our homeschool

The teacher, with one of my four top students. It is quite unusual for me to not be conducting school in my pajamas, but I had slept in after having to deal with Zach's high blood sugar during the night, and went ahead and got my shower before starting.
I hate getting a late start, but the beauty of homeschooling is that if I have a bad night, I just roll with it, and sleep is a priority. Because EVERYONE knows, if mama ain't happy, ain't NOBODY happy, can I get an amen??? (Yes, I teach correct grammar in my homeschool.)



We don't always use the table, let alone a desk, in our homeschool. Here Mychael kicks back on my bed with his MP-3 player and the cat. Whatever works, is my philosohy, even if you have to stand on your head while I quiz you on your spelling words.



I'm waiting on Nathan to work on Spell to Write and Read, but he keeps telling me, "Just a minute," because he's caught up in a Clone Wars graphic novel. Somehow it seems wrong to tell Nathan, my late reader, to stop reading and come do school!



Zach draws stick people battle scenes while we wait for Nathan to join us in working on phonograms. Zach is doing well in math and reading, but loves to draw more than anything.




Jordan works on her coloring, which has really improved her fine motor skills (she never holds a crayon that way, she did it purposely to make me look like a liar and bad teacher). She colors for sometimes 2 hours a day! She also does some workbooks I got from Barnes and Noble that has introduced her to letters and numbers.

my favorite prayer

There is a song we would always sing in the Catholic church based on this prayer, it was always one of my favorites, but I have found myself singing it to myself quite a bit lately. Just focusing on the words (lyrics, because I'm singing the Catholic song in my head, mostly) helps me feel centered, somehow, and it also helps me to make some sense of the world and my part in it. I think that it's because for now, it sums up my faith, my theology. It's how I strive to live, and how I want my children to live. Anyway, it's a beautiful prayer I thought I would share.

Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.


O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

Nathan

Nathan's 9th birthday was on Monday, but I am just now getting around to writing my reflections on this special kid. To say he is an original would be the best way to sum up Nathan, and anyone that knows him would agree. He has this spark about him that ignites people around him (sometimes not in a good way with his siblings!), and is filled with such imagination and enthusiasm. He immerses himself fully in life, and gets tremendous enjoyment out of even the simplest things. For example, that child has wanted a robe since Christmas, he was the only one that didn't get one and with zero percent body fat he's the one that really needed one (being homeschoolers, we tend to hang out in our pj's a lot, and Nathan never has enough clothes on to be warm, his extremities turn purple) I had several people keeping an eye out for one for his birthday but no one was stocking them anymore. My mom sent a box this week with some medicine samples for us, and there was a robe for Nathan that she'd found at the thrift store! Well, he took off his clothes and put pajamas BACK on so he could put on his robe. Then, at bedtime that night he was going around to all of us making us feel how warm his chest was from having worn his robe, it was funny ("I mean, feel me!"). And the stuff that comes out of his mouth keeps us in stitches...just this week, we were sitting on the couch together, I don't even remember exactly what we were talking about (Jon and Mychael were also in the room) when Nathan looks up at me and totally straight-faced says, "You can't direct the wind, but you can adjust your sails." I was like, where did that come from? He just sort of shrugged, like he was a fountain of other such philosophizing, and I was very impressed. Then Jon says, "Nathan, tell your mother where you got that from!" A video game they play called Civilization. He's very smooth, did I mention that? I frequently call him "the boy who cried wolf," because of his tendency to tell stories, convincingly, I won't deny it's something I need to work with him on. He'd make a good spy. He's also got his dad's gift of generosity, and seems to really enjoy giving things to others. He's also the most nonmaterialistic of my kids, and as I said, enjoys the simple pleasures in life, and relationships with others. He's a lefty, and probably has an artistic bent, 'though we've not exactly found his "thing," yet. All of my kids enjoy sitting around drawing, the boys doing battle scenes while Jordan draws ponies and people with flower hats. Oh, Nathan has an unbelievable voice, it will probably be his best instrument, like his dad. I've thought about the boys' choir for him, and may still check into it, although I do want him to learn an instrument. Jon has a really cool program on his computer that teaches guitar, and we own a keyboard with weighted keys, so it plays like a piano...violin wasn't for him, he becomes easily frustrated. I could go on and on about each of my kids, so I'll stop, but this gives you a glimpse into Nathan, for those that don't know him very well. He's a cool kid, I enjoy him thoroughly.

Nathan's 9th birthday bash

We had Nathan's party a few days early at the skate park, and boy, did the kids have a wild and crazy fun time! There's an indoor walking track on the upper level where the party room is, and for awhile the kids were all doing laps screaming and chasing each other (the sound of it from the lower level was almost frightening to the teenagers that were there to skate). They played pool, air hockey, and Twister, and did some skating and scootering. He got lots of cool LEGOS and Bionicles, a gift card, some cash, and a new skate t-shirt...he was one happy kid! Thanks to all who came and celebrated with us.