A couple of weeks ago we visited Newport News. We drove by Christopher Newport University while we were looking for a place to eat. After locating a restaurant and settling down to eat, my daughter stunned me with a comment.  She said she'd like to attend college either at Christopher Newport University or the College of William and Mary.

     My 16yo daughter has never had a vision for her future. She never talks about it, partly because she didn't know what she wanted and partly because it wasn't of importance to her. Rarely does she voice an opinion. Additionally, she has struggled in school from an early age, but now is becoming quite studious and does well scheduling her extra curricular activities. 

     When my daughter was a toddler, she was diagnosed with Sensory Integration Disorder. I asked the therapist, was there hope? What would the future look like? Could she go to college?  The therapist had no idea, but  she highly recommended that I put her in special education classes in public school. Hmmm, I didn't agree.  I taught long enough in public school to learn that special education children tend to get lost in the cracks.  I vowed that if I ever had children with special needs, I'd homeschool them. 

     I've labored over every detail of teaching my daughter. Learning to read was a struggle.  Memory work was a challenge.  Writing created tears.  What worked? I'd say a combination of patient perseverance and moving from textbooks to a classical education. Currently, in the humanities, she is doing the Rhetoric level of literature, government, philosophy and fine arts. The other humanities, history and church history, are dialectic.  Rhetoric level, as written by TOG, is like college.  My daughter is getting the education I wish that I had had at her age. My son will follow in her footsteps next year, when both will do all of the humanities on their next rotation of the history of the world at the Rhetoric level. 

     I am thrilled to have terrific curricula from which to teach, to help her reach for the highest star.  At the time she announced her college hopes, I told her they were aggressive schools. There would be high requirements for admission. Undaunted, she is prepared to meet the challenge. My teaching goal has always been to help my students reach for the highest star.  As I told my daughter, if she ultimately cannot reach quite that high, she will still be capable of more than if she aimed lower. 

     Tonight I had an interesting conversation with a friend.  I overheard that her daughter was attending Christopher Newport University. In short, this friend told me many wonderful things about this university, which would line up with my daughter's personality. That was encouraging!  Also, we discovered our daughters had a lot in common! Her daughter is majoring in English. My daughter is interested in a history/English lit combination.  What about a teaching certificate?  Her daughter is doing the 5 year program, where she'll get her bachelor's degree in English in 4 years, then her teaching certificate the 5th year, gaining her master's degree!  Her daughter used to attend Colonial Williamsburg in costume like my daughter does. Her daughter does Civil War reenactment and my kids and I have been recruited by the US Third Infantry, to reenact the Army of the Potomac.

     When my daughter shared her hope of college, my husband exclaimed he could just see me driving down all the time to spend time with her. I admit I would be tempted to do just that. Can't we just move down there?  When I was her age I had dreamed of attending a great college on the East Coast.  To attend one near Williamsburg would be incredible! Hmmmm, how about my signing up for a master's degree?  Well, regardless of my future, I am thrilled that my daughter is gaining a vision for her unique path in life. 

     A lot of homeschool moms ask how to motivate their kids to do school work. Having a vision for the future is intrinsic motivation at its best.  My son also desires to attend a college with high standards, specifically, Patrick Henry College. Incidentally, I met a mom the other night whose daughter is attending PHC. Both of my kids are working hard at their studies, without complaint, to attain their dreams. 

     Labor Day weekend was coming, we haven't had a typical summer vacation, summer was coming to an end, so we decided to go away for the weekend (again).  Our hotel reservations were set in stone by the time I learned about the Napoleon museum exhibit. Had I known about that the week before, I would have looked into going to Philadelphia for Labor Day weekend. I am hearing from a lot of friends who are thrilled that Napoleon is coming to see them in California next. sigh. Well we missed that one. However we managed to learn lots of new things in Virginia.

     My cell phone vibrated Saturday morning while I was in the underground extension of the Virginia State Capital. There were no bars so I couldn't access the message until later, when I saw it was my mom. When I called her while waiting to ride on the canal in Richmond, I told her that I was in Richmond. She laughed and laughed. Why was she not surprised?  I told her all about our plans for the weekend. My mom had previously shared all of this travel information and my blog with my dad's cousin, who in turn laughed and laughed over all my Colonial Williamsburg entries. She told my mom that I must have lived in Colonial Virginia in a previous life. What can I say?  This is a dream come true to live here in Virginia. Other vacations to this historically rich state were agonizing to plan for, because I never had enough time to squeeze everything in.

     Now that we are Virginia residents, I decided it was time we toured the Virginia state capital. Besides, that is home to the incredible Houdan's of Generals Washington and Lafayette.  While there, we discovered a mind boggling opportunity for my son!

     Then we rode on the 18th century canal near the capital, which was the mastermind of George Washington!  While on the canal we reviewed colonial history, civil war history and transportation history.

     Speaking of transportation, it is not easy in Richmond! We drove around the capital initially, looking for parking. We finally found expensive parking on 6th Street. After touring the capital we walked all around the streets surrounding the capital and all of the restaurants were closed!  We finally got in the van and drove around and found nothing. My husband was really intrigued with the canal ride so we drove down there, getting lost, hoping to find food. My blood sugar kept dropping (I'm preiabetic) and at long last we found the canal ride, a deli, and super duper cheap parking! If you go to downtown Richmond, park near the canal ride and the Railroad Deli. Then walk everywhere else! Now we know, for the times we go back to see the John Marshall House, the Edgar Allen Poe Museum, the Confederate White House, and the Holocaust Museum.  When we left Richmond, we had a lot of trouble figuring out how to leave without hitting a toll road.  We didn't have any cash.  I'm not used to toll roads!  It was crazy!

     Our hotel for the weekend was in Williamsburg.  Before checking into the hotel, we drove down to Newport News to eat at a seafood restaurant on the water.  Last summer I agonized, trying to research Hampton for such a restaurant. We drove down and I kept telling my husband not to go to far or we'd be stuck taking the gargantuan bridge/tunnel. We managed to stay on the peninsula, but Hampton was like a ghost town and we couldn't find any restaurants open. Is this typical of Virginia???  When we got to Newport News, we pulled into a park, where I thought we could access the restaurant. I told my husband he couldn't go beyond the park, or I was afraid we'd be stuck driving on the Jamestown Bridge.  Last summer I wrote about my big bridge fears. Although I can now drive on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, with a thrilling glance at all the Washington monuments, I still fear the big ones.   My plan was to have this incredible view of the massive James River while we ate seafood. As the sun was setting, we drove around the park and at one point got locked in!  We found our way out, got back on the main road, my husband decided to go beyond the park and we drove right by the restaurant as we crossed the prodigious James River Bridge! The sunset was gorgeous. I never knew a river could be so wide. By the time we got to the other side and made a u-turn, it was dark while we recrossed the James River. In the distance the lights from shore were beautiful. When we finally arrived back at Newport News, I started breathing again. My husband turned into the park and I think it's an immediate left that gets us to the restaurant. Oh well, so much for atmosphere and a view.

     The next morning we went to Redoubt Park in Williamsburg and saw an actual redoubt built during the Battle of Williamsburg. This is the first redoubt we saw and it was quite impressive!

     After lunch the Mariner's Museum finally opened.   I was torn over whether to get season passes or not. We were there primarily to see the Monitor and Merrimac Exhibit. I didn't think we'd get to see the other exhibits that afternoon, and a season pass would be paid for in 2 regular priced trips.  I told her we were homeschoolers and retired military, neither of which really qualified for their regular discounts. But we did work something out.  Well, we had a blast!  We never even finished the Monitor and Merrimac exhibit!  We almost finished it but not quite. And there were still other exhibits to see.  We had tickets for an evening program at CW so we drove to the historic area for dinner. 

     Monday we did all new things at CW, not only historical but also musical.  Additionally, we finally got to take the Bits and Bridles tour! After all the getting lost, we felt so at home at CW. CW is always the most relaxing of all the places we visit. We learned and experienced lots of new things all the way around. We all agreed that at each location, we learned more than we ever learned from our books.  Tomorrow will be our first day of school of the 2009-2010 school year. That seems kind of silly, to call it the first day of school, considering that we were learning all weekend!   Stay tuned for pictures!

     This afternoon my daughter finished ninth grade with flying colors!  She had finished Algebra I and Biology I in May. Latin III is still a work in progress but that's okay. She completed Dialectic history and Rhetoric government (studying primary source documents like Declaration of the Rights of Man, Code Napoleon, Alex Toqueville's Democracy in America all the way to Plessy v. Ferguson) and philosophy in June.  Whew! Today she completed Rhetoric literature. This year she studied all the major poets, Pride and Prejudice, Faust, Les Miserables, The Scarlet Letter, Billy Budd, Uncle Tom's Cabin, and Crime and Punishment among other famous works. 

     I asked her how it felt to be DONE instead of merely giving up. She got a big smile on her face and said it felt GREAT!  She also said she learned A LOT!  At the beginning of the year, we struggled with how much Rhetoric courses to take.  After analyzing the books, we finally decided to remain at Dialectic level for history but move up to Rhetoric for everything else.  Quite frankly, the TOG coursework for Rhetoric Redesign is college level. You should see the history books...they are collegiate type books!  We decided to save them for when we come back to Year 1 in another year and my son can join us in Rhetoric history, literature, government and philosophy. That way I can be deluged with all Rhetoric reading and lesson preparation without being torn away to figure out Dialectic. We had no idea if we'd understand, much less survive Rhetoric literature, government and philosophy.  The teaching notes and student questions far surpass anything I studied in high school honors classes. They are collegiate.  Throughout the year I guided her with anything she needed help with and by mid-year she became quite independent in her work. It is a growing process.  Her reading speed is not fast but she understood much of what she read.  Therefore, to help her get through the literature books, I finally subscribed to Audible.  It's an extra expense but well worth it.  I am so thankful that my husband agrees with me that the kids' education is paramount. We focus our budget on that and if need be, do without other things.  The audible was wonderful in helping my daughter get through her books. I also purchased an Ipod so we could download the books for her to listen to on the road.  We go to Colonial Williamsburg a lot (as if you didn't know) and that is a 2.5 hour drive one way in good traffic. She has difficulty focusing and the Ipod on our last drive down worked like a charm!

     Now we are focusing entirely on our Year 3 Unit 4 Celebration which will be on Saturday.  We are having fun preparing and planning.  I am stuck on one point but I'm sure I'll figure it out. It will be easier to focus on the UC with the school lessons behind us. By the way, my son has been finished with seventh grade for weeks!    

     While I was talking to a friend of mine the other day about my desire to learn French, she jumped in with the idea that she could teach me and the kids!  What an opportunity!  She is from upstate New York and knows how to speak Spanish and French. In fact, her knowledge of these languages originially brought her to the DC area. She lives three miles from me and homeschools her daughters.  I am self taught in many things, usually out of necessity. I am already teaching myself and my kids Latin. What a dream to be able to learn French from someone who knows the language.

     In my junior year of high school, I asked my Spanish teacher if she thought I could handle Spanish II, German I and French I simultaneously in my senior year.  She said definitely. Sadly, the school did not schedule those courses for me.

    Currently the kids and I are learning Latin with a challenging homeschool kit. My son is in book I and my daughter and I are in book III.  Latin has been put on the wayside due to the move, buying a house, moving in, settling in, etc. Right now my goal is to have our final unit celebration of the school year on Sat.  Then the next few weeks we can focus on Latin, field trips, swimming, etc. 

     My friend sent me a few French curriculums to consider.  Hmmmmm, I've done a bit of research and now I think I'll mull it over while I finish costumes. Ideally I had hoped to be done with Latin then take French. My daughter starts tenth grade in the autumn. How will these curriculums translate as high school credit? Am I crazy to do Latin and French simultaneously? How can I pass up an opportunity to have a friend close by who actually speaks French?  Hmmmmmm.....  

     One of the few things that has made me nervous about moving from Texas to Virginia is the homeschool law. In Texas, all I had to do was teach!  There were some basic things they wanted me to teach, but I was definitely doing that. I did not have to report to the school district or report test scores or anything. That gave me time to do what was really important, plan lessons and study and teach!  Virginia, on the other hand, has requirements. I have to file a Notice of Intent in Aug with a list of our subjects.  Yearly I have to report my kids' test scores. If they are not high enough, I have to submit a plan to approach the weaknesses and show success in one year, or they will have to attend public school.  

    I have to wonder what Patrick Henry would have done about this if he lived today. He, himself, was homeschooled. He was the first vocal force against taxation without representation.  Personally I think that the school district should concetrate their time and efforts on their enrollees instead of worrying about homeschoolers who often prove themselves successful with standardized testing, becoming National Merit Scholars, etc. 

     I used to be a reading/study skills tutor in college. One of the classes I would teach was test taking. Test taking is an art, and done differently from real school. I know many who do not test well, yet know the material well.  I worried that the kids would be in this group. In preparation for their test taking, I had them take practice tests.  They learned the tricks of time management, circling in bubbles that the computer can read, etc.  Also I kept telling them they are merely doing what they already knew how to do well.  

     Along with my fears was their history.  My son is a preemie and for years he was monitored for physical concerns and intellectual capacity. Anyone who is around my son knows that there is little to worry about in his mental capacity. However I remember the hours and days spent holding his tiny body in the NICU, wondering what his future would look like.  My daughter has actually struggled a bit more in school.  Both of my kids were diagnosed with Sensory Integration Disorder as toddlers, which can present huge learning challenges in school.  My son has always been pretty much self taught, but my daughter has always needed me to hold her hand in each new area for a while before she could fly. We went to Colonial Williamsburg this past weekend for the 30th Anniversary of the African American programming. (Stay tuned for blogging on this incredible weekend.) One of the events we attended was storytelling where a lady told the story of no person being able to limit another, but that they are all capable of flying with the unique abilities God has given them. I know she told this in reference to her family history of slavery, but this has been my philosophy of teaching in both public school and while homeschooling, as well. I have always tried to help my students reach for the highest star. Would my daughter be able to reach the star of passing scores in standardized testing, as required by the Commonwealth of Virginia?     

     Last month my kids took their first standardized test. Afterwards my son felt great about his but my daughter was worried about hers. We just received the test results. Drum roll please...my daughter scored in the 90%ile and my son scored in the 98%ile! 

Dana has been hosting Home Education Week with writing prompts and daily surprises!

Earlier this week when I told my family about the writing prompts for Home Education Week, my husband felt left out.  He wanted a chance to say something.  I assured him that Friday would be the day!  My dc have been excited all week, asking me how many comments I've gotten for my posts and what the reactions were to what I had written.  However, no one wanted to sit here and blog for the day!  LOL  So I interviewed them Wednesday night. 

12 Year Old Son :  "I like homeschool because we can take it at our own speed and work ahead if we need to. Usually in homeschool we have better teachers than public school.  We have time to look up something if we have questions, instead of waiting until we get home and forgetting what we wanted to research.  Also, I don't have to listen to evolution.  My favorite subject is literature.  I like the action and mystery books. I like to do hands on projects, like when I did my Greek hoplite shield and armour. 

I also like to Nature Journal because I get to see new things, I can pay attention to detail, and I can be as creative as I want without being restricted to a certain assignment. "

Here's a drawing from his nature journal of the bird house he built.

Another view from the bird seed bell...

 15 Year Old Daughter:  "I like the Christian aspect of homeschooling because I get to study subjects in depth.  Also I prefer to study Creationism instead of evolution.  I am learning how to defend my beliefs and use them to witness.  I like Apologia Science, because the mp3 files allow me to listen to someone read aloud the textbook.  The videos help me to see what I am actually studying.  The experiments help me to experience the lesson being taught." (Editor Note: Here is yesterday's experiment.  She is learning about electrons while chasing a white balloon that hung from her bedroom ceiling!  That white balloon had normally been hanging down where she is standing.  She "activated" electrons on the green balloon so that she could "push" the white balloon around.  You can just barely see that the red string from which the white balloon is hanging is at an angle.)

Back to dd: "My favorite subject is literature.  I like books with girls as the main character.  My favorite books this year have been Not Regina and Dr. Oma.  Not Regina is about the Anabaptists during the reformation in Switzerland.   Dr. Oma is about Maria, the daughter of Prince William of Orange during the Protestant Reformation.  This is set in Holland while they are at war with the Spanish.  Since I like flowers, I enjoyed reading how Maria learns to use herbs from her grandma, while her father is away at war.  I also chose to do a research paper on Holland a few years ago, because I like their tulips.  Reading a literature book about some of the history I had learned was interesting."

When she was in the children's choir at church, she helped sing back up to the Mwangzaza Children's Choir 2004.  (She's hard to see but she's in the purple t-shirt, center, second row down.)

Here she is trying to keep the moves correct in the spring missionary outreach, "Acorns to Oaks".  She's wearing the green bandana.

Dad/Principal:  "I like having computers available for the kids to do their research.  I don't think public schools provide for this.  I like seeing my kids socialized across age lines.  When we sing at the nursing home, the children comfortably spend time talking to the senior citizens and distrubute music.  The unit celebrations are great because I get to eat!  I also enjoy seeing the kids' presentations.  I have enjoyed tailoring our summer vacations and field trips around the kids' studies.  We've been to lots of great places.  Laurie, you should post the pictures."   

To accomodate my dh's request, here are some vacation pictures that he wanted me to show.  ;)

We got to work at a loom at one of the Spanish Missions...

  Pretending to do school, at the very spot under the trees of the very first "public" school (mid 1800's) in central Texas!

At the Sauer-Beckmann Homestead near the LBJ birthplace in central Texas, collecting turkey eggs. First, the children were not too certain about going into that dark building to collect eggs from a scary looking turkey!  But they did!  Then my poor son tripped over the doorway into the kitchen and all the eggs went splat.  We assured him children in the 1800's and early 1900's (the era for this home of the midwife of LBJ's mother) probably had similar accidents!  

 One summer we went to the East Coast and experienced 3 hurricanes/tropical depressions.  No wind, thankfully but we were soggy!  First stop, Colonial Williamsburg (during Hurricane Alex).  (They have a Home Educator Visit every autumn and fall for about $5 a day with special activities.)  We had fun doing the maze at the Governor's Palace!

 Experiencing cruel and unusual punishment!  It was the kids' idea!  I promise!  They really do have big grins on their faces!

DH and ds in boot camp!

 While avoiding the worst of Hurricane Alex, we met with Thomas Jefferson.  He gave a great presentation to the children!

Ahhh, the hurricane went out to sea.  Sunny day!  Chopping wood at Good Hopes Plantation.

Carrying the water...

Getting drum lessons for the drum and fife corps...

Designing a hat at the milliner's shop...

Meeting Patrick Henry.  He gave a wonderful talk and had me so worked up from his "Give Me Liberty or Death" speech, I was ready to join the militia!

Trying on armor at Jamestown...

Pounding corn at Powhaten's Village...

Scraping off fur from a hide with an oyster shell...

Keep those fires going!

Inspecting General Washington's tent at Yorktown...

A colonial soldier...

Water, please!  My children simply don't work this hard at our house!!!

Riding through the lochs at the Champlain Canal on the Sadie, a turn of the century craft, in upstate New York...

Riding the Erie Canal on a barge pulled by a mule named Sal, in Rome, NY.  Yes, we all sang the song while on the ride....

Visiting Mount Vernon.  Hurricane/downgraded Tropical Depression Bonnie dumped a deluge of rain on us the day before and that morning. Finally the skies are clearing.  

I loved the round barn that George Washington designed.  The children got to run around in circles, simulating how the horses do so to step on the wheat to thresh it.  The wheat sifts through the floor boards into the basement below.  Then the horses came and did it.  My dc slept great that night!

Boat ride on the Potomac to see Washington DC!  This is a great way to see DC with little ones.  Now that they are older, we are planning a vacation to go back and walk up to these places this summer!

Touring Monticello during Hurricane Charlie (downgraded into a tropical depression).  By the time we left, the sun came out and no more rain the rest of the trip...home!  boo hoo!  I called this our ABC trip!  Anyway, we did a special chidren's tour of the mansion and then dodged rain drops to see what we could outside!  Here is poor dd!

Another year we hiked in Palo Duro Canyon, the second largest canyon in the USA. 

 We saw a musical about the local settlers of Texas. There were pyrotechnics with a simulated, yet realistic, lightening strike and grass fire.

We went to the Colorado Rockies and got to see elk up close and personal at over 11,000' elevation in Rocky Mountain National Park.  We experienced how elevation gain is like driving towards the North Pole!  This area is like the tundra.

 We got to see the Manitou Cliff Dwellings of Colorado...

Horseback riding in Rocky Mountain National Park, in the montane zone.  The guide is up front, then dd, then me.  The guys are behind me...

While analyzing plants in Colorado, we just missed the bear a few yards away. Hikers showed us a picture on their camera.  Hmmmm, I should have given them my e-mail to send me a copy.  It was a cute picture!  Just imagine a cute bear a few yards away from this plant!  ;)

Meeting with a marmot at the top of Pikes Peak! 

In Colorado Springs we went to Focus on the Family and produced our own copy of "Adventures in Odyssey!"  DH and I were the foley...

The children each had a voice part.  The voices of Whit, Connie and Kris were pre-recorded.  We got to take home our very own version of "Adventures in Odyssey" starring us!  And it was free!  Each part of FOF we visited offered us a different AIO CD.  For doing the taping, we also got a coupon to buy one, so we got a couple and a few other things at the bookstore.  We also went to Whit's End for lunch and got a wod-fam-choc-sod!

I asked my children what they would like me to feature on Show and Tell.  They wanted me to show the unit celebrations.  Last year we started doing unit celebrations with our Tapestry of Grace studies.  We have had a lot of fun. The children like to dress up, as long as Mom dresses up too.  My parents come and my mom is especially caught on every aspect of the presentation.  My husband enjoys the whole thing.  Last year my mil flew 1500 miles to come see one.  She hopes to come out to our last one of the year this year too.  ;)  These have changed slightly from unit to unit.  Because my dc were weak in writing and speech skills before we started Tapestry of Grace, I thought I'd start small in their weak areas and have them try a new skill with each unit.    It's a lot of work but worth it since it motivates them to do present information before an audience.  The grandparents are more involved and embrace homeschooling more.  I am thrilled that my children are finally learning to write and give speeches! 

Dana has been hosting this special week.  She has writing prompts and surprises each day! 

I would say that my Recipe for Success, first and foremost, is spending time with the Lord, listening for His Word, and submitting to Him. Psalm 119:105 A daily quiet time is essential, to help me be the mother/teacher that I need to be for my dc. Psalm 47:10 He created my dc, who best to go to for advice? Psalm 139 I read and study His Word. II Timothy 2:15  I pray for insight and wisdom. Psalm 119:18 I pray for my dc, praying specific verses for them. Luke 2:52 I confess sin and ask for the Holy Spirit to fill me and guide me, so that He can do His work through me. John 16:13 I pray that I can be a good example to my children, through His power. Philippians 4:4-13 We begin each day with Bible time, looking to see how to apply His Word to our lives. Psalm 5:3 Throughout the day if a teachable moment comes up to instill God's Word, we take time to train in righteousness. Deuteronomy 6:5-7 

Of course, I am human.  As in ruining a meal because I failed to follow a recipe, likewise there are times I don't follow this recipe from God.  Sometimes I don't have the quiet time.  Sometimes I don't confess the sin.  Sometimes everything goes wrong.  Now that's not to mean that just because I follow this recipe, everything in life will be hunky dorey.  However following this recipe helps me to withstand the storms of life.  When I can't hang on when the going gets tough, and I realize it's because I am holding on to the wrong thing (not God), then it's time to regroup and return my focus to Him.  Whereas I am wobbly, He is unchanging.

When my dc were toddlers, we had tumultous hurdles while learning to deal with Sensory Integration.  I spent much time in prayer, asking God to help me train my children. My utmost concern was whether they would fully understand who Jesus is.  Corrie ten Boom's work with special needs children greatly encouraged me, as documented in her book In My Father's House. In her experience, if anything was to be grasped by these children, it was God!  Encouraged, I shared God's message with my children through flannelgraph, activities and books.  One of my favorite resource books was Mommy Appleseed: Planting Seeds of Faith in the Heart of Your Child by Sally Leman Chall. Rejoicingly, I was blessed to lead each of my children to pray to accept Jesus into their hearts as preschoolers.  Today they continue to grow and I am amazed at the work God is doing in their lives.  My 12yos wants to become a lawyer, join the USAF JAG corps, and then become president of the United States.  His goal is to restore traditional values to our country, in particular to fight for the lives of unborn babies. He is a real live wire full of questions and deep thoughts. Everyone knows him.  He has collected future votes from ladies in all the gift shops in the cute little towns I like to frequent.  Everyone gives my outgoing son a big howdy whenever they see him again in these stores, or passing through the halls of church.  At the age of 5 he amazed an USAF general with his profound knowledge and deep ponderings.  My 15yod has the sweetest spirit of God I have ever seen in anyone. She is quiet and rarely gets noticed. She wants to become a teacher for grades 3-5.  Little does anyone know that if you are having a down day, she is the one you want as your friend.  She can give you a big hug and comforting pat and pick up your spirits with her love.  Thank you with how you created them Lord.

When my children were little, I devoured all the books I could get my hands on written by Dr. Paul Warren, a Christian behavioral pediatrician.  His books were a gold mine.  I read his Stepping Stones Series for Christian Parents. My dd had major fears.  I read Things that Go Bump in the Night. Wow, great advice! She learned to trust God for her fears!  Kids Who Carry Our Pain   was also instrumental in training me as a parent. 

Then at church in our moms' group we studied Dr. Kevin Leman's (brother to Sally Leman Chall of the Mommy Appleseed book) Making Them Mind Without Losing Yours.  Wow! This was a great tag onto the Dr. Paul Warren books.  I now have a more complete book for all age levels (the other book is about toddlers), Bringing Up Kids Without Tearing Them Down: How to Raise Confident Successful Children.  Yes, I could quite agree!  The power of training our children to make their own choices (with our guidance).  Giving them responsibilities.  Using intrinsic motivation.  Wow!  Gone are the extrinsic rewards.  They only worked about a week.  Now that the children are learning to be motivated from within, they work as unto the Lord, instead of becoming greedy with what bigger reward can they recieve because the old reward is boring.  Now we do fun things, because we are going to have fun as a family and do fun things. Not because my children have to earn them.  As a result, they feel better about themselves, because they don't have to prove themselves with rewards anymore.  They are daily learning more about working as unto the Lord...something I think most of us struggle with anyway.  ;)  I now try to give my children grace in learning to work as unto the Lord, as the Lord has shown me grace, more than once! Colossians 3:23   

Then I devoured all the books by learning styles author Cynthia Ulrich Tobias.  She helped me gear my brain for teaching my children differently than I had been taught!  I have also pondered her theory, that children do not have disabilities, their brains simply learn in a different way.  Hmmmm, interesting.

I used to fear the teen years.  Then I read Chuck Swindoll's The Strong Family: Growing Wise in Family Life.   He wrote that the best tip he had for raising children was to listen to them.  Parents often do all the talking and little listening. That's when the children leave the house to go find someone who will listen to them.  Chuck Swindoll got into a habit of listening to each child at bedtime.  He'd start with the youngest child and listen and let them talk about anything they wanted.  After about 30 minutes he'd go to the next oldest child and put them to bed and listen to them for a while.  And so on.  Since I'm home all day,  I have all day to listen to my children, so I don't lay in bed listening to them like Chuck Swindoll did. (Chuck Swindoll was often traveling or at church, kwim? The point is, he made time to listen!)  I try to listen to what my dc are trying to tell me.  If they clam up or get upset, I try to use tips I learned from Gary Smalley on opening them up, listening to them and restoring our relationship.  Sometimes they have a valid opinion or fear.  Other times there is a misunderstanding.  Once in a while,  the dc has to go through the situation, but they feel better having had a listening ear and moral support.

Those are my favorite books for spiritual guidance, which I think are the most important.  I've also found some other wonderful resources, that I hinted at earlier this week.

The Out of Sync Child Has Fun: Activities for Kids with Sensory Processing Disorder by Carol Stock Kranowitz is wonderful!  There is fun stuff in here for any child.  So if any of you saw my SI pictures and wondered how you could come up with ideas, this book is full of them!  She has another book too which I have not yet read. 

I buy most of my personal books at the used bookstore.  I found this gem:  Brain-Based Learning by Eric Jensen! It is power packed with information on how the brain works.  This gets my own gears in my own brain turning on how to turn on my kids in school!  For example, when ds does his math facts and gets stuck (which he always does although he really knows them) I have him cross the mid-line with his arms and/or legs to get his brain reactivated.  In other words, raise the knee to the opposite elbow and switch.  Do this a few times and suddenly his brain is out of the rut!  I have done some brain research in the past and it is phenomenal. I think if I went back to do my masters and even doctorate (which I probably won't) I would do my thesis and dissertation on the brain and learning disabilities as well as the educational model of classical education.  I have formed some opinions that we are putting to practice here at home with terrific results! Anyway, this book is loaded with snippets of bite sized information on the brain and how to use that information to make school more productive.  He also has other books that focus on different learning disabilities.  

I think exercise and a good diet are extremely important.  Not that I'm a fitness geek.  I have a long ways to go before I earn that nickname.  ;)  But I have a few health issues and the docs always tell me that to overcome them (after I pass all the medical tests) that I need a good diet and exercise.  Simple as that. In addition, after everything we've been through and learned about Sensory Integration Disorder, I see a lot of importance in moving!  I have to keep motivating myself, because I am a quiet person who prefers to sit, read, write, sew, etc.  But then my body gets all cramped up, I get stress headaches, my muscles all over get sore and cramped.  Although I have to yank myself out of my chair to get moving, I feel better when I do so!  ;)  I found Fit Kids!: The Complete Shape-Up Program from Birth through High School by Kenneth H. Cooper MD for a couple of bucks at CBD a few years ago. Not that this is necessarily definitive or cutting edge, but it was cheap, thorough, excellent and motivating!   

Dana has organized some writing prompts in celebration of Home Education Week.  One idea for our prompt was to "share our greatest challenge."  Perhaps my greatest challenge is a black tortoiseshell fuzzball that feels her business is to interrupt school on a daily basis! 

Now doesn't Slipper look so innocent in that picture?  She does spend most of her time doing that, now that she is at least a whopping 19 years of age!  But she continues to have her moments where she steals the limelight of the teaching lesson, causing my children, who are easily distracted, to abandon their lessons in a fit of giggles. 

Several years ago when I was trying to do a phonics lesson with the flannel and sandpaper alphabet, I noticed that she was busy playing with it.  Try focusing on phonics when you have a fuzzball in the middle of the lesson.

I don't have pictures of all the things she's done to sabotage school.  But here is little Miss Innocent...

...just looking for an opportunity to attack (In this picture, I had been vacuuming and I found her here.  But now you have proof of her conniving side!)