Opportunity to Review a Book!!

I read a few blogs here and there, but one I am reading all the time is Susan Wise Bauer's blog (http://www.susanwisebauer.com/blog/). She has written many books. I was turned on to her blog by a friend of mine who uses The Well Trained Mind for homeschooling. A book Susan Bauer wrote and one I have used as well.

Mrs. Bauer is in process of finishing up her new book, History of the Medieval World and I have been given the opportunity to read a "in the works" copy. After I read it, I then write a review/personal feelings blog on the book. This is a high school/college level book that fits in with her younger versions of the History of the World series. My teenager is reading the first one, History of the Ancient World and I'm feeling really lucky to get this chance to read the second book before it comes out. So come back by in a few days or so and I'll let you know what I thought of the book! And check out her blog when you get a chance!

Thanksgiving!

What an awesome opportunity to learn about the 1600's and Colonial times. We started by reading about the voyage of the Mayflower, and discussed what life may have been like on the voyage. My youngest daughter was saddened by the thought of people not being able to wonder about the ship on their own, but instead having to stay below. I am sure it sunk in that this was probably due to safety mostly. Ha! I said sunk. Not on purpose though.

Then we went on to study about the ship itself. We learned about the different ropes and sales, and the different parts of the ship and what they were called. My children were certain that they would never have survived on such a tiny ship with so many people. They have never been on a sale boat, or any other type of boat that they can remember. Perhaps that is a side activity we can research for later.

Next we talked about fashion which is a subject we as females can talk a lot about. We discussed the clothes, and found pictures of what an outfit would have looked like. We discussed what it must have been like to always be covered from neck to toe with layers of fabric all of the time. I don't know about you, but I am pretty sure I would have been miserable. I like my shorts and t-shirts, although, I do live in the desert. We ended the study of clothes with drawings of a colonial man and woman's outfit. I was blown away with the free hand drawings the girls came up with. I will post them later.

On to the next part of the study. We talked living conditions. This was a great lesson for the girls about space and stuff. My girls realized that they would go bonkers in a small 16 x 20 cabin with nothing to do other than sew and cook. However, we talked about how this was the norm for women, and that they would not have known the difference back then. My oldest realized that they were blessed with lots of stuff. Stuff like clothes and the convenience of food variety, an indoor bathroom, and many other modern items. Something she is now grateful for. This is a huge lesson and one I'm glad she learned. In the end we built log cabins and used what we could find outside to make them look authentic. More pics for later!

Next we went off the deep end a bit and built a turkey. Why? Because we could. We used Styrofoam to build the body, and colored sticks to build the feathers. It was simple, but effective. It turned out well and gave us a break from the seriousness of the study. Again, pictures later.

The study took a turn towards food finally. It had to as we had just built a turkey! We talked about the difference between what we eat today for Thanksgiving, and what was eaten back in the 1600s. "No cherry pie!?" Nope. "Awe, they were missing out!" This from my 11 year old. We proceeded to make a menu with breakfast, dinner, and supper. (This ignited a long discussion on why the word lunch was not on the list.) And there was definitely no cherry pie on the menu. No pie but possum or squirrel which grossed my girls out to think about eating. Yummy!

We decided to make some butter which my girls had never done before. Boy were they in for a treat! We took a plastic container, placed a cup of heavy whipping cream in it, plopped in 4 very well washed marbles, and closed the lid. Then the fun really began when the shaking commenced! Trying to keep it going for almost 27 minutes was not so bad with three of us, however, it did work out the arms a bit more than planned. Yet, 27 minutes and Wha-La!! Butter! They were amazed and anxious to taste it. So we broke out the french bread and enjoyed a little.

As it is Thanksgiving Day today, I will have to take a break and continue with cooking and being thankful for all we are blessed with. But there is more to share about our study, and I will work on it later. For now, have a super blessed day! And make sure you share what and maybe who you are thankful for.

A Successful Event

Oh what joy it is to have an event go smooth. We had our fall formal event with our teens, and it went so well. Our teens were amazing, and seemed to have a great time. And they planned it all and pulled it off. If only all events cold go as well.

But instead of going on about the negatives of other events, I will continue to focus on the positives of this one. The decorations were great. A black and white theme and masks to make it fun. There were candles, flowers, balloons, music, and more. Dinner was at the Cheesecake Factory and everyone looked to have a great time there. And watching the teens dance and having fun was the best part of the night. All of them seemed to have a good time, including the chaperons, some of whom took part in a little Hokey Poky and Chicken Dance. :)

Just an amazing time for all. Can't wait to have another event.

Drama 101

As you may remember, I have taken on a leadership role as a homeschool leader for a large homeschool group. This was not something I was looking to do, it just sort of fell into my lap. And this blog was supposed to be my place to share about this journey through leadership.

Well, the year is half over already. It's been a bit busy as you will see.

So here are the issue I have dealt with this first half of the year:

Safety

Gossip

Having a Student Council

Dancing/Dances

Dating/Dates

Mail/Mail Boxes

Payments and Deposits

Music

Hugging

Budget

Membership

Room Requests/Reservations

Dress Code

I know I could think of more that I am forgetting, but this is the main stuff I can remember at this moment. Every issue has been a learning experience and I have grown from the lessons learned. That is what I try to focus on when dealing with challenges like these.

The biggest lesson I have taken from all of this so far? That parents are the ones usually making non issues an issue rather than the kids. This then starts the domino affect that leads to the kids complaining or spreading rumors, or sometimes setting us adults straight. It has made for a difficult year so far, but one I feel blessed to experience since I am able to take what I learn with me at the end and apply it elsewhere.

Another lesson? I can't wait to find my replacement. I don't mean for that to sound so bad, but with the amount of work one does for this job and the amount of time spent dealing with all the drama, it becomes taxing on the soul. I am also a mom, a homeschool teacher, a substitute teacher, a non-profit board member, a wife, a full time student, care taker to my mother on occasion, and am about to take on volunteering at my church for a counseling program. I have a lot on my plate and dealing with drama is not high on my priority list. So, I will be moving on from this adventure very soon. But until then, I will do my best to continue to share my experiences a little better. So check in soon for more updates.

Home School Leadership - I'm ready to find my replacement

This has been a challenging year for me, yet one full of hard lessons and inspiring moments. And although I have grown a ton, it's time to face reality. I need a replacement! So, I am going to be praying about who will fit the bill. There are some I think would love to take over, and some I think would love to give it the old college try! But there really is one person who would be great at it, who has the knowledge of both the good and evil, and who has been around the block a few. Whether or not she realizes it yet, can't say, but I hope she will. I hope she jumps right in and takes the rains and leads us on as I know she can. Prayer. Lots of prayer.

Life in the Crazy Lane & New Adventures

We have begun our homeschooling year and it is going rather well. As a home school group leader, I have already begun to learn many lessons. Lessons in patience, humility, crisis intervention, and organization just to name a few. And that has been in the first two months. Now that I am finally getting the hang of it, I have found myself venturing on to another areas.

So, now let me share some wonderful news...

I would like to introduce to you RISE Resource Center! What? You haven't heard of it? Well, you will and very soon too. RISE stands for Renaissance In Student Education "Bringing them back to the basics" We are already in process of getting it up and running, and we are on the lookout for a building. It is amazing how fast this has been moving too. I began dreaming about a center for homeschooling families about three years or so ago. I'm excited to see it become a reality. We will need a lot of help in all areas, but this is going to be a great adventure.

I will share more as I can. For now, if you are interested in finding out more, let me know.

Proceed with Caution

It would only be natural that a home school group would need to be cautious about the types of events they put together for their children, yet can one be too cautious? Some of the things we celebrate for example, sometimes originated out of twisted and bizarre things in history. But do we really need to condemn those activities when they aren't done the same way today?Couldn't we still have the event in a positive way and teach our children the history and why it was twisted and bizarre? Or better yet, teach a new way to make it a positive thing?

 Perhaps I am not making clear sense, but I guess what I am trying to say without getting too specific is that there are things our children are interested in learning about, or doing, that might have a jaded past or that we know wasn't the best idea back in it's day. But by keeping our children from doing those things (I'm talking things that aren't physically harmful to themselves or others) we tend to just make the activity that much more intriguing. I'm not saying we should let our kids go out and do dangerous things, and then teach them why they are dangerous, but there are interests we can monitor and provide a lesson for while fostering creativity and providing them an experience that satisfies their curiosity and teaches the history that explains why people don't do it the way it used to be done anymore. Or why people don' t normally do it at all.  

Home School Leadership 101

So far the lesson has been that home school leaders have a lot of meetings. Leadership meetings, financial meetings, co-op meetings, etc...

And there has been a lot of meeting new people and hearing their issues. Actually, pretty much all of the people I have met had some type of issue or another. So the next lesson is that home school leaders are really counselors and mediators as well. Hmmm...

Leader for Eagles Homeschool Group?

Seems as though I have been led to a totally unexpected path. For the next year I will be the leader of our home school group. I have no idea what that really means, but I do know that I will be busy and all of the things I have been learning about in school will be put to good use. While I am looking forward to the challenge, I am also dreading the drama. And between home schooling, my own schooling, working part time and leading, I though I would try keeping a written record of all the wild and wonderful things that happen along the way this first year. 

So, if you care to read up on the trials, tribulations, and successes of home schooling life and fly by the seat of your pants leadership, come back by later and have some fun.

Another Paper

It's almost funny, but not really. I try to sit and write and nothing comes out, yet the moment I have a paper due for class I can whip out a good 800 words in 30 minutes with very little thought or preparation. What's up with that?

A Realization

My friend is getting gastric bypass surgery. I was shocked to learn this and wanted to learn more about what she was about to do to her body. So she shared with me some of the reading materials she was given. It made me sad to see what she is willing to do and suffer through in order to get healthy. Possible ulcers, leakage, heart problems, and possible death just to name a very few of many complications! But she feels she is too unhealthy to do it on her own. 

To be so defeated as to fall for that evil thought. That lie. It really made me sad, and then made me realize just how desperate we become at times. I too suffer from weight issues, but it is by choice. I don't want to be out of shape, I choose to be because I am lazy. Or I was, until I saw the lie my friend is falling for. Since then I have made it a point to start doing the work in order to get back in to shape. I don't want to become that person. I realize that there are some people who have medical conditions due to being over weight that make surgery their only hope. I see the need for drastic measures such as this surgery then. I do not choose to be that person though. I have the ability to get healthier now before I get to that point. so I choose to stop being lazy and start working on new habits. And I pray that my friend takes a very serious look at what she is about to do. I don't want to lose my friend in this way.

Thoughts on Journaling

Journaling is a huge part of my life. I began keeping a record of my life at the age of 12 and still journal to this day at age 37. Currently I am about to finish yet another chapter of my life's record tonight and as usual, I am hit by the amazing number of events that can happen in my life over a short period of time. (I go through a journal in about 3-5 months) And then there is the growth! I have changed and grown so much from these past events and being able to record this has helped me in so many ways as I have gone back through the stories and memories. I don't share this for any particular reason. I just love to journal, as each one is a part of me and records my history. Each one is my view of the world I live in. And as I end one chapter I am excited to begin another new one, and I thought I would just share. :)

Yet, thinking about journaling reminds me of the Bible and the study I have been a part of on Facebook. I am not learning anything really new, but I am discovering so much about the Bible than I realized before. When I thought about this book before, well, I didn't think about it much to be honest. But thinking about it now I realize that the book is just like a compilation of many journals throughout history and I find that really cool! It makes me want to read it and to learn more about the people who wrote it and learn about their lives. I am sure there is a ton I can learn from each story so I am trying to focus on one at a time. 

I wonder if anyone will ever read my journals some day? What would they learn from them? Would they see the same lessons I see? Probably not. I suppose it depends on the reader. Just like the Bible. Everyone who reads these stories has a totally different view of the world and interprets things in a unique way. No one reads the same biblical story and hears the same thing. But that is what I find so cool about it. And hearing the different interpretations of it really broadens my view of it all. I don't know that my journals will ever broaden any one's view of the world, but they sure do help me to get through life.

When Life Throws a Curve

You can't see around the corner, but you know something is around there. It could be bad, or it could be wonderful. Sitting and contemplating what could be coming is an option, and you could even wait to see if you are hit by it, but you will never really know unless you move on around that corner.  

Starting Anew

First post on a fresh slate.