A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

It's so cold outside. And it's so cozy inside. And we have uninterrupted hours in which to do school. I am very happy. The teens and I finished up our American Literature text with a few modern poets.  When I finally find my copy of To Kill a Mockingbird (or borrow it from the library), we'll read that and call our American Literature course completed.  We plowed through several more lessons in Mystery of History vol. 4.  My favorite is when the lesson reviews are games/activities that allow the girls to get up and move around and go through their notes really thoroughly. This was one of those reviews. The younger kids and I finished Across Five Aprils, which wrapped up our study of The Civil War.  I feel like the kids learned and thought a lot about the issues--we certainly had both lively and sobering discussions! We also finished Charlotte's Web .   It never fails to touch our hearts. So worthwhile to reread! We read King Lear from Shakespeare Storie...

 It didn't have any problems last year. But this year, our van refuses to run if the temperature drops below freezing. We've checked the anti-freeze. We've done a fuel-injection treatment. We've tried jump-starting when the weather is super cold. We've put a heater under the van. All to no avail. So far our best results have come from the temperature rising above freezing for a long enough time. But we're in the middle of a cold spell. So we're home. Most of the time. I'm not complaining. It's just taking some creative planning and some practice adapting to less-than-ideal circumstances. Our teen car is in the shop. Which means we have one car that seats 5 to share between 4 drivers and 7 other passengers. The good part of it all means we're doing a lot of good reading together! The teens and I finished Huck Finn , and we're doing a good amount of world history. All of the kids are doing math every day. The teens are working on time managemen...

 Do I have pictures of the kids playing in the snow day after day after day? No. I stayed indoors cooking, baking, cleaning, reading, playing the piano, writing, and organizing . . . generally creating a safe, warm haven for the kids to return to after being out in the cold and wet. I wish I'd gone outside. But . . . I am glad for all of the things that I did because I am finding my way really happily. I found something so mind-boggling while I was reading one of the 10 books I've been reading this month that I stopped to think, but I didn't ever think to write it down or mark where I found it. All I have now, as I write, is a memory of what struck me. Part of my reaction to trauma has been to numb my brain. I've been so frustrated with myself about how I always seek some way to be mentally un-present--staring at my phone, eating too many snacks, feeling incapable of connecting . . . I've been angry with myself. But then I read a line somewhere that made me realize ...

Could there be a more peaceful scene in late December? We had a blast meeting extended family at Union Station to donate at The Giving Machines . But then the kids were a little riled up later in the day, and I stopped them all in their tracks to do a progressive muscle relaxation exercise. Why he didn't move to carpet is beyond me, but he said he was happy where he was! Baymax was so ornery, he wouldn't lie on his back, but he was otherwise cooperative, so I called it a win. The kids all got up saying, "I thought I was going to fall asleep!" "That made me too tired!" "I didn't know how to tighten my ( insert name here ) muscle." But they all got up from the floor capable of following directions and moving safely through the house, so I was quite pleased with the result. We dropped Pixie off at the airport by noon on the 31st.   In the afternoon, the boys went to a friend's house to play football and video games. In the evening, Belle drove...