Just Keep Swimming...

Another picture? Really, Mom???

Roads go ever ever on,

   Over rock and under tree,

By caves where never sun has shone,

   By streams that never find the sea;

Over snow by winter sown.

   And through the merry flowers of June,

Over grass and over stone,

   And under mountains in the moon. {J.R.R. Tolkien}

I am not the hobbit that I was.

I haven't traveled a long road and challenged a dragon like Bilbo did, but I feel different, somehow.

View of the mealtime food line from the table
(And through a dirty camera lens...)

Maybe I'm just getting OLD. I feel a little like I've lost bits of my former self, all while adding new challenges that are refining and teaching me. I have chosen them-- they are good, important things. I have received a witness that it's my time, my turn, to take them on. Still, I feel like I've not only been thrown in the deep end of the pool, but I have a boat full of people that I am supposed to bring safely to shore with me: moms, dads, kids, youth, and ESPECIALLY my own family.

Happy Davy on a messy floor-- I never said he could crawl so soon!

First of all, having a baby this late in life is a whole new ballgame compared to my first ones. I feel like I have more patience, more appreciation for my sweet little ones, but I also have less energy. Thankfully, I have more help! But with that, there's a bitterness to the sweet things that come with babyhood. I know that it is so fleeting, so short.

I recognize that it's silly to cry about how he's growing and how fast he's learning, but I know too well that he will be gone tomorrow... practically. He is a precious, sweet gift that I am not anxious to let go of. But I know that he is here for that very purpose, to become his own person, to move on, to grow and accomplish all Father has in store for him.

Davy trying applesauce for the first time, thanks to big sister Bonny. Mmm!

Alright. Enough of that! A mother's heart can only take so much.

Not-a-baby-anymore Eryn and bigger sister, Avalon

In addition to motherhood, I am homeschooling, I direct my ward choir, I am making and organizing the costumes for our Spring Shakespeare play, and now I have taken on something BIG. (Because I'm not busy enough, obviously...)

I have taken the helm of an enormous vessel, called a Commonwealth School. It's not really a "school." It's a group of homeschooling parents who get together once a week for supplemental classes and I am their new leader.

Grayse Dawn turned 6 this month.

Luckily, I was inspired to accept the nomination, so I get to have the Lord's help with it all. But I am still drowning a bit while I remember what it's like to lead. I spent three years as a homeschool group president before resigning my position five years ago, and I'm hoping I have learned better what NOT to do, since I made plenty of mistakes the first time around.

Yeah. 

PRAY FOR ME.

Here are more pictures for the grandparentals. {SQUIRREL!}:

Brennan, on his way to rescue his "kidnapped" future prom date.
It was his creative way of asking her.
(Thanks for the Civil War jacket, Granna!)

Here are the accompanying siblings, one dressed as "Death, the kidnapper."

Ronan, Dierdre, and Gavin posing in a real Ford Model-T!
Ronan begged me to take him to a free car show, so we went in between conference sessions on Saturday.

Somehow, thanks to the Savior's love and help, we will make it through.

Hopefully, without drowning.

Love, Mama Rachel

Homeschool: Sharing "What's Mine"

Mom, sharing what she loves!

First, and foremost, our homeschool does not look like public school.

Surprise!

Why not?

Because we live there, we pray there, we play there, we LOVE there. Our focus is on the "Home" part of the word, not the "School" part.

Our home is a Home of Learning.

The picture above is a photo one of my kids took during our school time. I was busy sharing "what's mine."

What's "what's mine?"

"What's mine" is a term my friend and author (who happens to also be a homeschooling mom), Rachel DeMille, uses to explain what she teaches to her children. Basically, "what's mine" includes the things I, as their mother, want them to know and understand.

Every few months, I sit down and I plan what I want to present to my children. I use a four year rotation as a personal preference, just because I know that if I don't plan, I forget what I want to share. It's just how my brain works, so I've learned to accept and embrace who I am and how I function.

(I also adore making spreadsheets. It's a disease, really, but thankfully it's been a useful one...)

Every day, my kids clean, cook, study the Gospel, do math exercises and read. Those are the basics around here. Then during our "school time," I share the other things I want them to learn.

• Mondays we clean the house and I have Mentor Meetings with our scholar kids (12 and older). 
• Tuesdays we go to our Commonweralth School classes (see more about that here: tjla.net)
• Wednesdays we study history together.
• Thursdays we learn about music. (Composers and music theory lessons)
• Friday is our science day.

Four Year Plan

Because there are so many things to learn under each general subject, I put them on a four year rotation to be more organized. Here's what that looks like:

Year One

• Gospel: Old Testament & Pearl of Great Price; 
• History: Ancient
• Science: Chemistry

Year Two

• Gospel: New Testament
• History: Modern World
• Science: Biology

Year Three

• Gospel: Book of Mormon
• History: Geography
• Science: Physics

Year Four

• Gospel: Doctrine & Covenants/Church History
• History: United States
• Science: Astronomy & Earth Science

We are currently on Year Four.

Learning Resources

Obviously, we have a variety of ages and levels in our family. But we use materials that all can understand, and that are more hands-on and fun. Then the older kids can go in more depth on their own-- which they do.   A great resource for more in-depth, advanced learning that we frequently use is Khan Academy. (Our scholars do more advanced math there, as well.)

We also have a MULTITUDE of books the kids can read, too-- especially for history, which I think is one of the most important subjects anyone can know! 

Here's one of the great resources we are using for our U.S. History studies this year:

Found at Deseret Book

For Science, we are using this awesome book:

Found at Latter-Day Family Resources

For our music study, we read about a composer, listen to his music, and then we learn a little about music theory. My favorite composer book is this one:

Also from LDFR

We also read aloud as a family-- one of the most important things we do for our learning AND our family culture. Right now, we are reading this:

From Deseret Book

(And it's AWESOME!!!)

How much time?

Our "school time" is not very long-- about an hour, sometimes an hour and a half. Then the big kids go off and study on their own, and the little ones play. The middle ones are always working on some project or another. Those projects are usually hands-on, and often messy, but they have a lot of fun learning!

A lot of time is also spent cleaning, organizing, cooking, and fixing things. I believe that ALL of life is learning, and the practical life skills we all need are a major focus of "what's mine." 

HOME-school

I hope this little glimpse into our homeschool day might help others see that homeschool does not need to look like public school. I always try to remember that we are running a HOME, first and foremost. The rest happens organically.

I am so grateful for the freedom to teach my children the things that Heavenly Father wants me to teach them! I could not do any of it without Divine Inspiration. So, in reality, when I'm teaching "what's mine," I'm also teaching "what's His."

Love, Mama Rachel