Top 10 Answers You Should NEVER Give to the Question "What?! No School Today?"
10. Well, normally yes, but this time of year I need help with the planting and plowing.
9. Goodness, no!!! I graduated 18 years ago, but thanks for the compliment!
Top 20 Advantages to Homeschooling
20. Your kids never tell you that you're a lot dumber than their teacher.
19. If you can't find matching socks for your child first thing in the morning, who cares?
18. Cleaning out the refrigerator can double as chemistry lab.
Rather than have a daily schedule or rigid times to do things, we tend to work in blocks of time. In the morning, we discuss briefly what blocks of time we are doing that day and this way the children know what to expect. After reading “Wisdom’s Way of Learning” I came to see that our lives did have a daily rhythm…I just had never put it onto paper before.
Hi lovely homeschool mums,
You have got to check this out...it's kinda funny and will bring a smile to your dial today.
[video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxT5NwQUtVM]
The 10 Commandments for Journalling
Our guidelines are based on what "Love is" according to 1Corinthians 13
1 - Be patient with others... for sometimes the written word is hard to understand at first reading. Remember that most people are not trying to hurt anyones feelings when they post here.
2 - Be kind to each other... for we all need another friend. You don't have to agree with everyone, but remember to keep it discussions and not arguments.
Originally posted in Nov, 2007 at my blog. See original post with lots of comments here.
We don’t ‘do’ Christmas. Years ago when the children were small, we tried. But we would get a knot in the pits of our stomach. A few years ago, the commercialism of it all used to be a huge bother to me…now I’ve pretty much accepted that is the way it is and I’m not gonna change the world but I can impact or influence my own family so I’ll stick to that. 
We have no problem with anyone who does celebrate Christmas though. For us, it is not a divisive issue - we are free to visit people and receive a gift (at the risk of our refusal offending them) and we are free not to. It isn’t an issue of salvation - our salvation is not dependent upon whether we celebrate Christmas or not.
When I first began homeschooling, my children were 8, 5, 3. We enjoyed lots of art and crafts, playing outside, going to parks, visiting the botanical gardens, the museum, reading lots of books together, spending time with friends and family, going on picnics, catching tadpoles in the local creek. During these years, when the children were younger, the thing I loved most about homeschooling was the freedom to play, to visit, to spend the day outside if we wanted to, to swim, to climb trees. To really enjoy the freedom of childhood, without pressure. To give my children the gift of a free childhood was a blessing for me as well as for them I think.
As the years have flown by, and our family has grown with them, slowly this initial freedom has made way for something else. It has given way to more structure, more formal learning, more responsibility. But this has been right, because it has been something that has grown with the children’s needs as they have grown.
We don’t use grade levels in our home…I actually find them to be mostly irrelevant. The labels of grade/year level can be of some use but I prefer to view things in stages of learning, rather than grades. Stages of learning is much more individual and personal, allowing for uniqueness to shine in the various subjects and topics of interest.
While there is a transition that occurs when a child enters from a ‘Collecting Knowledge‘ stage to the next stage, ‘Understanding‘. I actually believe that it is the next stage ( Wisdom) that is very important and most enjoyable…and the one that we parents, need to recognise…
In the Collecting Knowledge stage the child is young, curious and eager to learn as much about the world and the people around him as he can. He is taking it all in, observing as much as he can. This is like the first building blocks in his educational foundation. It is in this stage that memorization is important. The basics of English and Maths may often be learned by rote during this stage, but don’t expect them to completely understand it – it is the ‘collecting knowledge’ stage, not the understanding stage, regardless of how it may look to a first- time parent. 
(Can you hear my voice of experience here?) I prefer my children to memorise The Best and the Beauty, in the form of God’s word, poetry and various worthy selections of literature, rather than dates, names and events that will one day perish. During this time, you are preparing your child…planting many seeds that will later bear fruit. Children need exposure to the best things in life via the modes of reading, hearing , seeing – experiencing with all the senses. This stage often is around the K-3 range, although all children are different and may accelerate at different rates.
I’ve always pursued my delights. Pursuing homeschooling was a delight yet has ended up being our lifestyle. I think it’s really important for a mum to pursue a delight. It sets a living example of how we’d like to see our children live and it also keeps us in awe of God as Creator and Giver.
However, there have been times in my life, especially during periods of stress and busyness, where I’ve questioned whether or not I should continue to pursue my delight or interest. I mean, wouldn’t it be selfish of me to do so? But my husband disagrees! So do I, when I think about it sensibly. Of course for the believer, spending time in God’s word will come first but is it healthy for a mum to serve the family to the exclusion of her own needs? Some mums can develop a type of martyrdom complex which is really not healthy at all. Pursuing a delight, a passion, an interest, can give mum the refreshment she needs to continue on with her wifely, motherly and house managing duties with vigor. Working within your delight may also keep you feeling younger! Psalm 103:4-5 What a great living example to the whole family! A refreshing atmosphere of renewal, joy, satisfaction, vigor…
…who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psalm 103:5
Sometimes, a mother’s passion or delight can be something that the Lord places on your heart…maybe it will grow to be something that will serve others and bring glory to the Father.
You know, I’ve been blogging for a while now and I have gotten to know some of you pretty well. So I think it is time you got to meet some of the people in my head.
Meet Patrice.
Patrice looks perfect.
