Doing the Next Thing

Who knew that driving home from Bible study last night would be an historic event? Enjoying a rare bit of solitude, I turned on NPR and was transported by the passionate horns in the last movement of Dvorak's "New World Symphony" - as I listened, I was thinking about how it would make a good soundtrack for an old-fashioned Western... Turns out I was hearing a replay of Tuesday's landmark concert by the New York Philharmonic - in Pyongyang, North Korea! Invited by the North Koreans, the orchestra helped put aside the stalemate over nukes for one night of beautiful music masterfully performed. It ended with a lively Gershwin piece. I found a bit of humor in it: The New York Philharmonic was playing "An American in Paris " in Pyongyang . Truly, the language of music is universal.

History Project Day is fast approaching for Master's Academy . C (11) has chosen to build a model of the Parthenon and display his photos from our visit. Here's the dilemma... what to make it out of? We found an intricate paper model here , but before I slap down the $$ for the kit (plus wait for shipping time) I'd love to hear suggestions on building one with some other media... sculp*ey clay, etc??? C. is very particular about it looking authentic and not like a kindergarten project. (The one thing he likes about the paper model is that the roof is removable and the statue of Athena visible.) If you have a brilliant idea (or even a not-so-brilliant one) please comment and let me know! Thanks in advance!

"A rollicking band of pirates we, who, tired of tossing on the sea..." - Pir*ates of Pen*zan*ce Well, we made it! We survived four days of looong dress rehearsals and six performances. It was a lot of work, but so much fun! The drama club has been working on this show since last fall and it was exciting to see it all come together. S. really enjoyed himself - and he looked mighty cute in his pirate gear! aarrggh! Now - if you don't hear much from me this week, know that I am busy getting us back into routine. I'll be around, though.

A full bowl of fruit... ...is one of my Favorite Things!

"The more you see the less you know The less you find out as you go I knew much more then than I do now." - Bono As I was excercising this morning to U2's song "City of Blinding Lights," this line struck me. It made me think of how much we think we know when we are young; and how much we learn we don't know as we get older...

Well ... the results of my "weekly reporting" experiment are in. Though there were some positive aspects of the ritual, the overall result is: thumbs down. On the negative side: #1: the reports take a long time to write. I don't have that kind of time to spare on a weekly basis. It has limited the time I have to visit other blogs and post about other things. Which leads me to negative #2: weekly reporting has made my blog too narrow in focus - becoming more of a "homeschool" blog than anything. I am a homeschool mom, but our life is about way more than just school, and I want my blog to reflect that. #3: The reports are too long - I don't want to burden my dear readers. #4: It's too repetitive. Some subject areas, like Bible and history, see progress every week; but others consist of "doing the next lesson" - after a while I fear half the reports will be identical to the week before. That's boring, even for me! And the last reason: it was ...

This week was like so many at our house... our routine was interrupted; we were mosty just " doing the next thing " in our homeschool. We spent the better part of Wednesday helping out a neighbor whose car rolled into a ditch. (Everyone's ok.) Valentine's Day was spent making cards and cookies for friends. S. (13) was sick for 2 days, which seemed to make everyone less productive. So here's what we accomplished... Schoolwork done together: Bible - Continued following the story of God leading the way as the Israelites take possession of the Promised Land. Read from Vos story Bilbe and from the Reformation Study Bible. We have a total of 3 different Holy Land maps taped to the kitchen wall (we do Bible at lunchtime) because no single map showed what we wanted. A (3yo) likes to climb in a chair and point to the "Dead Water" and "Bethlehem." I love maps. S. loves maps. M. is a geography whiz. Seems A. got the geography gene, too. History - Not too...

For all you mommies out there exhausted from caring for little ones ... for all of you who fear you will never read a book or even go to the bath*room without an interruption ... for those of you resigned to be a scullery maid for the next twenty years... Let me tell you - there is hope! Chidren do grow up. They do get to the point where their "help" is actually helpful . I'm living proof. My Big Boys, at 13 and 11, have been helpful for several years now. They do most of my laundry and dishes. They are also good with the little ones and help their Dad with mowing and yard work. Yesterday was M's turn to shine. She is turning out to be quite the little cook. We received a bread machine for Christmas and yesterday, with very little input from me, M. made bread all by herself! Though she has her own set of daily chores, this was the first major cooking task she's done alone. A glimpse of what life will be like as my first daughter becomes my Mama's helper! Th...

I learned this tip several years ago from a friend who is a first-grade teacher. When your preschooler/kindergartner gets tired of writing letters on paper (or wipe-off boards - A's current fave,) try the kitchen counter . Here's how it works: Spread one of the following on the countertop and let your little one "write" with his index finger. flour cornmeal sugar shave cream (has the added feature of cleaning the countertop!) Not only is this FUN for your little guys, it's beneficial for motor development. It also might buy you a little time to get some work done in the kitchen! Pop over here for more Works for Me Wednesday tips.

We adopted him from a shelter this weekend. He is as sweet as he looks!

Our women's Bible study this semester is on the book of Deuteronomy. I found a word this morning from Amy Carmichael that I thought fit in nicely. " The people are greater and taller than we; The cities great and fortified up to heaven; And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim [giants] there." Deut. 1:28 Amy says, "Faith does not hide difficulties or belittle them." (Reminds me of Burroughs in Rare Jewel -- it's ok to admit that it's hard to face trials. It's ok to ask for the Lord's help and relief. It's not ok to despair and grumble.) Back to Amy: "Let us look up. What are all these things -- peoples, cities, giants -- to the Lord our God ? The Lord your God who goeth before you, He shall fight for you. (Deut 1:30 )" Whatever our "giants" are: difficult relationships; parenting struggles; financial needs; unemployment; caring for an aging parent; a house that won't sell ... we must remember that "great...

I've noticed through the years that I experience the "homeschool blahs" sometime around February. Even though our weather has been springlike, this was a difficult week: it will certainly not go down in history as one of our most productive. Daddy was out of town at the beginning of the week - not a huge deal, but rare for us and therefore a challenge. I also had to spend a great deal of time on character issues with the children - bickering, attitude problems, etc. I guess they have the blahs, too. I did let the boys spend some time reclaiming their "Sceince Lab" - part of the unfinished area of our basement. They like to go down there and take apart old appliances and "do experiements." That helped to cure the blahs a little! So here goes: Schoolwork Done as a Group History - On our timeline, we've made it up to Alexander the Great. But while we've studied the events of Greek history, we haven't spent as much time learning about the Famo...

I liked the softness of the blue sky streaked with clouds contrasted with the strong lines of the Parthenon. This is the East Pediment, which depicts the birth of Athena (out of Zeus' head -ouch! Notice the dude with the ax to Zeus' left ...crack!) Nike is putting the crown on Athena's head. (You may have to click on the picture and blow it up to see the detail.)

Sign of gettin' old - I can't remember anything! I know there were funny things said around here, but I keep forgetting to write them down! So here are just a couple of quotes: "Mom, do my good jeans have one hole, or two?" C. (11) - That's why his jeans come from the thrift store ... he puts holes in them whether they cost $40 or $4! "Boak!" tr. "milk" - 21 mo K. - took us forever to figure that one out! "Mom, does God make it morning?" Yes. "I want Him to make it morning when it's night - so Daddy will be home." Awww.. 3yo A., wishing time would fly while Daddy's out of town. Go put a smile on your face with more Tiny Talk at Not Before 7 .

This post is an experiment. I'm testing out an idea I've seen on some other homeschool blogs: a Weekly Report. I like reading the reports of others, to get ideas and be encouraged to keep on truckin'. I also like the idea of using a Weekly Report as an accountability exercise for me: if I know I'm going to report on our week, I'll be motivated to be more productive! Our last 2 weeks have been sort of a jumble, so I'm combining them. According to my calculations, we've finished our 17th week of school, so we'll call this Weekly Report 17. Due to combining a couple of weeks and introducing our curriculum, this post is going to be a long one. I promise they won't all be epic novels! With three students, one preschooler, a toddler, and a couple of field trips, there is a lot to report. First, I'm going to report on the things we did as a group and then itemize the math and language arts - rather than lising it all out for each child and repeating m...