Weekly Preview and Review

Cirque Shanghai was FABULOUS! Suzy and I were amazed. Chinese acrobats - 10 young men and 6 young women skillfully entertained us with feats of balance, strength and beauty. Afterwards we went to Cici's Pizza Buffet, which I like very much. First time we went, but not the last!

Dental visits for the girls this week. Emily - no cavities. Suzy - two cavities. Hmmm.... The boys have their turn this coming week.

David finished his drivers ed makeup classes and passed both the tests in class. Now we visit the Secretary of State. He first needs to connect with his teacher and get his certificate.

Took Emily and some friends bowling today to celebrate her birthday. Had the party room at the bowling alley beforehand for cake, ice cream, gifts, and a craft. Then two games of bowling with 7 girls. I bowled too. One strike, lots of gutter balls for me. No gutter balls for the girls because they all used the bumpers. lol

After the party, Suzy, Emily, and I went out to eat and then shopping for Regency Ball shoes and then to the thrift store. Then a white-knuckle ride home in the blowing snow and on the untreated roads. Man, that was awful. The blowing stuff kept freezing on my windshield and I could not see.

I've been working hard on getting the yearbook done for Seeds of Faith and it's just about finished. Hopefully we can get it delivered before the next co-op. I want to get it ordered tomorrow.

Thinking about signing up for homeschool karate. We are about done with gymnastics, I think. Just this month left. But we are gearing up for soccer which should begin mid-April and run through the beginning of June. Do I want to do karate too? Well, since I can participate in the karate for free, I think maybe so. They are having a signup special, so I probably will take advantage of that.

A little lingering cough and wheezing is all that's left of my illness. The kids too are doing tons better. Only James seems to have a lingering cough.

On Monday, there wasn't enough work loaded, so I spent some time typing in some books I had set aside for sale. And I sold about $90 worth. So that was time well spent.

I finished reading Persuasion for my Austentatious class. Loved it this time through. Funny how the Austen grows on me. I disliked reading my first Austen a lot; it was Emma. I've since read it twice more and now I love it. Book club is reading another Gaskell - Wives and Daughters. I've started but I am still in chapter 1.

Sunday - Church?
Monday - WORK 5 hrs, Lessons, SOF meeting
Tuesday - WORK 5, Lessons, Homeschool rollerskating
Wednesday - WORK 5, Lessons, Dentist-D,J,S
Thursday - WORK 5 Lessons, Mammogram-L (funfun)
Friday - WORK 5, field trip
Saturday - Book Club Movie Night (Jane Eyre)
Sunday - Church, Contra Dancing!

Gotta work 5's this week to make up for 2 weeks ago when there wasn't enough work to keep me busy. And this is a busy week with something every day! Better take a deep breath on Sunday night. (And maybe start with a little extra sleep, eh?)

I also need to get moving on the soccer registration plans. It'll be here before we know it. Oh, and SOF co-op stuff for NEXT year already too. And make sure everything is in order for the Regency Ball.

Quite a few Regency Ball-related activities are on the calendar for March.
March 13 - Contra dance at Flint school
March 17 - Dance practice
March 21 - Persuasion Movie Day & Regency Hairstyle Practice (girls)
March 22 - Regency Portrait Day (wear your costume and do your hair!)
March 25-26 Regency Ball trip!

So, you can see, there's a lot involved. David and Emily and I will be attending, along with about 20 other people from our homeschool group. And it's in South Bend, so we're spending the night.

We'd love to see any of you at our co-op program on Friday, April 1st in the evening. David will be sharing a computer script he wrote. Emily will be dancing and in a skit. Suzy is doing a cheerleading routine. And James will have a very nice art exhibit. There will be other stuff too, but I'm not sure what all. And you won't want to miss my Austentatious class; they are doing Pride and Prejudice in 100 seconds. I get to play Lydia. LOL

First Day of Lessons

Here are the kids on our First Day of Lessons. This is after they've completed the Treasure Hunt and have found their supplies and divvied them up.

If you'd like to see our First Day lunch photos, click HERE.

In case you are wondering why James is in PJ's - he was running a fever today. I know - bummer for the First Day - but we went ahead with our plans anyway and he did ok.

David - 8th grade

Emily - 6th grade

James - 3rd/4th grade

Suzanne - 1st grade
(Isn't THAT a cheerful looking smile!?)

Pleasant Days, Filled with Fun & Friends

Camping week is always a great pleasure! Four times now we have gathered all the willing local homeschooling families for several days of camping and activities. Some families come out for the day. If my count is correct, twelve families camped for part or all of the week and several more came for one or more of the daytime activities. Some dads camped all week, coming and going as necessary, but several also dropped off their families and then came at the end to help them pack up.

We arrived Sunday night and several families were already there although the week did not officially begin until Monday afternoon. We got settled in by dark.

The days passed quickly and pleasantly, filled with bike riding, crafts, hiking, swimming, ladder ball, badminton, card games, board games, movie night, potluck, and lots more excitement. All the excitement did not preclude plenty of time for relaxing, though. I hung about in the hammock and at various shady campsites.

The kids all enjoyed playing with their good friends and strengthened newer friendships as well. I did the same - most of my good friends were there. One crazy card game night ended the week for me! Friday morning was occupied with packing up and we headed out around 1pm.

We enjoyed our new camper and it was easy to set up. Our site was very buggy; next year we'll want some tiki torches or something else for the skeeters. We will likely set up the tent next year just to be able to keep some stuff in it - six people in a popup is really bursting at the seams, especially when you factor in a week's worth of clothes (and laundry too!).

The weather was perfect - hot the first day and the last, but in between lovely weather - not too cold or too hot. No rain, either!

Camping Week next year can't come soon enough!

Activities and Announcements

Sounds as though we have a new pastor, actually not really all that new, though. The student ministries pastor submitted his candidacy for senior pastor and last Sunday was the vote. He's in like Flynn! He's young (late 20's), married with 4 kids, and on fire for the Lord! It's exciting!

One of my kids left a library book outside last night. In the pouring rain. Sigh.

Much cooler today, thankfully!

We signed up today for all our church activities - the kids are signed up for Sunday School classes. David will be doing youth group on Sunday evenings. Suzy, James, and Emily will be attending Pioneer Club on Wednesday nights while Bob and I attend Financial Peace University (Dave Ramsay).

I will be teaching 4th/5th grade Sunday School this year. I didn't teach last year because of work and actually we burned out on Sunday School about halfway through the year and didn't go at all in the spring. So, a fresh new start!

Other activities will be starting soon. The girls are in a new club called Keepers at Home, which will meet twice a month. Soccer practices will start this week for Suzy and next week for James. Games begin the first Saturday of September.

I am upset because of the soccer schedule. 7 of the 9 games for each child are at the same time. Because I am coaching Suzy's team, I won't be able to watch 7 of James' games. This is unacceptable to me. I've left a message communicating my displeasure. If they can't do anything about that, I'll have to resign from coaching. I hate to do that, but I didn't sign up to coach so that I could miss virtually ALL of my other child's games. Please pray that all works out.

David and I missed the soccer referee classes last week. Both were scheduled during our camping week, and I had planned to come back for the class. But I forgot until it was too late.

I have a couple things to do at night as well - things I haven't been able to do for the past year. Once a month on Monday night, our homeschool group has support meetings which I greatly missed. A friend and I are also starting back up our writing instruction meetings - this has to do with the writing curriculum we are using and we will meet once a month as well, also on Mondays.

Things are coming together! This week should see it all scheduled.

Camping Photos

Suzy and her friend Kylie.

David

Suzy and Baby Job.

Emily with her bike decorated for the bike contest.

David and James with David's friend Brandon - they were building a raft.

Pam painting Suzy's face. The face painting was a huge hit - most kids got full face paint!

Suzy "playing" ladder ball with Preston.

James and Declan enjoying the ice cream social (but not the photo taking! lol).

John (my boss, and also Vicki's husband) and Bob.

Our camper all set up - with the freaky owl lights....

James on his bike

James

Emily doing one of the crafts - silly putty

Emily with her friend Gabrielle.

Weather predictions?

Excellent weather is predicted for our homeschool camping!

Not too hot, not too cold. Monday is a little hot, and Tuesday/Wednesday are now forecasted in the upper 70's with lows in the upper 50's. Thursday and Friday are highs in the low 80's, lows in the low 60's.

PERFECT if it stays dry! And it is supposed to, at least for now. I guess I'll let you know later how it turns out.

The camper has a heater if we need it! (No A/C, though.)

Hooky

Today was homeschool beach day and the weather was again GORGEOUS! 84, sunny, low humidity. PERFECT!

So perfect, in fact, that I couldn't tear myself away from the beach to go to work.

Yep. I called in. First time I ever did that.

We stayed at the beach until almost 5pm. I couldn't believe how fast the afternoon slipped away.

Lately I also am coming to deeply realize how much I am missing by working full time. Of course, I knew it before, but it really becomes clear on days like today - when I can just relax with my kids.

I will soon be home with them - working on my business, yes, but I'm sure that will be about the same amount of time I was putting in on co-op and my teaching. Oh, please pray this will work out!

We were going to the movie in the park tonight too, but a thunderstorm blew up just about the time we were planning to head out. I called and it was canceled. Darn.

Bob went to his men's meeting tonight by himself! First time he could go and not take the kids.

One more day til the weekend!

Still plugging away on my website. I've gotten it mostly done with FrontPage. The host apparently doesn't really prefer clients to use FP because it's outdated technology. But it's all I can manage right now. The learning curve is too steep on anything else. I don't have time to learn it. Later. Later. Truly!

New Home Learning Blog

I decided to separate out the education "stuff" from this blog. So, I have a new home learning blog. It's basic now, but I plan to add a lot to it over the next few months and school year.

Cornerstone Home Learning

I like blogger so much better than homeschoolblogger.

Mish-mash

Spending a lot of time on facebook. It's fun! Give it a try!

Taking half a day off work to watch David's last soccer game.

Hoping my new video camera arrives in today's mail, so I can video his game. But thinking it probably won't.

Going to be 81 today.

Read a light fluffy book yesterday in its entirety. Needed that.

David went to a year-end youth group party last night. He played silly games and went swimming. He won two prizes - a Relient K CD and a $25 gift card to Best Buy. He was pretty happy. He is opting out of youth camp, which surprised me, especially since I offered to pay for it. He is considering going with them to Cedar Point, and if he does, I will volunteer to chaperone. I wanna ride rollercoasters!

Reserved our campsite for homeschool camping week. If you are a homeschooler, you're welcome to join us and I hope you do. You can camp or just come for daily activities. Let me know if you need more information.

The last art class is this week. Bob has two doctor appointments. James' last softball clinic is this week. Suzy has been invited to a sleepover. I think I'll visit Maryann on Saturday.

Next Year's Lessons

So, I am going on the assumption that I'll be home with my kids and able to focus once more on their lessons to the fullest of my abilities. With that in mind, here is what we plan to use.

(If you're not interested in homeschool curriculum, go browse youtube or something. Oh here's an idea..... Mom Song (William Tell Overture))

BIBLE
All of the kids together will be doing Bible study.
We will continue to use the Bible Study Guide for All Ages. We have made it to the fourth and final volume. This is an accomplishment since I believe I started Volume 1 when David was in KINDERGARTEN. lol I do plan to go back through all 4 volumes before David graduates.

We will also begin Volume 2 of Character Building for Families, alternating the units with the units in the BSGFAA (above).

We will continue with learning a monthly hymn and a monthly praise chorus. (I have not chosen them yet - SUGGESTIONS??)

We have recently reintroduced Bible memory - one long passage per month. We will work on that too. (Again, suggestions?)

Family prayer and devotions will also be included. I plan for this Bible Hour to be the cornerstone of our day.

DAVID will be in 8th grade and will turn 14 during the school year. He will be doing a lot of work separately for the first time, as well as doing it mainly independently.

He will be using Math-U-See Algebra I. (Once he finishes Pre-Algebra. That may occur before fall or it may not.)

A return to Sonlight is in the plans for David next year; this is History and Literature. We did Sonlight K and 1 when he was very young and I had hopes of returning to it for high school. We'll see how we like it. Sonlight Core 100 is what I've chosen and it includes lots of historical fiction, American history, and good literature. He will also be doing the Bible component in addition to our family Bible time. We will pick and choose the books, rather than do everything, as I think that will be overwhelming to David and be way too much work! lol He will be able to listen to some of the books on audio, which he will like.

Apologia's Exploring Creation with Physical Science will be his science course. It will be a more structured study than David has ever done, but that will be good for him.

Language Arts will be similar to what we have done in the past - Spelling Power, Literature Journals, English from the Roots Up, Communication Journals. We will redouble our efforts to complete IEW's Student Writing Intensive Course.

This year I am adding Easy Grammar Plus for David. (I didn't like Sonlight's Grammar Ace much at all and we only completed about half of it this year.) I am ready for him to have his grammar intensive, probably over two years.

David won't be playing soccer next year but hopefully he will take the soccer referee class and be available to ref some of the little kids' games. He also may help me coach a team. (Here's your cue to remind me how much I hated doing that before.) He also wants to concentrate on his skateboarding. He will take PE at co-op as well, I think.

EMILY will be in the 6th grade and will turn 12 near the end of the school year. TWELVE! Yikes!

She will be finishing Math-U-See Gamma soon and will complete Delta within the year, hopefully moving on to Epsilon before the beginning of her 7th grade year. I am hoping for a very good math foundation for her rather than moving her along and never gaining a good understanding.

Emily, along with her two younger siblings, will probably be doing Apologia's Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day. I may even put her in charge of this study. We'll see.

Emily, James, and Suzy will all be studying World History through Mystery of History Volume 2: The Early Church and The Middle Ages. (Actually David will be sitting in on this as well for the information and any projects he cares to participate in.)

Emily's Language Arts will be very similar to David's, except she will be reading literature chosen by me instead of by Sonlight. She may do the Easy Grammar or she may not. I need to see how the workload is for her compared to David's. I also want her to focus on neater and correctly formed handwriting.

Emily won't be playing soccer either next year and I am looking for an idea of a physical activity to replace it - preferably one that will focus on coordination and grace. Ballet? Hopefully she can take PE at co-op.

I am thinking about piano lessons for Emily again.

JAMES will continue in the 3rd grade and he will turn NINE during the school year.

He's doing Math-U-See Gamma now and will continue that into the year, probably moving to Delta somewhere around the halfway point.

He will do the Flying Creatures book with his sisters and Mystery of History as well.

James' Language Arts will continue much the same, with an increase in difficulty as needed - Explode the Code, mom-chosen books to read aloud and silently, Literature Journal, Communication Journal. He will also begin Spelling Power at some point during the year and will learn cursive.

James WILL be playing soccer. It will be his 5th year and he will move up to the U10 League.

SUZANNE will be in 1st grade and will be six for most of the year.

Suzy has already started Math-U-See Alpha and will likely transition into Beta at some point during the year.

She will finish Alphabet Island Phonics and continue working on Explode the Code. She will read Bob Books and other appropriate readers.

She will listen in on History and Science and complete some fun projects.

Soccer next year will be Suzy's 3rd year and she will move up to the U8 league. (This is the one I would coach - Hey, now, I would get a big discount!)

I'm sure I've forgotten some important things, but that gives you a good idea.

Oh yeah, foreign language and art. I am seriously considering buying Rosetta Stone, but which language. When I gave David a choice, he said JAPANESE. Now, if he's serious, that's a great choice. Knowing Japanese would be a huge asset, especially if he goes into computer animation or CAD. I was hoping for German, really. I could teach Spanish without the computer program, so I am aiming away from that.

Art - The 3 older kids will do art with Mr. West, James for the first time. I want to include some more structured art program at home, but we'll see. No idea.

So, there you have it. I hope you're praying for me to be at home again next year. I surely am! And going on faith buying all this curriculum! LOL I have nearly all of it.

Summer Off....and an Incentive

Usually we continue our home education year-round, but this year we're going to be formally done the Friday before Memorial Day. :::cheers::::

We won't begin again until after Labor Day. ::::cheers again:::: And I really hope to be here full time with my babies by then. Pray, pray pray!

This has been the most difficult year of homeschooling I have ever done. Most of it has been merely focusing on the basics - Bible, Math, Reading, Writing. And that's ok! I really am ok with it (even if you are not! lol), but I want to get back to my more complete version of learning at home next year.

To keep the kids learning over the summer months, I have introduced an incentive plan. (It's not a "bribe" since the dictionary tells me that a bribe is "an inducement to dishonest behavior," which doing lessons certainly is NOT.)

The kids can earn money for each lesson they complete - up to 2 math lessons per week, up to 3 hours of instructional reading per week (from a list I will provide and including journalling about the reading), and up to one personal letter written correctly per week.

They are all quite fascinated by the idea, especially the older two. The money will likely be used for garage saling, since we try to do that once every week.

They will mostly be able to do their work independently, leaving my mornings free for WRITING.

Park, Park

Today Bob read devotions to the kids (Keys for Kids) and we had family prayer. Then I sat the kids down to watch Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends. Um. Convinced, they aren't. lol Gonna have to work on that more, I guess.

After that, I got everyone shod (that was painful) and headed out to the park for an hour with our homeschool friends. I think there were about 10 families there. Just about every boy brought a light saber, a sword, a Nerf gun, or some other kind of weapon. LOL

Headed back to the house and handed off the kids to Bob, smearing some sunscreen on them in the process. He took them to yet another park for James' softball clinic. The sun is shining and the birds are chirping. Trees are in bloom. Spring in Michigan is lovely!

The main road in our village is being worked on this week. That means a lot more traffic down OUR road.

Kids and I listened to about 2/3 of The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo in the car on the way to and from Maryann's house. They loved it! I brought it in the house so they can hear the rest of it, maybe tonight. She wrote Because of Winn-Dixie, which you may have heard of. (OK, I had no idea until just now when I googled that Despereaux won the Newbery! Have I been living under a rock!?)

Dan In Real Life is waiting for me at the library. YAY!

Do you like my Shelfari in the sidebar? I think it's rather neat.

INCH Report

Arrived at the conference Friday afternoon and took my bags up to our room at the hotel. Paid my registration fee at the conference and headed into the vendor hall. Wow, look at all the STUFF! Oooh-wee!

Off to the first break-out session - Is Art Essential to Your Child's Education? The first screen of the PowerPoint presentation read: Congradulation! I should have left right then, because it only went downhill from there. I'll spare you all the details, but just say that the woman has a PhD in art education but does not know how to communicate with an audience. This is the worst seminar I have ever attended at a conference. Ever.

So, it can only get better from here, obviously! lol

I then attended the seminar - Peace Treaties in the Living Room. This was presented by Sarah, Steven, and Grace Mally, homeschooled siblings who are now ages 29, 22, and 19. This was a wonderful seminar and I highly recommend it. However, some friends attending the conference didn't give it as high marks, so your mileage may vary. This is the seminar I bought the DVD of. (See previous post for link.) They discussed: How to handle irritations successfully, conflict resolution, how to have meaningful conversations, and what parents can do.

Those are the two sessions I attended on Friday. I did not attend the general session in the evening (nor on Saturday morning) so I did not listen to the keynote speaker, Phil Downer.

Some of us wanted to eat together Friday night, but the downtown area isn't big on good restaurants. We found a list of restaurants and called one. We asked, "Is your restaurant more like a pub or more like a restaurant?" We were told it was more like a restaurant, so we walked several blocks to it, only to discover that, no, it really is more like a BAR. So, we walked back and ate at a sports bar RIGHT NEXT to the convention center. lol

Stayed up late playing games and chatting.

Saturday morning we ate breakfast in the little cafeteria at the convention center and then headed into the vendor hall. The first seminar I attended on Saturday was Raising the Strong-willed Child by Paul Downer, a twentysomething homeschool graduate who admits to his strong-willed disposition. This was an AWESOME talk and again, I highly recommend it. Here are his main points. (He had a LOT of them! lol)

A - Kids take energy!
B - Our Enemy has a very specific plan for each of us.
C - Satan always goes after the next generation of God's warriors.
D - He told his own story.

Strategies for dealing with SW children:
1 - Remember the power of modeling daily dependence on the Lord.
2 - The power of prayer
3 - Say "I was wrong and I'm sorry."

Practical Ways
1 - Celebrate your child without a reason.
2 - Have fun together.
3 - The power of YOUR happiness.
4 - Dates with mom and dad
5 - Draft your strong-willed child onto your team.
6 - High Impact Relational Experiences (Do fun stuff!)
7 - Communicate to your child that you are FOR him, not against him.
8 - Explain the flesh vs. the spirit.
9 - Name their gifts
10 - Draw them to the heart of God. Rom 2:4
11 - Acknowledge the good in their flaws and call them to a higher standard.
12 - Study strong-willed heroes.
13 - Avoid comparison.
14 - Danger of crushing the strong-willed child's spirit.

Discipline:
Explain the offense.
Communicate the standard.
Explain the consequences.
Administer discipline.
Wait for repentance.
Give forgiveness.
Restore the relationship.
Giving grace is beneficial at times.

The other two seminars I attended were given by Danielle Olander from Institute for Excellence in Writing. They were Content Area Writing and Creating, Editing, and Grading Writing Assignments. Both were excellent and neither required that you use IEW materials. (Although I do.)

I spent some time in the vendor hall, as you saw if you read my previous post. Lunch was at the restaurant hotel and it was overpriced and the service was very slow. Six of us stopped at Don Pablo's on the way home and that was a great time of fellowship and the food was excellent!

All in all, a wonderful convention experience. Well worth the time and money.

INCH Purchases

Thought I'd post some photos of my convention acquisitions.

OK, this first pic is all the free catalogs, brochures and fliers that I was given at the conference. Have to spend some time perusing it!

These are my freebies - a tote bag, umbrella, and lanyard from ASVAB (military aptitude test), baggie of coffee beans, 2 pencils, 1 pen, a bracelet, a pin. Also had some candy, but that's long gone. lol

I bought the book Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends 2 years ago and read it aloud to my kids. (They need to hear it again! lol). The authors - the Mally siblings - were at the conference this weekend and I sat in on their seminar of the same title. I decided getting the DVD of the seminar was a good idea. And, lo and behold, now there are activity books to go along with the book! Way cool!

My necessary Math-U-See items for the upcoming year. Actually James is ready for Gamma right now. I already bought Alpha used for Suzy (thanks Sarah!) and she has already started it.

That Algebra book is the Honors supplement. I already have the Algebra I program for David.

The big box is a board game based on Pilgrim's Progress. Looked very cool in the display. Hope the kids find it enjoyable. We watched the movie, if you'll recall and Emily recently read the book.

Also in the pic, a board book of the hand signs to remember the 10 commandments. Even though none of my kids is a toddler anymore, I thought this book was great! The game and book are from Kregel.

Also a couple stocking stuffers for the boys. (not from Kregel - can't remember where.)


Some stuff I bought at Miller Pads and Paper - one of my favorite vendors. We needed new dry erase markers and they also had dry erase CRAYONS!

The colored pencils are also for Christmas stockings and the Mosaic book is for Suzy at some point. On the right are some tortillions for blending and some drawing pencils.

I've been considering the purchase of Edu-Track software for quite some time. Since David is approaching high school at a rapid rate, I thought it would be good to get it now and get familiar with how it works. It does lesson plans, report cards, transcripts, and more.

This stuff was FREE for signing up for a mailing list. It is a very cool family journal for helping a family be accountable for family and personal devotions and Bible study. I hope it will help us! The planner is a personal prayer journal. The book is entitled The Spontaneous Spread of Home-Discipleship Christianity and I've read the beginning. Looks intriguing! This stuff is from a church in the Grand Rapids MI area called Family of Faith Church.

I also bought the kids some Smencils which were a big hit and some little notebooks. I gave those items to them already as a "mom's home!" gift.

More about the convention itself in another post.

Convention!

I'm getting all excited about going to the homeschool convention! Last year I was not able to go, so it's even more exciting. I am staying in a hotel with a couple of friends Friday night and the convention is Friday afternoon and all day Saturday.

The seminars are my favorite part of the convention. The vendor hall is overwhelming to me and I can only take it a little at a time. There are a few things I am for sure going to buy (Math-U-See) and I'll probably run across some other stuff. I do prefer to get most of my curriculum used to make my dollars stretch as far as they can.

The seminars I am considering attending are:

• Is Art Essential to Your Child's Education?
• Wholehearted Writing (from IEW)
• How to Teach Language Arts
• Developing a Love for Learning in your Home School
• Peace Treaties in the Living Room
• Preserving Educational Freedom: MI at the Crossroads
• Homeschooling the Strong-willed Child
• Contingent Contentment
• Content Area Writing (IEW)
• Media & Entertainment: Monitoring What Influences Your Family
• Teaching Like Jesus
• Creating, Editing, and Grading Writing Assignments (IEW)

I heartily prefer seminar topics that are actually about HOW to teach, WHAT to teach, and WHY to teach. I dislike family/faith issues at a homeschooling convention, unless they relate specifically to homeschooling.

I can only attend 7 (and I usually can only handle the information from 5 or 6 anyway). So I'll be narrowing it down. Sometimes I make last minute choices at the conference, based on a like (or dislike) of a certain speaker or opinions of fellow convention attendees.

At least 16 families from our homeschool group are going. The first time I went to this convention, NO ONE from my group went!

Sabbatical

Here are excerpts from a letter I wrote to our homeschool group:
For ten years or so, I have been one of the leaders of my homeschool group. In fact, I am the only founding member still on the leadership team. I have poured a great deal of love and time into the group and have enjoyed it immensely.

As many of you know, our family is experiencing some uncertainty and I am currently working full time. My husband and I are working together to educate our children at home. This leaves little time for me to devote to Seeds of Faith.

This situation makes it necessary for me to take a break from leadership. As of May 1, 2008, I will be taking a sabbatical for one year.

(A sabbatical (from Greek sabbatikos) is a prolonged hiatus, typically one year, in the career of an individual taken in order to fulfill some goal, e.g., writing a book or traveling extensively for research.)

Bob and I hope that in the next year, we'll be able to make some firm plans for the next few years. We do hope and pray that God will allow us to continue homeschooling. My husband's workers compensation case comes up in court next week (April 9) and prayers are appreciated for our victory in this case.

I do plan to still be involved at co-op and attend field trips and the like, as much as I am able. My heart's desire is to return home and be with my family instead of working full time. I also hope to return to the leadership team in the spring of 2009. (or sooner, if things work out!) Please pray!

So, I am passing the baton to my able co-coordinator who has been skillfully leading co-op this year. I so appreciate being able to entrust the group to her willing and wonderful service. Assisting her will be a valuable team of leaders, some of who are new to us for the 2008-09 school year. Beginning May 1st, I won't be answering questions about the group or be in any decision-making capacity at that point.