This needs to be my prayer...Often.

“My failure to be true even to my own accepted standards:

My self-deception in face of temptation:

My choosing of the worse when I know the better: O Lord, forgive.

My failure to apply to myself the standard of conduct I demand of others:

My complacence towards wrongs that do not touch my own case and my over-sensitiveness to those that do:

My slowness to see the good in my fellows and the see the evil in myself:

My hardness of heart towards my neighbours faults and my readiness to make allowance for my own… O Lord, forgive.” A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie

 

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Missing Christmas and Other Ponderings

This year we didn’t celebrate Advent in the way we have typically done in the past and I think that contributed heavily to feeling as though somehow we “missed” Christmas. Advent began and ended with the deaths of two of my mentors and I think that contributed to the melancholy that settled on me and overshadowed much of the holiday season. I didn’t begin to feel like it was truly Christmas until after the day itself had passed. What turned the season around for me was the time spent with friends in this period between Christmas and Epiphany known as “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. I will be much more intentional about celebrating this part of the season in years to come. I will also be much more intentional about not skipping over Advent. I need that time to focus and get my mind out of the fog of responsibilities and obligations that come with preparing for the Christmas season.

 

Things that stick out in my mind as sweet moments from this time:

 

Clinging Matthew’s hand and singing together for the first time in at least twenty years as we celebrated the life of a woman who had been a mentor to us both

 

A group of 5 or 6 of us, huddled together in our grief, as they took her from the building for the last time…friends still, supporting each other as she taught us

 

Watching Taylor and the pure joy he sees the world with

 

Watching Ben and Taylor interact and seeing brotherly love

 

Doing a puzzle with my crazy family and laughing until it hurt

 

Seeing Cherri and Lil Dave even though they were at work so it had to be all too brief

 

Meeting for the 7^th year in a row with another group of friends from my high school days and enjoying the annual bonding

 

Seeing John for the first time in decades and being able to throw my arms around his neck and give him the hug that I wanted to when he returned safely from Gulf War I

 

Watching Dave with his children and getting to see a side of him that we rarely ever see

 

Holding Rory

 

Brunch with Stephanie and Brian, Mama Katherine and the kids

 

Meeting Debba’s new beau and seeing the difference in how he treats her and how she interacts with him and knowing that it is likely that this is “the one”

 

Finally choosing to make a phone call and ask a question I should have asked months ago the answer makes me feel foolish for waiting so long and sorry I missed seeing Mack based on misinformation

 

Visiting Mrs. A with Amy and Samantha and Jessica and knowing that for a few hours we eased the pain of missing Murray for all of us.

 

Spending the evening at Incredible Pizza with the tech kids laughter is such a healing gift.

 

New Years Afternoon at the Range with Aubree, Jason, Harold and David

 

New Years Eve watching old episodes of Buck Rogers with Jason, David, Jess and Harold

 

The last several days since New Years I have spent being very introspective and working on changes I’d like to make in my life to create space for more moments like these. For too long I’ve hidden behind my chaotic house and my even more chaotic schedule and avoided spending time with the people I care about. No more. I don’t want to look back and see missed opportunities to be with those I love. I may have “missed Christmas” but somehow I “got the message” anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Politics Makes Strange Bedfellows


I am not, in general, a fan of Focus on the Family. I don't believe that spanking is "Godly" discipline and I don't agree with most of what Dobson has to say on most things. So imagine my chagrin to find myself on the same side of a political issue as Dobson. I'm talking about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the insidious danger it poses to the rights of parents in this country and around the world.

It has, for much of human history, been understood that parents are the right and proper authority when it comes to making decisions for their children. It has been understood that the family is the basic unit of society and that government must err on the side of least disruption of the family unit. Along comes the UNCRC which threatens to turn that entire assumption on its head.

Simply put, if we as a nation don't codify current Supreme Court doctrine protecting parental rights into the explicit text of the Constitution we face a situation where this treaty, if ratified, becomes the supreme law of the land. On the face of it the treaty looks benign but as you look at recent rulings in the countries which have already ratified it as well as recent rulings in this country that are based on its principles and a very concerning picture emerges.

I invite you to go to http://parentalrights.org and educate yourself on the issue. If you feel led after you've heard what they have to say on the matter then please sign the petition and lets get the ball rolling to protect the rights of parents as they have traditionally been understood in this country and the world. Our elected officials need to know that "we the people" don't intend to have our rights superseded by this treaty. Lets send the message.

First Two Weeks

We have now completed our first two weeks of school. Yes, week two was sewing camp...BUT I can't imagine anything that she would have learned more from in a 5 day period. She made: 1-purse, 2-tissue holders, 1-skirt and an entire dress...WITH applique! This week she has three more days of sewing camp and she's making a pillow case and a pair of pajama pants. She is pleased enough with her dress that she plans to wear it to church tomorrow. I haven't seen the skirt on her yet but its cute on the hanger. The purse and tissue holders are adorable.

As far as "real school work" she has started working on both History and copywork exercises and a corresponding piece of literature. We will be adding Math, Science and Spelling at the beginning of week 4. Her copywork consists of copying her history narration once she has dictated it to me. She isn't aware of it yet but I already see her handwriting improving. Practice. Just gotta keep up with the practice.

Her fine motor skills have had a marked improvement. This year she can cut straight lines. Last year not so much. We have had an ongoing issue with this since she was in preschool and I'm glad to see she's finally maturing out of it.

As for me I'm working on creating a healthier lifestyle for us as a family. This week's action items include menu planning, finding a place for us to exercise regularly and getting an appointment with my counselor for a "tune-up" to deal with some issues that have surfaced in my own personal growth and recovery. I have high hopes that if I continue to be proactive about this situation I will see results that will make both me and my doctor happy.

I'm going to Jackson...

*hums a Johnny Cash tune in her head*

Ok...enough with the musical interlude...but I am going to Jackson TN tomorrow with two of my homeschool mom friends to their conference and curriculum fair. I'm excited. Road trip with friends, sans kids, to shop homeschool stuff. What's not to love about that?

I have almost all the pieces in place for DD's homeschool year that starts on Monday. I still need to buy "Spelling Power" and I'm hoping that the Jackson fair will have it. I didn't really get to shop our fair because I was working. I am the Administrative Assistant for MHEA and I was on the clock all weekend running our informational booth at our fair.

This will be a new adventure for us. With DD going into middle school this year we've mutually decided that she needs a bit more structure. Some folks would say that no longer makes me an unschooler. I disagree. If the decision for more structure is mutual I think it absolutely fits in with the idea of child led learning. Her desire for this more structured environment comes in part from her hopes of being a CSI when she grows up. Forensic science fascinates her at the moment and she knows that she is weak in some areas like math that she needs to focus on more intentionally for awhile. I'm excited but apprehensive. I'm not sure that my dominant random learning style will be able to sustain the structure. We shall have to see.

*breaks into song again* I'm going to Jackson, turn alooose of my coat, I'm going to Jackson, good-bye that's all she wrote....

One week until the 2008/2009 School Year Begins

I have selected July 14th as our starting date this year. We've been in the office for a bit over 6 weeks by then and the transition to that new routine is fairly solid so its time to make it into what it will be for the remainder of the "school year". I'm also tentatively working on a co-op plan for History/Science with some friends of similarly aged children that I hope goes well. I'm calling it Friday Funschool and I'm very excited about the potential.

I've got Story of the World by Bauer and Ancient Science by Jim Wiese that will be the spine around which we build the rest of our year. Math-U-See is also in the blend as is English from the Roots up. For Bible we'll study the stories that fit chronologically into the ancient history timeline. Speaking of timelines. I bought the complete timeline figures CD from homeschool in the woods along with the amazingly beautiful timeline book from Mystery of History and we'll be doing a ton of stuff with those resorces. Jess is pretty excited about having art as a formal part of school. I bought her a set of 36 colored pencils and 36 watercolor paints that are specifically restricted to her school stuff. No playing around with these and losing them. She has plenty of others to do that kind of thing with.

This probably sounds odd coming from an unschooler but I'm a complete curriculum addict. The difference is the way we approach the curriculum. They are resources. Starting points. Nothing more. No "complete the book" mentality here. We are very excited about the ancients because this is a favorite time period for Jess and there are unfinished projects (a trojan horse model for one) that are begging to be finished that we get to "count for school". LOL! I'm planning a visit to the Egyptology Institute at the local university as well as a weekend field trip to the Parthenon in Nashville in conjunction with this year's studies. A life mask project and the making of a chicken mummy just sound WAY cool to my little budding forensic scientist.

It should be an excellent year.

I can't decide...year end field trip or next year kick off trip?

Saturday we leave for Washington DC. I am absurdly excited. I get to be the tour guide as none of the rest of my family has ever been to our nation's capital before. I spent a week or so there in high school on a 4-H trip (Citizenship Washington Focus) and a brief weekend in the early 90's when my BFF got married and I was her maid-of-honor. I remember so much of the 4-H trip. It is one I hope my daughter makes when she is old enough. We will see many of the same sights this trip but I know it will have a different meaning to her at 10 than it will at 16/17 as it will have a different meaning to me at 40 than it did a lifetime ago. I'm just not sure what to call this trip.

I could call it a year end field trip and let it be the closing event of 4th grade or I could call it the beginning field trip of her 5th grade year. It really doesn't matter one way or another. Just trying to figure out how to caption the scrapbook.

I always have this deliemma this time of year. Since we have always unschooled year round it is difficult for me to decide when one "grade" ends and another "grade" begins. Usually I use VBS in June as the official beginning of a new school year because that is the only place in our life where what "grade" she is "in" has any real bearing. With that in mind I suppose this is her 4th grade trip.

Since next year we are starting Ancient History in our second cycle through the chronological history of the world making this the final trip of 4th grade (where we have studied the modern era) might "fit" more neatly. Since the school year at Veritas ended Tuesday it makes sense on those terms as well. The last time we will be chained to someone else's school calendar.

When I return I will be starting that desk job I mentioned last month. We are both excited about the prospect. How long that will last when she realizes we have to be at work "early" 3 days a week rather than one is anyone's guess, but the situation we have at the office will be so much better for us both. We have office schooled before, the last half of her kindergarten year, and it was one of my favorite times of homeschooling her. Being in the office, away from the distractions of TV and toys, we were able to accomplish more in those short days than we ever have since.

I hope that she comes home excited about what she has seen and done in DC and Williamsburg. I hope that she will be willing to do some projects with me that tie in with what she will have seen and learned. I hope that we stick with the exercise plan we have devised and begin seeing results in terms of better health for both of us. Yes, when we return it will be a good time for a new beginning and thus a new school year so this trip is the final field trip of 4th grade...5th grade starts July 14th. That will give us about 6 weeks to process DC and then be ready to move back into the Ancients. Sounds like a plan.