Clever Quote

I love clever quotes. Here is one from For God So Loved by J. Sidlow Baxter.

"Writing in The American Magazine not long ago, a manufacturer expressed himself thus: 'It takes a girl in our factory about two days to learn to put the seventeen parts of a meat chopper together. It may be that these millions of worlds, all balanced so wonderfully in space - it may be that they just happened; it may be by a billion years of tumbling about they finally arranged themselves. I don't know. I am merely a plain manufacturer of cutlery. But this I do know: that you can shake the seventeen parts of a meat chopper around in a washtub for the next seventeen billion years, and you'll never make a meat chopper.'"

"But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise." 1 Corinthians 1:27

Still, Still, Still

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

Breath of Heaven

Angels Have We Heard on High

First Prize Excellence Award!

The Whole Group

Kevin's First Recital

Kevin's Knights & Warfare Display

Haley's Castle Project

A Medieval Feast !

We had our medeival unit celebration last night. What a wonderful time! We began our night with a feast: fresh baked bread with honey and herb butter, cheeses, quail from the King's own forest (chicken), wild boar (spiral ham), roasted parsnips, carrots, onions, rutabagas, and other vegetables, roasted potatoes and fresh greens, all from the King's own garden.

To begin, we had a formal Presentation of the Salt to the high table. Following that we had the Uppercrust Ceremony where the upper crust from a loaf of bread was presented to the most honored guest,hence our term "uppercrust" today. The last ceremony before the Procession of Platters was the Laverer and Aquamanile Ceremony in which the Laverer would help the guests to wash their hands by pouring warm water from a pitcher called an Aquamanile into finger bowls filled with spices and herbs.

For our entertainment, Princess Rosemund (Haley) sang O Come, All Ye Faithful in English and Latin. Sir Eric recited and performed The Duke of Plaza-Toro by W. S. Gilbert, a poem from Gilbert & Sullivan's comic opera, The Gondilier, in which they made fun of the nobility. Princess Rosemund ended it all by singing and playing Be Thou My Vision, an ancient Irish hymn written in the 8th century.

Then the roasting of the Jester (Dad) began. The wits of the Jester were pit against the wits of Princess Rosemund and Sir Eric in Stump the Chump. Each contestant had an easy button from Staples in front of them. I asked twenty questions about historical people or events in the Middle Ages and whoever hit their button first and gave the right answer scored ten points. Sir Eric was our winner!

We finished off our night with castle pies and tea and coffee. It was a lot of work, but it was worth every memory.

Kevin's Saltdough Map of Europe

Kevin made a saltdough map of Europe, painting it to show the location of Germanic tribes around 500 A.D.

First Full Week

We did it. And it was a success! Our first history discussion on Wednesday went very well. I was quite pleased with their participation; it really seemed as though we were all learning. I felt that Haley really interacted with the material and thought about the whys of it all. When we met to speak about her writing goals for the year, she voiced her approval of the whole read, think, and write process. For the most part, we only hit a couple of snags the whole week.

The main issue is Haley's time. I am changing Latin to four times per week. We still should be able to complete the course by the end of the year and that will give her more time on Mondays for history reading. I may take Fix-It out completely because we will more than likely need all the time we can get when she gets a full writing assignment. We will take it as it comes.

One thing I need to keep at the forefront of my thought is to customize each week. When there is a larger writing assignment, we can cut back someplace else: history reading for that week, Latin perhaps. I need to keep in mind what skills are important for her to develop at that particular time. We can't do it all.

Hopefully, our success is not short lived. Next week looks like a bear with only four days and a lengthy church history assignment.

Back to School!

We had our first week of school, albeit half-days. We read our summer reading for Tapestry of Grace and began Bible. Kevin started his math and Haley began her science (Apologia General), which we both have enjoyed. That dreaded first module even seems interesting to us! Haley also did a week of Fix-It Grammar and Editing and that felt relatively painless.

Today we have our first discussion and then planning session. I feel like I am flying by the seat of my pants here because this is all new to me. Our new timeline books were delivered this week and we all love the History Through the Ages timeline book. Even though I am a little anxious, I am really looking forward to the year. God bless our school!

My baby turned 13!

The 3H Club

Teaching Goals

There is so much to think about in chapters 2 and 3. First, the biggie: “It is not possible for one human being to educate another,” DeMille says. I agree. I think that true education lies in the appreciation of a thing. I can inspire appreciation, I can share my appreciation, but I cannot create it in another. Appreciation comes from within and grows through knowledge. Therefore, each individual is responsible for his own learning. However, I, as a teacher, can inspire and share, and that is my job. Great teaching must be my pursuit.

How can I be a great teacher? That is the most pressing question I want to answer as I go through this book. However, for now, I continue to work on character – both of my children and myself. Learning takes hard work, sometimes grueling, sometimes tedious, and sometimes frustrating. It will take a measure of character to choose a painful or difficult path over an easy one solely because it is worthy. Developing character is a life-long work in all of us.

What are my goals? I think I might call my philosophy in education Discipleship Education instead of Leadership Education. A disciple is a learner and I think that is what I want to produce: life-long learners with ears especially open to the Word of God. Using DeMille’s template (actually, I didn’t change much) my educational goals are:

1. To train my children in character that they may first have an honest and transparent heart that strives to do all that they put their hand to with excellence, remembering that whatever they do, do all to the glory of God.

2. To perpetuate freedom, both spiritual and physical (To know what freedom is, to know what freedom is not, to know what it cost, to know how to maintain it)

3. To teach them how to think, to ponder, to question, to investigate

Education ought to be important to us. I remember reading Veith (I forget which book) where he said our society was hugely image-centered and entertainment-centered, and, as a result, we are quickly rushing toward a day when there will be very few thinkers/philosophers/scientists. The few educated men will become the elite and thus rule over the ignorant masses, which will be easily swayed because they do not know any better.

Taking Ownership

Thomas Jefferson said,"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." As I study history, the truth of this statement is confirmed, and Oliver Van DeMille suggests that because of this, nothing less than an excellent education is acceptable.

What has really struck me is this: I need to be a great teacher. Students must be responsible for their own education because true learning does not take place unless the student is actively pursuing it. Regurgitation happens, yes. But true learning is realized when we take knowledge and make it ours. My lofty job as a teacher is to inspire the student to want to engage in that pursuit. This, I believe, will come with much patience and biblical training. Learning, after all, being at times painful, requires self-discipline. This is the high-calling of the teacher and shepherd: to lead our students to a life of self-discipline that they may be prepared to fulfill God's will for their lives-whatever that may be.

Now to think on how to practically work that out with my students. It surely will take much prayer!

China Project - Salt Dough Map