Embracing Life Now :-)


After seeing this poster, I began thinking about all my school years when I heard teachers, parents, and other adults talk about "when you get out in the real world." I spent 21 years in school-- from kindergarten through a graduate program and a law degree. I was in my early 20's before I experienced the real world; and that's not bad, it was just my experience.

I do know that despite my good grades, I was unprepared for "life". I didn't know how to DO anything-- make a budget, earn a living, change the oil on my car, prepare a vegetable. I wasn't even sure I would enjoy the career I had trained so long to do. All I had done was learn "about" the career; I hadn't been allowed to really "do it" until I had my degree and passed the bar exam.

I do hope my children know more about "the real world" through homeschooling. Our "homeschool" begins at home with our family as the center; but homeschool is really just another way of saying "learning outside of the traditional classroom." It is also-- I hope-- a way of living now, following our interests now instead of at some distant point in time.

The boys have the opportunity to learn from people who are what they might wish to be. They can do that learning now-- whether it is talking to a physicist, taking a hike with a biologist, pursuing a sport, or working with an artist. We don't have to squeeze our living between the school bells and homework.

The laughter and shouting in the living room assures me that we are on the right track. With homeschool, we don't postpone joy. We embrace life now.

The Code of Denver



When asked for three rules
our family should follow,
Denver came up with these!



Wild Girl Time



Lady runs in wild abandon

Most people dread Monday morning, but I cannot wait. After a weekend of being nothing but "Mom", and doing all the title entails-- welcoming children for sleepovers and swimming, constant kitchen duty, picking up shoes, caring for laundry, making spaghetti, pb&j sandwiches, and generally not doing anything that I would choose to do if I were alone-- after all of this, Monday morning calls to me like a moon to the howling wolf. It is time for Wild Girl.

In just a few hours, I will awaken, throw off my mommy pajamas, and pull on my running clothes. Lady and I will run at least ten miles tomorrow before the boys are out of bed. We cannot wait. It is our Wild Girl time. We might see deer, geese, hawks, or even an owl out past bedtime. Dreams and ideas will swirl unhindered in my mind. Lady will run beside me-- nose twitching and tongue hanging out like a ham. We cannot wait.

Well, that's not quite true. Right now, Lady is sound asleep near my feet; her legs up in the air like a dead bug leaning against the wall. She is snoring. So perhaps we approach the night before a run slightly differently. Nevertheless, tomorrow morning for a couple of hours we'll each embrace our secret identities-- as Wild Girls! 

Ideas Running Wild

Shaw and Spencer carefully build their Marble Run

Shaw and Spencer clamber around the house like puppies, both talking at once, gesturing to one another, saying, "Hey! I've got an idea!" They spend most of their time building things-- using anything from blocks to boxes and sheets.

After a Lego building marathon, swimming, and snacks, they found the Marble Run. An hour later, they just as suddenly ran off and left it; no doubt it was just after one of them said, "Hey, I've got an idea!"

The Sweetness of an Ice Cream Social




The Old Church in Oxford as painted by a local artist.

 

It was an ice cream social in front of the Old Church on a surprisingly cool August evening. Mimi and Paw Paw wore their Lions Club vests and dished out ice cream to the happy crowd-- my children among them (more than once!). I saw people I hadn't seen in years, and we hugged and made plans to see each other again soon.

There was a bluegrass concert inside the church, but the boys and their friends chose a touch football game outside instead. I sat on the stone fence and watched the comedy unfold.

When everyone was grass stained and sweaty, we packed up our friend, Cameron, to spend the night and toodled home. A sweet time. Satisfied smiles-- with chocolate syrup around the edges.



Swirling, Whirling Days



Spencer creates his medieval manuscript by candlelight.

 Living together means learning together-- learning to get along with one another, exploring our interests, discovering new hobbies and areas of study. Learning to help one another and help ourselves. The days swirl and whirl until I cannot remember where one year ended and another has begun.

Spencer recently created a lovely illuminated manuscript when he became (briefly) fascinated with the lives of medieval monks, and spent most of an entire day working on his writing by candlelight. The older boys and I have been enjoying Shakespeare plays. We've all been reading about Marco Polo. John Robert is passionate about swim team and math (go figure!). Spencer is passionate about karate and The Hobbit. Denver is passionate about being the center of attention!

John has a favorite quote: The key to happiness is to have someone to love, something worthwhile to do, and something to hope for. If that is so, then we are rich in joy.

Denver shows off his grammar skills

 



John Robert spends hours working algebra problems.





Spencer and friend enjoy a game of baseball.





Denver winds up another pitch.



















The cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream
from Shakespeare's Taverne.





Friday Morning Lazy Homeschool





Brave Knight, Sir Denver, prepares for battle.



Sometimes I wish I could post pictures of handsomely groomed children sitting happily at their homeschool tables reciting their multiplication tables or doing trigonometry without a calculator. Heck, I'd like to post pictures of myself looking like June Cleaver-- maybe holding a pointer in my hand as I smile and appear to be teaching about Argentina. Alas! Our homeschool is far more leisurely. Okay, sometimes it looks downright lazy! But wonderful things are happening . . .

Denver acts out much of his history reading. We're exploring the middle ages. Today he insisted on raiding the kitchen to make armor while I was making everyone a late breakfast. He then requested photographs!

One of the happiest developments in our homeschool is the reading skill of both Denver and Spencer. Since this past May, Denver has gone from memorizing words and reciting them to actually looking at the words and reading them. It is a joy to sit beside him as he reads. He is proud of himself (no big surprise!) and often requests two or more books at a sitting.

In the past, Spencer has always been a non-fiction reader. His tendency was to read factual bits on one page and then skip to another page. To my delight, he has discovered Tolkien's The Hobbit, and can often be found in a quiet spot curled around his book. He is such an imaginative little boy; I am so happy he has discovered the joys of fiction!

This afternoon we have a friend coming over to go swimming. In preparation, Denver leaped out of bed and began homeschool immediately so that he would be completely done before his friend arrived. His brothers are less motivated. Besides, they have Spanish with Mimi this morning before they can really get started on their other work. Nevertheless, all will be accomplished. It is wonderful for them to have such an open span of time in which to complete their studies. As a teacher, it is nice not to have to rush anyone.

 

Spencer enjoys the adventure of The Hobbit.



Yes, our homeschool experience is not the pretty, organized picture one might imagine. Yet the boys are enjoying life and learning, and John and I get to see so much more of it than we would if they were in school. It's almost noon and we can still be in our pajamas while we work. Life is good.





John Robert quietly contemplates a trip across the Atlantic Ocean.