Grasshopper Days
For Today, March 7, 2011
Outside my window... frost on the ground, snow on the hills, and high clouds in the sky.
Little green shoots are poking up, very hopefully, through all the dead brown.
I am thinking... about planning for next school year already.
I am thankful... for the boys' renewed health after a couple of sick weeks, for a fresh start every morning, and for piles of good books to read.
I am praying for... well, just look at all the posts on prayer this month :D Also praying for some new work for Kerry, as he is wrapping up several projects he's been working on.
I am wearing... blue jeans, blue socks, blue t-shirt, purple sweater. Staying warm.
I am going... to get school going soon. The boys have opted for just a half-day today, as the public schools are out today (teacher workday or something?) and they want to play with friends, and to make up the other half later in the week.
I am reading... just finished My Man Jeeves. Funny, but I think I'd like it better in smaller doses than reading the whole book at once. Just started The Hiding Place with the boys.
I am hoping... to find someone local who can loan me a Sonlight Core 100 (Grade 9) instructor's guide for a few days. Any local readers know someone?
I am hearing... quiet. Hmmm, it's too quiet. What are the boys doing???
I am remembering... yikes. It's a new month. Need to pay the bills.
From the learning rooms... wrapping up WWII, experiments with magnetism, statistics, words with spec and spic, converting between metric and standard, creative writing (stories from pictures),
and much, much more!!!
From the kitchen... hmmm. No plan for dinner yet. Probably chicken :D
Around the house... piles and piles of wonderful books that need to be tidied. Do you find it hard to get rid of books? I'm great at purging everything else but books are my downfall. Must do it. But some of out "little kid books" are so wonderful I hate to get rid of them.
On my mind... plans always look wonderful on paper. Why isn't everything that neat and tidy and efficient in real life?! ;D
Noticing that... sometimes a group of kids get together, but even when they're all nice kids individually, the group just doesn't always work out. The mix isn't always right. Trying to help the boys work through this graciously with some of the neighbor kids.
Pondering these words...
People are like stained glass windows.
They sparkle and shine when the sun is out,
but when the darkness sets in,
that is when their true beauty is revealed,
only if there is a light from within.
-- Elizabeth Kubler Ross
One of my favorite things... usually when I tell Gunnar I love him, it's like starting a bidding war. He'll say he loves me more.
And I'll say I loved him before he was born.
He'll say he loved me when he was just an idea in God's mind.
Etc.
But when he's really tired and almost asleep,
I'll whisper, I love you, Gunnar,
and he will summon all his sleepy thoughts,
smile, and nod, and grunt Mmm-hmmm.
A few plans for the rest of the week... getting my now-healthy-again children back onto a normal school and chore schedule. Because we've let everything slide.
Oh boy, this ought to be fun... /sarcasm
Here is a picture I am sharing...
I know, this is an old one (Gunnar looks about five), but it just fit today... :D
10 comments:
He has such blue blue eyes! What a cutie! Love that quote -- and the one at the top of your blog too!
Blessings!
Deborah
That is SUCH a cute little face!
I know what you mean about the 'mix just not being right' - I've experienced that too. And sometimes 'good' kids can get a bit funny when the mix isn't just right...
Do you use Sonlight? I've just ordered my first lot of cores. I'm interested to know how others have found it.
(If you'd prefer to answer via email I'll give you my address.)
Felicity,
While much of Sonlight looks appealing, I haven't used it myself. Mostly I just use use their catalog to get ideas of books to read, to supplement our history studies, as we can find most of them in our libary.
I'm thinking of using their Grade 9 history for Wyatt next year. We're in our fourth and final year of "Story of the World" and I've loved it. But the downside is that even spending four years on the history of the world... it's the entire world. It's an overview. And I want to give my kids more in-depth US history - that being our home :D
I don't know many who have used the program as a whole (due to cost) but those who do seem to LOVE it.
One "bloggy-friend" is Ann Hibbard, at this address: http://www.thehibbardfamily.com/
Her kids are younger than ours, so she hasn't used the "older" cores yet, but she could give you more insight about what she likes about it.
Julie
Pssst, Julie, Have you already looked at TruthQuest History guides?? Affordable with wonderful meaty commentary and a rich list of books.
Ahhh {happy sigh}... leaves me speechless on the rest of your post...
Melanie,
I have looked at Truth Quest. I love the perspective behind it! Likewise the materials from Veritas Press.
But I'm looking for a more in-depth US history at the high school level and neither of them has that.
Thanks for the suggestion :D
Julie
As always, love your musings. I've also selected you to be the recipient of the "Friends for the Journey" Award! Please stop by to pick up your award and see the rules! I know, I know, it's kind of a hassle, but even if you don't want to bother with it, just receive it as a compliment ;-)
I'm dittoing Cathy's award =) ...just so you can feel doubly blessed and appreciated :D
http://outofthemiryclay.blogspot.com/2011/03/friends-for-journey.html
Not to beat a dead horse, but...
Did you look at the older student guides for TQ? Age of Revolution 1-3?
Otherwise just have them (er, you) read Clarence Carson's series, A Basic History of the US. It's also worthy and Meaty. Sometimes seems a bit tough and dry ~ add some gravy like historical fiction ;-) (or dinner table discussion with Dad)
Funny that you mention the cost. While I know it's not the cheapest homeschool curriculum available, it cost me LESS to buy 3 cores PLUS extras(mostly re-usable) for 5 children than it would have cost to put my 2 eldest through another year of the correspondence college they were working through!! It cost less than it would have to put just 2 kids through public school for the year, and about one-third of the cost of a private school for just 1 child!! It's that bad here. ;-)
A friend of mine attended a homeschool convention in Virginia last year and came home wishing she lived in the USA! She said the choice of books/programs/curricula was amazing and they brought back 2 extra suitcases of stuff they'd bought!! Maybe one day I'll......
Yes, I have TONS of trouble getting rid of books!!
Wish I knew someone with a SL Core 100 IG to loan you. I would love to see one, too, personally. Maybe I should email Luke and challenge him to find a way to make available a 7-day digital, non-printable preview of all IG's for just such occasions. If that's even possible! Yeah, just brainstorming...
Felicity - Wow! What an eye-opener :D I'm glad it will work out so well for you - the curriculum looks fabulous. Fortunately, I already have a number of the books (historical fiction and non-fiction, and the literature reading), and our local library has most of them. I'll probably just substitute for some of them, too, choosing some books we already have in our home library.
Ann - Sonlight will let you download a complete "unit" (worked out to 57 pages!) from any IG you choose (or more than one) so I've been able to get a pretty good idea how it works. A friend of mine who has used Sonlight for years has heard that they'll be releasing a new, updated IG for Core 100, so I think I'll wait until next month before buying one.
Though I'm itching to get planning... :D
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