Chart and Compass, Part 2

Time for a shocking confession.  After home schooling for 10 years, I made a sudden discovery:  I don't care about academics.  Worse yet,  I never really did.

It's not that I care nothing about them, just that they are a far distant second to forming the Zoomlian's faith and character.

I came to the realization that, at any age, it's pretty easy to learn more stuff - I'm 42 and I do it all the time.

On the other hand, as an adult, it's really hard to learn to put other people first, to put God first, to love when it costs you something, to forgive when it hurts, if you didn't learn that as a child. 

There's an irony at work here. "Seek first the kingdom of  God, and all these things will be added unto you."

The academics were added unto us.

Honestly, it doesn't seem fair: not worrying about academics  gave me a 15 year old who does Pre-Calculus, and a 14 year old who is shopping for literary agents, a 12 year old who loves high school Chemistry, and a 10 year old who loves the Orestia.

It doesn't seem fair that they all seem to be at or above the level of their hard working contemporaries, when all we did was have fun.  It's all grace.

It turns out that all kids are curious.  They all like to learn.  Given half a chance, they learn no matter what you do.

Brains are hard wired to remember and use only what they consider important or interesting.

Everything your child needs to know is important and interesting (and tests don't count as important in this sense).  Sometimes, however it's a challenge for you to see what's interesting about it.  Trying to get some one to learn something you find neither important nor interesting is usually an exercise in frustration.

When a kid is interested in a subject, they absorb and retain information very rapidly, leaving time to expand and flower as an individual.

You don't get less academic achievement when it's not the primary focus, you get more. 

Chart and Compass Part 1

Two friends and I are hosting a curriculum tea this Saturday.  Partly it's to exchange ideas on curriculum and swap resources, partly it's a "come and see" for others who are interested in home schooling.  Honestly, it'll be a ton of fun even if no one else shows up; I really like the other two moms!

It's interesting though because the three of us range from straight school-at-home with a packaged curriculum to self designed classical curriculum to eclectic edging towards unschooling.  Guess which one I am!

It's made me think about what I do and why.  It's a curriculum tea, not an apologia for my home school, but, I would like to support those who feel the call to do something a little different, and especially, those who look at traditional home schooling and think, "I could never do that."

I'm an eclectic home schooler (you noticed that in the header, right?).  That means I use anything and everything to home school and I have a ton of fun doing it!  It's a "chart and compass" approach instead of a "turn by turn GPS" approach.  The chart is what my kids need to know to be fully functioning adults (which includes being able to pursue higher education).  The compass is joy.

If I could say one thing to someone thinking about home schooling, it would be, "Why determines how."  The mose essential thing to do, if you are considering home schooling, is to pray as a couple and ask God, "Why?"

For us the answer, the touchstone of our home schooling, our magnetic north, is, "To help our children become the people God created them to be."

There are many, many, MANY other great reasons, and we do have secondary reasons, but that is the one God put in our hearts at the very beginning.  Obviously that why gives you the "how" of an highly individualistic approach.  We adapt how we teach, and, to some extent, what we teach to each child.  And by teach, I mean both directly instructing and supporting their own learning adventures (I am not literally teaching Mxyl Japanese, just supporting him while he takes the class!).
For the rest of the series: part 2 here, part 3 here, part 4 here.

Weaving Success!

Klenda got a peg loom for Christmas after she had done so much work on the little potholder looms.

She recently finished her first project, this striped table runner. Great job, Klenda!  You'll be taking after Grammy Ann in no time!

Easy Lent Art

This is a fun project that I adapted from Kids and Glitter, my new favorite source for art ideas.

I used "desert colored" construction paper: yellow, orange, red-orange, red, and brown. 

The idea is to tear the paper into wide strips so that you get an irregular (natural looking) pattern.  Before you start, try tearing some in different directions to figure out the "grain" of your paper.  One direction will give you smooth (and boring) tears.

Once you have strips of whatever colors you want, you can arrange them on another piece of paper, then glue stick them in place.

 We then put a black cross over the "desert" background.

On some of the pictures, I trimmed the edges with a paper cutter to give a neater finished product.

Choclo also wanted a skull at the foot of his cross because he'd seen pictures with r and he drew in the details.

In Christian art, that particular skull is Adam's.  No kidding!  There is a very old legend that Calvary was located on the site of Adam's grave, so that the New Adam (Christ) defeated death literally over the grave of the man who let death into the world.

Klenda is miserably sick today, so Mxyl did this extra one for her.  He put in a blue top strip for sky, a great addition!

Poem of the Week

Richard Lovelace. 1618–1658

To Lucasta, going to the Wars

TELL me not, Sweet, I am unkind,
That from the nunnery
Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind
To war and arms I fly.
True, a new mistress now I chase,	5
The first foe in the field;
And with a stronger faith embrace
A sword, a horse, a shield.
Yet this inconstancy is such
As thou too shalt adore;	10
I could not love thee, Dear, so much,
Loved I not Honour more.

Gospel Dessert: First Sunday of Lent

The Gospel today was the "Temptation in the Desert," and we went with the desert dessert.

It's an angel food cake (after his 40 day ordeal, angels came and ministered to Jesus), covered with brown sugar "sand."


As you can see, after four days with out sweets, any sugar containing object would have been, shall we say... well received!

Getting Myself Organized for Lent

Whenever I feel really discombobulated, I hear Wallace in my head from A Close Shave: "Get yourself organized down there!".

I woke up sick on Ash Wednesday and was very grateful 1.  that the Emperor could stay home and care for the Zoomlians, 2. that I could stay in bed for some spiritual reading, and 3. I already had some blog posts scheduled.

(The shocking truth is, I don't blog every day.  I usually blog twice a week and schedule the posts so they are more spread out. Shocking! But true.)

Anyway, my lovely plan to visit the Basilica, strip the walls, and put up our Lent stuff in a calm, prayerful atmosphere that struck the perfect balance between serious and cheerful, imbuing our Lent with a spirit of prayerful grace and causing my children to love Lenten sacrifices of all kinds so that we would all be saints by Easter... um, didn't happen the way I thought it should.

Well, I guess we'll let God be God, and go with his plan this time.;)

We did make our Walking with Jesus Poster and our Vine and Branches. And we got most of our winter/castle/valentines down.


Klenda told me that she would like to do a sacrifice bean jar, too, so that will come soon.

Snow Break!

 We didn't have snow here, but, last weekend, I went up to visit my folks and sister in NJ, and they had plenty of snow!

Actually, it was a mere 6 inches, compared to the three feet + some parts of the North East got.

But it was a respectable amount, even to my mountain dwelling sister (visiting from Colorado).

It was loads of fun!  My sister and I made snow angels!  That's mine on the left and hers on the right.  I'm not sure how I missed getting an actual picture of her, but that's OK, she looks angelic anyway.

And we had a snow ball fight that I won (because I had the snow shovel). Bwa ha ha!  It's true, I won, I saw it on the internet!   She evened the score by throwing me into the snow later. She only looks angelic.

Did I mention she's a nun? Seriously, don't mess with nuns!

Anyway, my Dad taught me to use the snow blower (which I had always been too young to do before, I guess, but I'm 42 1/2 now). 

It was so fun, I can see why he didn't let me do it before!

So the reason I was up for a visit was that my dad turned a big milestone birthday!

That's him with my mom on the right.

That's me with him on the left.

I figured that a person his age already had everything they needed or wanted, so I got him something he was sure neither to need nor want. 

You guessed it!  I got him this fine yodeling pickle!

 It's everything you could possibly want in a yodeling pickle:  It is the exact size, shape, and color of a pickle, and it gives a loud melodious yodel that goes on for about 5 seconds after you first wonder "when will it end?"

40 Days

How is This Even Possible?

These are Oob's shoes.  All the shoes we can find, anyway.

Some are a little too small, some a little too big just now, but all, in a pinch, will go on his feet and get us out the door.

He is the sixth kid, but the first to have nine pairs of shoes, none of which we can find complete.

If you're curious, we put him in snow boots!