The Homeschool Mother's Journal - Spring Fever!

In my life this week: I've definitely felt the need for a spring break! In fact, we took off today because no one's heart was in homeschooling today, least of all mine! Our official "Spring Break" isn't for two more weeks, but it just may come early. It's baseball season again here, so our schedule will get busy. It is all worth it, though, when I see how much my son LOVES baseball and how much our whole family participates. I am thankful that my daughter has a good friend whose brother is on the same team, so practices and games are always lots of fun.

Getting a little deeper, I dealt with a couple of difficult people this week. It has taken me forty years to realize some people are not happy unless they have DRAMA in their lives. I am so NOT a drama person, so I don't deal with it well (whether it is through email or in person). Just as I was feeling discouraged I got a very sweet email from a homeschool mom I admire greatly - it made me realize I need to get better about tuning out the "noise" and focusing on the truly important things. I am not obligated to be friends with people who are hurtful to me. I enjoyed a pep-talk from an experienced blogging friend. She sent me encouraging scripture and put everything into perspective for me.

In our homeschool this week: We tied up a lot of loose ends this week. The kids spent a ton of time with our hermit crab, Harry (I'm amazed at the appeal of this crab!). We continued reading "The Wonder Clock" and working our way through The Story of the World. I ordered Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of the Iliad for us to begin soon. It feels like we are really sinking our teeth into something great with this curriculum. I love classical homeschooling! GMan began addition with carrying and he was SO excited about it. I told him he was bound and determined to make me run out of money buying math books, so he has been working furiously to make me "go broke". I love it! Miss B is working on a book about a fairy that travels through each of the seasons. We haven't worked a lot formally on writing, but I was so proud of her work. It is so true that lots of reading produces good writers!

Places we're going and people we're seeing: Wednesday we went to see a production of The Pirates of Penzance by The Atlanta Opera. It was a wonderful show, but it provoked a lot of thinking on my part about something very different than opera. I posted about it here. Maybe you can help me with my questions. We also had co-op on Thursday - next week is the last in our session and we will all be sad. Today we met a dear friend from church for breakfast and then checked out a new place nearby - The Fresh Market. Quite nice - I picked up a good bottle of wine for dinner tonight and some fun things for dinners next week, along with fresh blueberries and raspberries. My goal was to spend less than $50 and I succeeded!

My favorite thing this week: I really enjoyed spending time this week talking about books and reading with my husband. He is in love with iBooks and the Kindle for iPad app and has been staying up a little later than usual reading. I love to read, so we've been comparing notes. My kids are book/reading junkies, too. We are a house full of nerds!

What's working/not working for us: I'm relaxing our mornings a bit by not pushing the kids so hard to get started on academics so early morning. We are usually done with breakfast and devotions by 9 and then dive into things. I used to think we had to start by 8 a.m., and everyone was crabby and not too agreeable. What difference does an hour make? The extra hour also gives me a chance for a second cup of coffee and a little more cleaning around the house.

Homeschool Questions/Thoughts I Have: My oldest needs more accountability. I'm not quite sure how to achieve that. If you can give me some advice I'd appreciate it! She is a smart girl, but lacks initiative (is this typical for the age?), and it's driving me BONKERS! I know I'm very hard on her (if you know me, you're vigorously nodding your head in agreement!) and standards are high. It's especially difficult when my six year old is motivated to do everything. I have polar opposites living in my house.

A link to share: Click here to see a trailer for the new "Mr. Popper's Penguins" movie starring Jim Carey. Really? I can't wait to see this. We loved the book, so I wonder what the movie will be like!

A photo to share: This is from six years ago today, but it makes me smile. My children (on most days) have this kind of relationship - Miss B is the nurturing mother and GMan is that giggling little boy by her side. I love it that they have each other.

*Hop over to Hip, Homeschool Moms to read other mom's journals this week!

Tough Questions - Can You Help Me?

Earlier this week we took a field trip to Atlanta to see a wonderful production by The Atlanta Opera, The Pirates of Penzance. It's a great light comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan - a perfect introduction to opera. We enjoyed the show so much! I could blog about things you could do with this opera in your homeschool. I have lots of ideas about that. That, however, isn't what has been on my heart for the past few days.

After the performance we stopped downtown to visit my husband in his new offices. He has always worked "downtown", but the new offices are right in the thick of things. If you're familiar with Atlanta - Peachtree Center. As we drove I was talking with the kids about being excited to go see daddy. I love the sights and sounds of downtown. The hustle and bustle always excites me, and takes me back to a time when we lived closer in town and I was getting my graduate degree at Georgia State University. We also attended an "in town" church.

As I looked in my rear view mirror I could see Miss B wasn't smiling and she wasn't talking. I asked her what was wrong and she stated simply, "I don't like coming down here. The homeless people make me too sad." That is my girl for you. She has a heart the size of Texas and when she sees someone else hurting she hurts, too. She reminds me of myself when I was younger, and I think that as I've gotten older I've perhaps hardened a little. Why is that?

We met daddy in his lobby and proceeded to walk to lunch - passing several homeless people along the way. One woman in particular, stands out to me. She was singing a lovely spiritual and the sign she was holding said "Jesus Saves!". We whisked by her (in a hurry I guess) and my daughter grabbed my hand and said "Look, mom. She believes in Jesus. How come she is homeless?" Tough questions. I wanted to stop and talk to this woman, to give her a little money, and to tell her I appreciated her singing. Why didn't I do that? I am disappointed in myself.

I know we need to do MORE to help the hurting in our own community. I want to foster this compassion in my children and allow them to help in some way. I'm thinking volunteering at the soup kitchen in our former downtown church may be the thing. I don't want my children to be de-sensitized to the suffering going on around them. I don't want them to think these people are less than us, or that they are there because they made poor choices. The simple fact is this: we are all God's children, and I believe that we are to help those in need (no matter their reasons for being in need).

It's easy to teach academics, but it's not so easy to teach compassion.

How would you have answered my sweet daughter? Do you and your children volunteer in some way to help people in need? I'd love to get your comments and suggestions on this one. I don't have a curriculum guide or a sleek blog to consult on this one.

I'll leave you with a picture -- to lighten up the mood a little. This was taken in my husband's building. Can you tell my children are feeling the love?