Yesterday was a really good day! For some time now, I have not been happy with the way our school days were going. They haven't been bad-just not reaching a level important to me.
I love a lifestyle of learning-it something that happens as soon as we wake up and doesn't stop until we go to bed. I love Charlotte Mason philosophies, I love what I've read by Ray & Beth Moore and I love my own style.
But, I have felt pressured by what our state requires. I have to do a lot of charting -letter of intent, IHIP, quarterly reports and evaluations. It is really stifling. Sometimes I push the kids thru lessons just so I can check it off and chart that we've done it. I've been doing that more than I used to. Really, the last year or so, it's been a struggle for me to balance state requirements and what and how I feel the Lord is directing us to teach the kids.
I've been reading Beyond Survival by Diana Waring, I've been thinking, praying and the other day I talked with a HS mom-friend who voiced the same thing. She said she feels resentful of it and so do I.
Also, I used to be more fun & spontaneous. I've been more of a drill sargeant lately.
So, yesterday was the start of the revolution in more than one way.
We did school the way we used to and with new elements and we started the American Revolution unit in Konos!
Instead of just getting thru our 3Rs-we did them in a more informal relaxed way and we didn't do it all either.
Also, I pulled up a weed in our school day-the TV. What a big ugly weed that one is in our homeschool garden.
We read a lot of books from our Konos unit and we went on some rabbit trails.
We learned and sang "The Rich Lady Over the Sea" ,discussed who the rich lady was and who her daughter was.
That was a really fun song-I love the wording of it, too.
We had already read about the Boston Tea Party earlier (and other times before for fun), so we got ourselves painted up like Mohawk Indians like the Sons of Liberty did (except we didn't have black, so we were green, red, blue & white). I let Hannah paint my face, too. She was a smart aleck, though-she drew a circle around a birthmark on my chin and was about to draw glasses when Jonah warned me.
We found a bunch of boxes in the basement, wrote "English Tea" on all of them. Susanna colored on them, too. Jonah piled them all over the porch-that was the 3 English ships.
The kids traveled from the back of the house to the front chanting "Rally, Mohawks! Bring out your axes, and Tell King George we'll pay no taxes!"
Susanna was just following them around not really sure what was going on, but when we all got on the porch and flung boxes into the "harbor", she had a lot of fun. Hannah & Jonah had fun,too andgot a little carried away. I got hit with a box of tea right on the head before I could get onto the ship. LOL
Here's our harbor full of floating English Tea. The kids were pretending they were floating off with the tea, too.
We had a bit of a time getting all the paint off. We needed to go the library and I thought we were going to have to go with paint smeared all over us. Susanna & Jonah didn't care for being scrubbed with a soapy washcloth. We got most of it off, went to the library and listened to "The Cay" on tape in the car.
We've already listened to Johnny Tremain and I need to get more Revolution tapes/CDs for us to listen to.
Last week Hannah read an American Girl book that was set during the American Revolution. It's called Very Funny, Elizabeth.
I had her make a "peephole book report" . She really enjoyed doing that. She'll be giving an oral report about it to her Dad tonight after he looks into the peephole.
If you click on that link, you'll need to scroll down to November. This site has a book report idea for each month.
I got Susanna down for a nap and read to Jonah. We are really enjoying a book called Wild Animals I have Known by Ernest Thompson Seton.
Jonah & I did some multiplication drills and I helped him do his Daily Grams. Then he went out to play.
Hannah's friend, Danielle came over after she got out of school and they rode horses together. Jonah played with them, too.
Susanna got up and she kept me company while I made dinner. After it was in the oven, she and I had a delicious time sitting up in the recently cleaned-up loft reading board books. I don't get to do that enough with her and I cherish the times that we do it. I need to make it happen more often. She loves looking at books and she is such a cuddle-bug.
At dinner, my dh and I are trying to develop more of a habit of discussion at the table that we all take part in. Intead of eating the food and running off. Jonah was my kitchen helper and I'm finding that conversation is good with whoever the helper is.
Pat read the Bible to the kids before they went to bed. This is another habit we're trying to establish. Too often, the TV is on in the evening and Pat doesn't read the Bible.
I pray the Lord would steady us-make us more consistent and purposeful in our living and learning! Thank you, Lord, for a day that shined! Help us to be obedient to you and be pleasing in your sight!
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