Update Your Bookmarks, Please.

www.dominionfamily.com

See below for more info.

A Home of My Own

Who says blogging isn't the "real" world. I think I have made some real blog friends. Not only have I sent out a bar of soap but I have been offered several nice items by blog readers....cyber-friends, real friends.

The latest is a real website done completely by my friend Valerie (There are so many nice Valeries in blogdom that if I had another daughter I would be tempted to use the name.) So I have a new blog and you can find it at:

www.dominionfamily.com

Isn't that cool...a real domain. I've always wanted to have a home.

So far all of the work has been done by Valerie, Bound By Grace, all of it. That pretty picture at the top is actually a flower from her garden cloned. My one job is to come up with categories and I haven't done that yet. Also I have to figure out something with the comments. If you want to read old comments you will have to come here. But all new comments can be viewed at the new blog.

And a big gnostic & cyber but very heartfelt hug to Valerie my geeky friend.

While you're at the Library...

DHM posted this link to Dr. Grant's fiction list which reminded me that I need to keep working my way through it. The books I have read are in bold.


1. Oxford Book of English Verse, Arthur Quiller-Couch
My blog readers already know my opinion of Q. Read his essays here.

2. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien I have read them a couple of times but my dh has read them more.

3. The Father Brown Stories, G.K. Chesterton Thumping good read.

4. Witch Wood, John Buchan Where would a George Grant list be without a Buchan? This one is kinda scary but also one of Buchan's best.

5. The Four Quartets, T.S. Eliot

6. The Space Trilogy, C.S. Lewis Even when he is goofy, he is great.

7. A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn ( I just can't get through this book. The profanity gets to me.)

8. The Four Men, Hilaire Belloc Ok I admit it, I didn't get it totally. I think all four men were the same guy.

9. Penhally, Caroline Gordon Want to understand Southern thinking, read this novel. Beautiful.

10. Collected Stories, William Faulkner

11. The Wizard of Oz, L.Frank Baum Thanks to my mom for buying me the Companion Library as a child and starting me out on a lifetime of reading....and she thought it was a mistake.

12. Charlotte’s Web, E.B. White Over and over again.

13. Scaramouche, Rafael Sabatini This book is something of a manual for young men. Just make sure they don't take it too seriously. I live in a house of Scaramouches.

14. The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco Great pleasure read but beyond the scope of my intellect.

15. Kristen Lavransdatter, Sigrid Undset A true must-read for women and not nearly as hopeless as other Norwegian novels. Kristen at least has a future hope.

16. Love in the Ruins, Walker Percy

17. The Velvet Horn, Andrew Lytle

18. The Footsteps at the Lock, Ronald Knox

19. The Weekend Wodehouse, P.G. Wodehouse The most under-rated genius of the English language. Read him just for the words.

20. Falling, Colin Thubron

21 Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder Possibly the best American prose ever written.

22. The Anubis Gates, Tim Powers I'm not sure why it is in the top 20 but I had a lot of fun reading this book. I also like Tim's Declare and I hope to read more of his stuff in the future.

23. Song of the Lark, Willa Cather

24. Possession, A.S. Byatt Not an easy read for a Christian, as the moral dilemmas and wages of sin are painful, but still a truly wonderful book for the literature fool and a great movie, too....if you delete a few scenes. No, that is not a recommendation, just an admission.

25. At Home in Mitford, Jan Karon Read them. Read them all.

Morning Time Plans: August 2005

MORNING TIME PLANS FOR THE WEEK OF
August 15-19
SUBJECT MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY

Beethoven’s 5th Symphony ( 4 Weeks)

Hudson River Valley Artists


(Term 1)
Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing

Plutarch: Timoleon

Bible Time
Book of Life

Review:
I Cor 13

II Cor 4:16-18

Psalm 42

II Cor. 10:5

Psalm 100

Eph 6:10-18

Hymn Singing
More Secure is No one Ever
Tune: Children of the Heavenly Father

Review:

Psalm 148 & Psalm 46 C
Beneath the Blood-Stained Lintel
Navy Hymn
Great is the Lord Our God
Psalm 98


Poetry
Gilbert & Sullivan:I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General
Review:

Keep a’ Goin’, The Gift

Be Strong

Trees

How Did You Die?

Opportunity


Misc. Memory
Polite Moments
Review:

Presidents
Planets
States
We Shall Fight Winston Churchill
The Apostle’s Creed

Reading Aloud
*Our Island Story( Finish this week) Then begin English Literature for Boys & Girls

*The Story of the Romans

* The Story of Mankind ( Conquest part 2)
* How’s Inky

*The Wheel on the School

*SOTW

Ambleside Time Reading :

Trial and Triumph

Tanglewood Tales

50 Famous Stories

Winnnie the Pooh

Girltime:

Little Women
Bible Study

(Please forgive the formating. I tried to copy/paste from my working sheet)

Children are Born Persons

It is a funny thing but teaching and learning are not the same thing. As a mother and a teacher I constantly fall into the trap of thinking if I konk someone over the head with information enough times they will learn. On the other hand, I err in assuming that if I don't teach it they won't learn it.

Yesterday was our first day of school and Andrew, who didn't have a reading lesson all summer and is still in the phonics stage, somehow had a giant leap forward in his reading abilities.

I will never forget the first time my oldest took a standardized test. He was in 3rd grade and scored highest in the subjects we hadn't even studied, like science.

Then there are the times when I throw out questions to the children and they know the answer without having been taught. Ladies, as M-MV says, "Let's not make this harder than it has to be."
And don't forget, As Charlotte has said, "Children are born persons."

Not a Surprise

The Emma type: Friendly and outgoing, these are the
social butterflies of the Austenites. They are
forgiving of human nature, and believe that
anyone can change. "Pictures of perfection
make them sick and wicked"; they enjoy
watching the process of growth and maturation.
May be too fanciful and intelligent for their
own good.


Jane Austen novel quiz
brought to you by Quizilla

An Atmosphere, a Discpline and a Life

Today we log in our State required day 1 but yesterday we were learning,too.

180-1 does not equal a lifetime of learning.

The Enchanted Place

We had a busy day today. At our morning meeting we went over our school schedule which we start Monday. Whenever we have meetings it always seems so empty now that Timothy and Nicholas are gone. I was commenting on how this time next year James would not be in our school meetings and I decided to get a visual picture by asking James to leave the room.

I guess you can see where this is going. I then said in 3 years Nathaniel would not be a part of our school and he left the room. It made such a striking picture of the future that we kept on until Alex and I were left alone in the room. Alex really caught on and looked distraught. I wasn't feeling very happy myself. Alex perked up when he realized he got to leave the room too.

There I was all by myself in the room. I got up and left also leaving the memories of countless morning meetings behind. I do believe I would have made a complete and utter fool of myself if James hadn't resorted to making fun of my little experiment.

Tonight while telling Tim of my dismal illustration he reminded me that sometime before Alex actually left home and I died we would probably have a few grandchildren. That was a real comfort.

This Just In...

Nicholas has been officially signed on to the Ft Lauderdale Police Department. He reports on duty August 29 and starts the Police Academy Sept 2. Thank-you for all your prayers and also for all the good recommendations. He is still seeking lodging in the Davie, Fl area if any of you have friends in the area. I just may have to go down there for a week and help him set up. Did I ever mention that I love the beach?

Timothy also has a BUDS report date. He will leave his ship in October and report to preliminary BUD training in November. His regular BUDS school starts in January. BUDS is SEAL training.

Those who like to read my blog to see about raising sons may want to move on. I can confidently tell you that I did not plan on having my boys do such dangerous things. That appears to be a side-effect of Calvinism, G A Henty, Jack O'Brien, John Buchan, etc. My advice would be to avoid too many boy against nature books.

Welcome to the Fallout - Christian Thinking in an Irrational Age

I have mentioned the Alexians before. Here is Chris Alexian's new blog. With articles published on Lew Rockwell and SAT scores that make my boys cry, "mercy," Chris and his brother Anthony are truly up and coming thinkers, cut from a mold no public school could hope to imitate.

Welcome to the Fallout - Christian Thinking in an Irrational Age

Sweet Home Alabama in Idaho

Even Idahoans* know that Alabama is a better place !!

Which reminds me, anyone out there heard Van Zant's new song? They still do a better job than Neil Young at pointing to the good book, Doug.

BLOG and MABLOG

*Is that a word? It has bling, doesn't it? Can you tell I have either been in bed all day reading about John Adams or venturing to the computer to play Tetris. That is how a vicious virus affects me.

Oh, Bother!!

This hasn't really been a very good week. I have been putting on the finishing touches for the year and I am quite sure I have planned too much. This always discourages me but I have planned too much for at least 15 years now. I really prefer to be serendipitous but with 7 students we get more accomplished with a plan.

I also get discouraged looking at all the books on the bookshelves and having a secret fear we may never read them all. Then I do something silly like go to the library or visit Bookcloseouts.

Homeschooling doesn't always lead to wonderful stories of success. You know the ending, "And they were happily accepted into Patrick Henry on a full scholarship after receiving a perfect 1600 on their SAT." My son almost missed getting the job as a policeman in Ft Lauderdale because I had printed out his transcript off my own computer. The police department accepted the cover school transcript but not my own. Ouch. But at least he doesn't have to take the GED and his employment package is on its way to the chief's desk for approval.

Did I mention I have some sort of virus?

Well, every dark cloud has a silver lining. I spelled serendipitous right the first time unless the spell check doesn't know that word.

Self-Education

I wasn't a fan of Peter Jennings, but I was amazed to read that he had never finished highschool. He was a self-educated man. With 80% of young people now going to college I am afraid the idea that education is something you give to yourself instead of something done to you is fading quickly.

Just Couldn't Resist

Anyone else think the newest ETC should be called, "He Who Has Beards To Hear?"
For some reason, the ear sorta gets lost in all that hair. I do want to give them credit for getting out the issues on time lately.

Homeschool Tracker by TGHomeSoft

Once again, if you are looking for homeschool recordkeeping software, look no further. The Gentile family has once again made terrific updates free to those who have purchased the Plus version. They are available daily on the discussion group, too. It just doesn't get any better. I have been given 2 free major updates since my one-time purchase 2 years ago.

Homeschool Tracker by TGHomeSoft

Christian Lady, What Did You Wear, What Did You Wear This Morning?

I have a tendency to speak in quotes and rhymes so please forgive my title and No, I will not give you a bar of soap if you catch the reference.

So what did you wear this morning? Did you know ahead of time exactly what you would put on or did you agonize over the decision? Did you dress up or down? Did anyone notice what you were wearing? Did you consider others or just yourself?

Last week I listened in on an email discussion on how we should dress for church. At first glance it didn't seem like a big deal but by the time everyone jumped in I realized we all had different ideas about what dressing for church meant.

Right out of the starting gate someone said, "You should dress as if you were going to see the King," quoting RC Sproul Jr, I think. Sounds easy enough. But for some people dressing up means....way up and for some people dressing up means clean and neat. There are so many issues that escape the box at this point the subject quickly deteriorates into pandemonium.

But you don't have to live in a box to know that something is wrong with the way we dress for church. For many, homeschooling moms included, dressing up means the skirt hem moves up the most. For many clean, neat and stylish quickly becomes vanity fair. The one-income family is now faced with the dreaded fear of becoming a stereotype. What to wear? What to wear?

I have a little confession to make. I wore a jumper. A jumper to church. A jumper to church in the morning.

Publish or Perish

I guess you could say my blog is escapist for me. I mean if it really reflected what was being talked about in our home it would be full of Braves, Reds, Rafael Palmiero, Manny-Be-Manny, Andruw Jones, Fantasy stats, Tennis ball ( family-made game) results and country music. As you can imagine my life can get pretty boring sometimes. And sometimes I look at someone asking me if I heard what Andruw hit today and I say, "Yes, please don't tell me again."

I suppose arguing baseball stats every morning is great logic training and only natural in a houseful of testosterone. But no one can really blame me if I find solace in blogging even though I really think blogging is a inane pastime and if I didn't do it myself I would consider it the height of silliness. Still it is not nearly as mind-numbing as listening to Manny Ramirez speak. Or for some real excitement Google the guy and read the quotes. Now that's more fun than a barrel of blogs.

School Days

We are down to 1 1/2 weeks to go until we start school. This time of year I always start to panic. I seem so busy all summer without school, how will I ever squeeze in our school schedule? Somehow every year it works. Even now I am looking over my summer reading goals and feeling let down. With a week and half to go I can only hope to finish 1-2 more books at the most. I had hoped to reread a few CM books this summer but the only education book I have read is Norms and Nobility. Still, I have been reading more to the children and doing some fun things like nature walks. I have also planned out the 3 older students schedule through November. My Morning Time planning is pretty easy since we just do the next thing.

Our composer for the 1st term will be Beethoven per se the Ambleside list but we will skip Michelangelo this term and do the Hudson River Valley artists which we missed earlier.

Here is a sample schedule. The schedule reflects some planning but mostly an acknowledgement of how our days turn out. The older boys follow their own schedule after attending the morning meeting. This is the plan but it will never happen exactly like this. Some days Morning Time will take too long and I will cancel a few things. The reason we finish so late is that we do take breaks for laundry, chores, life & play. We usually average 5 hours of school time on a good day, 45 minutes of play counted. Do not read this schedule as 7:30-4:00 School. The word schedule is like the word diet. We all have a diet and we all have a schedule. This is just a picture of what our days usually look like. Getting up early is about the only real tip that I can give anyone. It makes all the difference.

5:30 Awake
6:00 Bible reading
6:30 Breakfast
7:00 Clean-up
7:30 Math
8:30 Morning Meeting
9:00 Morning Time
10:00 Latin/Greek Alt (Spanish)
10:30 Language Arts (Spelling Monday, Grammar Tuesday, Handwriting Wed, etc)
11:00 Phonics with Andrew & Alex
12:00 Lunch
12:30 Clean-up/baseball/tennisball/basketball
1:00 Recorder (Andrew, Emily, Alex)
1:30 Science /nature walk
2:00 Ambleside: Andrew & Alex (Reading all)
3:00 Reading
4:00 Play
5:00 Supper
5:30 Clean-up
6:00 Evening activities

Crumbs From the Table

I have spent the day reading many of the Ambleside Online conference reports. This did prompt me to take a nature hike with the children. The Circe Conference was also last weekend at Stetson University and the Classed girls have been reporting on that. Since I am knee-deep in final preparations for our Aug 15 start date these reports have been inspiring.

The word of choice from the Circe Conference was "contemplation."
We don't want to keep ourselves and our children so busy that we don't have time for contemplation. One point that hit home with me was that someone mentioned that catechising your children is not nearly as effective as giving them stories. That is not to say don't catechise but don't expect the knowledge of truth to penetrate the heart through the catechism.

Donna C of the Ambleside list has written up a detailed report of her weekend in TX. I am inspired just reading it. Other Ambleside blogs:
http://rusticanda.blogspot.com/
http://heartkeepercommonroom.blogspot.com/
http://libertyandlily.blogspot.com/
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/bwktbarr/12105/

Do something today to contemplate the joys God has given you, especially in your children.

NEW LINK with pictures:
Ambleside Conference Pictorial

Picture Book Marriage

After 21 years of collecting children's picture books, many of them are in tatters. Today I labored on the picture book reorganization project. If I got rid of all the books with torn covers we would have a lot more room around here. If I only kept the pristine books then the library would be mediocre. There is a reason some books look so nice on the outside.

I will spend the afternoon taping books for our reading pleasure. Very few of our children's books have resale value. I think we are the bottom of the food chain for many items...toys, clothes, books, music....
We rate just below Goodwill. Still it makes me sad to throw away wonderful books many of them replaced several times already.

In going through the books I was struck by how many of the better books were written by husband and wife teams:

The Lobels

The Hobans

The Petershams

The Provensens

The Haders

The D'Aulaires*

Someday Tim and I would like to collaborate on a picture book. I already have one unpublished manuscript and he, if he ever gets the time, is a wonderful artist. He also has a few ideas for a series based on the oral stories he made up for the children.

*I suppose that should be D'Aulaireses but I still can't get a handle on it. I'm all for progressive grammar.