Hi Friends!  I have been so busy these past few weeks.  Becky completed drivers training.....got her permit!   Allysa took  her driving road test......and passed!  These are exciting milestones, but one is even more exciting...Allysa (16) started college!  She is enrolled as a dual enrolled highschool student and is taking a composition class.  What does any of this have to do with the book pictured above?  I am going to tell you.  Allysa was an average student in grade school and really didn't like reading too much.  I started her reading some of the classics (Ann of Green Gables, Little Woman, to name a few) around 7th grade.  She was soon hooked and became an avid reader.  When she started high school we read about this little book called A THOMAS JEFFERSON EDUCATION.  To make a long story short I decided to throw out the more traditional text book approach to English and Writing and let her read the classics as outlined in this book.  Two years later she took the test at our community college for college placement and scored at the top of the charts!!  The counselor at the college asked her where she went to school when she saw her scores and she told the counselor she was homeschooled and just entering the 11th grade.  The counselor said, "Of course, no one from the schools around here ever score that well."

No, the purpose of this post is not to brag about my daughter, it is to share with you the excitement I feel in knowing that just by reading, reading, and more reading our children are leaps and bounds above their peers.  I asked Allysa why she thought she did so well on the writing section of the test (she scored  a 96 out of 100)  She told me it was from reading so much.  So, for any of you with highschoolers burned out on traditional learning I highly recommend this book.

"A second major purpose is to help home schoolers, the true entrepreneurs of education, get the most out of their great sacrifice and hard work.  Home schooling has a long and successful tradition.  Actually, it has two traditions: First, the very wealthy have always educated their children at home, some through tutors and others themselves; and second, most of the greatest thinkers, leaders, statesmen, entrepreneurs, scientists and artists of history were self-educated.  The similarities of these two traditions, and almost all other great classrooms and schools, are telling: student-driven learning, great teachers, mentors, classics, and hard work.  Together these form the traditon of leadership education, what I call Thomas Jefferson Education, a tradition which is sorely needed in modern America."

-Oliver Van DeMille

Get Ready, Get Set, GO!!!!!

Soccer season just started today for the boys.

This is Logan's first time playing soccor.

Upon arriving to the soccer fields it started to rain. Half way thru Logan's pratice time it started to thunder so pratice was cut short.

Landon ended up making 3 goals!!!!

He did really well compare to the other kids on the team. It really helped that he played last year.

Logan wasn't scared of the ball. He ran right out to the field and started to kick the ball in the net.

Both of the boys have the natural talent for sports.

So, here's an assortment of photo's from soccer:

Here is a wonderful video to share!

Be sure to watch until the end for the full impact!

Arby's Archives will be out-of-action for a few days while Arby tends to some family matters in Chicago.  He will return with some thrilling tales in just a few days, so don't lose this address. 

Yes, Prodoceo, I will call.

Twisted, get a back-up for Friday morning.  I'm still good for Saturday.

Rastaman, the Strawberries are in season, but the Big Cheese gets his at midnight. 

And let's just see if that doesn't wake up a few computers at Homeland Security!  

Someone asked me how I keep it all together with a toddler around my feet all day long. I felt the need to answer candidly, for that is really the only way us mamas can feel sane and normal.

None of my secrets are easy at this point. Logan spends a lot of time outside. He also spends a lot of time making controlled messes. Which is intense for me... but whatever. And whenever I get a free moment from explaining everything from Pre-Algebra to how to sound out 'we' for the 900th time (lol!) I read him books.

I have also employed a lot of Montessori tactics with him. Lots of time in his highchair putting beans from one small bowl to another with a spoon. Lots of banging on pots and pans.

Did I mention he is outside a lot?

He has his own clipboard with his own crayons that we get out at the start of the day when the kids are getting their daily work done, but that really doesn't ever (like ever) last more than 15 minutes.

Today he spent quite a bit of time sitting on his bouncy horse, eating M&M's, and watching Baby Einstein. Then, the biggest chore (because every time the tv is on it is like a black hole sucking the life out of my children's brains and sending them to another dimension) is keeping the kids from that side of the living area so we can actually get something done.

It isn't easy. That is for sure. And I don't worry about if my house is clean. And Logan is outside, a lot. I pretty much just never stop moving. I put him in the swing, give him a good push, and then run inside, where I explain, once again, how to get the sum of X in a division problem, then run back outside, usually with binky in hand, to give him another push, and continue to push him with my toes while I listen to a recitation of Cyan trying to read the, omg, most simple books in the world, which of course, she was way past 3 months ago, as she stutters and read as s-l-o-w-l-y as possible while my eyeballs are falling out, just to have Alex come out and say he doesn't understand.

Lots of deep breathing. But thanks for thinking I could have it all together. That makes me feel like I may not be crazy for trying this.

Babies love school.  All sorts of stuff they don't get to play with comes out...

"Hey, look mama!  A blower!"

And the big kids like it because they get to do things like eat M&M's (after graphing all the colors) at 9am...

Write stories about Alien Lifeforms they made up, that just so happen to live on the moon...

And get done at 10:30 in the morning and go play hop-scotch on the back poarch.

Baby gets to join in that fun too.

Homeschool life is good.