Posted in Family

Well,  I have tried a few times to start a blog.  Let's see if I can keep it up this time...  I titled this Blog Shalom Bayis - which means "Peace in the Home".  Shalom Bayis is a quintessential Jewish idea and something I really strive for.  I don't always make it, but I do my best and that is all one can ask for.

I should probably introduce the cast of characters so you know who I will be writing about, huh?

The main characters are my DH and I and our 4 children.

The oldest DS is 17.  He isn't really part of our homeschooling anymore as he finished high school in 2 years and is now a Sophomore in College.  He is an amazing kid though and I do have quite a lot I can say about homeschooling him and how he brought us into this journey.  Since I would rather not use their real names, we are going to call him Dante - for reasons only he knows.  I will probably shorten that to D most often though.

Next is my DD who is 7 almost 8 - going on 30.  There is way too much to say about her in an intro post.  You will get to know her as Little Miss or LM for short.

Then is my 6yo DD who will always be my baby - even though we have a new baby.  But she is deceptive - behind the shy girl sucking her fingers is an amazing mind.  I know it is there and even I am amazed by it at times.  I am going to call her CPG, but I can't tell you what it stands for.

Then there is the real baby - DS who is 7 months old.  He is mischief waiting to happen!  We will call him Boo.

And of course there is DH and I, but you will get to know us - well me mostly-  through the posts.  That is of course assuming there are more...

We are now in our 9th year of homeschooling and it has been quite the ride.  We are classical homeschoolers for the most part, but have a lot of "child-led" and Charlotte Mason tendencies as well.  What makes this most difficult is that we are also Orthodox Jews.  This is only a problem because there are no Jewish homeschooling curriculums - and I am often then forced to use Ch-stian one.  Choosing curriculum and then making it work has always been a huge struggle for me.  So expect to hear a lot about the qualms of using curriculum!

So c'mon in and join me in a cup of tea.