Many moons ago, my husband was the commander of an AWANA club in East Tennessee, and I was a director for Sparks. Before we moved to Texas, we embarked on one last performance at the church we had grown to love as newlyweds and then as new parents of young children. As we enter the […]
The Thanksgiving Tree Tradition
Every year during the month of November, we gather some sticks, cut out some “leaves,” and make a Thanksgiving Tree. It is one of our most treasured traditions. And every year, I love to go back through photos to see what the boys were thankful for in previous years… I didn’t realize how much the […]
The Art of Questioning
What is the purpose of a question? To come up with a correct answer? Or should there be something more? What if we used questions to come up with more questions? What if our purpose for asking questions was to extend the curiosity of our students rather than just come up with a correct answer? […]
Introducing Composer Study: Prokofiev & Peter and the Wolf
Over the past few months I’ve fallen off the consistently-listen-to-classical-music wagon. This isn’t because I don’t have a plethora of organized resources already available to me. It’s just because I haven’t made it a priority. But… our children enjoy listening to classical music, so all I really need to do is play some classical music. […]
Traditions: The Pumpkin Prayer
Every year, we say our pumpkin prayer as we carve a pumpkin in celebration of the wonder of fall. It’s a tradition we all enjoy sharing together… Cut off the top: Lord, open my mind and fill me with Your wisdom and guidance. Scoop out the yuckies: Lord, take out all my fussies and frowns […]
Tin Whistle & Music Theory
Tin Whistle & Music Theory is probably the most DIFFICULT of Fine Arts subjects for me. Sometimes I even find myself hoping the boys have forgotten that their tin whistles are in their backpacks. I keep telling myself it doesn’t have to be that way. I don’t want it to be that way. I want […]
Latin Conjugations: Keeping the Tenses Straight
This is one of the methods our family uses as a memory work aid, especially when we have trouble connecting a prompt to the beginning of the answer to that prompt. This memory work method is: Use a catch phrase. 1st Conjugation Present Tense: When we get a new present, we say, “Oh! Thank you!” […]
The Homeschool Experiment
Imagine…. a book that honestly addresses the frustrations and doubts we [might] face in our homeschooling journey. Now imagine that book detailing not just some random frustrations and doubts, but also the specific frustrations and doubts of a first-year homeschooling mom: Attending that first curriculum fair (“What in the world am I doing here?”) Dealing […]
For Instruction in Righteousness
This summer, after reading Don’t Make Me Count to Three by Ginger Plowman, I started making flashcards for myself to study and learn the Biblical way to correct my children. I knew I had blown it many times in the past (and I still do! With Christ’s help, I’m working on it! Phil 4:13) and […]