A quick post to show off a picture of our children’s craft time at the library last summer, during one of the workshops for the Summer Reading Program. I cannot say enough about how much we enjoy going to the library, getting books and doing crafts throughout the year, not just during the summer.
My children working on crafts at the library
This winter will be interesting, as we say good bye to our long-time children’s librarian, who is retiring. Continue reading
My children are part of a scouting group called Adventurers through our church. It’s scouting with a religious component. They earn badges and learn about the world all through the lens of a Christian worldview. It all boils down to “learning more about Jesus.”
That’s what I have to remind myself when I get tired of driving them to Knoxville for this club’s meetings twice a month. It’s easy to get swallowed up in details about logistics, uniforms, badges that must be sewn onto their sashes etc and forget we are simply doing this in order to learn more about Jesus Himself.
For the first time, I am posting every day for a month.
For their service project, they raise funds for Operation Christmas Child by standing at the church doors once a year. As people exit, they pass out prayer book marks and hold a platter out for donations. The program’s director has already made an announcement from upfront so people know why cute children dressed in Adventurer uniforms are standing at the door with collection baskets and book marks. Continue reading
This morning, like on any morning while I am preparing breakfast pour mes petits, I turned on Radio France Internationale on my cell phone. I usually listen to the news in easy French (Le Journal en Français Facile), which I have to download first.
If you have not yet taken advantage of rfi.fr resources to learn French, I am here to encourage you to check them out. They have a whole site dedicated to learning French from newscasts. You can get the transcript of Le Journal en Français Facile, too.
Somehow, this morning, I just wanted to push play on the regular broadcast, which is streamed live. Continue reading
I am reading a lot these days because I can. I cannot do many things as a homeschooling mom, but reading I can do. Learning about one’s limitations is a fundamental lesson in life. Understanding your boundaries and communicating them to others is an extension of knowing your own limits. So many lives would be changed for the better if we only understood our own limits.
Homeschooling moms are busy creatures. A career is pretty much out of the question unless you are a force of nature like Susan Wise Bauer or Ann Voskamp. Going back to school cannot really happen unless your children are older and more independent in their study habits. Traveling solo (or with the family) is limited by time and space equations which have everything to do with hubby’s career.
What’s a homeschooling mom to do?
I read. While the kids play or take lessons outside the home, I read.
The library saves me thousands of dollars every year, but I also like to invest in my own titles. Books help me lose myself in order to find myself. I travel and discover new destinations without having to pack a suitcase. Then I return Continue reading
If you want your child to learn about government, the political process, how bills become law, and similar topics, you might consider TeenPact Leadership Schools. They offer state classes in 41 states. The classes are taught with a Christian worldview.
For Tennessee, the next event happens on February 1-4, 2016. Monday-Thursday they teach students ages 13-19. For the 8-12 age group, they offer a One Day Class, on Friday, February 5, 2016, 10am-4pm. It all happens in Nashville, at the Capitol Building.
Nashville Capitol
What you should know: Continue reading
We have been attending science classes for homeschoolers at Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies for three years now. The first year, I left my daughter home with my husband and took my son to the class. He was in kindergarten. He got bored in the beginning. He told me he would like to leave once or twice. I sent him back to his seat and told him nicely that he will need to wait until craft time. Eventually, I brought her along and she sat next to me, taking in the atmosphere, the vocabulary, the experience.
The class has two parts: a Power Point presentation and a craft project. They have changed teachers once and both teachers have been top notch.
For the first time, I am posting every day for a month.
Because parents stay in the classroom, sometimes there are younger siblings who make noises. Once, it got really loud. There were a few too many toddlers around. That was the only time that I saw stress on the teacher. It was also the largest class I have ever seen – about 40 people were in the room. Continue reading
Gatlinburg has attracted a new multi-million dollar development called Anakeesta. We happen to live in Gatlinburg. The changes might affect us indirectly, as hundreds of jobs will be created, more traffic will have to be juggled (if such a thing is possible in our small town with big city traffic), and familiar sites will be transformed.
For those of you familiar with downtown Gatlinburg, the Arrowcraft store will be moved to a new location. The Ogle cabin and the Pi Beta Phi statue will also find new homes. Recently, I took the kids there for pictures, knowing that things will look very, very different once construction begins.
My children looking at the Pi Beta Phi statue in downtown Gatlinburg
Just in case you are wondering, the book the lady is handing to the young student is one of the McGuffey Eclectic Readers. Volume three, if I am not mistaken. Continue reading
The other day, my son was telling a relative something and he used the word “astonishing.” I made a mental note of it, being very proud of his vocabulary, and trying to remember the last book we read where he might have seen the word “astonishing.” I could not. We read so many books.
For the first time, I am posting every day for a month.
Other people present noticed he used the word as well, and seemed impressed.
It is astonishing when an eight-year-old uses the word “astonishing” in casual conversation, don’t you think? And I can only attribute that to our reading 1,000 books before kindergarten and about 30 minutes a day since their second week of life. Add to that turning off the TV and limiting screen time to only 30 minutes a day (usually YouTube videos or DVDs) and you have a recipe for building vocabulary. Continue reading
Several homeschoolers I know homeschool for six weeks and then they rest on the seventh week. They call it Sabbath Schooling. I like it. I sort of do it, but I don’t rigidly stop teaching on the seventh week. Sometimes it is on the ninth week, based on what we have going on. For instance, if we are learning a new math concept and have momentum under our wings, I will not stop just because the seventh week started.
I like to take a break when I feel exhaustion coming or when the kids are burned out or when we have a family outing. Our version of Sabbath Schooling happens on a weekly basis. We homeschool six days a week and rest on the seventh. Continue reading
I have been thinking a lot about the passage of time as my son, my eldest, turned eight this week. What better way to celebrate memories than with a madeleine?
A staple in French cuisine, madeleine cookies are delicious and relatively easy to make. You will need a special pan to give the batter their typical shell shape. I got two pans, because it is more practical and my recipe calls for two anyway.
For those of you not familiar with French literature, Marcel Proust wrote about a madeleine cookie in A La Recherche du Temps Perdu.
Cooling on rack
As he tasted the cookie, it reminded him of things in his past – which is why the Merriam Webster gives you a second definition of madeleine as “one that evokes a memory.” Continue reading