sonlight

we ordered our sonlight books a few days ago and i am so excited about the box coming to our door!!! and yesterday we did school with borrowed sonlight for preschoolers and it was WONDERFUL! we sat in our new house and snuggled, reading, discussing, talking, laughing. i really love this way of family-centered learning. we read a story about a persian girl and then i had the girls draw a picture from the story. it was so neat to see their creativity emerge. the usborne stories from the around the world had persian inspired illustrations and i remembered that we had rubaiyat of omar khayyam + illustrations in our collection. if you have never seen illuminated illustrations from persian works - you ought to. they are so detailed and rich. i read a bit of the poetry too (the persians are really in to their poetry, even today!) and kyrie loved it!

so i think that with sonlight, a bit of charlotte mason wisdom and a few other sources horseshoe homeschool is going to be a wonderful place.

new home update

tuesday we got our keys. thursday our stuff arrived. my dad came up to help us with the movers, as graham would be in class all day. (thank you to both mama and dad!) a friend took the three older kids for me all day. we had terrific movers. they were so patient when i asked for different things. they were careful and thorough. thank you Lord for orchestrating this. i had them unpack all the household items (the garage we'll do ourselves, once we get the house put together.) so that means two things: #1 it is a bit chaotic around here as you can probably imagine (invision 3 year old and 1 year old sons getting in to everything!!) and #2 the movers did about 2 weeks worth of unpacking + got rid of almost all the boxes. i think this is the way to go for us from now on. tonight will be the first meal i cook in our beautiful kitchen. we are so thankful for this home (4 bedrooms + an office with a closet, and so many other fabulous ammenities!)

the Lord has also showed his faithfulness to me by way of friendships, not only for me but also for our kids and for graham! there is a very special family (9 houses down from us! i had the kids count.) who have four little kids our kids' ages and who homeschool. they love jesus and are totally going to be our good friends. the kids love to be with their kids and us adults are pretty stoaked about the fellowship and date nights!! (its not everyday you find another couple willing to take your four kids for an evening!)

the neighborhood has been so friendly and inviting. ladies bearing yummy treats and offering help! sharing toys, visiting - its all here in our neighborhood. quite a different environment then when we lived out in town in newport. everyone here is in our same boat. its really encouraging and refreshing.

well i hear the baby upstairs up from his nap. gotta run. i will post pictures soon.

confessions of a super-mom

i came across lindsay's post this evening. i have struggled with comparing myself to other moms; with feelings of inadequacy, especially when i read blogs by other super-moms. so it was refreshing to read her words and good for my heart to refocus. thank you lindsay.

here is a lighter, but oh-so-true essay on the super-mom, from a new favorite, suburban granola.

join me in giving thanks

in preparation for the thanksgiving season, join me as i give the Lord the glory due his name, in the moments of everyday life.

journey

welcome! please join me, as i journey into motherhood, homekeeping and homeschooling. be inspired and encouraged to gain eternal wisdom from the every day moments of this life.

Deuteronomy 11:18-21 (New International Version)
18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the LORD swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.


2 Timothy 3:16-17 (New International Version)
16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

a new start ... a good day

today was a good day... i mean i lost it a few times with the kids, had to apologize and make peace. but for the most part it was productive. we are still in limbo with our housing and homeschooling. its been the navy lodge almost 2 weeks now and will be finally moving in to our new digs on tuesday (that is NEXT week!) i am so eager to get us SETTLED.

most recently (ie. the last few days!) i decided that instead of reinventing the wheel, i am going to go with established curriculums. (sonlight, along with others i am reviewing). the beauty of homeschooling is that since we are starting out late in the year, we can just school through the summer months. the kids love to learn, so i think that this will be a good plan for us. from what i know sonlight's literature based approach fits our family's passion for reading and books. a new friend and veteran of homeschooling, recommended math-you-see and pathway books for language arts. pathway readers are what the amish and mennonite schools use.

teachable moment #1: review a few options but avoid being overwhelmed with too many choices.
#2: using one type of curriculum/method doesn't necessitate staying with it or using it next year.

do you have any suggestions for curriculums/methods? any to avoid? what method are you using in your homeschooling?