Livin' Life

I miss my blog. And I have soooo much to say. But, alas, no time to say it.

Yesterday, though, I read the following passage in one of my favorite books, Understood Betsy. I love the book so much that this is my fourth time reading it. This time to EG. And the neat part is, I was reading this book to NG when she was 7. Right before EG was born. And the even neater thing is, I loved the main character soooo much that I named my baby girl after her.

Anyway, here is the passage:

This time Elizabeth Ann didn't answer, because she herself didn't know what the matter was. But I do, and I'll tell you. The matter was that never before had she known what she was doing in school. She had always thought she was there to pass from one grade to another, and she was ever so startled to get a glimpse of the fact that she was there to learn how to read and write and cipher and generally use her mind, so she could take care of herself when she came to be grown up.

So, the passage struck me in a very profound way yesterday. I have been struggling with the continued idea of homeschooling. It is hard and time consuming with little encouragement. But, that passage sums up why I probably chose to homeschool again this year. I don't want my kids to just learn for learning sake or to recite facts or to pass tests or even to progress to the next level. I want my kids to learn so they can use their minds! So that they can love learning. So that they can completely and thoroughly take care of themselves when the become grown ups! It isn't about a grade or a test score or even a recitation of mere facts. It is a process that we use to become engaging, competent and interesting and contributing human beings to society. Schooling is a process that appeals to the heart, soul, mind and body of a child. The passage was much needed encouragement from one of my most favorite books!

So, that is why I included these pictures too. School isn't just about learning for us right now. We practice loving and serving along with learning. We fill our minds but our hearts too. With the sweetness of what life is for us. Today.

So, today, we homeschool . . .

Geography

We are reading this great geography book called Book of Marvels The Occident. It is written by Richard Halliburton and he traveled to some really great places all over the world. Both natural and man made landmarks. The book is super old so the pictures the author took are in black and white and not the greatest quality. So, it has been really fun to google some recent pictures on the iPad.

The pictures we usually run across are fabulous. But, the following picture is the favorite of all of us by far. It is a abbey in Normandy, Mount St. Michael. And when the tide comes in it becomes an island. The pictures were breathtaking. A really great story goes along with it but you will have to read that on your own . . .

Smartie Pants

So, I finally have had time to go into my email for FLVS. It is the virtual school that NG is using to learn Latin. She really wanted to learn Latin and we have tried a thing or two at the house but it just wasn't working. So, we thought we would give our state virtual school a shot.

I was terrified. She actually gets a grade that is permanent. As a homeschool mom, I always "worry" that my kids are measuring up. Most of the time I really don't care. BUT, when there is an actual grade involved, given by someone other than me, it is a little daunting. Especially for the very first time.

The computer is a mystery to me so I knew I would not be any help whatsoever. And I was right. When I talked with the teacher for our very first conference she asked if I had any questions. I very honestly told her "I did not" because I was CLUELESS. NG would ask me occasional questions and I was able to give a little guidance. But she literally was on her own for everything and I let the teacher know because I didn't want it to count against her. The teacher assured me, based on what she saw, that NG was doing fine. Just fine. In fact, she mentioned that she wished all her students did so well.

Well, I got her finally grade the other day and it was an A. Not just an A but a 95% in Latin. Her first time with a "class" so to speak. She is a great student. She reads books everyday that are college level. She is honest and tells me she doesn't always like them, but she gets them. She doesn't shirk her work. And honestly, with teaching 4, she could totally get away with not doing stuff.

Anyway, I am proud of her. She is a fabulous student and I love teaching her and being very involved in her journey. She will definitely be a student for life. While eating ice cream the other night she was reading through a fictional History book she has read already. Can't argue with that.

Now for semester number two. We will see if she can keep it up . . .

A Love of Reading

A major theory of my homeschooling is that if I teach my children to love reading and instill a love of learning, they will be students their whole lives. I will never, ever be able to teach my kids all there is to learn. It is impossible. But, for the most part, if they love to read and enjoy learning new things, I feel I have done my job. And at this point, with a 1st grader, 4th grader, 7th grader and a 9th grader, I have done that to varying degrees.

This week I had the privilege of continuing to teach my fourth child to read. As we struggled through a sound she has heard at least a dozen times before I had, what I thought to be, a profound thought. This isn't easy. And it really isn't intuitive. It is. But it isn't. The English language is fraught with exceptions to the rules. And crazy letter combinations. And as I got a little frustrated teaching some of those rules, I really understood how frustrating it can be for a little one to learn to read. Just when they have a sound figured out, a rule comes in. And then the rule changes.

As adults, for the most part, we take reading for granted. We just do it without much thought. I want each of my children to get there and to be honest, I am amazed when any child gets there. In my humble opinion, it is nothing short of a miracle when a child learns to read.

Having taught all four to read, I understand that some will struggle more than others. But, I feel I have done my job well, if there is a desire to read. And, for the most part, I think I have done that. We continue, almost every night, to read together. We have read some amazing stories. It is even cool now that all of us can read the same books but independently and I love sharing that with my kids. I have even seen my baby, beginning reader, reading books to the dog. I call that success . . .

Guitar Recital

Little Man strummin' it up at his first ever guitar recital. He started taking lessons back in August. He really likes it and hopes to have a band with his friend.

He was super nervous and at one point wasn't going to perform. But, he saw his friend up there playing Silent Night and that motivated him so he was resolved to get up there too! 

He played Away in a Manager. And he did great! I was proud of him for learning the song. But, I told him I was most proud of the way he didn't give into his fear. We prayed together before he played and I didn't notice his hands shaking a bit. He told his daddy that once he started playing, he was fine.

It is so funny, because two weeks prior, he was singing on stage and had the lead role in our church's children's program. His teacher told me it is because it is something new. The wife of his teacher told me that some people just never get over the stage fright. They just learn to deal with it. 

I guess only time will tell. All I know is, he did great and he is ready to keep on learning. . . 

World War II

We just finished a book for book club about World War II. And it just so happened their was a World War II exhibit at our local history museum so I decided to take the kids. It was cute. They had a section where you had to look around and identify WW 2 airplanes. That was right up Boop's ally. They also had a table about ration cards and another table about how to signal using Morris Code and flags. They also had information on growing a Victory Garden among other things.

We enjoyed our little trip. It was made better by some friends joining us! EG got to have her picture taken as Rosie the Riveter. Just yesterday, when the kids and I were at a restaurant with both their Grandmas, EG looked up and on the wall was a picture/display of ration cards and she picked them out right away. Proud mama/teacher moment.

I love when I don't have to work so hard to coordinate stuff. And it all just kind of falls together. Some days it is confirmation that I am on the right track . . .

Looping

It is amazing to me after 9 years of homeschooling I am still making adjustments. But, some things work and some things don't and I have got to just be flexible.

I think one of the major changes is I will allow more visual learning. At the moment, I have at least one child who really learns better by not just reading something but visualizing it as well. So I guess I will be in search of good historical fiction movies etc.

I have added the iPad to our schooling tools. One of my students takes the iPad when she reads. She can look up any words she doesn't know and actually listen to how they are pronounced. I also will use it when I read with each kid. If there is something I think they might benefit from by seeing an actual picture, we will stop and look it up. Like Abigail Adams' home for instance. Or a particular flower.

The other great thing I added to our day is "looping." We loop chores and extra school subjects. We spend a lot of time reading during the day. We read about science and history on a daily basis but we don't always get to the timelines and the Latin words. So, I have this list of about 8 school related subjects and each day we do one. One day it might be a spelling test. Another day it might be a nature study. Once we have hit all 8 things, I just start at the top and go through the list again. That way I can focus on all the major reading yet still make time for some of the extras.

I do the same for chores. The kids have their morning chores which they do every day. But, in order for us to homeschool and do extra curricular activities I need a little help around the house. The house can get pretty messy considering we are in the house day after day. All day long. Anyway, I made a list of about 6 chores and each day we do one. It may be cleaning bathrooms. The next day might be the 15 minute timer to straighten or go through loose ends or random things that need to be done. Again, once we have gotten through the 6 chores, we just start our list all over again.

The kids have their "work for hire" chores and they can grab a card and do the chore and get paid. The new procedure is if no one picks any of the cards, the chores eventually end up on the looping chore list under the 15 minute timer. I have done paid chores numerous ways and they always end up being way more work for me to keep track of. So this is new for this year.

We have these super cool printable maps I got. The organizer of the maps looked at all the books from a bunch of different curriculum and coordinated the maps that go with each book.  So I print off maps for almost every single book the kids are reading. This way they have a visual of where the story is taking place. And they are learning geography too! There are probably close to 500 maps from ancient Egypt to a current world map. From Jamestowne to Elizabethan England. (The maps are a personal favorite!)

I have said numerous times in the last two weeks we are going to start school. Today we attempted a little bit. Hopefully by the time summer is "officially" over, we will be well on our way to some type of rhythm. At least that is my goal today. I like schooling in July and August when it is super hot so we can take days off when it is cooler. Plus, we take our yearly beach vacation when everyone else goes back to school. And this year we are planning a trip to Wisconsin to see family. So, we need to make up the days somewhere. And summer, when it is brutally hot outside, seems like a good time to me. . .

Nature Study the Easy Way

One day we were looking out onto our back porch and we noticed a little bird going in and out of our opened screen door. Come to find out it was a mommy and daddy bird making a nest in anticipation of laying some eggs.

Over the course of a few weeks, we watched the nest grow. And then a few days later (probably longer than that because time goes way too fast) we saw three little baby bird heads pop out. Their mouths wide open just waiting for food.

The parents were flying in and out constantly, just trying to keep them fed. The babies always had their mouths open every time we saw them. One of the big challenges for us was to keep Moose away. We blocked the shelves where the nest was with bikes and chairs.

Two days ago, while we were just hanging out, daddy happened to notice that the baby birds had flown the coop. The three of them were fluffing and pruning their feathers while trying to figure out how to fly. The mom and dad were out in the yard squawking and screeching trying to direct them out into the yard. The little guys had such a hard time finding the open screen door.

Also, Moose got sight of them from indoors and was sniffing and whimpering at the door. Finally, daddy decided to help out nature. One by one he scooped them up and placed them out in the yard. You could tell the mommy and daddy were freaking out. Like what is this danger thing doing.

Finally, the three of them and the mommy and daddy were scoping out the backyard. Before I let Moose out, I saw them under the camper. I wanted to be sure they had an escape route when the dog finally smelled them. Our backyard is pretty "safe." Moose has scared away the cats so we hope they have been successful in the next stage of their life . . .

How We Do Geography

I love geography. And, thankfully for homeschooling, there are a bunch of really great ways that we learn it!

I got hooked on these really great games from the Out of the Box company. The titles of the games are 10 Days in Africa, 10 Days in the USA, and 10 Days in Europe. I am not sure if they have a South America one but I do know the Asia game is no longer in print or something because I tried to get it at Christmas and it was like $70! Boop and I play a lot. The girls are hit or miss. EG would like to play but she needs to be just a little bit older.

Another way we do geography is we have this really great book called Operation World. It breaks the whole year down into daily ways we can pray for every country in the world. At the beginning of each month I put all of the countries down on their corresponding dates on my big wall calendar. Most every morning, during our family prayer time we pray for that country. And then, at some point during the day, the kids can show me where the country is on our great big schoolroom world map and they get 5 chocolate chips or 5 M & Ms if we have them. They love that!

I just found a really great website where I could "order" printable maps that go along with our daily readings. So, when the kids grab their books to read, they take the maps and look at where they are reading about. Once every few days I do a quick little check up and have them show me some of the places they have been reading about.

Lastly, every so often we read this really cool book called The Book of Marvels. It has a couple pages on some really great places in the world. Some we have heard of like the Panama Canal and The Golden Gate Bridge and others that are in remote places in small countries. We have enjoyed reading the history about the places written about and then Googling recent pictures. The book was published back in the 1950s by a man who personally traveled to all the places.

I am sure there are gaps. And I am willing to live with that but Geography is one of my most favorite parts about homeschooling . . .

Week Three and Four (and Five)

If there has been a resounding theme for weeks three, four and now five it has definitely been relationships, relationships, relationships.  There is nothing more important than my relationship with Jesus, my relationships with my husband and my family and my relationships with friends and acquaintances.

Our life doesn't always reflect that.  In fact, we spend a lot of time just checking boxes.  Trying to get things done.  I think one of the things that I know I definitely need to change is to slow down and really experience each day to its fullest.  No matter what that day looks like.

One thing I am going to try to do at night is write down my activities for the next day.  And then take time to pray over them during my morning quiet time.  Remembering that God can send my way something totally not on my to-do list.  That no matter what is going on, right at that moment, that is exactly where God wants me to be.  Whether it is struggling through a Math lesson and making the thousandth peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

When there is choice between Math and a relationship, the relationship needs to win out.  At the end of the day, life isn't about Math, Science, History etc. (although they are important parts) but it is about people.  Loving people, serving people, sharing the love of Christ with people.  That is what is truly important. . .

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteous, and all these things shall be added to you."  Matthew 6:33

Week Two

I can get use to this no school thing.

It has been hard training myself to take the time to reteach habits and develop good character.  I have let so many things slide because I feel like there is never enough time to get it all done.  And one of the most important parts of being a parent is to instill good habits and develop good character. Those things, I believe, last a life time and are so important in no matter where you end up as an adult.

As far as chores go, each child has a list of weekly chores along with daily chores.  The weekly chores have gone by the way side as well.  So this week we have been working on getting back to those responsibilities.  Just realizing what day of the week it is and just getting the chores done to the very best of our ability.

Training in housekeeping is kind of two fold.  Maybe three fold.  First, I want my kids to be able to take care of a home properly.  Knowing how to clean a toilet or do a load of laundry.  Second, hubby and I both feel that chores are what you do to contribute to the household.  As a part of the family, those few chores are your responsibility.  Life is all about being responsible.  It helps in time management, realizing there isn't a cleaning fairy etc.  Lastly, if I didn't get help somehow, we really couldn't do all the things we enjoy doing.  Right after EG was born I had a cleaning lady.  My oldest was 7 and although she is a great cleaner and help, she was just too young to help me do all that needed to be done.  Once the cleaning lady left, it was up to all of us to keep the house clean and tidy.  Some weeks are definitely better than others!

Another area we worked on this week was our daily devotion time.  We have been pretty good about praying together and reading the Bible together and even encouraging individual quiet time first thing most mornings.  This week, my goal was to add in Scripture memorization.  So that is what we have been working on.  I have a system that I have used in the past and we will resurrect it and working on building/continuing that habit.  Just trying to encourage another life long habit.

Next week I am going to work on paid chores and start adding back some gentle school things.  Things that I really feel are the advantages to homeschooling.  My hope is to get back to nature study, Latin, timeline, art and composure study.  Along with all the domestic habits. . .

Chores

So, this week we are working on our chore charts.  (I really don't like calling them chores.  The top of their chart says "How I contribute to the family.")  We have been using the same chart for quite some time now.  And you would think it would be a habit to just do it, get it done and check it off.  And, it is for awhile.  But then we get busy and lazy and it gets done half heartedly.  By them and me.

I am taking the time, each day, to work with each child and their chores.  We do such things as wiping down bathrooms (always keeps the guest bathroom ready for visitors) and unloading the dishwasher.  In all honesty, the big girls rock at this and last week I even heard them talk about mentoring the little ones.  But that was kind of short lived!

I have been remiss in showing them, especially the littles, how and what I want done.  And so I am taking the time to do that.  I have been trying to get up a little earlier, although fairly unsuccessfully, to get my stuff done so I have time to help them with out feeling rushed.

That has been one of my attitude adjustments that I have been having to make.  Reminding myself we have nothing else to do but get our chores done right.  I have to resist the urge to hurry through so we can move on to something else.

I have had some time to teach basic cooking.  While LM and I were at dance Monday night and Boop and EG were helping daddy with the masterbath, NG made dinner.  Yesterday afternoon I was able to take the time to have Boop help me with last night's dinner.  I want the kids to know how and be comfortable with the basics of living.  Whether male or female.  To be honest, hubby is the true chef in our family.

But, again, I am just trying to solidify our foundation.  I know in a couple months, if I am not careful we will have to double check our work.  But, I feel if I take the time to really ground them in their morning and afternoon chores, if we get off base a little, it will be easier to get back on track.

I might add another layer to work on towards the end of the week.  But, for the next day or so, basic chores are my continued focus. . .

Letting the Kids Know

Yesterday, on our way to Book Discussion, I decided to tell the kids that we were not doing school for the month of March.  In all honesty, I thought I would hear a lot of loud "hurrays" and "yippies."  Instead I heard a very calm "Will we still do Math?" and "Yea, no rules." (That would be EG)

I was quick to clarify there would still be rules but I really wanted to take the time to work on some heart issues that I felt were getting in the way of fully experiencing joyful and peaceful homeschool days.  (Myself included!)  I told them I felt we needed to slow down and really prioritize what we do.

I told them I want to get back to the basics.  To work on a good foundation.  We have developed a lot of bad habits.  Little ones, that day after day, can hinder peaceful progress.  As I was telling Boop, all habits are learned and they are like ruts in our brains.  Things we do, day after day that we don't really think about.  I want to replace some of the bad ruts we have created with good ruts.  I have great kids.  And I really think we do school well.  We just need a few adjustments to make things even better!

We are so darn busy that our goal everyday is to just get finished with what we are doing so we can go on to the next thing.  School is important, activities have value and service is necessary.  But, so is rest.  So is enjoying the simple pleasures of life.

Anyway, I think the kids think they are going to be sleeping in and doing nothing all day.  And there might be some of that.  But we are just going to take our time in everything we do.  Teaching diligence and doing a job right the first time.

Some big projects will be the garden and cleaning and decluttering and organizing.  We are redoing our master bath so the kids will be peeling wallpaper and helping with tile.  I am sure Boop will be helping with tools and such.  

I must keep my expectations in check.  Because we are who we are.  No matter what, we are still a small big family full of sinners.  Each of us growing at our own pace every minute of every day to be Christlike.  And through all of it, truly grateful for the grace and mercy of God. . . .

Month of March

We are taking the month of March off of school.  I am taking the month to regroup and refocus.  It really is a multifaceted decision.  But some of the main reasons are:  we need to work on some heart issues and we all have them, NG will be starting high school next year and I really want to think about what that means for us as a family and we have kind of gotten away from some of the real reasons we homeschool and I will be figuring out how to bring some of those ideas back.

I am not sure what the month will look like.  I am praying about it all.  And I definitely want God to be in charge.  Guiding and directing all our moves, ideas etc.  We have some commitments that we will keep such as co-op, book club and book discussion.  We may take time to hone math skills.  I can totally see us taking field trips and working in the garden.  We will continue to read everyday.  And really work on life skills.  Grocery shopping within a budget, cooking, cleaning, how to mange screen time.  The list can go on and on.

I know I will re-do schedules and work on just getting the basics of everyday life down.  Chores and such.  And really think about/pray about where and how we want to serve.  We have our hands in a bunch of different things and right now I don't feel we are doing any of it very well.  And working on doing those few things with an attitude of thanksgiving and gratitude.  Then the rest of the time just working on our hearts and really trying to focus on what God wants from each one of us going forward.

When I was telling a friend the other day, she said I should journal about my experience.  I don't really journal anymore.  I am starting to keep a commonplace book.  But, I thought I would blog about it.  So, that is what I intend to do.

Can't wait to see how it all plays out . . .

Homeschool Burnout

I am in my 9th year of homeschooling.  And I think I have hit a wall.  Maybe it is because I am schooling four.  Or maybe it is because I have to contemplate teaching high school.  (Yes, I will be homeschooling through high school, God willing.)

Our days are far from perfect.  And many days, if I am not careful, I can let the stress and responsibility of home education overwhelm me.  But, the other morning, as we did school around the fire, it was a gentle reminder to me of exactly why I do this. I do what I am suppose to do.  And God has got the rest . . . .

Book Club - Farmer Boy

The past few weeks we have been reading Farmer Boy.  Boop and EG are really enjoying it.  I try to read about a chapter a day and they usually ask for more.  There are so many interesting chores etc. in the book. Like making candy and ice cream and butter.  Or storing food.  Things, nowadays, we take for granted.

A few weeks ago, while we were reading the book, we ran across the chapter where the author describes how a farm family back in the 1800s would keep ice frozen throughout the summer.  They go to a frozen over lake, cut out chunks of ice and then place it in an ice house and pack it hard with sawdust.  And, supposedly, it would keep ice frozen throughout the summer.

So, I got this great idea for book club to give it a try.  The night before book club, hubby sawed some wood so we could get a bunch of sawdust.  The next morning we got a container, placed sawdust on the bottom of the container, placed some ice in the container and packed a bunch of sawdust around it.  We filled the container over the top so when the top was place on, it packed the sawdust down even more.

Then we took it to the park during lunch time and book club time.  After lunch and presentations, we unpacked the ice.  And it was still frozen.  Not the least bit melted.  The sawdust was not at all moist.  I really had been doubtful that it would work.  But it did!  I realize this was just a couple of hours but I was amazed but the outcome.  As were the kids.

We had another family rig up a plastic glove and a bucket and they demonstrated how a cow is milked.  The kids had a blast doing that!  The ended up with milk everywhere.  It was fun to recreate how some of the chores were done back then.  A new appreciation for a freeze and gallon of milk!

I am thinking we might try making butter next. . . .

Sawdust in the bottom of the container.

Ice in the container.

Container packed full of sawdust.

After we checked if it had melted, we took the sawdust covered piece of ice out and let it melt in the sun.

Beach, Besties and Bugs

Some time during the late spring, I had this idea to go camping during the beginning of the up coming school year.  Just me and the kids.  To kind of take our show on the road.  Do what we do.  Just some where else.

My goal was to have hubby drop us off at a beach campground about 2 hours away.  Leave us down there for a bunch of days and we would do school and life and then he would come pick us up on his next day off. 

I shared the idea with a couple of my friends and our "school fall camping trip" was born.  Our three families, 15 in all minus husbands, spent a few days at the beach, camping and doing school and life.  It was an experience to say the least.

My friends went down on a Wednesday.  The hubbies helped set up and then went home.  As it turns out, the bugs were super, super bad.  So, when I came down the following day, I had to buy 11 extra bottles of bug spray.  Bad, bad bugs!

It was decided, that to avoid the bug problem, we would have a plan of how our days would go.  And the plan went something like this:  breakfast inside, when the sun came out and the morning heated up which would make the mosquitoes go away, the kids would play.  Then about mid-morning we would go to the beach until early afternoon.  We would come back, eat lunch, do some school and then let the kids play. Dinner would be early to beat the bugs before dusk and then we would head to the beach for sunset.  We would play at the beach again until bath time.  And then we all come back, get cleaned and go to bed.  Or at least hang out in our campers.  The bugs were so bad that we couldn't really be out after sunset.

We went out to eat one night and had ice cream another day.  One day the waves were so big that the kids got to basically surf on their boogie boards.  The boys did a lot of bike riding and exploring.  

It wasn't exactly how I envisioned it.  But, I think it worked out well all the same.  The kids had fun.  We got to see lots of nature.  Crabs, snakes, a racoon that was not the least bit afraid of us.  And bugs.  Lots and lots of bugs.

I am glad we did the trip.  And we learned a lot about camping without husbands.  It was an experience and it definitely was a memory maker.  I think next time it will be in the mountains.  Maybe somewhere cooler and definitely a place not quite so buggy. . .

The Question

Because NG is entering her last year of middle school, I have gotten the question, more than once, "What about high school?"  So, these are my thoughts about homeschooling, in a nutshell.

Obviously I am a firm believer of homeschooling otherwise I wouldn't be doing it.  I am a huge proponent of homeschooling in the elementary school age.  I think it provides a great opportunity to build a wonderful biblical and educational foundation.

I am also a firm believer of homeschooling in middle school.  Being a teenager can be hard.  So much going on emotionally, physically, spiritually and mentally.  It is a great time to give my kids short wings.  To experience some of life and to sow and reap etc.  But, we are always a conversation away.  When "stuff" happens and it does, no matter what.  We get to discuss much of it almost immediately.  There is still time for guidance and reassurance and some times redirecting.  Little by little preparing them to leave the nest.

As for high school, I am not planning on sending any of them to high school.  I would like to finish what we started.  But, I will never say never.  I have been alive too long to know that things change.  That being said, there are soooo many wonderful opportunities for high school homeschoolers.  Dual enrolment at the local community college, co-ops, writing and science classes offered.  Flexibility for work, travel, missions etc.

I don't have to know everything.  But, I know people who do know a lot of things about certain things.  And I will go to them as resources.  I also know that my kids know how to find out about things.  It is rare I answer a question for them.  They usually are expected to find out for themselves.  I was once told by a veteran homeschool mom while in the grocery store, "When asked by curious people about a certain subject, topic, date in history etc. just encourage your children, if they don't know the answer to reply 'We don't know the answer to that but we can certainly find out.'"  In other words, it is impossible for me, or any other teacher, to ever be able to teach everything to every student.  But, if we teach our kids how to find out information, how to research and know their way around a library and/or the Internet, we are doing more than OK.

So, we are a year away from high school.  And my educational plan has not changed.  Homeschool all the way through . . .

Ballet on the Big Screen

Recital week I received an email from the Admin Assistant of the girls' ballet program.  The email was telling everyone that the local college's film school was producing a film about the story of a dance mom and daughter who moved to a different city.  And they were looking for extras to be in the film.  The girls had to dress like dancers, black leotards, shoes, hair in a bun etc.  And to bring costumes to wear if we had them and extra ones to use as props, if we had them.

I didn't tell the girls for a couple of days that I was contemplating taking them.  Hubby had to work the days they were needed so that meant all of us had to go.  I explained to the director's assistant or whoever it was that I called what my situation was and she was more than accommodating.  She even asked if I wanted to be a ballet mom in the film!  (I didn't.)  So, I decided to take the girls.  As long as they wanted to.  And of course they did.

We had no idea what to expect, although I had heard that our film school was pretty well known.  Anyway, we were needed for a couple of hours on the first day.  We brought snacks and stuff to do.  But, honestly, it was a well oiled machine and they had people who were constantly making sure we were OK.  The girls only had to shoot about 20 minutes total and we were there for at least 3 hours.  When they were needed, I think they just kind of stayed backstage while the film crew shot the stage.  So all you would see was them just standing there waiting for their turn to perform.  I am totally guessing because the littles and I did our best to stay out of the way.

The next day was much more hectic.  They used them in the dressing room and walking down the hall with a rolling hanger full of costumes.  I think Little Mama even got to pretend she was talking to the girls next to her!

It ended up being a lot of waiting and doing things over and over.  I think the girls got a real dose of what it would be like to be an actress.  Not quite so glamorous all the time!  They had a fabulous time though and they were glad they did it.

Someone from the film school called Sunday and asked if they would be interested in being in another film.  I told the girls about it and they didn't get all excited.  I think they enjoyed the experience but didn't need to do it again.

The film comes out the second week in December and the film school will invite us all to come watch it.  It will be interesting to see just how much they really ended up in the movie . . . .

Teen Pact

One of the events we have in our capitol city is called TeenPact where kids from around the state come to the Capitol and learn about God and government.  A bunch of years ago we stumbled upon it and have enjoyed it ever since.

It sort of sneaks up on us and so by the time we got around to registering this year, Little Mama was the only one able to go.  No siblings.  No friends.  Just her and a bunch of other kids she didn't know.  One of the things I love about her is that doesn't bother her in the least.  She was adamant about going!  And I loved the time with just her.

The kids learn how a bill becomes a law.  And how, even though we may not agree with the government in place, the people in authority, in our government, are still deserving of respect and prayer and that we are commanded by God to obey those in authority over us.  (Unless the law is contrary to God's law - whole other blog post!)  Romans 13:1; 1 Timothy 2:2

They take a tour of the Capitol and pray over the offices.  They have a scavenger hunt and sing songs.  One of the best parts is, each kid gets to create and propose his/her own bill.  They go to committee and some get selected to present their bills to the "legislature."  It is neat to watch the kids handle the questions and learn the lingo.  Then the "legislature" gets to vote on the bill.  Little Mama got picked the year before (or maybe it was the year before that) but she didn't this year.  This year her bill was about recycling and she was ready if necessary!

We got to see Sissy for breakfast and lunch.  So that was an added bonus.  

I was proud of my sweet LM.  And a little bit surprised she was willing to go by herself.  She is growing in to such a confident, beautiful young woman . . .