Life Can Be Dizzying

By Lynn, on March 4th, 2008%

Today is a slow day, and maybe it’s a good thing.  I’ve had that feeling lately that time is getting away from me — like life is moving faster than I can run, and things I want so much to do, I’m not getting done.  It’s a dizzying sort of thing trying to keep up with all one wants to do.

So with a sick daughter and not feeling so great myself, it was a day of reflection and planning.  A day to think of wrapping up a school year and how I feel about life right now. 

I tend to overwhelm myself with wanting things now and worrying that things are not exactly like I’d planned.  Trying to soothe my tired mind yesterday, my husband reminded me of my hundreds and hundreds of years of Scottish ancestry.  He said, literally,

“You’re standing on a mountain top, lassie, looking at the next mountain top.  You need to look at the valley below you.  Remember to look at your feet.”

It’s true.  I do tend to think like that: peer at the next mountain top and forget to enjoy the here and now.  I’m working on it.  I really am.

Within arm’s reach are a dozen things I’m working on.  Garden plans.  Lesson plans.  Health information.  Bible studies.  Letters I want to write.  I ignore all that for now and try to write out all the goals swirling through my mind.  Putting my vision onto paper might help.  (A sweet friend and I talked about doing such a thing recently.  Writing down one’s important visions on paper to bring them to life.)  If I can write down on paper the big things I want to do, perhaps they won’t take up so much space in my ever-more-cluttered mind and I can work on taking steps in a goal-oriented direction each day.

What goes on to my paper today?

  • I want my princess of the universe to have more dresses and skirts.
  • And she needs cowboy boots.  (Well, I want her to have them, anyway.)
  • Seems silly I know, but…
  • It’s hard to fit shopping with her into my work schedule.  Sigh.  I need to do better at planning meals and shopping.  That would make everything else go smoother.
  • I really want to work through this spelling program I am doing with Joe by the end of this school year.  (It’ll take some work.)
  • I want to be diligent in implementing a quiet hour in our home each day with nothing electronic (movies, games, ipods, etc.) in use anywhere.  With four children, ranging in age from 9 to 19, this is easier said than done.  I feel that our family peace is fragmented due to electronics and yet the world is growing ever fuller with them, and children seem victims more than anyone else. 
  • I want to plan more field trips and more holiday meals.  Have more traditions in our home.
  • I want to complete Joseph’s portfolios for all grades completed.

Oh, there’s more, but those are a few things.  Implementing things takes but planning and following through – things I get overwhelmed with as I stare at the next mountain top.  :)

It’s funny how when mother sits down, the little ones soon find her.  (But I wouldn’t trade it.)

As far as school lessons, there are some things that get done each day.  They are sort of rote, but there are some things that I know we need to cover before Joe graduates.  I’ve known this for a long time, and we still have not covered them.  We still have not done a study of Shakespeare.  There’s time yet, but I must work it into the plans and then follow through.  I would love to take the entire family to a Shakespeare play.  There are other things I want to work in as well. 

It’s a bit mesmerizing to watch the flame dancing around in this old gas heater.  I watch.  I write.  I think.  My thoughts are punctuated with laughter every so often from the next room.  Here I sit, thinking of downplaying electronics usage, and what’s going on?  Two big brothers went to the rental store to get a Sponge Bob Square Pants video for their sick little sister.

Wasn’t this TV set up for school use?

It’s very sweet that they do things like that for each other.  I’m thankful they love each other like that.  But still.  This kind of silly stuff — in large doses, mind you – can interfere with finer things.

But it’s okay.  I’m a woman with a plan.  I’ve got it all under control.  :)

I think.  Well, let me take a quick look at my feet.

Lynn

3 comments   Content Thyself, Daily Thoughts, School Lessons 11th grade

Rainy Day Fun

By Lynn, on February 26th, 2008%

I sure wanted my mulch delivered today, but the tree service got rained out. 

It’s okay, though.  My daughter and I decided that if we can’t plant outside, we’ll plant inside!

I bought a little Jiffy Greenhouse and a packet of shasta daisy seeds. 

We also chose some seeds from a collection that I keep in an old, green McCoy planter.

The seeds are tiny, even next to a sweet little hand.  We planted three seeds into each Peat Pellet.  Fun.

Planting shasta daisy seeds is serious business.  We planted 3 seeds x 72 Peat Pellets, so that’s a lot of potential.  :)

Thankfully, I had already started supper earlier: a chunky, mostly-homemade spaghetti sauce with lots of bell pepper and onion and mushroom:

Venison Spaghetti Sauce

  • 3 lbs ground venison, browned
  • 1 large onion cut in chunks
  • 1 large bell pepper cut in chunks
  • 3 cloves of garlic minced
  • 1 jar of whole mushrooms
  • 2 jars of Classico 4-cheese pasta sauce
  • crushed tomatoes to your preferred thickness and taste
  • seasonings such as oregano, thyme, salt, pepper, etc. to your liking

Simmer it all for a couple of hours and serve over Barilla Plus thin spaghetti.  :)

For dessert, my daughter and I made chocolate chip cookies.  I could have eaten 10, but I only at 3, and they were SMALL!!!

I did swing by Goodwill today on the way to get laundry detergent.  (We’ve been out for two days, so it’s Mt. Laundry at every turn.)  I bought only one thing.  I spent 52 cents.  It was a beautiful Degas print of Dance Class.  It is now on my kitchen cabinet with a bit of sticky-tack.

School Lessons:  Joseph read a lot today (always at least a couple of hours) and wrote a poem today.  He’s been talking about Edgar Allen Poe today.  Oh, he also watched Dances with Wolves as part of our study of early American writing/Native Americans.

Oh, and we have our first worksheet on line.  You’ll see the link at Dragon Speller.  We’ll be adding to this regularly.

Lynn :)

Leave a comment   Cooking and Food, Dyslexia, Gardening, School Lessons 11th grade, Wild Game Recipes

Tuesday’s Lessons

By Lynn, on February 19th, 2008%

Today was light.  We did some fun things:

  • We went to the Visitor’s Center downtown (our little downtown) and watched a short DVD about the town’s history. 
  • Introduced my son to the attendant at the Visitor’s Center (I know him from the garden club) and we talked extensively about projects around town and last year’s drought.
  • We picked up plenty of informational brochures to plan future field trips to some historic sites.  You know, young children enjoy fieldtrips, but going on a field trip with an 11th grader is very special.  I think it may be even more meaningful to go now that Joe is older.
  • We went to the library so Joe could get a new book.
  • Independent reading

I know, not much today I guess, but it seems like much accomplished!

Lynn

Leave a comment   School Lessons 11th grade

How A School Day Goes

By Lynn, on February 18th, 2008%

I’m blogging now about our lessons.  We have a most definite unschooling bent here, and my son is in 11th grade, so I think it might help me (and maybe you).  I can type so fast, but writing is sloooooow sometimes.  Blogging is a good way to keep records.

This morning we began to work through:  Prentice Hall Literature The American Experience.  Joe and I have had several very long conversations in the past about early American writers, including the Southern plantation writers.  Think William Byrd. 

In fact, much of Joe’s education centers around long conversations, talking of US and world history, famous writers, battles, people, and so on.  He is such an extremely auditory learner.  He has a keen mind for remembering spoken details.  It’s amazing.  Written language, however, has always stumped him. 

Now that he’s reading 500+ page novels all the time, I don’t worry about it so much, though we are working on spelling and writing skills.  The fact remains, though, that much of his education has been one-on-one great conversation!  Document that, why don’t you?  How do I?

I’m working on it, and I’ll share it when it’s done.  :)

Anyway, Prentice Hall Literature The American Experience is a great way to teach US history AND literature.  (And I also happen to like the choice of literary works put into the book.)

Today’s Lessons:

  • Independent reading — 2+ hours
  • Read pages 2-10 in Prentice Hall Literature The American Experience
  • Printed timeline for our wall (1490-1740) – (this book has great timelines, by the way) :)
  • Spent about two hours talking about Native Americans, Pilgrims, and Southern Planters
  • Somehow got into a discussion about J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis
  • Talked about the Navajo language and the movie Wind Talkers
  • Had a discussion about the Salem Witch Trials and how much influence writers have over the thinking of their day.  This led to a talk about J.K. Rowling. 
  • Talked about how it’s probably just as difficult to write a good screenplay as it is to write the original good novel that the screenplay comes from
  • Looked at the United States map and talked of the different climates of the south and north and reminded ourselves of where Plymouth is, Cape Cod, the Mason-Dixon line, etc
  • Ended up talking about The Civil War and Robert E. Lee and the fact that Arlington is on land that was Robert E. Lee’s
  • The map led to a discussion of Ungava Bay and our long-ago study together of Very Last First Time (thanks to FIAR)
  • Practiced cursive writing by beginning an outline of early American literature
  • Talked about his own ideas for a fantasy book we wants to write
  • Talked of religion and some things he heard spoken last night that touched his heart
  • Math sheet
  • Read the newspaper  — or at least skim through it :)

As you can see, we have spent MUCH time doing home education this morning.  We have had a wonderful depth of ideas and facts discussed.  Paperwise, however, there’s not much to show.  No large stack of boring worksheets, but we have a mind full of ideas on what to write in his own book.  Our relationship has grown.  I think that is worth something.

I have to go to work, so he’ll do more on his own today, i.e. math. 

As Joe worked on his cursive, I looked out the window and saw this really cute squirrel.

He seemed pretty relaxed, but then we he saw me he sat up, ready to take off.  He has something in his mouth.

Have a great Monday,
Lynn

4 comments   Homeschooling, School Lessons 11th grade, Unschooling