A Busy Day

Swimming.....homeschool coop.....dinner.....swimming.....all the things waiting for me after a day of being out....

I think one of the things I love most about homeschooling is being home. So when we are out for the day, busy and out the door at the outrageous hour of 9:30 am (gasp) it is always so wonderful to come home again. Even if it is to a heap of dishes that we were in to much of a hurry to wash (as we are not very polished at leaving the house in the morning in good speed- how do people do it every day??). Even they look inviting as I fill the sink with warm sudsy water and plunge in.

Being home gives me time to be with those four children I love. To see them shine, to help them when they struggle, and to stand back and admire the children they are and who they are becoming. Being home gives me time to look after my family and the home we live in. Not that we don't enjoy a day out, or in the case of spring, and increased load of fun sports and activities. But the coming home is always one of the best parts. It can often look like it did today....

....the three younger children came in the front door and out the back. The two smaller boys to the sandbox and Hannah up 'her' tree. She came down after a bit of some good thinking and decided to begin building her 'egg dropping device' (a carry over from todays experiment of seeing what the kids at the learning coop could construct that could cover an egg so it could withstand a good drop onto the concrete) .

....Ariel could be found fairly quickly on the couch with some books.

....After the dishes, getting the curry on, I came onto the 4Real Boards with a cup of tea.

We were all glad to be home and each of us debriefed from a busy day in our own way.

Thoughts on Unschooling

Once again, I am going to leave this first post to some thoughts from others (not that I don't have any of my own....it is just that tax season is almost over and my reciept stack is calling!)

Unschooling Revisited

Unschooling Inspiration

This quote is also something I have enjoyed thinking on today...

…describing ourselves and our families’ lives via precise words is not about labelling, one-up-manship or peer group pressure. It’s about finding our tribe. It’s about identifying with like-minded people in a world of other-minded ones. In addition to our strong need to establish a unique persona, we human beings also have an equally strong desire to be accepted, to be among people who understand our choices, who accept us as we are, without reservation, and who support us on our journey.

The need to identify and be identified by a supportive community is especially intense when our journey follows a lightly trodden path, when we are taking risks. The need for nourishment from such a group of like-minded people is probably also stronger when we’re living in nuclear families, isolated at home with very young children or feeling the lack of the status that society unfortunately gives to those who go to jobs.

My New and Improved Computer

I actually should have named this post "Why you shouldn't just learn to live with something when it is easy to fix!"

Our computer has been dinosaur speed for almost 10 months. Two days in the shop, $100 dollars later and VOILA, lightening speed (thanks MTS!)

Hopefully this will translate into me getting some more focused thoughts on the great unschooling discussion I have been following in bits and pieces!

Some Great Thoughts...

Not from me! I have been silent on this blog for a while but not absent from the greater blogging world. My time has been taken up by reading some wonderful posts by some very thoughtful women. The conversation that has ensued has been very thought provoking. It has been directing my energy into really looking towards my children with the thought of our connectedness; where it is good and where it could use some work. The whole concept of parenting as a creative art, one in which we learn by trail and failure, one that requires our creative juices, our energy, our heart and soul: one not to be looked at as a side profession. Our children learn what they see, but family life is not perfect. We are working towards Christlikeness and have our successes and failures daily. But what a gift it is, and I saw this clearly again this week, more clearly than I have in quite a while, for me to be able to spend these minute, hours, days, weeks, and years with my four beautiful children: loving them, walking through their ups and downs, and travelling this journey together.

Here are some of the great posts that have been percolating goodness in our days here....

Parenting as a Creative Art and this one as well by Willa.
Every Face I Look at Seems Beautiful....the title grabbed me and I am so glad it did. Don't miss the great comments as well.

Maybe...

I find that these tests give different results as the years go by- not that I seek them out, but here and there in different conferences etc. they come up. I used to score very one sided (you guess the side!) but now I seem to be mellowing into more of a middle ground!



HT: Willa

Ditto what she said....

Karen put it quite nicely here...

Daylight savings time always bugs/annoys me. Spring is sort of approaching (although it is hard to imagine sometimes under all this snow....) and we are miraculously beginning to wake earlier which I always think is kind of nice- lessons get done and then we have those delicious extra afternoon hours. But than BAM- the clocks go forward. Couple that with my 11:30 pm Ultimate game last night and a late night movie watch for the older two children and you get a fairly lethargic morning!! If I drank coffee I would be having it extra strength this morning. But alas I don't so instead the tea got an extra bag and an extra dollop of sugar!!

A Bit of Random Silliness

You Are Cilantro

The bad news is that there are some people who can't stand you. The good news is that most people love you more than anything else in the world. You are distinct, unusual, fresh, and very controversial. And you wouldn't have it any other way.

What Spice Are You?

That's great as cilantro has to be one of my favourite herbs!

HT: Meridith