Revolutionary Homeschooling

I just finished my new book, Teaching the Trivium. It was intense and really challenged my thinking. The basic supposition is that everything we do, including homeschooling, should be done for God's glory. Anything else is a waste of time.

So how does this apply to homeschooling?

Well, the authors address each subject and give the objective for each:
English - to better communicate God's truth to the world
History - to see God's hand working throughout history and to see the errors of those not following His will
Science - to discover God's principles for our universe and to see His awesome power revealed
Math - to recognize the orderliness of God and His consistency
Reading - (primarily our reading focus should be the Bible) to learn about God and His character and His will for our lives

Then they add the kickers:
Logic - to be able to reason and logically present the Truth of God's plan and will for our lives
Rhetoric - to effectively use the spoken word to defend our faith
Latin - to understand the English language even better in its syntax and grammar and to be able to communicate God's message with even more effectiveness
Greek - to read the New Testament in its original language and to therefore to better able to understand His word in the language He chose to communicate it in. The authors believe once we have a generation of children reading the New Testament in Greek, we will have a revival!

The most fascinating part of all was their recommendation that you shouldn't begin teaching formal math, that is math with worksheets and a textbook, until after age 10! Stating that the child's brain is not ready to understand such abstract concepts before this age, they make a compelling case for waiting. After pointing out many historical references to show that up until the 1900s, this was the way children in America were taught, I began to believe this was not such a wingnut idea! I looked back on our own experience with teaching math and it certainly rang true for me. They use the Biblical admonition not to exasperate our children. I did a lot of exasperating, believe me!! Of course my children are both 10 or older, so it doesn't help now, but I wish I had considered this idea back when we started.

In short, we are instructed to be training our children to be:

1. Absolutely grounded in His word and principles
2. Able to communicate His Truth effectively
3. Ready to give a defense of their faith
4. Used to instigate revival through the renewed understanding of the New Testament
5. Genuine Christians who live their lives in such a way as to bring glory to God.

That's a big job.

I'm supposed to be training revolutionary Christians, and I thought we were just learning the three R's. I'm overwhelmed!!!

Epic and the 80's Prom

This weekend we went up to Hanford to celebrate the one-year anniversary of a church founded by our former associate pastor. It is called Epic and reminds us a lot of Revolution.

They even had an 80's prom to commemorate the event. So I borrowed Dawn Bambrick's "Madonna" outfit and had a great time with my big hair, lots of jewelry, black lace and high heels! I think I scared the people in our hotel as I was walking out.

I love that I grew up in the 80's. What a crazy time of crazy things. I love the music and the silly hairstyles and the funky clothes. Not that I want a return of all that, but it is fun to remember. They played a video showcasing the music and included A-ha's "Take On Me", "Thriller", "Love Shack", "Addicted to Love" and a few others. Come on, you know you're humming one of those songs right now. We got almost every answer right in the 80's trivia contest and Tim knew every singer in the music contest. (Even the group that sang "Come on Eilene")

Then we got talking about the dysfunctional things we did in the 80's. When my friends and I were 12 and 13, we were hanging out with boys 18-20! That's insane! But that was the times. It was all about hooking up and flirting and other things we were WAY too young for.

Maybe it's still like that, but I don't see it. I certainly don't see it in my daughter!!! Thank you, God.

It was great to hang out with two of my best friends from the 80's - Kerry Kelly (Dillwood) and Brandi Parson (Flores). We reminisced about old times and turned to our parents to say, "What were you thinking?!" We laughed seeing outfits very similar to the ones we really did wear - on our daughters! Chandler and Regan wore their dad's white t-shirts with belts and black leggings underneath! - exactly the way their mom dressed.

We didn't get to dance as much as I would have liked. I love to dance even if I'm not very good at it. Ask the people who made fun of me dancing at Chris and Lynnae's wedding. I don't care. I just have fun moving around to music, but apparently the people of Hanford are not big dancers, so it was just me for the first song! Then others jumped out and I was able to embarrass my daughter - always a sign of success.

The church service was great. The music was wonderful and Bruce is an awesome speaker. Lots of fun.

Not Sure if This is Good or Not...

I'm a Dodge Viper!

You're all about raw power. You're tough, you're loud, and you don't take crap from anyone. Leave finesse to the other cars, the ones eating your dust.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Homeschool Books

For any of you who are thinking about homeschooling or even if you just want to know why would anyone do it, or if you homeschool and you want to know why YOU do it, or if you are opposed to doing it yourself but think it is O.K. for others, or if you are opposed to anyone ever homeschooling, here are two great books that very clearly lay out the vision and the blessings of homeschooling, and the responsibility we have as parents.

The first one, The Well-Trained Mind, by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Bauer, is my "bible" and it is well-marked up and well-read. The second, Teaching the Trivium, by Harvey and Laurie Bluedorn, is a new book I just bought a couple of days ago. I'm already on page one hundred and something and it is INTENSE! It is kicking my homeschool behind.

If you would like to borrow either, please let me know. I would love to lend them out... provided I get them back, of course!

Tina Fey and me

Today, someone at church told me I remind him of Tina Fey in looks and actions... I think he meant it in a good way. So I googled her and apparently she's "the thinking man's pin-up girl". Hmm...

Apart from that, what do you think?

Jumping off a wall

Here is the promised video of me jumping off a wall in San Francisco. My first video post!! Very exciting!

Mother's Tea

One of my favorite eating activities is a tea. I LOVE small, appetizery kind of food more than anything else. So, I was very excited when on Tuesday, my homeschool group held a Mother's Tea to pamper us and give us something special to do. Dawn Bambrick was one of the hostesses. She set up a beautiful table and made the tea very special. Of course I ate too much. Very hard not to at a tea, afterall, what's one more tomato/basil sandwich going to hurt when they are so yummy!

Oh well. It was a nice day with great food and great ladies.

Sob story

I had to get my first crown today! I cracked a tooth on Saturday and today I got fitted with a temporary crown.

The dentist was great (and this from a person who HATES going to the dentist!!!). The only pain I felt was in the wallet - $487.00.

OUCH!

6 things you don't know about me

So I finally had a chance to breathe, and I caught up on my blog surfing. I saw quite a few people posting "Six things you don't know about me" and I thought it looked fun.

So here goes:

1. I don't know what my natural hair color is. I have been dying my hair and lying about my age since I was 12. I don't intend to stop doing either anytime soon.

2. I have no fear of heights whatsoever. I like to freak people out sometimes by standing really close to a steep edge. In San Francisco, I saw a short wall and it appeared that the other side dropped steeply down about 200 ft. Actually, on the other side was a 12 foot shelf-like area and then the drop. I scared everyone there by standing on the wall... and then jumping off! They all thought I was going to plummet to my death! Here is a picture of Chandler on that same wall, and I have a video of me "jumping" I am going to try to post.

3. I have HUGE insecurities. Always have. Maybe it's a girl thing. I recently heard that the reason girls can't take criticism is because we have a constant critic in our heads. Then if anyone says anything remotely critical, it is the straw that broke the camel's back. My biggest insecurity is homeschooling. I constantly worry that I'm screwing up my kids.

4. I was not the valedictorian of my high-school class. That's not the surprising part. I was salutatorian (second-place or first loser). That might be surprising because I think I have a reputation for being kind of a ditz. I actually should have been valedictorian, but the kid who got it did so after his mom cried and got a grade changed from a C to an A!!! But I'm not bitter.

5. I've never ridden or even sat in a limo

6. I love to take showers sitting down on the floor. O.K. that may be more than you want to know about me. I just feel too exhausted to stand sometimes!

I think that's every secret I have. I can't think of anything else remotely interesting. Oh wait, there is one thing at which I'm surprisingly good, but that will have to wait for another post.

Chandler's American Girl Birthday Party

Chandler celebrated her birthday yesterday with an American Girl Mystery Party. My mom had bought her this "party in a box" a while ago and we finally got a chance to use it.

The girls all came dressed in costumes from Samantha's day (Revolutionary War period) or at least they tried to mimic it in some way!

Although it had nothing to do with the theme, we started off making popcorn/marshmallow snow people and decorating them with candy. Chandler had seen it in her American Girl magazine and really wanted to try it. Then it was off to act out the mystery. Each girl had a script and the acting was superb (sort of). The best part was Regan's reaction to finding her long-lost daughter. She went from being a reserved, grumpy maid to sobbing on the table. They all had fun finding the clues and deciphering them.
We finished with Chandler's favorite meal, spaghetti, salad and garlic bread. No birthday cake however, she wanted brownies.

So now we are officially done celebrating her 12th birthday season.

Diet Update Part... Something

It's been a while since my last diet update.

I really feel good about where I am. Since I started in earnest one year ago, I've lost 14 pounds. The best part is that I am fitting into jeans that were destined for Goodwill! I actually had to pull several pairs out of my Goodwill pile and replace them with things I had grown out of, or rather, they had grown out of me, I guess. Either way, my regular stuff is too big and the old stuff fits!!!

Very cool.