"Read, read, read" ( ~ William Faulker)

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.
~ Joseph Addison ~

Our school year has just begun and we are all slowly learning our new routine. For me, this looks like waking up earlier than I want to and heading out to the gym. I'd be lying if I said I was thrilled to be using an alarm clock again, but it is what it is. I am happy to have a workout buddy, and to feel like I am making some progress toward my goal of finishing the Warrior Dash this coming May. I really don't want to have to skip any of the 11 obstacles because of physical ability, so going to the gym is very very necessary, however early it is when I get there.

Our new routine also includes the addition of 2 new bookclubs, one for me and one for Sydney. This means that 3 out of 4 of us are in a bookclub now - I think my love of reading is filtering down :)



This month Nicholas will be reading Jeffrey Strangeways by Jill Murphey. We haven't started yet, so I really need to make it a priority as his bookclub meets in just 2 weeks. We are still reading his books together and I like the quality time it gives us.





Sydney was the hostess for the younger bookclub and her selection was Princess Hyacinth: the Surpriseing Tale of a Girl Who Floated. This was the first meeting for the new group, so I was really unsure of how it would go or what to do. Being me, I tied the snack into the story - popcorn and tea turned into popcorn and apple juice served in tea cups. I also transformed Sydney's Chutes & Ladders game into a story themed game of Kites & Balloons. 16 children showed up for the meeting and it went really well - I think this is going to be a great group!

Not to be out read by our children, our group now has a moms bookclub as well. Classic books for classy moms :) I mentioned to a friend that I was going to read Emma by Jane Austen and that is now our first pick. I am really looking forward to being able to read classic literature and discuss with this bright bunch of friends that I'm lucky enough to be surrounded by.

Summer vacation: Charleston, SC

This summer we were fortunate enough to vacation in one of the most historical cities in the U.S., Charleston, SC. Or Charles Towne as it was originally called. We spent 7 days soaking up the sun at Folly Beach, just a block away from our beach house, and soaking up history as well. I watched my son as he turned into a fish, never wanting to leave the water. I watched him grow up a little, allowing him to walk to the corner store by himself (I know, I know, I am a clingy mother). I saw my daughter create her own masterpieces, no matter what her surroundings she has to have her artistic outlet. I saw her become a student, curiosity peaked at every museum with her little hand in the air for questions and even sounding out her first word (FOOD, on a local grocery store). I learned so much in 7 days, about family and friends and life. Much of what I learned cannot be shared here, but I can say that I missed home and was happy to come back :)

Start of a new year

I can hardly believe that today was the 1st day of another school year at home. I have 2 students, a Kindergartner and a 4th grader. Some days, like today, I look back to that last day of public school for Nic and wonder where the time has gone. And I also remember to take a minute to reflect on how happy I am with the changes we've made to get us here, learning from the dining table.

Hot off the press: Our yearbooks are here!!

I have started a new tradition for our homeschool, one that we all remember from our own public school days...yearbooks!! I'm so proud of my creation, truly! It does have one error, I didn't catch the fact that my text box ran out of space before I ran out of words, but it was like 2am when I finished this book of awesomeness to commemorate our year, so I forgive me :) Using photos that I took throughout the year and my scanner for the kids artwork, I was able to fill out the 20 page photo book easily enough. I used a Buy-1-Get-1 code and was able to get these delivered to my door for under $50 total for the pair. Each child has their own book and they are planning on having friends from their weekly playgroup sign them, so cool! Here is a glimpse, a page of history and science.

Mother's Day Memories

I remember being in a card shop with my mother, I must have been around 7 years old, and trying to find a creative way to buy her a Mother's Day card with no money of my own. In my 7 year old brain, I found the answer with this creative little white lie, "Mom, can I have money to buy this card for my friend's mom?" Yeah, I totally thought I was putting one over on her. I got the card though, mission accomplished.

I've got some new Mother's Day memories now, this time with me as center-stage mom. This year the family woke me up with breakfast in bed, cards and flowers. Nicholas chose yellow roses
because they are my favorite. Sydney chose pink tulips because they are her favorite. Later on they performed a song and dance ditty, all original and made especially for me with lyrics about loving and adoring me. I pretty much love this holiday!

I'm inspired, pass it on.

Inspiration (noun) - Stimulation of the mind or emotions to a high level of feeling or activity.

"How do you run a homeschool for multiple children with varying learning styles and ages while balancing home maintenance and other responsibilities? It is this: be inspirational. Be inspirational. BE INSPIRATIONAL." - Oliver & Rachel DeMille

This is a quote that I keep on my refrigerator. I found it in the book Leadership Education:The Phases of Learning, borrowed from my good friend and fellow homeschooler, Sarah. When I first decided to stick up on my fridge, surrounded by kids photos and artwork, I thought I would find out how to be this inspirational homeschooling mom easily within the pages of this book. Too bad for me that I got distracted with life and other books and it took me like 8 months to get to the end. Ironically enough, 8 pages before the book ends is where I found the answers I had been craving.

This resource listed Four Arts of Inspiring while being within an Inspiring Environment - Variety, Exposure, Dance (as in being lead with ease, not actually dancing) and Being Inspired. I see the sense in providing my children with variety and exposure to many styles of learning, topics they enjoy, letting them make their own choices in schooling, etc. The "dance" is something that reminds me of the old adage "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink". You can try and force the kids to sit down and listen to a lesson, but it doesn't mean they will learn anything. It simply suggests being creative and gentle in your approach - not demanding. In the example the book gave, the children slowly learned to spell and enjoy it by starting out writing letters to family members and quizzing their mother on her spelling. They didn't realize at first that they WERE being taught. No pressure on them, so no toes to step on - hence the "dance".

The Fourth Act, the Act of Being Inspired, is a harder one for me. It talks of the parent being inspired in their own life and sharing that inspiration with their children. Do I do that? I hope I do that. Does passing on my love for literature by allowing my children to see me read and leaving my books strewn throughout the house count? Does allowing them to see me prepare, and then later be denied due to low iron count and grieve for my perceived failure, to donate blood platelets to a friend suffering from Leukemia count? I am not sure I quite grasp this Fourth Act.

Maybe my new membership to AIR will help to spread inspiration. The acronym does stand for Assembly of Inspiration and Reason after all. Perhaps I will be inspired by others in my attempts to be a role model for my own family. I have already gained so much confidence in myself and my ability to reason and think logically just by allowing myself to be surrounded by fellow free thinkers. I am excited to see what the future holds for both the group and my family as we continue to grow and branch out in the community and show our compassion in humanitarian efforts in direct correlation to our (non)belief. Knowing that I am helping carve a place in the community for my family to belong to is, well, an incredible feeling. I guess you could say I am feeling inspired.

"Inspiration does not come from the quote itself, but rather the person behind it."

~Russ Myers

Life Lesson: Some things just don't fit in my lesson books

When I hooked my laptop up to the tv this past Wednesday for a school lesson, I had no idea that it would turn into a day of dancing, discussions, debate and even a few tears from yours truly. I mean, I was only planning on using the computer to show some charity videos for the groups that I had chosen from our recent membership to the Foundation Beyond Belief. It was a 30 minute lesson according to my planner, we still had lots of other subjects to cover for that day and all. I just felt fancy because I knew which wires to connect so we could see the screen on the tv and the sound would come out of the stereo (we all know by now that me and computers just don't get along very well, so this is big and exciting for me and I hope to use this new skill often).

The kids both watched the videos from groups like War Child and Water for People and then, well, an interest was sparked. Learning happened. Humanitarianism happened. My children felt compassion for others and wanted to help. I felt like the Grinch at the end of the cartoon movie, you know, where his heart grows and swells so big that it breaks that little device that is measuring it? Sydney wanted to know why the people didn't have sinks before and how did they have water - Nicholas was outraged to learn that children around the globe no older than he are being forced to become soldiers and torn from their families. Understandably, they had a lot of questions and concerns.

But, lucky for me, and for my kids, I am around to answer the questions when they have them, to break free of the day's plan when something that sparks an interest leads them (or us) astray or when a new opportunity arises. It was one of those sparked interest moments that turned into a daylong discussion with a 9 year old that I did not expect, but I loved that I was here so it could happen. This lesson on charity and humanitarianism soon turned into something even more.

Nicholas has several areas of interest, including both music and military. He likes bands such as Linkin Park and System of a Down and when he chooses his own library books he often comes back with at least one true life military book. I thought that in light of the discussion and videos we had just watched, I could transition over into something else that he would benefit from. I gave him the basic definition of the word "lyrics", relating it to our ongoing poetry studies, and explained to him how artists often use their music as a way to express their beliefs and get their views heard. Two of our charities are helping those affected by war, and I wondered if he knew that some of the songs that he likes are very much anti-war.

We used youtube as a tool and listened our way through "21 Guns" by Green Day, "Disposable Soldiers" by Metallica, "Hands Held High" by Linkin Park and "Zombie" by the Cranberries. The videos helped him visually SEE what the song was about, but I still found the lyrics for us as well so we could read through them. Some of the songs found myself and Sydney dancing along, like Zombie. Who can resist swaying at the very least to that one when it's good and cranked up?

The next video had a scene from 9/11, and there came the tears from me. Nicholas wanted to talk about that, and we did, and that lead into a talk about why our country was still at war all these 9 years later. WELL. Turns out Nicholas has some different ideas on that than I do. And I just want to say - good for him :) I said I wondered when our soldiers would come home and when would it be done already, what are we still fighting for, etc etc. I love our military, I just want it to be over and the further we get from 9/11, the harder it is to believe that there is anything worth fighting for. Nicholas, well, he will make a good soldier for our country should he choose to do so someday - he was very loyal to our men and the freedoms they defend, whether or not he truly understands all matters at hand, he does understand that you get the job done and he looked me in the eye and told me so *gulp* My little boy just grew up ladies and gentlemen. Not only has he grown over 2 inches in 9 months, but he was comfortable expressing his political views to me and even gave me a "real life" example just like I give him. How could I not be proud?!? He said to me " they are still there because there are still bad people who want to hurt our country. They can not stop until we are all safe and the bad people have all been caught. It's like if I was outside working in the yard, I can't just quit until the job is done Mom."

So, did we get any math done on Wednesday? No. Did I read from our current novel? No. But that's ok with me. I think these are the moments where they are really learning something so much more than I could even plan for with my lesson book anyhow.