Neighbor Gertie:  "Wow, what a great family, and they homeschool?"

Myrtle:  "Yes, they seem to be enjoying themselves as a family, too!"

Gertie:  "Amazing.  Maybe there's something to it... Hey, Myrtle?"

Myrtle:  "Mmm?"

Gertie:  "What's a sward?"

Myrtle:  "Hmm, maybe it's a homeschooling thing, like uhhh, School(ing) With A Reason, Dude or something..." 

Thank you, Jen at heartmatters, for coming up with that fun little conversation.  But, in all reality, the neighbors are indeed talking.  Why?  Because it's official!  After living at our new house for 1-1/2 years, Norman finally got our "Ward's Sward" sign repainted to match our new house and put up in our front yard.

And as Norman had intended, the sign is drawing a lot of attention.  It wasn't too long after he got the sign put up that one of our neighbors asked our 8-year-old son what it meant.  He told her that “sward” means "a grassy surface of land, as in a yard".  It’s a word that Norman had found in an old book he was reading and since it went so well with our last name, he figured that he’d have some fun with it… perhaps even promote literacy by encouraging people to look it up in their dictionaries.

So, although "Ward’s Sward" wasn’t originally intended to have anything to do with homeschooling, it has since become our official homeschool name as well.    

~Connie~