tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-206357202012-02-03T01:03:32.550-05:00Encouragement for the Homeschooling LifeKelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.comBlogger2551100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-17014268180748741792012-02-01T18:28:00.001-05:002012-02-03T01:03:32.556-05:00

Monday, which is Day One on the War Against Our Worst Enemies: Today we were a homeschooling machine. My kids, thankfully, were willing--er--what would they be if we were a machine--ah yes, cogs, though not necessarily well-oiled. We started the day with Bible. We have slowly been picking through the book of Matthew and we will keep reading until we have read through the whole New Testament.

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-37534539424226466652012-01-29T15:26:00.003-05:002012-01-29T15:28:01.238-05:00

It is the half-way point of the school year. This last week (week 18, as determined by our TOG studies) I felt as though I really needed a week to regroup, have some time off, figure things out. That didn't happen, but I did manage to squeeze time out of my weekend to do some evaluating and planning for the next term. My kitchen table is strewn with books, planning sheets and folders, but in

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-26110656584399514592012-01-28T23:13:00.001-05:002012-01-28T23:19:18.780-05:00

I read this article today. It was posted on Facebook by the Christian home school organization in our state known as HEAV (Home Educators Association of Virginia). There was no stated position by the organization concerning the content, but I'm sure that all over the country, homeschoolers who are FOX News junkies are getting a high off of this article. Unfortunately, it supports my opinion that

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-19211697552033513982012-01-28T09:42:00.001-05:002012-01-28T21:47:11.086-05:00

Enemy #1: The Telephone It never fails. When things are cruising along nicely, we're on top of the jobs that need to get done, we're checking things off (math, language, reading...check, check, check...) there goes the phone. There are about three people who have permission to call me during the day because they usually have something to do with my life as it is and the call usually goes, "Hey,

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-16015927383469611002012-01-21T23:35:00.001-05:002012-01-29T11:32:37.672-05:00

* Please note: In every rule there is an exception. If you have an exceptional child, please do not read this and feel condemned. Take what applies to you and leave the rest. Discipline is a complex, moment-by-moment issue in parenting. There is never a moment when you are not refining, defining, and administering discipline of some form, unless you are one of those parents who can't

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-66227013457664627242012-01-20T15:17:00.000-05:002012-01-20T20:00:15.213-05:00

Week 17 of the school term has been a good one. Completely different than any other week we've had before, but good. My poor son has been suffering from a rather difficult case of insomnia for a couple of weeks. We are unsure why, except that perhaps his growing, changing body, and a series of interruptions to his bio-rhythms combined with increasing exhaustion was causing a vicious cycle in

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-40330251332909721022012-01-18T00:00:00.000-05:002012-01-19T13:28:38.952-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-3921894960993625892012-01-16T09:05:00.002-05:002012-01-20T20:10:56.628-05:00

By the end of the much-needed Christmas break, it was very much time to get back to a school routine, as my children had square eyes and rotten brains. I was happy to return to routine and re-engage their minds. As usual, the first day back was a bit rocky, but after that we enjoyed digging in to the topics at hand. Matty read The Princess and the Goblin as his literature selection, and I read

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-86484625684789387102012-01-11T08:54:00.000-05:002012-01-12T12:31:03.207-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-52972197121779845512011-12-21T08:16:00.000-05:002011-12-21T08:16:40.943-05:00

I am usually a stickler for being truly "wordless" on Wednesdays, but I wanted to explain that this guy really is as close as he looks. I used a normal lens and was sitting about two feet away from him on the opposite side of the sliding glass doors. He was much bigger than he appears in the photo--approximately the size of a small cat. He surprised us one night. My husband turned around and

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-12703078884603535442011-12-14T15:53:00.002-05:002011-12-21T08:16:31.344-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-29732148825880806202011-12-11T08:56:00.001-05:002011-12-11T09:44:01.598-05:00

Every day this week I had the thought, "Wow, I do NOT feel like teaching the kids today." I did, but not with the vim and vigor that I have possessed at other times. Slumped in my desk chair I thought about the long list of things that I have not yet done this Christmas season (like bought any presents--well, now I have, God bless Amazon, but at that point I hadn't), hadn't decorated the tree,

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-68078846020108142662011-12-10T23:35:00.001-05:002011-12-11T08:55:53.035-05:00

Handwritten Wishes Christmas Send Christmas cards personalized with your family photos. View the entire collection of cards.

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-37870759641317666862011-12-07T16:31:00.001-05:002011-12-07T16:31:58.971-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-20373266603230139372011-12-03T21:36:00.001-05:002011-12-03T22:52:33.686-05:00

Every year up until now we have taken off from Thanksgiving to Christmas. This year we are not doing that, largely because it is our goal to finish the curriculum before Memorial day, so we returned from vacation on Saturday last week, only to roll right into school the following week. For some reason I had a very hard time pulling it off! We are obviously ready for a break, but we are not taking

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-25325780192780279572011-11-30T12:33:00.001-05:002011-11-30T23:14:44.717-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-28569382731244369492011-11-21T08:09:00.001-05:002011-11-22T23:38:07.308-05:00

Week 11 was a bit confused. No, the teacher / mom was a bit confused. Facing the prospect of heading out of town for a few days to visit family, I was wandering around the house wondering what I should tackle first. It would be better if I paid no attention whatsoever to the fact that we were leaving town, as I found myself horribly distracted and got nothing done in any category. As usual I

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-62357325207255909502011-11-14T20:06:00.001-05:002011-11-14T20:15:54.426-05:00

Here's the thing--we moms all need a super-fast-super-yummy crockpot recipe now and again, and we get really sick of the same-o, same-o stash of recipes that we do because we don't have time to think of anything new. I was wasting some of that time that I don't have on Facebook the other day and a friend had requested some food ideas for some-sorta-something, and one of her friends suggested a

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-19490440770206392572011-11-12T21:18:00.001-05:002011-11-12T21:46:05.079-05:00

This week we crossed into some new territory.  So far, I have enjoyed TOG for the "heft" of the content. There is no shortage of reading material for the interested student. However, at the end of unit 1, it seemed Matty was not quite getting enough reading from the upper grammar (UG) track. He even said, "Mom, can I have more to read?" Happily I obliged him, and decided to try doing the

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-36049026300025001802011-11-11T09:09:00.001-05:002011-11-28T00:12:56.164-05:00

I like to post photos of the lap book projects that the kids do for a couple of reasons: first, they are so proud of their work and think it's very cool that Mom is proud enough to show the world on the blog, second, lots of people are looking for lap book ideas, and I hope to provide some inspiration. I should begin with this disclaimer: I don't particularly enjoy doing crafts with my kids. I

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-43458644661262426002011-11-09T18:53:00.000-05:002011-11-09T18:53:13.662-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-17762803131399310902011-11-08T21:15:00.001-05:002011-11-12T21:16:59.100-05:00

I suggested to my co-op friend that since we were having the unit celebration and ending the quarter, we do what public school teachers do and have a "work day," so we did. What a great idea! We got the kids together to play and sat at her dining table with stacks of books and planned out the next quarter. We got so much accomplished, and when we called the kids in, they were filthy and happy.

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-65296649782297399922011-11-06T08:35:00.000-05:002011-11-06T08:37:17.128-05:00

Our TOG kids with Jim Weiss Today our Tapestry of Grace group wrapped up our first unit of Year three. We have been working on lap books all week that sum up what we've been covering this unit, and when I look back over the past two months, I am stunned at how much we've covered! I have never been able to work this efficiently, and I am sure that it is a combination of several things: 1.

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-22979859138327387122011-11-02T00:00:00.000-05:002011-11-02T10:44:51.032-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-15763421355807249982011-10-29T09:26:00.000-05:002011-10-29T11:09:59.111-05:00

The students were much improved this week. The teacher, however, succumbed to being sneezed and coughed on one too many times, so as I write this, I am in the process of recovering from having "bit the dust." We proceeded with the basics and Matty did his Tapestry of Grace (TOG) reading that was assigned. Year 3 Week 8 is the second of three weeks of study on South America, so we watched a lovely

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-42423030496387370162011-10-21T21:42:00.002-05:002011-10-29T11:12:39.213-05:00

A woman I know always used to tell me "There is no cure for the common cold because the cold is the cure." So true. I am convinced that we catch colds when our bodies are fed up with us for some reason. Usually that involves not having our proper sabbath rest. My family has been occupied every weekend lately--church events, traveling, something here, something there. I can't remember a weekend

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-12783376480162488372011-10-19T20:18:00.002-05:002011-10-19T20:19:33.943-05:00

Spinning Lessons

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-8103018961953333002011-10-13T07:18:00.002-05:002011-10-28T13:54:08.147-05:00

I have had no time for posting, taking pictures, thinking and reading lately. I will try to catch up with it all this weekend, but in the meantime, I found this article, and it struck a chord. Here is a link to my article on "sheltering," but this kind of sheltering is not what is meant by that. I am speaking specifically of the early years. Mr. Reb Bradley is more focused on the teen years. An

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-18679277653041310112011-10-01T09:05:00.000-05:002011-10-01T09:13:59.579-05:00

Listening to violin music of Jefferson's era. Week three lasted for two weeks. Last week, we sorta' just recovered. We had been dealing with many life-induced stresses, not the least of which was a dead car that needed to be replaced, so we dialed down and took school a little slower. This week, we jumped back into our regular routine and really finished digging in to Tapestry of Grace, Year

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-10956663672262226382011-09-24T21:30:00.002-05:002011-09-24T21:33:24.743-05:00

It is sad to say, but we did a bit of research and discovered that the lovely little trees that we are growing are not going to grow into "pink lady" apple trees. Granted, I am not much of a horticulturist, farmer or gardener, so I wouldn't have known this, but your favorite brand of apple does not grow your favorite apples on the trees grown from their seeds. Boo, hiss! This is the way the GMO

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-62944344965244135772011-09-23T17:06:00.003-05:002011-10-01T09:17:23.472-05:00

Wow, has it been a crazy week! Over the weekend I went away on a day-long retreat, leaving the family home to enjoy our church's all-member picnic celebrating the move to our brand-new building. After driving an hour and a half home, as I was pulling into town off the freeway, less than five miles from home (thank God!) the transmission in my husband's car died. It didn't just die. It died. Time

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-41634627630608192382011-09-22T16:13:00.001-05:002011-09-22T16:13:46.403-05:00

Sorry readers--I keep changing my banner. I know it's annoying when your favorite blog keeps changing its looks, but I've been playing with it and figuring out how to make new ones. I like this one best and will stick with it for a while now. I think I've worked it out!

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-59924196935576202442011-09-20T22:15:00.000-05:002011-09-20T22:35:07.223-05:00

In my previous post I laid out the reasons that our family decided to leave Classical Conversations as our core curriculum. In this post I will explain why I find Tapestry of Grace (TOG) to be such a great fit for us at this time. Ever since Matty was in the first or second grade I have looked at TOG online, downloaded the free samples, puzzled over whether this would work for us. The one thing

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-49781352720201322812011-09-20T18:43:00.000-05:002012-01-22T00:02:08.165-05:00

Many people have stopped by the Accidental Homeschooler searching for information about Classical Conversations (CC), and they will probably continue to. Last year I wrote about what I called "coming full circle" with CC, and in this and future posts, I want to expand on that information and write about why we decided this year to make the switch to Tapestry of Grace. I have said before that "the

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-29399233334936680612011-09-15T21:56:00.001-05:002011-11-13T15:09:19.807-05:00

On Wednesday my neighbor needed help. I mean really. needed. help. The kind that involves taking a sick kid to the e.r. and could you watch the baby and the 3-year-old for me? Husband is away and won't be home for several days. Again on Thursday, too...but this time it was she who really needed to go to the e.r...I pulled some strings and found a babysitter for her (thank GOD for that dear woman!

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-87742052748514106052011-09-13T23:03:00.000-05:002011-09-15T21:56:48.751-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-32541567330746898302011-09-13T22:53:00.003-05:002011-11-12T07:26:18.512-05:00

School...now that makes sense. I mean, I have things that must get done in order to live a sanitary life. Dishes, clothes, bathrooms, floors, on occasion must be cleaned. Air conditioner filters need to be changed, the cats need their shots, dinner must be prepared...At the moment my lawn looks like the boogey-man could rise up from the grass and weeds at any moment because there has been no time

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-63764689920856120792011-09-11T14:58:00.000-05:002011-09-20T18:47:54.657-05:00

On September 11, 2001, I received a call from my husband at Coast Guard HQ, Washinginton, DC, telling me something had happened in New York. Could I turn on the TV and see what exactly was going on? Oh, it was no small plane. Watching in horror, the second one hit. Then a bit later the attack on the Pentagon shook the ground. I could see the smoke from my upstairs window. I could no longer

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-4407960460332489172011-09-10T09:27:00.004-05:002011-09-10T09:38:36.963-05:00

Every school year, it happens. Labor Day weekend we try to eek out that last bit of summer, exhaust ourselves, then catch a cold. On Tuesday morning we began our Tapestry of Grace group, and by the afternoon the black circles under the eyes, the whining, and the complaints of strange pains and miseries of various types had begun. By Wednesday we were cancelling piano lessons and watching

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-46253751211084100152011-09-07T07:39:00.000-05:002011-09-20T18:48:40.305-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-18756547028082891352011-09-05T09:48:00.004-05:002011-09-05T19:12:23.541-05:00

I wish I had pictures of last night to share, but on the other hand, there are times when I just don't want to stop and fuss, but would rather enjoy the moment... I think we can call our summer break officially ended as of last night. Our good friends came over and we grilled salmon and chicken, baked sweet potato fries, steamed broccoli glazed with butter, garlic and balsamic vinegar, made

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-77332306415853347752011-09-03T08:05:00.004-05:002011-09-04T12:49:20.620-05:00

We are off and running with our new school year and our new curriculum. If I were to grade the start to this school year based on other starts, I would give it a solid A! We all enjoyed it, and I made some solid scheduling discoveries along the way. Every year I have struggled with morning routine with the kids largely because I am a night owl, and most certainly not a morning person. Last week

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-18408545917575287162011-08-31T15:43:00.001-05:002011-09-20T18:49:36.456-05:00

Yes, I know it's Tuesday. And not the Tuesday after Labor Day. Due to a schedule mess-up with the carpet cleaners (who were supposed to come last week) we started today. Yesterday we were invaded. That said, however, The List is complete to my satisfaction, and we started school today in a sparkling clean house with all my little duckies in a row.   I had intended to start light this week,

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-6340329735490558462011-08-26T21:43:00.003-05:002011-08-26T22:14:40.747-05:00

The kiddos went off to day-camp this week for the first time ever. They left me ALONE in the house. For five whole days. That was both a strange and wonderful feeling, and it allowed me to do things that I would not otherwise have been able to accomplish. I was tempted by day two to register them for school, and then by day three each of them had dealt with things in their respective camps that

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-80356013269734979312011-08-24T20:21:00.000-05:002011-08-24T20:21:15.435-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-3952726118793869292011-08-17T20:58:00.000-05:002011-08-17T20:58:18.941-05:00

It must be done. I must clean the house in order for the school year to officially begin. It is this little neurotic glitch I have. Last year I redecorated the basement in its entirety. This year I believe I can be satisfied with some minor furniture rearrangements, a few things sold on Craig's List, toys sold in a yard sale, books utterly reorganized and all the new books properly placed within

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-17751663572997141742011-07-06T14:32:00.002-05:002011-09-20T18:49:58.096-05:00

DSC_0435, a photo by teammine on Flickr.

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-72873678584456345362011-06-29T14:50:00.000-05:002011-06-29T14:50:58.287-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-84140921706943457672011-06-27T10:53:00.000-05:002011-06-27T10:53:55.228-05:00

This week, Susan Wise Bauer wrote a post about Khan Academy on her blog. I'm not sure if I arrived earlier than she to this party, but since I respect "SWB" and her recommendations and opinions on matters of academics, I was glad to see that she had positive things to say about it. I know that for a while now, I have been reaping benefits from Salmon Khan's simple, concise, and solid math

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-57691781953744643582011-06-22T16:13:00.000-05:002011-06-22T16:13:21.969-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-51477083645721981992011-06-22T16:08:00.003-05:002011-06-22T22:05:26.165-05:00

This morning I awoke to an insulting comment left by a troll on my blog. I have to laugh, because of course trolls leave no indication of who they are or how they can be traced. They just come, poop in your yard, then leave. It's so effective. (rolling my eyes) I wonder what motivates people to be childish and nasty...really I do. While 99.8% of my readers and followers leave lovely comments, I

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-24764655036737091102011-05-26T17:03:00.000-05:002011-05-26T17:03:31.843-05:00

I won't be posting for the next week or two. I will be enjoying time off with my whole family as well as preparing for next school year. After that I will be posting plenty about our new curriculum choices and plans. I'm very excited, and full of hopeful expectation! I'll fill you in when I get back...Until then, enjoy your Memorial day and the warm summer weather.

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-16941175705186995972011-05-25T09:19:00.000-05:002011-05-25T09:19:10.428-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-26301275701490504412011-05-10T23:45:00.000-05:002011-05-10T23:45:27.335-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-79921303147708185562011-05-10T08:03:00.002-05:002011-05-10T08:05:53.255-05:00

...and "critter hunts" and woods exploration are the favorite pastimes around here. The weather is lovely, the garden is planted and the kids and cats are busy bringing home all manner of interesting things. We've had a turtle (that I rescued from the road), a vicious black racer snake that the cat brought home as a prize--42 inches long and mean as, well, a snake. I didn't like him so I didn't

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-60198373082479580842011-05-06T07:21:00.003-05:002011-05-08T14:08:25.434-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-89322732043557308142011-05-05T10:05:00.000-05:002011-05-05T10:05:54.057-05:00

Here is a wonderful article by my friend, Brent Hoffman of Sioux City Iowa, a city which recently celebrated its biggest concert event in its history given by Sir Elton John, fresh from the Royal To-Do across the pond. Admittedly that has nothing whatsoever to do with his article or my blog post. It's just a funny random fact about a place not often acclaimed for much of anything...I think. Feel

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-82011073185481705972011-05-04T08:13:00.002-05:002011-11-13T13:40:35.058-05:00

I have been thinking hard about the next two years of my son's grammar stage years. He is entering what would be his last year in a public elementary school and entering a middle school next year. Learning has certainly become a different thing in the last few months. Intellectually I can see the changes that are referenced by all the classical education gurus--he is moving from the grammar stage

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-4205254732413380282011-05-03T21:58:00.001-05:002011-05-03T21:59:51.824-05:00

snagging some meal worms...

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-61740961470056607572011-05-02T20:23:00.002-05:002011-05-03T05:46:03.331-05:00

Monday, May 2: Woke to a beautiful morning, the garden is planted, children are asleep. So much is on my mind to pray and think about. How can I muster for school when there is so much planning and thinking to do? Here's the list: In-laws arrive, Molly's birthday, homeschool day at the amusement park, beach vacation, homeschool convention, next year's planning retreat...wow! Meanwhile I cannot

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-4100141591304870672011-05-01T08:42:00.002-05:002011-05-02T20:25:02.276-05:00

   I feel like this week passed at the speed of light. It was so full. We didn't get a lot accomplished in the nuts and bolts of school due to doctor appointments and meetings, but it was fun. The school stuff doesn't bother me so much at this point. I don't mind winding down. We are now looking toward gearing up for...next year? Is that possible? It looks like the remainder of the summer this

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-14313230494312798842011-04-27T08:08:00.000-05:002011-04-27T08:08:27.224-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-6354094943807188302011-04-27T08:01:00.001-05:002011-04-27T08:03:55.432-05:00

I'm puzzled as to why my blog is only showing the most recent post on my home page. Here is the closest thing to answer I found on Blogger help. It looks like for now you need to go to the "older posts" to see, well, older posts.

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-50652720263966595322011-04-27T07:31:00.002-05:002011-05-02T20:26:22.944-05:00

While everyone else was on spring break, we plowed through our school work. We will be taking spring break in a couple of weeks when grandparents come to visit. We did make a venture out to the mall to buy Easter clothes and some new spring and summer threads, and I was traumatized for days. I absolutely hate the mall, and even more when it is crowded. I got suckered into buying new "

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-76857146772008916442011-04-15T22:21:00.003-05:002011-05-02T20:27:49.650-05:00

It's hard to say exactly what this week was...It was sort of a hodgepodge of things that needed to be wrapped up on the one hand, and started (or resumed) on the other. I'll post photos as we go...We started out the week recovering sleep and unpacking from our weekend trip to our annual church family retreat. It was a lovely, relaxing weekend. We got to spend time with friends that we have known

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-55732648668474240972011-04-13T00:00:00.007-05:002011-05-10T08:09:13.635-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-41871028249915970002011-04-06T19:39:00.001-05:002011-04-06T22:32:22.527-05:00

Phew...It's been a long 2 1/2 weeks that every member of my family (at one point or another) came down with the flu. I am thankful for a couple of things concerning this: first, is that we have the kind of lifestyle that allows us to dial-down and really take care of ourselves when we're sick--and we did. Second, that I caught it first so that I could empathize and really take care of everyone

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-90899685888105313442011-04-05T22:54:00.000-05:002011-04-05T22:54:41.245-05:00

Glen's comment: "Hey, I could be a hand model!"

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-84913032680012538902011-04-05T13:27:00.001-05:002011-04-05T13:33:02.218-05:00

I used to teach writing to ESL students who were preparing to enter university classes full time. I always taught the "review, preview" principle when transitioning in compositions. Perhaps a bit formulaic, but for them it worked beautifully. It seems that right now I find us in a bit of a transition point. It's a great place to be, really--this school year has brought out the best in all of us

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-58706261123226841622011-04-01T13:26:00.005-05:002011-05-02T20:28:42.090-05:00

Since last week passed in a fog for the teacher, school was pretty much shot. Now this week passed with my two children huddled in blankets on the sofa, thermometers in their mouths and medicine cups littering the coffee table, so again, school was pretty much shot. We've watched a lot of movies! However yesterday, in spite of his fever, Matty managed to review one last time for his final

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-72964711011671554002011-03-25T11:10:00.001-05:002011-03-25T11:12:23.310-05:00

Life from Mom's Perspective: On Monday afternoon I began to feel achy. On Tuesday I felt as though I had been hit by a truck. Everything hurt. I had a fever, headache, chills. All I wanted to do was sit in a hot bath or sleep. On Wednesday Glen telecommuted. He took Matty over to Candace's house to be proofed for Memory Master. On Thursday he went back to work figuring that I was sure to be

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-14547446468749713632011-03-24T14:08:00.000-05:002011-03-24T14:08:34.110-05:00

Both amusing and fascinating. Definitely something to think about...

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-60155254143932425232011-03-23T07:48:00.001-05:002011-03-23T07:49:22.878-05:00

 

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-11537940523755776262011-03-22T13:57:00.001-05:002011-03-22T13:58:02.996-05:00

I have been itching to get into the garden. It is after all, fully spring. I have multiple patches of bare dirt that really need some attention, especially in my front yard, which badly needs to be landscaped. My condition is not helped by the fact that I am stuck in the house today with the worst flu I've had in ages and a gorgeous day outside. To inspire me even more, and to make my heart ache

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-49129865138809875502011-03-22T09:40:00.005-05:002011-03-23T10:21:54.600-05:00

Sally Clarkson of I Take Joy linked to a very insightful blog post today, so I followed it and read. Entitled "Relationship and Sacrifice" Elizabeth Foss writes, The first aspect of attachment is that we absolutely have to be honest with the way we spend our time. If our families are our first priority, then we need to devote more time and attention to them than anything else (except Our Lord

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-43481568328389474092011-03-18T13:45:00.001-05:002011-03-18T16:42:12.493-05:00

One goal that we have worked for this year is for Matty to prepare for the Memory Master Challenge in Classical Conversations. As I mentioned in my last weekly update, I had to wrestle with this concept and consider carefully whether it was too much pressure to put on him, or even if I was sure of its value for his education. Eventually I came to the conclusion that yes, this does have value, and

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-24110420865469764002011-03-11T15:08:00.004-05:002011-03-11T20:40:46.421-05:00

This was a week of challenges for us. Last Friday at CC there was a project introduced for the students to build bridges made from straws, rubber bands, and play dough, as part of our physics portion of Cycle 2. The bridges had to be built in class and will be tested at the end of the term to see if they hold weight. The bridge that holds the most weight "wins." Matty and his partner found the

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-43429704416527308102011-03-09T13:17:00.002-05:002011-03-09T19:12:11.099-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-91564950216296790802011-03-07T16:35:00.003-05:002011-03-22T19:32:54.070-05:00

This morning's devotion was taken from I Peter 5:5, which says: All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."Humility is a difficult concept to explain to children, who are certainly not inclined to be humble at all, ever. It is most definitely a learned thing, but I believe that without the Holy Spirit, it is nearly

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-26399782028988274912011-03-04T16:35:00.003-05:002011-03-06T13:30:42.030-05:00

Okay, I guess we get weeks like last week to make up for weeks like this. This week wasn't a total waste, but it felt really out of sync and very much like the kind of week my planner hates--few boxes getting checked off, schedules getting chucked for emergency room visits...stuff like that. However, its saving grace was that it started out wonderfully with a trip to the National Gallery of Art

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-87978827384076513812011-03-02T22:29:00.001-05:002011-03-03T21:11:42.688-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-45811546510907108612011-02-26T12:31:00.004-05:002011-03-05T10:13:40.609-05:00

I think I've written before that one of my early homeschooling mentors (who has taught 7 children of her own) said to me one time, "If you have one really good day of school a week, then it's a good week." Well, if that is in fact true, then this week was fantastic! We managed four good school days and our regular Classical Conversations day, as well. One of the highlights was having Dad home for

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-61027479205500226182011-02-19T09:42:00.001-05:002011-02-19T13:38:50.223-05:00

There are always those weeks where you feel as though you got "nothing" done. The goals on the checklists remain unchecked, the stories in the stack didn't get read, and not as much math as intended was covered. It is these weeks that I have to remember that there are other things that have even greater value than checking the book items off. This week's highlight was hosting three rescued

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-26437843064396033672011-02-16T08:53:00.000-05:002011-02-16T08:53:25.017-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-88001768347056396172011-02-11T23:22:00.003-05:002011-02-11T23:26:17.122-05:00

What a great week this has been. It has been full of school work and lessons and even a milestone, and we have learned so much! The big news of this week is that my little girl, no longer a baby by any means, had her first piano lesson this week! These photos speak for themselves--she is taking this very seriously. She has been wanting to begin lessons for at least a year, but we were simply

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-74882907928737291952011-02-04T14:03:00.002-05:002011-02-04T14:09:36.331-05:00

This is a week I would consider to be fairly successful. I managed to get back in the routine of getting up with an alarm, but added to that, waking the kids earlier and having them finish chores before breakfast. With holidays, and then colds, snow days and what-not contributing to the break-up of routine, we had fallen back into a late to bed, late to rise routine. Understandable, but

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-77155652374482605162011-02-02T16:59:00.001-05:002011-02-03T09:00:25.418-05:00

Okay, perhaps we sahm's could learn a thing or two from the sahd's. I know that I was enlightened by the video that I'm including here. Enjoy.

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-2373787404221422782011-02-02T08:22:00.001-05:002011-02-02T08:24:44.447-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-57761729463185427612011-01-31T15:56:00.007-05:002011-02-01T07:58:22.634-05:00

@font-face { font-family: "Footlight MT Light"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Where I live,winter is drab, and gray, and bare.it’s not exactly frozen tundra,            cross-country skiing,                        snowman-making country.no—it’s cold, and it’s damp,

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-86288939210652830712011-01-29T15:11:00.004-05:002011-01-31T15:37:36.373-05:00

I'm not sure how I got three weeks behind in my weekly updates. Perhaps I didn't want to admit that I was behind, but alas, here I am, wondering where the three weeks went and what exactly we did. They probably went something like this, except for the toddler parts, but the same idea. Let's just say that "If you Give a Mom a Muffin..." is a line that is often repeated in our house when I'm

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-63453576173999414172011-01-26T09:04:00.000-05:002011-01-26T09:04:19.765-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-7783748636800520822011-01-18T22:06:00.001-05:002011-01-20T08:28:28.569-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-1988623992107043922011-01-12T20:22:00.003-05:002011-01-12T20:33:35.458-05:00

Today I had an almost irresistible urge to go buy oil paints and make a painting.  It seems to be everywhere I look these days. I find myself in a place longing for stretches of time without anything to do, no one to talk to, and no agenda.  That is not to say I would be a loaf during that time.  I would be very busy and unavailable.  But to others' minds I would probably be loafing. I miss

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-42842946492756271052011-01-11T23:51:00.000-05:002011-01-11T23:51:33.236-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-67611172173953800502011-01-07T19:46:00.001-05:002011-01-07T22:30:16.004-05:00

So we were supposed to roll back into things, get back to work, be productive, and we were--to a certain extent.  I found that the kids would likely have cooperated with anything I put before them, if only I could get them out of bed!  The Christmas vacation had us on a late-to-bed, late-to-rise routine.  All of us seemed to want to keep that this week, and we were all very sluggish in the

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-66279618146527551092011-01-07T17:10:00.002-05:002011-01-07T17:10:44.529-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-81156342723189293912011-01-05T00:00:00.001-05:002011-01-05T00:00:00.112-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-70934969152029686172011-01-04T22:20:00.000-05:002011-01-04T22:20:45.591-05:00

There have been so many times in the past five years of homeschooling that I have been gripped by fears about the decision.  Not just passing concerns, but true fear--the kind of fear that makes my stomach seize up and makes me feel like I want to be sick, go to bed, and just commit my kids to the big yellow bus to take them where it may.  The fears have ranged from everything from not knowing

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-44967784853296139882010-12-27T23:31:00.002-05:002010-12-27T23:31:47.034-05:00

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20635720.post-77318874772074014792010-12-27T16:30:00.001-05:002011-01-08T08:56:07.887-05:00

As one of our lovely vacation activities, we took the kids to see the Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  I don't want to post any spoilers, so I won't give away any details of the story.  If you want to read a review with which I wholeheartedly agree read here.  The review contains spoilers, just so you know. (Skip the part about William Wilburforce, C. S. Lewis, and social justice in the beginning. 

Kelly Minehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10563623937012064727noreply@blogger.com2