Weekly Homeschool Report–November 29, 2009

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From where I sat this past week,

As an individual, I…

am thankful for the Lord’s deliverance from gluttony.   This week, I saw previews for a show on overeating called “Dying to Eat” or something like that, and given the upcoming holiday, I couldn’t help but reflect upon what Thanksgiving meant to us as kids.    Our family was huge, and each of the women—aunts and older cousins—brought 1 or more dishes to the family gathering.   You were expected to eat some of everything, no matter how full you were.   Food was so much more than food; seconds were a sign of love.    In addition, there were no restraints when it came to sweets, a personal favorite.   I can remember eating 2 or 3 slices of 2-3 desserts.   It is a wonder that, though there’s more of me to love than I can appreciate, I’ve never had to deal with high blood pressure or diabetes.   How the Lord must love me.   So, it was with that pride and sense of grace that I baked a chicken with crawfish dressing, but I also enjoyed greens, green beans, and carrots.   And, it felt good to eat that ice cream when I truly had allowed my food to digest and was ready for it.   Thank you, Lord, that I’m here and not passing the demons that kill us slowly on to our children.

I still don’t have it all together.   There were no workouts on last week, but I will hit the Wii Fit when I finish this write-up.

As a wife and homemaker, I…

spent much of my week preparing for Thanksgiving day.    There was the usual cooking and cleaning, but there was also recognition of the baton that has now been passed down.   I thought so much about the days when my mom and her sisters would prepare meals for 30+ people.   My husband’s family is much smaller, and I was able to prepare at least ½ of the meal, with my MIL bringing the other ½.   I can remember a time when no one expected anything of me at the Thanksgiving table except to eat.

As a mom and homeschooling parent, I…

am experiencing my first year with no homeschool burnout–HOORAY!!!!!!!!  Normally, November and December are tough months for me as the year begins to wear on me.    I always have that one subject where we’re woefully behind (this year it is science with the first grader), and the stress of the holidays begins to combine with the frustrations of not getting it all done; stir all of this in a pot together, and you get a miserable shell of a woman who was at one time called Belinda.

The oldest is performing well and preparing for her final science test for this semester.   She gets a six-week break from this class, giving us time to pray about how to move forward.   She agreed to let me finish the Iliad over the Christmas break, as I am now five weeks off the syllabus I compiled over the summer.    Thankfully, because these books are classics, there are many video/book on tape options that can give the content, and toward the year’s end, we will probably take advantage of them.   I can remember as a younger mom on our homeschool journey, I had real issues with reading abridged versions of books, or watching an occasional film of a book.    A more seasoned mom on this journey explained to me that most children in a regular school system only complete a fraction of their books each year, and that an occasional film wouldn’t take away from a rich education in literature.    Though it’s not me, there is even a course designed for high school literature geared toward the movie buff!   In any case, being able to insert an occasional film for the sake of time gave me an unmeasurable amount of freedom.

I was so blessed to hear from Karen on today, and one of the conversations we had was about kids developing enough maturity to “take off” in their learning and venture off into projects and studies that aren’t scripted in the lesson plan.   It occurs to me that if I wasn’t a lesson plan type of person, this might happen more frequently, but then all my hair would be gray and my fingernails would be nubs (LOL).   At any rate, our son is beginning to fill his time constructively.   Caring for a gecko, though a low maintenance project, is a lesson unto itself in both science and psychology!   After a diet of live baby crickets, he had to care for that gecko much like a mother cares for an infant, poop, spit-up, and all.   We’re trying new authors to encourage his love of mysteries, and he’s bought into the reading journal idea for capturing some of his thoughts and interests.

I am definitely in a high teacher involvement/ low planning mode with the youngest.    I am unintentionally, but decidedly, headed down the path of having to fix what I broke.   She has fallen into a habit of waking up early, getting a little milk in her belly, and then falling back asleep until later in the morning.    I’ve used this time to catch up on things that either didn’t happen the night before, or need to happen today.   The end result is that my early bird is developing late morning tendencies, and though I’m watching it happen, I am not correcting my own habits to do something about it.    Perhaps after the holiday break I’ll begin again on a fresh note.   She has become my finest Bible scholar, once she quit letting being at the “big kid” table intimidate her.   When I ask the question, “What is the Lord saying to us today,” she is always first with her hand, and can actually give wonderful responses to the Word of God.    I think the older two feel a bit embarrassed that she can give such eloquent answers to scripture while they take for granted that because they’re older, they should automatically out-do her.   With her own self confidence increasing, she moved herself to their table—much to their chagrin.   The youngest is very musical, so the pencil has to have a beat while she’s writing, and there’s usually a made-up tune to accompany the drum.  The oldest, who thinks the birds outside are sometimes too loud, is going bananas.  At least until someone grows weary of someone else, our elementary school, aka the kitchen table, is temporarily closed, and all three kids are seated at our front table.  

As a business owner, I…

am in a brief hold on my editing while I wait for books to arrive.   I hope to finish the first in the two-part elementary series by the year’s end.

May the Lord bless your week as well.