us to watch these days. Some of the shows are so corrosive, I wonder how anyone can possibly watch them. Consequently, some nights we simply don't turn on the television set. Instead, we will read a good book or play a game together, if we don't split up to do separate things. We avoid the shows not because we like feeling superior or cerebral, but because we've found that these shows actively interfere with our hearts and minds.
8-9Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. (Philippians 4:8, The Message)
I can't come out with a list of TV shows that I think are bad or good. The verse above should be more than enough for the average Christian, especially when it's paired with the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Each person is responsible only to God for decisions like these. However, Jesus did give us a special charge with children.
"And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. Mark 9:42 (NIV)
To me this verse means that God takes the destruction of children's innocence very seriously. This is why the Sesame Street skits irritate me. It feels like they're playing with fire. Look smart all you want, but I would prefer if they would just stick with "C is for cookie," and the yip-yip monsters.
What? You've never heard of the yip-yip monsters? Yip Yip
