A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

My computer and Blogger are not getting along these days.  I'm having to get veeeeerrrry creative about reading and writing here.  I hope that relations are repaired soon. We had such a deliciously normal week, that I have little to report other than to say, "We put up our Christmas tree.  We did school.  We celebrated another birthday.  We took care of babies." The best picture I have to share came from last week.   Nature Angel took this picture from our van window as the van was moving.  I didn't see it until today, so that's why it's here instead of in my last post. I love how she sees our world. 10 out of 12 kids home for tree decorating! Ladybug finished another spelling book.  With this one and the last one done, we've renewed our efforts at The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts 3.   Our Christmas picture book reading has prompted Baymax to read on his own.  After I read the stories, I put them on our mantel.  T...

 Early Sunday morning, Sir Walter Scott had a stroke. Our lives have been rather different this week. (How's that for understatement?) Because no visitors were allowed at the hospital, I had to go home after dropping him off at the ER.  What a blessing it was that the kids at home could watch church services streaming live!  What a blessing it was that I had dinner in the crock pot!  What a blessing it was that I have older kids to take care of the younger ones!  What a blessing it was that our bishop kindly led us in a "prayer of faith" in lieu of a priesthood blessing because no visitors could go to the hospital to administer to Sir Walter Scott!  What a blessing it was that the nurses followed through on their calls to me, and I was able to talk to my sweetheart once he was in a room!  What a blessing it was that I could keep people apprised of what was happening by text and calls!  What a blessing it was that family and friends have offered su...

It was a hard week. Not as hard as it could have been. Not as hard as weeks in our past have been. But it was hard enough. How grateful I am that the sunshine (literally, the sun began to shine) appeared very late Friday afternoon, so that I could breathe a bit and remember how to be grateful. I am grateful for the freedom to count our own hours, define our own curriculm goals, and make changes as needed. Reading Plutarch's Lives has been more of a duty than a joy.  Duty is important, but this one began to suck away our lifeblood and define our days.  During one desperate afternoon, I did a bit of arithmetic and realized that even without finishing it, the teens had completed 145 hours of Ancient History Through Literature (part A) , and that is enough to call it a credit hour. I forgot to put a Bible on the top of the stack--a significant portion of our studies included several books of the Old Testament. So we finished up Marcus Cato's life, explored the ...

Those family members with jobs have gone to work. The rest of us have stayed home and done school. I actually quite like this Stay-at-Home order. Yes, my teens and tweens are frustrated, but the rest of us are thriving. Thriving! School has looked the same every day: Personal Hygiene and Chores Morning Meeting Individual School Symposium Academy Colloquium Jr. Kindergarten Outdoor Time Dinner and Family Prayer Evening Reading It's awesome! Yes, there are bumps in the road . . . Our septic system leach lines are collapsing, not blocked with roots, so we have to replace them. (But the kids are getting to help dig the trenches and fill them in, and they're watching/helping Daddy take care of our home, so they're getting both proprioceptive therapy and a mechanical education.) Brother threw the vacuum at me. (But he missed, and I'm fine, and the vacuum is fine, and when he lost his temper the next day, he stopped and breathed deeply with me in ...

We woke up to a winter wonderland early Friday morning. We had a week of peace. It was incredible. We had lots of normal challenges like illnesses, minor car accidents, freezing rain, too many dishes, kids shirking school work, and arguments over board games, but it was all so simple and . . . normal. Such a blessing! Poor Pixie caught a dreadful cold that kept her away from work one day (did I mention she's working full time at a day care in the 1-year-old room?), and left her weak and shaky for the rest of the week.  We pumped her full of fresh garlic, cayenne pepper tea, various menthol lozenges and rubs, and as many fluids as we could.  She's looking forward to sleeping through the entire weekend. Super Star is safe but struggling.  She's not getting much school done--resorting to sleep as an escape.  She did complete Unit 8 of The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts with a good grade and a thoughtful essay, and she went to work, but that's abo...