"Artsy" Birthday . . .

We celebrated 11 years of Dreamer's life this week.  She is our artist in residence, so of course the whole of the celebrations were art related.  It was her year for a friend party and she knew right away what she wanted to do; sand art. 

I looked for pre-done kits, but could not find exactly what she wanted, so we mixed a few kits from the dollar store, extra sand and glass bottles with corks from the local crafting store.  It was interesting to see all the different patterns and techniques used by each of the kids.  Her friends kept to her passion by giving her art supplies as gifts.  

She requested German pancakes with strawberries and cream for breakfast.  We had a great family dinner and party for her also and she was pretty excited about her gifts, especially art lessons once a week  from her very talented Grandma.  

Pizza, games, gifts, cone cakes . . . it was a great day!  The whole day was ended with the traditional pinata.

                Happy Birthday!!!

Adding Living Books . . . A New Find

I just finished reading the book The Hiding Place written by Corrie Ten Boom.  I feel like it is difficult to find the right words to describe this book.  It is absolutely a "living book".  

The biography of a woman from the Netherlands, that lived through World War II, and the experiences she and her family had during that time.  I learned so much from this book.  Beyond the historical information, I was amazed at the strength the individuals had for love and compassion, not only for their friends, family, and countrymen, but for their enemies and persecutors.  I also learned a lot about being a parent.  This book will be added to our list of Must Reads for our historical studies of the time during World War II.  I strongly recommend that all read this book.  Enjoy!

Lessons Learned at a Homeschool Conference

I just spent two wonderful days at the CHOIS Homeschool Convention.  The messages that I heard there were inspiring, educational, invigorating, informative, and spiritual.  While I very much enjoyed all the presenters and speakers in the workshops, I especially enjoyed being taught by Micheal Farris, Esq.  He is the founder of the Home School Legal Defense Association ( HSLDA ), husband and homeschooling father of 10 children, founding president of Patrick Henry College, author and more.  He is a very informative and straightforward speaker.

I loved hearing about real life homeschooling challenges and successes from all the veterans we heard from.  Here are just some of the thoughts the presenters shared that stood out to me:

• Write a special life prayer for your children.  I see this as a mission statement for my children.
• Pray for your kids and let them hear you pray for them.
• Academics are not the most important thing to teach.  Help them master math and english, but have a broad exposure of everything else.
• Teaching your kids about God is the foundation, teaching them to believe in God is the ultimate goal.

Michael Farris, Esq. ~  The Spiritual Power of a Mother

• Don't create an unrealistic atmosphere if your going to have a large family
• Use paper plates, it's ok.  LOVED THIS! He also said, make sure you can afford it.
• Protect your family from those things that will steal your time.
• Children don't need fancy curriculum as much as they need a sane mom.  She needs a place of peace that she can retreat to.  The husband needs to make sure that mom gets the retreat.  
• The goal is to raise good parents.  You model good families; Goal is to raise good, strong families, not good children.  ( I liked this, I don't want to raise good children, I want them to be good parents and adults, not good children )
• Have a marriage central household.
• Schedule times to strengthen your marriage.  If it is not on the schedule, then it is not a priority.  Make it a priority.

Michael Farris, Esq.  ~  Homeschooling Large Families

• The marriage relationship is preeminent and forms the foundation of the home.
• Ephesians 5:22 - 28
• The quality of marriage ultimately depends on the husband. 

Joe and Zan Tyler ~  Lessons in Real Life

• Knowing about child development is important so we can gain understanding in what is appropriate for our children's learning needs and not expect more or less than they are capable.
• Development occurs across four strands: Physical, Cognitive (brain development), Social-Emotional, Spiritual

Connie Riser ~  Child Development-The Natural Stages of Learning

I hope this piqued your interest as much as it did mine.  If you have any questions or want more in depth information on something, let me know.  I will end with some of the books that were suggested reading by the presenters and ones that I am definitely going to get my hands on. Enjoy!

Teaching With the Brain in Mind

Your Child's Growing Mind

Blooms Taxonomy

Why America's Free

The Way They Learn

The Big What Now Book of Learning Styles

A First . . .

We've had a first at Our Home's School . . . a broken bone.  Our oldest, Darling Helper is 12.  We have three more kiddos ages 10, 6, and 4.  No broken bones, no major health issues of the sort.  Not until today.  

"A clean break", is what that doctor said.  It looks bad in this picture, but I think it looked worse.  She did a great job.  Setting the finger into the splint was painful for her, but she just gritted her teeth and didn't cry; brave girl.

So, on the way home, we stopped for a shake and I think she is feeling better.  The doctor asked her what she liked to do.  Piano, no piano now for about 4 weeks, Violin, nope, not for about 4 weeks, riding her bike ( ya, that's what got her here, bike crash), and Legos, this should be an interesting month. 

. . . as a side note, a couple of weeks ago, I had a conversation with Peaches while she was in the bath.  She commented that fingers were very important and then said, " Life would be pretty hard without them."  Hmmmm . . . I guess now we have a guinea pig to test that theory.  Enjoy!