Homeschooling on The Brain

Two months since my last post...WHAT!?! Every time I hit publish I fully intend to return within a week. Sorry!

Not much has been going on though.  We are waiting on Chris to be given an aircraft and placed in a course for the final part of flight school.  The next part will determine how much longer we will be in Alabama.  I hope that we are here through next May so we can complete the full year of the co-op.

 

 Homeschooling is what is filling up my time.  Planning, teaching, cleaning up after the teaching, reading about teaching, listening to talks about teaching, and building new habits seems to be taking up my time when I'm not changing diapers or feeding someone.  This is NOT a complaint.  It's easy for me to use this space to whine, but I'm not whining here.  Shocking, I know.  I am thoroughly enjoying it the process, as messy as it may be.

I have determined that we are going to be year round schoolers.  It make sense for us, and it gives me the flexibility to take breaks when my ENFP gets bored.  Or the Army wants to change the rhythm of our home.  My kids won't really know they difference.

Our days lately have looked like this, breakfast, chores/play, morning time, lunch, lessons, and clean up.  I didn't give you times because it varies.  Lessons after lunch have been great mostly because I can think better and Becket is napping.  Simon plays well alone during that time, but he's always welcomed at the table.  Assuming no one is dragging their feet we get get lesson done in two the three hours.  I was reminded this evening that Owen needs a list. He will have one tomorrow.

Nature walk.

Nature journaling is hard.

I've been trying to do more nature studies.  Julie at Nurturing Learning has been so inspiring.  Her love for God's earth has been encouraging for me to "do betta".  I appreciate nature, but I don't love the way she does.   My kids love nature walks, collecting items, and documenting them in their nature journals.  I am doing my best to foster their love and not limit them because if my own "nature deficit" as I like to call it.

Morning time has been so lovely this week.  Sadly, it has been neglected, but we bounced back with no problem.  The kids have been receptive, and it has been a beautiful.  I cannot say it enough that every family should have a morning time...homeschooling or not.  Your Morning Basket is an amazing podcast on morning time.  Pam is wonderful and each episode is full of information and inspiration.

For the past few months I have been trying to learn as much as I can about classical education.  This book, Awakening Wonder: A Classical Guide to Truth, Goodness & Beauty by Stephan Turley, PhD is full of amazing passages.  It's more than just resource on pedagogy.  It gave me new perspective for my own life.  I have been commonplacing passages from the book and I feel I should just write the whole book in there. 

There is a local book club for classical educators which has been very fruitful.  God planted me here at just the right time (I don't want to leave).  We just finished reading The Tempest by William Shakespeare.  It's been so much fun to discuss literature.  The Book Broads is a book club with some online friends of mine.  We are reading The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgeson Burnett.  

The kids folding their laundry.

We have been working on habit forming.  And sometime times it look like the picture above.  But mostly it looks like the picture below.  So take solace in the fact that there is a strong chance that my house is in worse condition than yours.  And for some reason I posted it on the internet.

I will try not to stay away so long next time. But no promises. Peace, interwebs.

Lent in the Year of Mercy with Friends

Lent has begun. I feel more prepared than I have ever felt before because of the community and friendships that I have found over the last few months.  Thank you technology.  It is because of YOU that I feel ready this Lent. I'm so inspired by other people and their ability to love and serve God in ways I never knew I could. I am ready to reform my relationship with our Creator. I'm ready to pour love into my family and friends. And I'm ready to embrace the gifts that I have been given to glorify God.

"We are responsible for on another's holiness.  We influence each other all the time, and we should grown in the awareness of this.  It simply cannot be denied that we are conditioned and affected by one another.  Human beings invariably are.  Every Christian has a vocation to holiness. Now as we enter into Lent, I hope we will all deeply conscious of our involvement in one another's holiness, of our sharing of penance and of sacrifice, and very especially of our responsibility for one another's growth in holiness this Lent."  A Time of Renewal: Daily Reflections for the Lenten Season

 I worked with Ashley to create "Lent in the Year of Mercy", a reflection journal to pair with the book A Time of Renewal: Daily Reflection for the Lenten Season by Mother Mary Francis.  And not to toot our own horn, journal is so awesome.  And it has already been really helpful.  It stands alone even if you aren't reading the book with us.  Please download a copy.



We will be on different platforms throughout Lent so be sure to follow us.  You can find Ashley on Periscope, Facebook, Instagram, and her blog Between the Linens.  And you can find me here, Periscope, Facebook, and Instagram.  AND we are chatting using the app Voxer, too.  Let us know so we can add you to the chat.  Even if you're not reading the book, you are more than welcome to listen and add to the conversation.

Instagram Prompts

We have some Instagram prompts using #lenting.  Please share and use the prompts, we would love to see how your journey is going, even if the picture doesn't quite match the prompt. :)

Happy Lenting!

Gettin' Our Learin' On

Since coming home from our travels to North Carolina, we have stayed put.  We haven't wasted our days traveling around town on an empty mission just for something to do.  During the week we have (mostly) remained at home.  It's a nice change of pace, though I have had a bit of cabin fever.  I can't claim to have been extremely productive in the home, either.

Last week we returned to our lessons.  It was rocky some days and smooth others.  We are still trying to find our groove.  Morning time is by far everyone's favorite, and has been the smoothest part of our school day.  We begin with the Morning Offering prayer and then into our memory work.  We are working from Classically Catholic Memory alpha year, and everyone seems to at least tolerate it.  I let the kids take the timeline cards and put them in order on the floor.  They have really enjoyed it.  We have also started using Blob Maps for map tracing with zero resistance from the kids.  We finish up by reading A Bear Called Paddington while they draw in their journals.  On Saturday I bought some marmalade for the kids to try.  Owen is the only one that seems to enjoy it.

I have been working my own thinking muscle.  Along with the eCourse on classical education, I'm reading Awakening Wonder: A Classical Guide to Truth, Goodenss, & Beauty with some lovely ladies and discussing it using the Voxer app.  Classical education is so intimidating, but it pairs so well with our faith.  It feels like the best option for us.  But how do we have a classical homeschool?  I don't know.    I'm still working on that.  For now since classical schools do memory work...ok, we'll do memory work. Classical schools learn Latin...ok we'll learn Latin.

Reading and learning about classical education, I feel that I need to try and fill in the gaps of my own education.  Sadly those gaps are quite large...embarrassingly large, especially in literature.  I'm not classically educated...sometimes if feel barely educated.  So the past couple of months have been a bit emotional about homeschool and capabilities.  But I digress.  2016 I'm reforming my reading habits.  While reading the nonfiction with the Voxer group, I'm going to have a fiction book going as well.  So, I'm reading Little Women for the first time.  It has been so delightful.  I can't wait to read it with Amelia!

I'm working on a post for my education metaphor.  I have it, but I'm having a hard time crafting my words.  Choosing a metaphor has been really great.  It's made me really think about what education means to me, and what it will mean to this home.  Be on the look out for that.

Chris as has tomorrow off.  Exciting.  I can tell the day is going to fly by, but it's nice to have him home an extra day.  He's in the thick of flight school lots of studying.  When I can, I get the kids out of the house to give him some silence.

I hope 2016 is treating you well.  :)

Word of The Year: 2016

We are still feeling the renewal that the calendar provides each January, and I have chosen a new word for 2016.  In 2014, I choose a word of the year.  It has been the only time I have ever chosen a word, but in retrospect, I think 2014's word really needed to roll into 2015, so maybe that's why I was never struck with a word that year.

Facebook had a fun word generator floating around toward the end of December, and I could not resist the click.  It provided me with the word innovation.  There was a pause, but I didn't feel as if it was the word to guide me through the next year.  So, I Voxed Ashley to get her thoughts, and she recommended looking up synonyms and antonyms which was a lovely idea.

I read lots of words, and continued to Vox Ashley, using her as a sounding board, to determine my word for this year.  In the end I settled with:

I was not blown away with the word in the beginning.  When I hear reform I naturally think of political reforms, which is just makes me think of debates, and honestly leaves a gross taste in my mouth.  Once I got over that and really consider the word, I felt like it was kind of perfect.

Most everything that is going on in my life seems right, but the quality in which I'm doing things is lacking.  Praying, housekeeping, parenting, homeschooling, budgeting, community building, and personal development you name it, I'm not doing it well.  I feel like I'm planted where God wants me, but I'm not fulfilling these roles in the best way.

After going through Advent with St Benedict, I have a better understanding of my life, the mundane, being a pray that needs to be said everyday.  Meaning, my work is prayer.  Getting up and doing my job is a prayer that I need to be saying, or doing, everyday.  I know I haven't been.  Or at least my work has been poor and sloppy. 

By making paradigm shifts and using my strengths to foster my shortcomings will (hopefully) build my self confidence will slowly reform my daily life.  It's going to be a long year with lots of growing pains, God willing.   

First post of 2016

It has been nearly a month since my last post.  Over the last few days I have reading old posts, when I was posting kind of regularly...2014ish.  It was so much fun!!!  I miss it.  I miss documenting our lives.  I miss typing aimlessly to the empty internet.  I miss the comments (mostly on Facebook).

That is not to say that I haven't sat down at my computer several times to type something to share with you, but at some point I started over thinking what I was doing.  Honestly, I'm not sure why.  It was like I was trying to make my life interesting for the sake of this space.  The thing is, my life isn't that interesting.  I'm a mom drowning in dishes and dirty laundry while I'm trying to educate tiny humans and myself on the side.  Seriously, there is no way to make dirty diapers interesting.  They're just gross.

It's funny how I often do that to myself.  Over-complicating an ordinary task.  So I will do a very very quick update in bullet points so we can  move on with our lives.

• I will begin with the most important thing.  The selfie stick.  It didn't work with my mom's phone so now I get to be like that guy at the commissary using his selfie stick in the produce department!  I'm pretty sure Chris is more thrilled by me owning a selfie stick than I am!!!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• We are still homeschooling.  I am currently taking a self paced online class The 5 Elements of Classical Homeschooling.  Over the past week I've been reading Awakening Wonder: A Classical Guide to Truth, Goodness, and Beauty by Steve Turley PhD.  My brain wants to explode with excitement and ideas, but I'm still not articulate.  But classical education is totally what I'm trying to achieve.
• I love our co-op.  Amelia was asking today if we get to go this week...sadly, we have to wait one more week.
• Chris is in the thick of flight school.  Studying with four young kids underfoot is tougher than you may think. ;)
• Owen wants to take Karate or something, but I'm being a little selfish with the schedule.
  
• Amelia LOVES dance. She loves putting on a "show" for anyone who will watch.
  
  
  
  
• Simon is still Simon, but dino lovin', age three has been a real treat!  One and two were pretty tough.  Three isn't a cake walk, but we know what he's capable of, and it has been mostly fun.  But he is REFUSING to potty train, and I'm refusing to fight over it.
  
• Becket loves to dance.  He love to say "mo" to everything.  If you ask him to say Muma he tilts his head.  He is into everything!
  
• I'm still adminning the two Facebook groups, and having a great time.  Peg Dolls (I'm working on eggs right now) and Periscope. 
  
  
  
  
• Myers-Briggs is so much fun!!! I love it.  You can take the free test at 16 Personalities.  I'm an ENFP.  I LOVE knowing what others are, too.  I find it very fascinating.  Please comment your type.  
• Go watch the TV show Miranda.  It's a British sitcom, starring Miranda Hart.  It's, what I like to call, funny!  Such Fun!!!

And that's about it really.  Most anyone reading this probably has kept up with our shenanigans on Facebook and Instagram.  I've missed this!  Bring it on 2016!

Adventing: Resting in Christ

Have you ever taken on projects that normally would be too much, but you're still managing to get things accomplished peacefully? Over the past few weeks, my plate seems to becoming more and more full.  Yet, this Advent still seems to be more intentional slower when compared to years past.

Why is that?  I'm not really sure.  On top of the normal day to day of keeping everyone mostly safe, relatively clean, kind of fed, and somewhat educated, I have been given opportunities to grow in faith, fellowship, service, and my own education.  Over the last few weeks I have entered into this new kind of peaceful busyness. .  if there is such a thing.  

Currently, I am admin-ing two Facebook groups.  These are not solo endeavors; I'm working with some fantastic ladies!  But, there is a bit of personal time devoted to it.  One is the Catholic Peg Doll Swap group, with two other ladies. I get to serve women who want to share the faith with their families through crafts in a way they might not be able to otherwise.  The other is the Catholic Woman Scopes group where I work alongside of Amber the nurturing pioneer, Sterling the encouraging evangelist, Ashley the philosophical apologist. We are just building a community with Periscope to grow in faith and fellowship with other women.  And I'm trying to educate myself in Catholicism, classical education, social media, and how to be an adult while trying to remain a good wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend.  Not to give you my laundry list, but to let you know I'm being pulled in ways I've never been pulled before.  

I'm #Adventing with Ashley and we are reading The Joy of Advent with Saint Benedict.  Each day, we the book provides us with the gospel, a quote from St. Benedict, a reflection, and a prayer.  Today's short gospel spoke to me.

"Jesus said to the crowds: 'Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and will find rest for yourselves.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.'"  Matthew 11: 28-30

And the St. Benedict quote paired with this gospel was incredible as well.  He basically said to be obedient in the fight for Christ.  He called obedience a "powerful and shining weapon".  Obedience would be fulfilling God's will, would it not?  In the reflection portion, it is reemphasized that we are to pick up Jesus' yoke, but not put ours down by carrying both we can see we can see the light of God.  When we are obediently following God’s will, we are resting in Christ.  Our burdens remain our burdens, but the burden is light. And then we can find peace.

Maybe that is what I’m experiencing, right now?  This peaceful busyness?  

This post is apart of the Blessed Is She #BISsisterhood link-up.  Please head over there to see what others have to say this week about PEACE. 

Add caption

Kicking off Advent with St. Benedict

Image found at Roaming Catholic

Several weeks ago when Ashley at Between the Linens asked if I would be interested in joining her in reading a book during Advent, I jumped in and said yes.  One, because she’s awesome. And two, I’m pretty sure the Holy Spirit uses my spontaneity to work through me; otherwise I would never make a decision to do anything that may seem challenging.

After saying yes to this project, I realized what I was saying yes to, and I would be lying if didn’t admit to being intimidated.  This is out of my comfort zone.  I lack understanding, vocabulary, and confidence. I said yes and before I knew it, I was putting it out publicly that I was taking this on with Ashley.  So here I am, at the beginning of Advent and a new year in the Church with little to offer other than the journey that God has prepared for me. . .us. . . this season.

We are using The Joy of Advent with St. Benedict. I know very little about St. Benedict; after reading his brief history chapter, I can see why I did not connect with him sooner. His Rule of Life goes against every natural tendency that I possess.  His rule is something I don’t really want to live by but I recognize that slowing down, prioritizing, creating order, and taking the time to contemplate is something I need in my home and prayer life.  Being a Christian is hard, especially when we acknowledge that something must change even when we are comfortable with how things are. However, the change is necessary  in order to grow in our faith.

So readers, ‘scopers, ‘grammers, tweeters, and facebookers, I’m beginning the journey completely aware that you are probably further down the path that I am.  Hopefully, we can learn and grow within this beautiful community.