The Compass and The Binder. . .

Today is not usually my day for blog updates. As you can tell, I haven't done that in a while, but I thought since I am having a day of this:


(a story for a completely different post , maybe, and that is also an ice pack UNDER my legs as well)

I thought I would get caught up on things.

We took a day, a few weeks ago, to put together our binders. Being A Mother Who Knows does a wonderful job of explaining some of the ideas for this and also gives some other great links to follow. I don't see the need of repeating what someone else has done a wonderful job with already, so go here to see what she has to share.

I sat down with Ky and Bugaloo to explain the theory and use of the binders and also the ideas of the compass. I gave them a basic outline of what the compass would include and asked them to prayerfully consider what they wanted to include. They spent a day thinking over this and the next day, they both presented their compass. They both wanted to type up a copy of their compass for reference in their binders, so they got that done and we put together their binders.

Bugaloo's Compass

I also sat down with Peaches and explained it to her and we put together a compass for her as well. Her compass is almost entirely Core based. I also did my own compass. So, after feeling like we all had a direction, we started our learning a new.

I do encourage anyone, whether they are learning with the TJEd method or not, to think about what you want to do over the next few months, write down your goals, and work toward them. Enjoy!

The Nitty Gritty . . .A Master Plan

I have been spending some time, this summer, studying more of the things taught through the Thomas Jefferson Education (TJEd). The hubby and I finally sat down and made our Master Plan. It was not easy. I will not sugar coat it for you, we sat down and started going over each of the elements for a great Master Plan and for some of them, we were stumped.


In the book, A Thomas Jefferson Education: Home Companion, there is a wonderful explanation of what a Master Plan is and what it includes. Here is just a tidbit:

Nine Key Elements of an Effective Master Plan

1. Classics: Your List

2. Cultural Literacy, Breadth & Depth

3. Academic Programs

4. Adult Skills

5. Organizational Programs

6. Experience

7. God

8. Family Relationships

9. Places to go

In truth, I think we were so fine with living in the here and now that it was a little difficult to think about our children and family in future terms. As we went through each of the Nine Elements, I soon realized that we did not need to have something for every topic and that we could have general things that would involve everyone. I think that over the years, we will add things to the plan as well as take things away.

What I found was this gave me a sense of a path to follow towards the dreams and goals we have for our children. It also aids in keeping your learning more organized. I am excited to use the elements in our learning and continue on in this journey. Enjoy!

Just Wondering . . .

First, an update. Things are going great with us. I feel like the "learning" part of our lives is blending in smoothly with the rest of the everyday grind. When people ask what a typical day with us is like, I think they are a little surprised to learn that our learning is just another part of our day like meals or chores. Most people expect us to have a time set aside for "school". We do, it is just part of what we do. If we feel like starting a chore a little later because we are deep into a great book and the kids don't want to stop (yes, it's happened) then we keep reading. The best part of core phase is that they get to play their little hearts out and eventually they want to learn. It's amazing to experience, but you have to be patient in the process. Having had two children experience the public school system for a couple of years, I not only had to retrain their thought process but my own. It has been hard, but amazing at the same time.

We have been reading Bambi and loving it! It is an amazing story and I love the way the author gives the reader little tastes of nature and life from nature's point of view. We are coming to some critical parts of the story and I am interested to see what kind of conversations they will initiate. We have already had a few good ones. I do want to share with you a portion of my favorite chapter so far. It is not too long, but the author does such a great job of making it come alive to the reader.

The leaves were falling from the great oak at the
meadow's edge. They were falling from all the trees.

One branch of the oak reached high above the
others and stretched far out over the meadow. Two
leaves clung to its very tip.

"It isn't the way it used to be," said the one leaf to the other.

"No," the other leaf answered. "So many of us have fallen
off to-night we're almost the only ones left on our branch."

"You never know who's going to go next, " said
the first leaf. "Even when it was warm and the sun
shone, a storm or a cloudburst would come sometimes,
and many leaves were torn off, though they were
still young. You never know who's going to go next."

"The sun seldom shines now," sighed the second leaf,
"and when it does it gives no warmth. We must have
warmth again"

"Can it be true," said the first leaf, "can it really be true,
that others come take our places when we're gone,
after them still others, and more and more?"

"It is really true," whispered the second leaf. "We
can't even begin to imagine it, it's beyond our powers."

"It makes me very sad," added the first leaf.

They were silent a while. Then the first leaf said quietly
to herself, " Why must we fall? . . ."

Really, I encourage anyone to read this book, it is enriching. I do have a question for you all, what do you do when you have something throw off your schedule for a period of time? What do you do to keep things relatively on track? During the summer is especially hard because you have family visiting, vacations to go on, things throwing the balance off. What do you do?

Battle of the Purge . . .

This is, in a sense, a continuation or update from an earlier post, "Joining In". I had said at the end of that post that I had since moved onto the basement in our battle to purge our home of any and all things non-needful or non-used. The hubby and I dug right in and went through every square inch of the basement. Every box, tote, anything that could hold or store something. We made piles; one for trash, one for keeping, one for selling/donating. I know what your thinking, why go through the trouble of a yard sale. That is exactly what my husband said. He is disgusted with the whole idea of having a yard sale and I just kindly told him that it would be nice to get some money out of all the things we were getting rid of. I also reminded him that it would be me and me alone that would do EVERYTHING for the yard sale.

The piles grew and grew and grew. I was SHOCKED at all the stuff we had that was just junk and what was not to be kept. There was so much! I went through all of our DVD's and CD's and got rid of about 95% of the CD's and about 60% of the movies. The movie average is low because about 75% of the movies we kept are Living Scripture movies or movies made by the LDS church. When my husband saw how many movies I had in the "get rid of" pile, he questioned it. I told him why I didn't like this movie or that and he agreed, there is better.


In the end, we hauled off about 400 lbs of TRASH! It was crazy how much there was. I did have a yard sale and was able to sell about a third of everything there. I made $150 in the 5 hours that I had it and felt it was worth it. We will be putting that in our trampoline fund. (One of the downsides to living "in town" is not having all the room to just go, go, go.)

After the sale, I loaded our Expedition up with all the boxes of things to donate and drove them promptly to the local thrift store. It feels so good to have it gone! So, farewell music from our teenage years in the late 80's and early 90's that was never appropriate to begin with. Goodbye stamps and other scrapbooking supplies that were lovingly used for a couple of years but not even looked at for the last three years. So long to all the piles and piles of DVD's that were watched 1, 2, maybe 3 times and never looked at again. The list goes on and on and on. I am glad to be rid of it and I actually think I lost a few pounds in the process. Enjoy!

Joining In . . .

I have been away for a while. It has been almost a week since my last post and I can honestly say that I have been anxiously engaged in activities that are enriching to my family, home, and myself. I found myself, many times, in the depths of this, that, or the other and have desperately and wholeheartedly been climbing out of it.

I think that after a while, we can all come to the point when we realize that, no matter how much we don't want it to be true, we all have STUFF that we don't need or for that matter want. After a lot, A LOT of great examples from other bloggers and books, I rolled up the sleeves and jumped into it. Now, I need to preface this by saying that I am in no way finished with this job. As usual, LIFE seemed to creep in every time I would get a good rhythm going. But, little by little, I have been purging. I can truly say that I am not a stuff person. I hate clutter in every form, but somehow it always seems to get in there. I would compare it to a tick. Yes, a tick. Ticks are tiny arachnids (did you know they were an arachnid and not a bug? Go figure . . .) Anyway, they hide on tall grass and bushes (like sagebrush) and wait to attach themselves to passersby to do their damage. Stuff is a lot the same but in reverse. Stuff gets carried around by "passersby" and waits for the most opportune time to break free and find a nice comfy spot to "hide" for as long as it can. I am sick and tired of stuff!


So, I have started to go through EVERYTHING in my house and if it has not been used in the last 6 months to a year, it is gone. As I have gone on this journey, I have been pretty surprised at what I have saved. I thought I did a thorough job when we moved into this house almost 2 years ago, but here I am with boxes and boxes and sacks and sacks full of stuff to get rid of. UGH!!!!!!!

The positives to purging? Less STUFF to take care of!!!!! I started with my kids rooms first and it has been great to see that it is easier for them to take care of things when there is less of it. With the littles, I also did a good job of putting things up out of reach for the simple reason that they must now ask for things to play with. Now, before I get a bunch of comments, they still have a couple of items on their bookshelf along with all their books, but I want them to learn that they have to take care of this before getting that.

I have since moved onto the basement, which is currently under construction ( and may I say that the head contractor, ya he's a hottie!) anyway, I have been going through the boxes of STUFF that reside temporarily there and I will admit that after 12 years of marriage, I just threw away all the cards that people gave us at our wedding. Yikes, I know!! I've had it and now, I won't have any of it! So it is still a work in progress, but it is progressing and that is encouraging.

*** On a side note, that "head contractor" and I celebrated those 12 years a couple of Saturdays ago and I still feel like the luckiest woman on earth. Love you Hun!!!!