The idea for the dry-erase board pictured below came from one of the home school e-lists I am on. We've had it for at least a couple of years now and would be lost without it. It's simply an 8' x 4' sheet of wall panel that we purchased at either Lowe's or Home Depot. It was inexpensive and offers plenty of space for writing, drawing, etc. We've placed ours on a wall in the dining room where much of our written schooling is done. It happens to fit perfectly between the ceiling and floorboard but could have been cut-to-fit if needed.

I wrote the sentence on the board for Jeremy to copy for copywork. He is holding the paper on which he wrote, but it's too light to see in the photo. Jeremy drew the picture at the bottom as part of his "An Island Story" narration.  

I am taking a new path with our eight-year-old son, Jeremy, and have started using Ambleside Online as a guide. Jeremy was a bit reluctant at first, but his enthusiasm is growing. This was our first day to do narration. Jeremy drew a picture on the marker board (photo below) and also did copywork from "An Island Story."

Thank you, Jennifer, for introducing us to Ambleside Online and homeschoolblogger.com.

Today is Monday...fine arts day. All three of my children attend classes at a fine arts school for home schoolers.  Ashlie (18), made the All-State Choir for her fourth consecutive year. She left Thursday for her final trip to San Antonio to participate in the All-State clinic and concert. I drove down for the concert Saturday and enjoyed a truly excellent performance. I am so thankful for the home school fine arts program that has provided such talented, devoted, and caring teachers, most of whom are home schoolers themselves.

Yesterday was Wednesday...Park Day...the day of the week that we meet with other home school families for play and visit time. We look forward to our Park Days, especially when the weather is as beautiful as it was yesterday. Our time with friends is special to us, and we are very blessed by the friendships that have grown from Park Days.

We are setting our schedule and structured school lessons aside for about three weeks. The kids and I traveled from our Dallas-Fort Worth home to Lubbock last week. It was a good trip. We skipped the highways in favor of the more scenic route through the beautiful West Texas landscapes and small towns to make the five-hour drive more pleasant and interesting. We stopped to get out of the van to hear and watch several flocks of geese pass overhead and eventually disappear over the plateaus in the distant horizon. Along with many horses and cows, we also saw a beautiful bobcat, two white-tailed deer, two roadrunners, and several hawks and other birds. They disappeared too quickly for pictures, although one lovely horse seemed flattered by our interest in him and was happy to pose for us. As always, I also had to scoop up a bit of raw cotton that remained along the roadside after harvest. We played traveling games most of the way home...finding the letters of the alphabet in order (or something starting with each letter.)  This is really fun and challenging driving through West Texas in the middle of winter during a drought. Allowing adjectives helps. "G" for grass...."P" for parched grass. Eye-Spy was challenging, too, providing plenty of laughter and fond memories.

There is much to be thankful for. We are thankful for the rain...thankful for the warm fire in the fireplace...thankful for being together...thankful for the opportunity to freely choose the ways in which our children are raised and educated. We are thankful for our home, our family, and our home school.