What We've Been Up To...

So friends, I've been a bit AWOL in this space.  To say the month of May has been busy is an understatement!  I'm hoping to get back into a writing rhythm and get that Getting Started with Year One series wrapped up soon for the sake of those of you looking ahead towards the fall.   But in the meantime, I offer you a little glimpse into what we've been up to these days…

 

Out and About::

Last weekend, I had the wonderful privilege to attend the AmblesideOnline Conference, Deep in the Heart of AO, in Waxahachie, Texas.  What a joy that was!!  I have been actively involved in the AmblesideOnline Forum for several years, and met a good handful of those lovely online friends last summer at the AO Conference in Indiana.  It was a delight to see those dear people again, and to meet others for the first time.   It was like a little taste of what heaven might be like, and I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that.

 

My Amazing Roomie and very dear friend Dawn

The AmblesideOnline Advisory and Auxiliary - they are the ones behind it all.  They are pretty amazing too.

Amy, Dawn, Brandy, and Me

Photo credits for all these conference photos to Dawn..or the people she handed her phone to. :D  The few I took didn't come out! :(

 

The Conference sessions were all wonderful too.  So much food for thought to chew on for the next long while…but at the same time things that I have put into practice in my home immediately too.  I'm not going to write about that today, nor am I planning a long-winded series (although Katie is!), but I'm sure that ideas I gleaned will be popping up here and there in my posts over the coming weeks and months.

 

In the Schoolroom::

We wrapped up our co-op year this past month, finishing with a presentation of the final death scene from Hamlet from the Shakespeare class.  Michelle only had one line, but she delivered it with clarity and confidence.  I was so very proud of her!  This class definitely ignited what I suspect will be a lifelong love for Shakespeare as well.  It was such a fantastic experience for her, as was teaching the third-fourth grade history/literature/art and music appreciation class was for me.   Sadly, due to distance, we won't be able to be a part of this same co-op again next fall, but have some new plans with church friends in the works for the fall.  We shall see how it all works out. 

 

Michelle and friends after Hamlet

 

In the meantime, we have started what I am calling our "Summer Term".  We have had extended breaks at odd times this year, so plan to continue schooling through mid-July.  Michelle and James just started Term 2 of their respective AO Years 4 and 2, and Elizabeth – who turned 6 in March – began Year 1 Term 1.  (My baby!  My last trip through Year 1!!  Sniff!!!)  Just to mix things up a little bit, I have set aside our regular Morning Basket fare (stay tuned for a post on our Summer Morning Basket plans soon!).  We are also planning to use that fifth day that was our co-op day for a weekly field trip.  There are a number of local museums we'd like to visit that we just haven't taken the time for, and weather permitting we'd like to get some full-day nature study outings in there too (preferably NOT when it is 100 degrees out, though!!)  And our community pool is opening next week if I'm not mistaken, so lots of afternoons at the pool are in our schedule too.  Hoping this will be a good mix of refreshment while still making forward progress on the academic front.

 

Creatively::

Pretty much limited to nature journaling and sketching with the kids, these days.  But that's happening pretty regularly because I tossed them in our morning basket…and that counts, right?

 

 

 

 

In the Kitchen::

So, a while back, I picked up Trina Holden's book Your Real Food Journey.  I am truly appreciating its accessibility and baby-steps approach.  I tried to get into the real food thing a few years ago, but that was when I still had babies and toddlers in the house, and we were in the process of moving internationally 4 times in 4 years.  Let's just say it was literally all I could do to get dinner on the table – any dinner.  I was not in the right season to be making dietary changes.  We just needed to eat – something.  Anything.  Anyhow, we are in a more settled place now and my children are older so we're revisiting this.  (Even though I have NO desire to be in the kitchen all the time.  I just don't.)  So, I have made a list of some of the baby steps that she suggests in the book and am slowly working through them – not adding another until the previous one becomes natural.   I started with replacing the fats I use in cooking (we pretty much only use olive oil, coconut oil, and butter now), and then tackled a better breakfast rotation.  We were resorting to cold cereal far too often.  I needed nourishing, simple options that lent themselves well to serve-yourself breakfasts because of various rising times in our family.  Next, will be improving the nutritional value of the snack options available in our house…

 

Not our house. ;)  But I love this photo so I threw it in anyhow.

 

Around the House::

We are LOVING our new house and making it a home.  LOVING IT.  But I have no pictures for you.  Maybe a tour of how we organize for homeschooling next time (we don't have a dedicated school area)?

 

What have you been up to?

What I Took Away From the Ambleside At Home Retreat....

You mean besides a beautiful new coffee mug and an advance copy of Karen Glass' new book Mind to Mind…signed by Karen herself? J

 

 

 

 

Karen Glass reminded us that we are educating MINDS and not BRAINS.  Minds are spiritual, rather than physical, and therefore need spiritual food: IDEAS.   When we feed a child properly, she will grow physically.  The process happens slowly – it may be a while before you notice the growth, but it will come.  An apple tree doesn't produce apples overnight, and we don't expect it to.   Likewise, when we feed a child's mind properly, regularly, and faithfully, the fruit will come in its own time.  Karen encouraged us to keep spreading the feast and trusting the process.

 

Cindy Rollins continued that theme in her talk, reminding us to start small and do what you can – even if that's only one page of Plutarch, for example – and to do those things faithfully.  Don't start big and get frustrated and give up.  Start small and let things grow from there, because they will.  She encouraged us to be faithful with our "10 minutes" because you never know how the Lord will use those moments.  She encouraged us to develop a habit of praying without ceasing because God has a plan for our children and we can trust them to Him.  She said a lot of other things too, but these were some of the key thoughts for me.

 

Christy's breakout session on scheduling reminded me that the child is a Person, and the Person matters first.  The Person trumps the book or the curriculum or the schedule every single time.  We are finite beings so we need to plan our priorities carefully.  One of our top priorities needs to be margin – we need white space in our lives so we have time to process what we are reading and learning.  We need routines, but those routines need to be simple and doable.

 

I forget who said it in answer to a question during the Q&A session - maybe it was Donna-Jean? - anyhow, she charged us to remember that we love our children and that they are not our projects.

 

Jeanne and Kathy's enthusiastic but gentle encouragement about implementing AO science left me feeling like yes, I can do this.  I get nervous sometimes about trusting the process of nature study instead of textbooks for science in the younger years.  And upper level science terrifies me in the extreme.  Their session helped me to see the bigger picture a little better – how nature study really IS the best preparation we can give a child for the formal science studies of the upper years. Flipping through the books used for science in the upper levels of AO was helpful in this regard too - we really WILL cover all those things that I sometimes worry we are missing now.  They reminded us that science studies should inspire wonder - that is truly the goal.

 

I'm sure the third breakout session that I had planned to attend (nature study)  was wonderful too.   But I never got that far.  I popped back into the dining room to grab a cup of coffee between sessions, and ended up spending the next hour first having a lovely and very encouraging chat with Jeanne…and then moving over to another table to join Karen Glass, Cindy Rollins, and Anne White.  Still kind of pinching myself.  These women are not only wise and encouraging, but also approachable and down to earth.  Our chat wasn't about anything profound, but still, it was a privilege to be seated around the table with such wise mentors.

 

Donna-Jean gave the closing address about Homeschooling in Hard Times.   I bawled most of the way through it, in part because I was so touched by what she shared, and in part because the retreat was so rapidly coming to an end – I had to leave the minute it was over to head back to the airport.   Donna-Jean's family has weathered some incredibly difficult circumstances over the years.  And yet she stood before us and reminded us that God is with us through the storm.  That Aslan is on the move.  That Jesus wants to renew your mind.  That He gave us these children to teach so that WE could learn.  That it was time to go home, but that Jesus goes with us – that the joy of the Lord is our strength – and that He is able and safe to trust.  The conference closed with the hymn Amazing Grace.

 

So, yes, I am mulling over many ideas still.  But perhaps what touched me the most was this:

 

 

Ambleside women are amazing, and the Ambleside Online community is truly a work of the Lord.  Once upon a time, years ago – before marriage, children, or homeschooling was ever on my radar – a few women started reading Charlotte Mason's writings and reached out on the internet for others to discuss her work with.   The Ambleside Online curriculum was born out of this small beginning.  Later the Forum was opened to support those using the curriculum and trying to implement Charlotte Mason's ideas in their homes.  I've long wondered at the camaraderie that we've formed in that little corner of the web – it's unique.  I don't know of anywhere else on the web like it.   But the joy of taking some of those online friendships and making them into real-life friendships this weekend – I have no words.  The retreat was called "At Home", and we truly all felt like we had come home.   I am so very grateful that the Lord led us to AO, and so very blessed to be part of this community.

 

I can't wait for 2016.