Classically speaking ...

It's  been nice taking time, being leisure. I've been praying lately for God to help me be a good steward of my time, the indefinite continued progress of existence, measured in hours, specifically 24. Usually I work myself into a tizzy, making lists about what needs to get done, which needs to get done first and how to do it. Then I feel guilty when the plans don’t pan out, getting behind of the schedule I’ve set for myself. In general, I think I may expect too much from myself. I know that with God, all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26) So, instead of making lists and strapping on needless guilt, I’ve been doing the opposite. There is no list for me - this is new. Little by little it’s all getting done and I’ve been happier than I’ve been in a while. I also started making art a priority. I remember when it used to be something of everyday life and somewhere life took a turn and that part of me got lost in the shuffle. Hooray for art and hooray for life! 

As anticipated we took off the last two weeks in June for summer vacation. Prior to this, however, we attended a three-day practicum for Classical Conversations. Their mission is to know God and to make Him known. There was so much information at the end of each day I felt drained. During the day I felt confused, like my head was spinning. Even though it was stressful and the months ahead will probably be challenging, I was able to see though the onset of a panic attack and know it was the right choice for our family. It’s how we build courage right? I mean, if there’s no need to ever be brave, how will we ever build courage? Creed was able to meet littles he will be in class with later and I was able to meet other homeschool mamas, directors and tutors, some of which were just as overwhelmed as me. This fall our family will start a new journey with Classical Conversations, one of the many ways to homeschool your child. Basically there’s five different ways to approach homeschooling, including the Charlotte Mason method, the Classical Education (Classical Conversations) learning approach, also called “The Socratic Method,” Eclectic Homeschooling, Unit Studies and Un-schooling. And then there’s your way. There really is no wrong way to do it, there’s only what works best for your family. Homeschooling for our family will look different than homeschooling for your family. For a more in-depth look at those five types of homeschooling visit a page from The Pioneer Woman, http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeschooling/2010/08/five-different-approaches-to-homeschooling/. For more information about Classical Conversations visit http://www.classicalconversations.com/common/what-is-classical-education. 

Itty bitty family builds an itty bitty house
from some pretty awesome foam leggos!

After wrapping up the three-day practicum, we set off on our first journey of rving. We traveled around 850 miles to Tampa, Fla., to Lego Land, a hot steamy mess of fun in the middle of summer. Creed and I both started to feel under the weather and slowly progressed to actual sickness. Finally, we decided to stop at a doctor’s office and were diagnosed with Strep Throat. Creed had scarlet fever. Gasp! I thought scarlet fever was something people got in the 1800s and didn’t they die from that?! Turns out it’s a symptom of strep throat. In the 19th century, scarlet fever, measles, roseola, impetigo, fifth disease, yellow fever, chickenpox, and rubella were among the many diseases that causes rash and fever in children. Scarlet fever being the most common of these diseases. Unfortunately, scarlet fever was often severe, and in the 19th century, it was a leading cause of dearth among children in the United States. Thank God for modern medicine and living in a day-in-age, where getting something like this isn’t a near death-sentence. Creed started getting a red rash on his front and back side at Lego Land. We thought he was just getting hot, so we took breaks inside the air-conditioning every hour. Meanwhile, mama was having a hard time swallowing. Then Creed started scratching, which led us to believe it was the detergent we had been using on the trip. Next up was a fever that came and went for the both of us. After two shots, one in the hip for mama and one in the thigh for itty bitty (sniff sniff) we were sent on our way with a 10-day prescription of antibiotics. Not reacting to the pointy end of the needle, I wanted to put on a brave face for my little guy. I asked the nurse how they administer shots to children, since it was a walk-in clinic, not a pediatricians office, and he explained that usually one person takes the legs and the other takes the arms above the head. :-( Hubby held down Creed’s little legs while mama looked into Creed’s eyes telling him to give mama a big hug. The sheer pain from his shriek broke my heart the same it did when he was a baby. I cradled him in my arms the same way and told him how proud I was of him for being brave. “But I wasn’t brave,” he cried, “I was scared.” “You can scared and still be brave, “I told him. “That’s how you get brave.”

While traveling on the road I started and finished an Inktense (colored ink watercolor pencils) owl series. I was really surprised how each of them turned out, especially when painting during bumpy roads. After doing string art, inspired by Pinterest, with a group of church women, I had a thought of using them on wood. I had tried them on the familiar watercolor paper medium and wondered if it would even work on this type. Yes, they do, and they’re beautifully vibrant! I have plans to do some more work on wood and then figure out what else I can try! 

Up next this month is the much anticipated Handwriting Workshop from Montessori. We’ve been working on holding the pencil, using our little pinchers and tracing highlighted letters of the alphabet. The goal of the handwriting workshop is to introduce or improve your child’s handwriting skills in an enjoyable and fun learning environment, on which, will count as a homeschool day for us, twice a week for three weeks. Montessori uses a multi-sensory approach developing strength, coordination and dexterity that is required to complete the writing process. This includes pencil grip, letter formation and letter placement on paper. Taught by a licensed occupational therapist, the workshop will be based on techniques and activities used within the Handwriting Without Tears writing program. These goals will be met through muscle strengthening games, fine motor activity, and pencil and paper practice. My favorite part, one-on-one instruction. It couldn’t get any better.

Pssssssssst … want to hear a secret? (Maybe the jig was up with the last blog entry, “I don’t have it all together.”) During this past school year, I have been putting an extreme pressure on my abilities to homeschool, one the enemy tells me I’m ill-equipped to handle. And for the umpteen time, God says that just isn’t so, for me or for you because with God, all things are possible. That’s a promise. That doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy, but it does mean we don’t have to do it alone. And when trying times happen, and you know they will, he’ll be there to lift us up time after time.