In my life this week… Aches and pains. Energy and laughter. Music and strawberries. Kids full of wonder at what they are learning…and kids full of resentment that they have to learn. Garden dirt, nettles, and a huge garter snake. Walks, apple blossoms, and lilacs. And brand new chicks, two dozen balls of fluff and energy.
In our homeschool this week…
Mr. 17 is still very busy with ALEKS pre-calculus and with Omnibus. He loves both of them and both are very intense. Though he’s busy, he’s doing so well! While marking his Omnibus work, I learn a lot myself–about life, God, truth, hope, wisdom, history, human nature, law. I highly recommend this series of reformed classical guides for both parents and teens, although I would not begin them in grade 7 as is recommended.
Miss 14 has started BJUP French 2. When we read the story of Red Riding Hood in French, she understood almost all of it! And she’s been jogging! I’m so proud of her.
Miss 11 has two chapters left in her Rod and Staff grammar book, 9 pages in her Pathway workbook, 22 lessons in Intermediate Language Lessons, and 40 pages in Building Thinking Skills, Level 2. If all goes well, she will finish the school year next week!
Miss 9 and I have been working on obedience and consistency. That really helps her schoolwork, too. We’ve both been frustrated and, sadly, we’ve both sinned. My husband tells me to focus on consequences and not get emotionally involved. That should help us both. And together we’ve picked up the baby chicks together and fixed up the front flower-bed.
Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share… This summer we’re all continuing in math, music, French, and Dutch. I’m not yet sure how we’ll do it, but we no longer have the time to forget things for a few months and then spend weeks relearning them. I’m looking for fun ways to do all this.
Places we’re going and people we’re seeing… library, stores, doctor, and almost nowhere else. Mr. 17 did go to work and he and my husband went to see The Avengers. I find staying home so peaceful, but it’s a bit boring for the kids unless we have a lot of company. Once the garden is planted, there will be more social time again.
We’re watching… Memories of Scotland with the Igus Orchestra. It’s a beautiful movie of scenery and music, much more peaceful than the Hamlet we watched last week…and it cost me all of 25 cents at our community garage sale.
My favorite things this week were…
- walks past hay fields full of ghostly dandelion moons
- our debate lessons; so much fun and laughter, and I’m so proud of the kids!
- my husband’s applause after a good organ-playing session
- the best strawberries in the world
- floating down the river (see next Monday’s post for details)
- a breakfast serenade by a brilliant orange oriole in our apple tree
- eating asparagus (that’s not the kids’ favorite, though)
- when a broken timing belt on the car did not mean a broken engine
- the fact that my husband is now healthy and strong enough to push the stalled car–all by himself–out of the intersection, up a small incline, and into a parking lot
- the scent of chokecherry and lilac blossoms
Questions/thoughts I have… You do your best, but in hindsight it’s never good enough. I wish that Miss 19 could have studied Omnibus because it is so full of wisdom and truth. But, as my husband reminds me, “At the time, you couldn’t do that. What has happened was meant to be.” Yes, my God, who made that serenading oriole and gave us the strawberries, is in control of everything and even uses my deficiencies for good. He loves my children more than I ever could. But there’s still a lot I wish I could do over. And when I say so, my husband tells me to stop, reminding me yet again that God has the whole world in his hands. Thank you, Lord, for my husband.
Things I’m working on…
- Planting the garden.
- Picking and eating asparagus. I love jobs like these!
- Taking inventory of the pantry (done) and the freezers in preparation to eating all that yummy food.
- Clearing out the freezers.
- Neatening the yard.
- Organizing my thoughts about school, curriculum, child-raising, relationships, and more, and trying to find space to keep all of these thoughts in line and progressing. I suppose they will all end up as blog posts or articles of some sort, but now they’re many messy set of notes on my computer.
- Memorizing Galatians 6:1-10.
- Finding free fun for the summer. I’d like to have a summer full of enriching experiences that don’t empty our wallet.
I’m reading… 1 Timothy. I finished Traveller’s Rest and am reading Crushed Yet Conquering and that GAPS book all the health-food people are always talking about, Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Campbell-McBride. For now I’ve given up on keeping up with Mr. 17’s Omnibus reading.
With the kids, I’m reading Colossians, L’Abri by Edith Schaeffer, The Story Bible for Older Children, and various books for school. The Little Misses and I have no read aloud at all right now! There’s just too much to do outdoors.
When my husband is home for meals, we’re still reading Isaiah.
I’m grateful for … God’s fatherly care.
A quote to share…The world is rated R, and no one is checking IDs. Do not try to make it G by imagining the shadows away. Do not try to hide your children from the world forever, but do not try to pretend there is no danger. Train them. Give them sharp eyes and bellies full of laughter. Make them dangerous. Make them yeast, and when they’ve grown, they will pollute the shadows. (From the Ink Slinger’s review of N.D.Wilson’s book Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl. Yes, this book is on my to-read list.)
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This post is linked to The Homeschool Mother’s Journal and to Weekly Wrap Up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
Sounds like a good week, and your husbands sounds very smart and encouraging. 🙂