Lessons All Around

We had a soft start to our school year two weeks back.  We read the religion for Catholic Coffee Club and the kids were required to do just 15 minutes of math each day.  We did spend several nights outside looking up at the stars.  It is so thrilling to see a shooting star.  One night we saw about 20, 3 were huge.  It was enough to hook us for the next several nights even though the local temps were hot and humid even at 11 pm.

Being that we were from St. Louis and they were in the path of totality for the eclipse this Monday.  We heard about it from all of our friends and families.  They had huge eclipse parties.

We tried to make the most of it and see what we could.  It was a very hot and steaming day that made it a quick lesson outside and more pictures and videos later.

by Goobers

We were planning a full start next week but now I am not sure that will be possible.  You see a hurricane is headed toward Houston.

I must say that this is the kind of learning that I find most exciting.  Please parents don't fret when life gets crazy and makes schooling difficult, just turn it into a lesson.

The kids continue with small faith lessons.  We are still doing the 15 minutes of Math (as long as we have internet).  We have all been causally reading or working with reading games online for at least 15 minutes.  Now mother nature has sent us another fun lesson to mess up our full on start.  We can and will postpone most other subject to make use of the natural learning that will take place.  The science of weather, the social aspect of a crisis, the humanity of helping those in need, the faith that God is powerful and bigger than a hurricane.

I love homeschooling.  I love these kind of annoying distractions.  They are were the real learning is. So if you get off track or are hit with a hurricane.  Just make it a life lesson and keep on learning.

Still Homeschooling

I am still at this crazy game and the more time I have spent doing it the more I feel I need to learn.  We have three graduated from our T Homeschool Academy with one more graduating this January.  All of those three are in college and doing well in classes in spite of the various learning issues each on has had.  Don't give up, not matter what.  Don't let what others say about you change what you in your heart know to be true.  Don't give up. I have watched too many people back track later and then ask what they did wrong.  I could see all along that they did not stay the course.  Hey it isn't easy out there.  It can get messy.  Laws of the legal system and in-laws of the family system can try to force you to change.  Stay the course, you won't regret it.

Rejuvenate

The 2011 Texas Home School Coalition Southwest Convention and Family Conference was held last weekend. I joined the group to help with any legal issues that might arise someday in regards to homeschooling and to support the political actions to keep and this option legal. THSC is a great organization.
This is so what I needed. I have only attended the Catholic Conferences in the past. This year it wasn't in the cards, Possible had surgery on her arm that weekend. I wanted to hear one of the speakers and look around the exhibit haul.
I am amazed at how many people attended. This group ran tracks for moms, dads, teens, little ones, and everyone else that might be involved in a home school family.
The exhibit haul was full of vendors. I was overwhelmed by all the material available. When I started 15 years ago it wasn't that easy to find exciting material to use. I love all of the choices and support that is out there now. I was not a pioneer but an early settler.
It is always rejuvenating to be surrounded by like minded people. I was soaking in the advice and prayers. Then, to my joy, I ran into friends. This is just what I needed for my home school year. I can be on the right track now. The most important advice we can give each other to remember to revisit your reasons each year to help you stay on track.

Getting Started Again

It can be very hard to get back on track when life takes you away from the books. If you read my family blog you know that we had several people were close to pass away in October last year. These were close friends of me and then one of my teenagers. Sometimes God sends us lessons that are harder than we could come up with on our own. There were days that I just didn’t pull out books because we wanted to visit with one of these people or because we were pouring our hearts into a project for one of these people. Some days we were just heart broken and other days we spend comforting someone else that was heart broken.




The experience was wonderful. I could never have taught my children those lessons of caring for your neighbor, the value of suffering, or the joy of heaven without the examples of these dear individuals. We learned how quickly life can change, how short life can be, how age and illness shouldn’t effect how kind a gracious one is. We learned that being Christ-like is often harder that we might think but require nothing more than an ear to listen and a heart to love.



Where to begin after all that I recommend a good read aloud for the family. Wait a little while. Do some school work through out but unite the group with a good story. I allow coloring of related sheets that I would have already printed to help ease the body and soul back into the work. We have been reading the Chronicles of Narnia and I must admit that it was chosen by someone other than me but it is the perfect choice. The series of books were at hand when the idea of a read a loud hit. For other reasons it was the perfect choice, I will post more on those in particular later.



We have used this method before and it always seams to work. It inspired more learning because stories always do. It helps us to turn the TV and computers off to refocus on school. It gives the little ones something to be a part of making them less distracting when the highschoolers sit to do the tougher subject. There is a huge benefit to a family read a loud. Often it unites the family as they journey through the book together. It gives everyone a theme to interact with. Often the stories inspire other stories and other questions. To follow those Rabbit Trails will lead to the child’s true interest.



If you have had tragedy or even the joy of the birth of a child that has cause you get off track. If you yourself need to be re-inspired to get tough again but don’t want to the very first day try this plan. Start with a week of guided read a loud. I find that I need to read the stories to offer the correct inflections. You must look ahead in the book and find characters or images that you can find coloring sheets for. The older ones need the peaceful action of coloring sometimes to calm their minds from all the craziness that happens in the teen years, especially if you have also recently had a major change in life.



Good luck getting back on track. Don’t be grudge what took you off, God sent them for your growth. Now pick up a good book, cuddle with your kiddos and find your new beginning.

You need to see the good qualities, not just the faults! 2-25-07

So you are home schooling your children and you have had a friend over to play with your 4th grader. This kid is smart. He plays the piano, he is in advanced classes all across the board, you about pass out when he starts quoting a book that you didn’t even read until college. You then look back at your beautiful 10 year old son. This poor boy cannot read at all. It is near impossible to read what he attempts to write. His work is always sloppy and he would do anything to get out of the classroom. You send his friend home and begin to really judge your son. How can he be this lazy and unmotivated. What, How dare you judge your own son that way.

What am I talking about. Your son will need to lead a family some day, he must learn his math and his reading. He will need to provide for a wife and children (God willing) or better yet run a parish, a diocese, or maybe even the entire Catholic church. Wow, how can you see your little under achiever as the pontiff. Those men need to know several languages and you can not even master English. Maybe you should put him back in school. Will that be the best for him.

Let’s think about that idea for a moment. If your child was in school you would be on his side and not out to point out his faults. Why have you abandoned him. He still needs your support. He still needs you to see his potential. If a teacher was telling you how slow your son is, you would be pointing out how smart he is. You would remind her that he comes home every day sharing what he has learned. You would be pointing out that he is the only one in the family that knows anything about hooking up the DVD player or getting the computers running. He might not be reading but he is brilliant.

Now you are the teacher and the mom. You have to see both sides. You need to see him like Christ does. The Father created your son, of course He knows his faults. Remember our Lord sees the complete package. He sees the child as a temple for the Holy Spirit. He sees the potential and the love. It is so hard, but that is what we are called to see.