Homeschool Planning 2009-2010

The school year here in AK starts on Wednesday, August 19th and we will be getting started on August 18th with a second grader and two kindergartners. In planning this upcoming school year, I have been looking backwards at what worked well and what didn't work so well. Here are my conclusions.


What Worked:

Charlotte Mason method ~ I tried to semi-abandon this in favor of a more structured classical curriculum and it has fallen apart in the planning stages. I see some similarities in the two styles but Charlotte Mason's philosophy regarding children has captured my heart in a way I do not want to abandon. If you are not familiar with Charlotte Mason, here is a summary of her principles.

I will make use of Laura Berquist's "Mother of Divine Grace" syllabi for bringing some structure into our study of poetry, art, and music (especially sacred music) but otherwise, I'm finding it deficient in one important way. Its history program for second grade seems paltry compared with my second grader's abilities to think and reason. I think Berquist's plan for second graders is to spend all year memorizing state names and capitals with flash cards (I'm pretty sure both of us would die of boredom) and to read age-appropriate literature regarding American history, such as biographies about Betsy Ross, Daniel Boone, Thomas Jefferson, etc.

I believe it's important for my children to learn our nation's history, but history does not happen in a vacuum and they will be better equipped to think about history if they learn about it on a larger scale. My friend happened to lend me her two samples of the "History Links" program and I am very excited to use this. When I spent some time studying it in depth, I felt reassured that the children would not only learn a great deal of history itself, but that they would also learn about history~~problems in studying it, methodology, use of original sources, etc.

I plan to incorporate some American studies using William Bennett's The American Patriot's Almanac (thanks to my friend Andrea who gave us a copy of this beautiful book) for the sake of cultural literacy and to study some basic tenets of America's history, such as the Constitution, Bill of Rights, etc. Certainly Wolfgang may still read his books about historical Americans as he has been at times but we will be focusing in greater depth on the more ancient past first as an area of deep study.

Five in a Row ~ I love this program and will be using it almost solely for the twins' kindergarten curriculum. As I did most of Unit 1 with Wolfgang (while the twins vicariously read and learned alongside) we will be working on Unit 2 this year.

Saxon Math ~ Wolfgang did well with this last year. I appreciated the balance of written and "hands-on" work and practice. The drilling helped also. I will continue to supplement with workbooks of more rigorous word and logic problems to give him opportunities to use his knowledge. Wolf will be doing 2A and 2B this year, and the twins will be doing 1A and 1B (just one lesson a week for them).


What Didn't Work:

Getting the twins to preschool ~ As much as we all adored the precious preschool the twins (and Wolfgang before them) attended over the past several years, I feel very thankful not to have to get anyone out the door in the morning. The amount of time spent getting ready, traveling, picking up, etc. put a lot of strain on our homeschooling schedule. I'm glad to have them all home (and will even moreso when it's 20 below out and pitch black until 10 in the morning).

Using straight Ambleside Online reading schedules ~ I plan to continue using many of the Ambleside reading suggestions but it became evident that we needed more colorful and flashy literature (i.e., illustrated) in order to maintain excitement about reading. Also, some of the books have failed to capture their interest at all, such as Parables From Nature and the Burgess bird book. In time, it may happen, but I'm not going to force the issue and stick around waiting for it. I am compiling our reading list for the year and it will be interesting to see how much it intersects with Ambleside.

Watching T.V. ~ Last year, I practically broke down in tears before my dear husband. "I and the children spend hours each morning reading excellent literature and discussing meaningful things, but all they can talk about the rest of the day are Transformers and Sponge Bob." Imposing limits simply didn't work. With three children citing their own preferences, the process became absurdly complicated. Even if they each got a half-hour a day, that would equate to more than 10 hours a week of television and those 10 hours, sometimes more and sometimes less, would dominate their attention, even while not watching. Then there glared the marriage factor. Alex and I spent hours enjoying the television together rather than each other. (Okay, it's not that we weren't enjoying each others' company, but we weren't necessarily having conversations and interacting. Conversations and interaction matter!) The solution became quickly apparent as he and I discussed this issue. The T.V. got shoved in the closet and cable canceled. We're saving $20 a month, the children have been voraciously reading, with no complaints about their lost entertainment, and Alex and I feel like we have a major increase in our marital satisfaction. Praise the Lord!


Homeschooling Goals

Speaking of the Lord, I thought I'd take this opportunity to share with you the goals I prayerfully discerned for each of our homeschoolers this year. Here is the list, with the relevant child's initials next to it, as there are more for Wolfgang (W) than for Psalm (P) and Zoya (Z).

1. To grow in love for the Lord (WPZ)
2. To grow in deeper understanding about the Lord and His church (W)
3. To write meaningful things, i.e. handwriting practice (WPZ)
4. To read living texts (WPZ)
5. To practice meticulous handiwork, craftsmanship, and mechanical skills such as carpentry (W)
6. To grow in mathematical reasoning abilities (WPZ)
7. To increase in appreciation for beautiful art and music (WPZ)
8. To understand and reason about historical and scientific concepts (W)
9. To spend free time frequently in nature (WPZ)
10. To enjoy studying a foreign language and learning about different cultures and countries (W*)

*While Psalm and Zoya will continue with their German studies and learn about different cultures, I realized while making this list that this was not a true priority for them at this point.


I learned a lot while making this list. In part, it helped me to discern the problem I suspected about the Berquist history/geography curricula and to change my course of action for Wolfgang. Secondly, I realized I can freely simplify the twins' process~~they are, after all, in kindergarten~~while still utilizing a vigorous schedule for Wolfgang. He is, simply, older and at a different reasoning stage than they are. It's hard to "keep them out of things"~~they will still be in the middle of it all. And that's exciting. But if Psalm sneaks out to play with legos, I'm going to be okay with that. :)

On a final note, I thank God that we live in a country where we can consult Him about our children's education and involve Him in every step.

Praying the Rosary with Mary

I came across this link the other day about Protestant prayer beads and wanted to share my personal experience with the Rosary. I am a very fledgling Catholic, so in no way do I wish to imply that I have vast storehouses of wisdom concerning this subject. But in the few short months I have been praying the Rosary, I have abandoned several misconceptions.

Misconception #1: The Rosary is worthless because it's just "rote" prayer, not spontaneous.

Even spontaneous prayer can become rote. I was growing more and more dissatisfied with my prayer life prior to beginning my conversion. It's not that my prayers were all meaningless. It's just that they were all about me. "Here, God. Here are my prayers for today. Here are my fears, joys, concerns, petitions." There came a point where I was just so tired of speaking "at" God. I loved God but started to suspect I was on the wrong track because I found it very difficult to sit and quiet myself long enough to hear Him and simply appreciate His presence. So the misconception was that a repeated prayer was somehow deficient compared to a spontaneous one. I was wrong about this. Prayer is lifting one's heart up to the Lord. Any prayer can become rote if this does not occur. The Rosary has helped me to simply care less about mulling over the minutiae of my life and, instead, to simply praise Jesus because He is Lord.

Misconception #2: The Rosary is a bunch of Hail Marys, so why in the heck do you need the beads? Can't you just repeat Hail Marys over and over again?

I have learned that the Rosary is far more complicated than I originally believed. It is not simply a stream of mumbled "Hail Mary's." It incorporates several different prayers at different points. One thing I never knew is that each decade (group of ten beads) is prayed while meditating upon a specific mystery of Christ's life and passion. This mystery depends on which day of the week it is, and there are four groups of mysteries:

The Joyful Mysteries:
1. The Annunciation (Gabriel's announcement)
2. The Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth
3. The Birth of Jesus Christ
4. The Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple
5. The Finding of Jesus in the Temple

The Sorrowful Mysteries:
1. The Agony of Christ in the Garden
2. The Scourging at the Pillar
3. The Crowning with Thorns
4. The Carrying of the Cross
5. The Crucifixion and Death of Christ

Glorious Mysteries:
1. The Resurrection
2. The Ascension
3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles
4. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven
5. The Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven

Luminous Mysteries:
1. Baptism of Christ in the Jordan
2. Wedding feast at Cana
3. Announcement of the Kingdom
4. Transfiguration
5. Institution of the Eucharist

The mysteries are part of the reason I have fallen in love with the Rosary. Praying it for the first time was like water for my soul. To actually meditate upon Christ's life, death, and resurrection while praying, instead of making it "all about me" and talking "at" God, was what my thirsty soul had been waiting for. I honestly felt like, after praying it just one time, I had spent more time in that twenty minutes or so pondering the mysteries of Christ's time on earth more than I ever had before. I hope that's wrong, but it seemed that way.

Misconception #3: The Rosary is all about Mary.

This is a big subject. Firstly, the Rosary consists of an ongoing prayer asking for Mary's intercession. The first part of the Hail Mary is directly Scriptural, drawing from the words of Gabriel who visited her and also from the Magnificat, Mary's own prayer after the annunciation. She states, "Generations will call me blessed." So calling her "blessed" is appropriate and, one could argue, "compulsory," in a Biblical kind of way.

The second part of the prayer, "Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death" is a prayer asking that Mary would pray to the Father in Heaven for the person doing the praying. This also has Scriptural support. During the wedding feast at Cana (John 2), Mary told the servants in reference to Jesus, "Do whatever he tells you." Revelation 12 describes the crowning of Mary as the Queen of Heaven and refers to "her offspring—those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus." This is further reiterated in John's account of the crucifixion, where he describes how Jesus says to his disciple, "Here is your mother," and from that time on, the disciple "took her into his home" (John 19:27). Finally, we are told to "Honor thy father and mother," and Revelation 12 states that she is our mother (since we are her offspring).

I found these examples from Scripture to be very compelling reasons to consider Mary as our spiritual mother. I ask people to pray for me, so why wouldn't I ask Mary?

Here is a link where you can see a Rosary and learn about each of the different prayers.

New blog feature

So many times, I see an article I want to share with you all but I don't have much to write about it except "READ IT!" Now, you will find a small list on the right of articles I have found particularly interesting lately, courtesy of the Delicious network. Either way, thanks for visiting my blog, and if you read some of the articles, I hope you will come back here and comment about them at some point.

"Christians~~the people who go to Heaven without having to commit to anything"

My friend Dustin over at Shaggy Worshiper published this blog the other day with a quote from Francis Chan:

Some people claim we can become Christians without necessarily becoming disciples. I wonder then why the last thing Jesus told us was to go into the world making disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey all that He had commanded. You’ll notice that he didn’t add, “But, hey, if that’s too much to ask, tell them just to become Christians. You know, the people that get to go to Heaven without having to commit to anything.”

That’s a super challenging statement he makes there. He basically says that there’s a difference between being a “Christian” and being a disciple of Christ, and that the only true Christians are the ones who are disciples. I’m curious to hear what some of your thoughts on the matter are.

Do you agree? Disagree?
Are you challenged by it?
Or do you think he’s full of it?
Discuss.

I agree with this statement, Dustin. I often question whether Ephesians 2:8 (For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God) gets quoted as though there is no need for us to do anything but have faith in Jesus. Even though this particular verse delineates the means of salvation~~grace~~Jesus called upon his followers to be active doers of his teachings and also to practice the sacraments he established.

Isn't it true that I can have faith in Jesus but refuse to do anything for Him? Refuse to let Him do anything for me? Refuse to let him challenge me, test me, love me, change me? What is my faith if it remains dusty in the recesses of my brain, a good feeling I only summon up now and then in order to feel spiritual?

I liken this to a marriage wherein we have said our vows but then spend the rest of our lives reading books on the couch and hoping it will all work out. Marriage requires communication. Marriage requires action. If we do not at least make strong efforts, how can we trust that our marriage will be lasting and fruitful? If I marry my spouse (Jesus) and then go out and sleep with someone else the next day (Satan) am I really and truly married? My marriage would be a farce.

Are there any "active Christians" out there, ones who seek the Lord's will every day, who don't think that being a Christian, a Christ-follower, takes work? LOTS of work at times? And I'm really just talking about the inner work involved. Raise your hand if you're visiting prisoners and caring for orphans.

Sure, there are many blessed days where joy and peace are the normal state of being, a state which flows from the Father through His Holy Spirit within us no matter what challenge besets us. Yet there are many difficult days where temptation rears its head, old sins take on a new sheen, bad habits threaten to undermine our better ones. The Lord is faithful to remove destructive habits and thought patterns but He doesn't always.


Paul refers to the thorn that he asked God three times to remove.

7...there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Before Paul ever made reference to salvation through grace by faith alone, Jesus taught unceasingly about how we should behave and think, and how we should demonstrate that faith. Was this to help our lives go more easily? Not at all. He was very specific that this world was not the seat of our hope or the outcome about which we should be concerned. Nor is it easier to be "meek" or "humble" for some of us (smile)~~and those are just two of His expectations. He shows us what to do because we have a part to play in this marriage.

Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ~Matthew 7:21

...continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling... ~Philippians 2:12

So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. ~1 Corinthians 10:12-13

Speaking of temptation:

Last Wednesday during adoration, which is prayer before the Blessed Sacrament (Catholic terminology for the Eucharistic presence of Jesus), I began to weep because of a temptation I was struggling with. The details aren't important. I cried because I longed to rid my mind of the struggle and couldn't see my way out of it. I also cried because I felt deep pain about what I was losing. I asked the Lord why I had to even struggle with this in the first place, as there were parts to it that were totally arbitrary and could have been timed differently, if only the Lord had wished (more smiles). His words came clearly: "To wound your pride."

This answer floored me and cradled me, all at the same time. He didn't say "To hurt your pride" or "to damage your pride." That would have felt like an attack on my own self. Somehow, the word "wound" implied that my pride had an existence apart from me, that a wound to it can further free me out from under it, just as His wounds freed me. These types of experiences during prayer are so hard to convey~~they are such private and precious moments with the Savior.

Five days since that moment in prayer, I continue to struggle with the temptation I brought to Him. Jesus has not removed it from my mind and left me in a state of ease. He has, however, pointed me in the direction of growth as I continue to fight the fight. You see, my mind LIKES these thoughts...it wants to have them. My prayer has become, "Lord, help me to hate my sin." There's a wonderful lyric in Hillsong United's "Hosanna": "Break my heart for what breaks yours."

I think this type of struggle gets labeled "guilt" by non-Christians. I remember thinking in the past how pathetic it must be to feel remorseful about a thought. What does it matter what I'm thinking if I'm living a good life? What good is religion at all if all it does is make you feel bad about yourself? Those crazy Christians are loaded with guilt and a bad self-image.

The thing is, even a mere thought, persistent enough, can destroy relationships~~relationships with humans and relationship with God. Being aware of that and wanting healthy relationships do not equate to "guilt" and "bad self-image." Because of what Jesus has done for me, I can trust that He has something better for me, if only I will actively fight this temptation and let Him change me. That doesn't mean it's easy. That doesn't mean I get to kick back now because I have faith. This is what discipleship looks like for me right now.

A parade and flowers

In one night, our thick patch of leaves and stems blossomed into a patch of flowers. I had sincerely harbored fears that, despite the literally hundreds of seeds my children planted, not one of them would manage to sprout. It's a good thing I'm not in charge of this stuff.



We also celebrate the Bear Paw festival this weekend. It kicks off with a carnival and a parade, the very parade where Sarah Palin shook my hand two years ago. How things have changed in that short time! Here are some pictures and film footage.






Bethany sneaked a lollipop from the stroller's recesses and thoroughly enjoyed it, strange as it was. Father Eric, shown above, flung holy water at people!

A lot can happen in six weeks.

As you know, I took a blogging hiatus because of a glut of school work that required completion. A dozen British novels glared at me from the shelf, as well as that dour and complicated foreign policy textbook. The only way out was through, and the only way through was to kick my blog to the side for awhile.

The great news is, I have finally, 13 years and 5 children later, graduated from college! My degree is a Bachelor's in Liberal Studies through the University of Iowa, with an emphasis in Communications, Humanities, and Natural Science.

My darling husband, you ever awe me with your flexibility, generosity, and truly unfailing support. Thank you. Thank you for everything.

My hubby Alex enabled this to happen, because anyone with any children at all knows that academic pursuits are extremely challenging when even just one little one lives in the home. Not only do children require love and attention, but they also make all sorts of messes. Alex should seriously have his name on this degree too.

I have been asked the questions, "What next? What will I do with this degree?" Now I will spend lots of time googling at my precious Bethany, being with the family, and picking up again where we left off in our homeschooling life. What a blessing!

Another change happened in the last six weeks which has been far more important in the grand scheme of things for our family. After a long process of discernment, we made the decision to convert to Catholicism. In my husband's case, this is a return to the church into which he was born. I admittedly felt thankful to be "on hiatus" with this blog because I didn't want to write about this until I had a chance to communicate with people and make the transition.

There's so much I want to say about it. I don't even know where to start. For now, I'll stick with this observation, which is that the more we practice Catholicism, the more we "become Catholic," the deeper and deeper it gets. My spiritual life is greatly intensified. I pray that my blogging efforts will be inclusive and wholesome, and not promote strife in regards to the perceived and actual differences between Catholic and non-Catholic Christianity.

7 Quick Takes Friday ~ Summer pursuits

~~1~~

Noah's here, and in his honor, I thought I'd share this picture with you all. Psalm put legos on his eye and ear so that, when he woke up, he would "see the glory of the legos," as Psalm put it. I took them off, but not without snapping a quick picture.

~~2~~

This one's for you, Arika. Isn't this remarkable? This is how Alex cuts food. Look how precise he is! Please ask him next time to slice the cheese at the next barbecue so there will be resultant slices of cheese rather than jagged chunks of varying thickness. :)

~3~

My birthday campfire blessed me with an abundance of surplus s'more ingredients. I felt able to justify this microwavable snack as partially healthy by using organic pretzel sticks from Costco.

~4~

We don't have a good place to put a bird feeder so we decided to scatter some seeds on our grass on a regular basis to attract birds (our homeowners' association loves us). Practically everyone who has heard this says, "Aren't you afraid of bears?!" Due to our very urban (by Alaskan standards) location, our home is practically bear proof so I'm not worried about it. (Is it wrong to hope that we would actually get a bear to visit our home in plain view behind the safety of our glass doors?)

We've had many different types of birds show up but our favorite visitor is this adorable squirrel who visits several times a day. Today, he (or she) spent about five full minutes barking and carrying on at a stray bike which had found its way behind our back fence. Look carefully to see the little guy up on the wall.

~5~

Another project I had promised myself we'd get to this year is to cultivate a humble garden. I rather love working in the dirt, but it's a pursuit I seldom explore because of space issues in our backyard.

Funny story~~once, when I was younger, my parents let me plant a packet of morning glory seeds in the backyard. My parents have always grown beautiful roses and probably doubted that their child, with a thoroughly small and untested thumb, could hamper their efforts in any way. Within weeks, my morning glories exploded, growing into what I remember as enormous bushes! Once they started choking the roses, it became clear that I had no authority in the matter. Out went the morning glories. Gosh darnit, I'm determined to redeem those efforts.

Here is the space we had to work with this summer, right there behind the children. This also served as our post-breakup soggy springtime cleanup session. (Spring is not beautiful here in Alaska. It's the ugliest point on the calendar because everything is brown and the layer of fallen leaves forms a mulch on the ground.)




And here's what we managed to do with it:

I gave the kids free reign with some individual seed packets. With little to no order at all, we tossed those puppies into the ground and waited. And waited. And waited! We watered and watched, eyeing our neighbors' pre-grown flower purchases with envy. I fretted that we didn't start seedlings in little cups~~obviously the years have worn away my confidence, in spite of my enormous success with that one batch of morning glories.

Then, wonder of wonders, tiny little seedlings began to sprout! This is what we have today.


Notice those impressive dandelion leaves which will hopefully end up in my salad. We love weeds!

~6~

How adorable is this?! Psalm and Zoya unconsciously exhibited their twinhood today. Check out their color coordination (and missing teeth coordination) in this picture.

~7~

My favorite indulgent summer dessert: blueberries drenched in chocolate sauce!