Weekly wrap-up - The one in which God showed His grace...again

If you read my wrap up last week, you know that I had come to a realization that I have been failing my family and disobeying God by not forcing myself to be more structured in my homeschool and home life in general.  So, as I sit here on Saturday, I can't help but giggle at the many curve balls that God tossed at me this week that allowed me to test my resolve to stay in a routine but allowed me to still have the flexibility (and later sleep!) that I desired!

Weekly wrap-up .... the one in which I was reminded that I have a heritage to live up to

This week started as all the rest.  Sunday we made it to church and Awana.  Monday we managed the basics of school, but it was a holiday and all so that was "okay."  Tuesday was CC and J's writing class at the middle school, which are always fantastic.

Quick funny story - we all know that homeschoolers don't know how to stand in a line (tongue in cheek joke there).  Didn't think about the whole fire drill experience until J found himself caught in the middle of one at the middle school on Tuesday.  Fun times.  Hehehe

Fitting into the mold

I've been thinking lately about what type of homeschool family we are.  What philosophy we mostly follow.  Because it does matter, you know.  Apparently you must choose a philosophy and stay there forever and ever and never lean or sway.  At least, that's the feeling I've been getting off of some folks lately.  And I know that people really just want you to validate their own decisions.  They just want you to tell them that what they are doing is right.  But what you are doing may not be right for me.

I've written before about who we are.  So I think I have finally figured out what we are.

We are a classical, Charlotte Mason, unschooling family.

How do you like that?  I'm pretty sure I managed to swing from both ends of the pendulum with that one.   But I decided that I have to stop beating myself up for not neatly fitting into some preset mold that just doesn't work for us.  There are three very different children in my house.  We started out with a classical model with my oldest (though we didn't know that's what it was at the time), and  he really struggled with it.  In the past two years, we've participated in a Classical Conversations community, and my middle daughter is thriving.  The youngest goes through the motions, but enjoys the fine arts parts the best.

I was berating myself the other day about not being stricter with my oldest, not forcing a more classical model on him, when he walked into my room and announced, "Mom, I have a complaint about one of the CC history sentences."  He went on to tell me that he thought it was not sufficient for the battle of Midway to get a mere mention in a sentence because it played such an important role in the success of the US during World War II.  And he continued by giving me all the specifics I didn't want to know.  :-)  Hmmm, crazy thing but he's learning on his own because he's following up on his own interests.  A little unschooling if you please.

Then there's the youngest who is still struggling to learn to read on her own, but has an phenomenal comprehension and vocabulary because she loves nothing more than to sit and be read to.  It doesn't matter what the book is.  Charlotte Mason, anyone?

Isn't it a wonderful thing, though, that we don't have to fit into one mold.  I mean, sure it would be much easier if you could cookie cutter everything and make everything fit everyone, but I am so glad that my children are all so different.  Because it's their differences that make them who they are.  J with his wisdom and knowledge of self, S with her mercy and grace, B with her joy and flexibility.  They each play such an important role in our family and in my life.

And for whatever it's worth, this is my weekly wrap-up.  Because it pretty much wraps up where my brain has been all week.  LOL

#weeklywrapup and a little of what's the point?

Since technically it's Friday, and I don't anticipate anything out of the ordinary happening today, I figured it was safe to write my wrap-up.  We had three standout moments this week:

#weeklywrapup - the what happened to fall edition

I don't know about where you are, but here in South Carolina we seem to have only managed a few weeks of fall before winter hit.  Some parts of town even saw snow on Thursday.  Snow this early is unheard of.  And it bodes for a long, cold winter.  Not my favorite, but the kids are thrilled.

This week was pretty normal.  We had a light day Monday because I had some errands to run in the morning and the kids all had dentist appointments in the afternoon.

Tuesday is my favorite day of the week.  It's CC day and we love our little CC community.  I also have the blessing of tutoring the sweetest little class of 3rd-5th grade.  The biggest proud moment was when the four of them reordered all of the timeline cards we've memorized in the past 10 weeks.  That's 70 different cards.  They were extremely proud of themselves.

Wednesday was business as usual, but we had a wonderfully encouraging moment.  Chris was hired as a sales associate with a local farm delivery service.  It's a wonderful company, and we are all excited about the possibilities it holds.

Thursday and today were mental health / home economics days.  I started a new medication on Thursday that is supposed to help with my constant headaches.  Unfortunately, for the first day or so, they've mostly made me dizzy and haven't done much for the headache.  On the plus side, the kids' bedrooms are much cleaner. :-)

This weekend will be friends and fun for the kids.  All three have their besties (who all happen to be siblings) coming over to spend tomorrow afternoon and evening.

How was your week?  

Read about other homeschoolers and their week here:

Weekly wrap-up

This week has been all over the map in terms of structure and emotion.  It would seem that the lesson plans that God had for us this week didn't quite match my own.

This week we learned a lot about life.  There were transparent conversations about our financial situation when hubby's pay check was $200 less than it had been for the past two years.  And when your paycheck is small to begin with... 

We talked about friendships and the importance of seeking out people who will build you up while avoiding those who would tear you down.

And we talked about death and grieving and unanswered prayers when the four year old son of my middle child's Awana small group leader (and my sister's best friend) died from a rare auto-immune disorder called HLH.  A disorder that he was diagnosed with merely 3 weeks ago.  Less than a month ago, he was a happy, seemingly healthy 4 year old.  

Sometimes the lessons are academic - reading, writing and 'rithmatic.  But sometimes they're more powerful.  Sometimes they're lessons of the heart.  And it's in these times that I pray that my children are seeing me live out my faith, hearing me praise in the storm, feeling the grace and peace that only comes from God.

While I hate the material, I'm grateful that God called me stand in the front of the class for my kids as they learn these lessons.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” 

John 16:32-33 

On a side note, if you would like to assist this precious family in a practical way, please go to http://www.gofundme.com/TJThomas. 

Halloween week wrap-up

Whenever a special day falls during the week, the whole week seems to revolve around that day, doesn't it?  Even though many other things occurred this week, all that stands out is Halloween.

That and my multiple stumbles while tutoring on Tuesday with a perspective new family and the area Classical Conversations support manager sitting in my classroom.  But really, is it that important to know ALL 5 of the absolute monarchs?  Does it really matter that I forgot Phillip II of Spain?  

On Thursday, since I figured that I wasn't going to get much focus out of my crew with all the pre-trick or treat excitement, we decided to learn about the history of the "holiday".  I was thrilled to discover that Amazon has a series from the History channel titled "History of the Holidays" that encompasses not only Halloween, but Christmas, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, and Easter too, I think.  And the entire series was only $13 and it's streaming so we downloaded and watched.  The cool thing about the Halloween episode was that it didn't focus just on Halloween, but on the date itself, so the kids heard more about Reformation Day.  And since we memorized a history sentence about the Reformation just a few weeks ago, the reinforcement made this a double win.

Of course, we did the traditional Trick or Treating.  It's not my favorite, but the kids enjoy it.  And for the last two years we've gotten together with our "other" family so the kids could go together.  (This is our "other family" because all three of my crew have bff's within their crew and the girls all used to look a lot alike.  The younger girls still get mistaken for each other.  And often at church, people get confused over who belongs to which family,)

(Mine are the pink princess, the martial artist and the sassy dancer in orange)

Today, we're taking a home economics day.  That means no school and lots of cleaning.  Mostly because Daddy said the house was out of control and we needed to do something about it.  And if he says we need to take a break from school to do something, it must be really bad!

How was your week?

Weekly wrap-up

This was one of those nothing exciting or terribly out of the ordinary kind of weeks.  I'm glad because my headaches were especially persistent this week, so I don't know how much exciting or unusual I could handle.

We started back with our Classical Conversations group after a 2 week break.  It was nice to get back into the routine.  I LOVE tutoring my little band of minions, and the kids really enjoy seeing their friends.  The highlight for me was our science activity.  I have been dreading this part of our science because it focuses around astronomy and that kind of stuff, and I don't really like that kind of stuff.  I like things I can get my hands on.  It's hard to get your hands on a star. 

However, for our science activity, we made a scale model of the solar system in the parking lot.  And I have to admit, it was super cool.  It really helped me to put the concept of the solar system into a perspective I could grasp.  I tell you, I learn so much more teaching my children than I did in 16 years of school.

Other than that, our week was filled with the usual stuff: schoolwork during the day and busy afternoons and evenings.  Next week is looking pretty normal too.  But I'm itching for a field trip soon.  I think I hear Discovery Place calling to us...

Friday wrap up

Today my unsocialized homeschool kids hung out with other unsocialized homeschool kids.

I kid about the unsocialized part.  Because the group of kids in this picture are some of the most social, well-adjusted kids I've ever known, and I used to teach public school.

Here's what's so cool about the way homeschool kids socialize, though.  They socialize with people that are different than them.  Different ages, different interests, different backgrounds.  

Today's get-together was "book report day" and nearly every kid in that picture, from the youngest to the oldest, stood in front of the entire group and gave a review of a book.  We had picture books and classics and everything in between.  And after each presentation everyone in the room applauded.  When everyone was finished, the craziest thing happened.  The kids continued to socialize.  With each other and the adults and everyone had a great time.  Nothing quite like watching 30+ kids ranging in age from 5 to 15 playing hide and seek together.  Amazing.  Beautiful.