When Life's Lessons Trump the Academics ...

We have been putting the finishing touches on a school year that began last April. Math and Latin, with lots of free reading, have been our focus. We have also been lending a hand tending to the kids' beloved Poppa.

Poppa is my dad. But, more than that, he is Poppa. When he was simply my dad, he worked. I saw him on Sundays and late Saturday afternoons. He took us to the beach on summer Sunday mornings - if we could get up early enough to beat the toll. Mostly, I remember him stretched out in his recliner on Sunday afternoons, sleeping until dinner.

I think my dad really became a father-figure after he retired and settled into being a grandfather. There is a picture somewhere around here in which he and my eldest son are sitting on the deck, backs to the camera, the sun setting in the summer sky, just a little boy, his grandfather, a golden retriever at their feet. The picture captures what is best about my dad - the ease with which he spent time with the grandchildren, the lack of needing to do something, the ability to just be with them - and let them be with him.

Even now, as I sit by his bedside, I feel the need to do something, anything - to be productive as his body continues to fail him, assaulted on so many fronts he can not possibly survive. My dad was always larger than life to me - his hands literally capable of bending metal, with huge sausage-like fingers, the hands of an iron-worker, impeccably clean and manicured, almost impossibly so in light of his vocation. It is hard to believe he is the same man whose shoulder blades now protrude beneath his shirt. It is hard to believe - and yet it is so.

My kids are taking their impending loss pretty well. They ask about Poppa every morning, and want to visit as often as possible. With each car ride home, however, my oldest daughter sits in the seat next to me and says, "Poppa looked good today, huh, Mom?" And I reply, "Yes, honey. He did." "He ate well, too, didn't he, Mom?"

It is then that I take her hand, grateful that she doesn't flinch the way most teens react to their Moms touching them, attempting to comfort where there is no comfort to be had, conveying to her that I understand, that I am here, that I know what she wants from me, but I do not have it to offer. She is crying then, I can see her reflection in the window. I continue to hold her hand as she silently weeps.

There are no books to teach our children about this kind of loss - the loss that hurts deep in the soul, the loss that makes us question our faith, the loss we will remember for the rest of our lives. They want their Poppa to get out of that bed and take them to the playground, sit outside and watch them ride their bicycles, make them cookies ... Their list of "Remember when Poppa used to ..." is quite extensive. They have such wonderful memories. And they share them so freely - with me as well as with each other. We are blessed to have the freedom to spend time with him, to sit by his bedside, to have each other as a source of comfort and understanding. There is no box to check on our daily schedule for these lessons. And yet, there is a sense that all our schooling - all our time spent together with our heads buried in books, all the field trips, all the read-alouds we have enjoyed, even all the times we have traipsed around the room singing geography songs at the top of our lungs - somehow it is all of that that has culminated in our being able to weather this storm as a family, to show strength at a time when we want to crumble - and to go on with responsibilities when our hearts desire a rest.

My Little Man ...

I believe I may dedicate an inordinate number of posts to that guy on the left. I am not quite sure why.

Sure, he is handsome ...

And his best friend is a wobbly-headed monkey who somehow ends up in my bed each night.

He (the boy, not the monkey) has a bit of an attitude ...

and loves with an intensity that will (literally) knock you over.

He is mischievous, rambunctious, devilish, impertinent, naughty, and unruly...
And the source of every gray hair on my head. He is my undoing, he has challenged me to let down my guard and love more, laugh more, and not be so perfectionistic in my parenting. He makes me unsettled as he hurls himself into the sofa, head first. His vocabulary is on par with my junior high student, but he is making me rip my hair out as he struggles with reading. He is the good, the bad, and the ugly of child-rearing, all rolled into one ball of endless energy, bountiful love, and an exuberance for life I, for one, cannot match. When he turned seven, he announced his attainment of "manhood" and said if he was Greek, he could join the army. (We were studying ancient Greece at the times.) He also informed me I was no longer allowed to touch his tushy (I have a penchant for pinching tiny tushies, but only in a completely normal, legal way) as that was for babies, not men. But, I still feel the warmth of his body next to mine each night, as he crawls under my covers and whispers, "I love you, Mom" and falls back to sleep. He has wormed his way into my soul and makes me ache in my womb when he hurts, so forgive the many posts dedicated to him. It is my way of sharing him with the world.

What All We Did This Week ...

First week of school in the New Year over!! Only X more to go!!! We say good-bye to the some of the titles above and the little men below - Middle Ages are a thing of the past. (Much to the chagrin of my 7 yo. He actually asked me if we could read SOTW II again.)

Along with SOTW Volumes I & II, we have completed an extended stay in Ancient Rome, so I am quite happy with our progress. History always seems to be our place-holder, our mark of progress, the spine of our school. The kids just love it, and can listen to read-alouds and audio books, color maps, and watch documentaries about historical figures and events all day long, if I let them.

We are beginning SOTW III, using My Father's World Explorers to 1850 as our guide. I must say, this Instructor's Guide is very well done. I have found my need for an IG to be more of a want, especially as the years go by. I am quite capable of designing my own course of studies for the children, and I do ... for the most part. But, I still convince myself that using one of these IGs will fill some potential void. The beauty of MFW is its simplicity - and music and art are scheduled for me. I love that! Books that I would have picked out on my own are scheduled, and the schedule is light enough that our love for rabbit trails can be fed without fear of getting too far off track.

We are also continuing with many of our programs from our last term, including Fallacy Detective. The kids are just loving this book - my 7-year-old requests it. All day long, I hear, "That's a red herring!", or "Don't use circular reasoning with me!"

Math is going well for all the little buggers, as is grammar, literature, and Latin. My 9 yo is using Matin Latin, and I am surprised by how much she enjoys the program. I had used Prima Latina as the introductory Latin class for the twins. But after researching Latin choices again, I wanted to give this one a try, especially since it emphasizes grammar more so than PL. We did a lesson on predicate nominatives this week, and she had no problem with it. I thought about supplementing with a lesson on the same topic from R & S, but decided against it. I am following the advice to let Latin instruction teach the English grammar - as much as it is a struggle not to supplement, supplement, and supplement some more.

So, that is the gist of our week. Our van is in the hospital after a lengthy period of illness that rendered it ... unconscious. So we have been house-bound. But we are making the best of our confinement. We exercise, play lots of chess, have a 1500-piece puzzle in progress, move the furniture around for a change of scenery, eat, and throw some learning in for fun. Hope your week was good, too!

Genius ... or Just a Smart-%#@ ...

Yesterday, this little bugger was doing math drills, on-line.

"You know, Mom," he began to inform me, "Technically, I could enter any letter from A to Z as my answer."

"After all, they're variables."

His oldest sister algebra lessons are going well - for him.

Another Year in the Life ...

It was a beautiful Christmas, a nice ending to yet another year.

They were all grateful for their gifts - the boxing gloves and punching bag for my little budding boxer, the apron and tea set for my prim and proper young lady, and the wonderful books for my bibliovores, including a 60th anniversary edition of The Hobbit with some beautiful illustrations.

But this was the gift of which they spoke most often ... and with the most eloquence.

For this was the year of Emma, of Emma's rehabilitation, and they were all a part of it. And it impacted their lives, and they never complained.

And she is their gift - as they are to her.

Merry Christmas ...

Wow, it's been a while. Since Thanksgiving, we have been passing around a bug. It affected the baby first, and had a second go-round with her this week. She vomitted up the same ingredients I watched being pumped out of her four different times in the NICU. But the ER doctors were not concerned. They checked her for dehydration, checked her belly, and determined it was just a virus. All these months of holding my breath, waiting for the proverbial "other shoe" to drop ... I guess you never really know how much stress you are under until some relatively minor event just sends you over the edge. Emma scared me ... really scared me. I am still not convinced the vomit was "normal" - coffee grind vomit is technically indicative of something amiss. But, for now, the incident just has to be filed in my Mommy-needs-to-remember-this file in my head.

We are pretty much hunkered down for the winter. I bought a Leslie Sansone Walk it Home video, and the kids and I work out to it a couple of times a week. You can choose to do 1-5 miles. I am surprised how well they do with it. It definitely helps when we can't get out for even a bit of a walk around the neighborhood.

So that is the update for my many, many, loyal blog-readers. (Hi, Jim!) I will leave you with this recipe for Christmas that I am thinking of trying. I found it on the WTM web-site - don't know the author, but thanks to whomever. Hope you enjoy.


Christmas Rum Cake

1 Tsp. Sugar
1 or 2 Quarts of Rum
1 Cup Dried Fruit
Brown Sugar
1 Tsp. Soda
1 Cup Butter
2 Large Eggs
1 Cup Baking Powder
3 Juiced Lemons
1 Cup of Nuts

Before starting, sample rum to check quality. Good, isn't it? Now proceed. Select large mixing bowl, measuring cup, etc.

Check rum again. It must be just right. To be sure rum is of proper quality, pour one level cup of rum into a glass and drink it as fast as you can.

Repeat.

With electric mixer, beat 1 cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl.

Add 1 seaspoon of thusar and beat again.

Meanwhile, make sure rum is still alrighty. Try another cup. Open second quart if necessary.

Add leggs, 2 cups of fried druit and beat til high. If druit gets stuck in beaters, pry loose with drewscriber.

Sample rum again, checking for tonscisticity. Next, sift 3 cups pepper or salt (really doesn't matter).

Sample rum. Sift 1/2 pint lemon juice. Fold in chopped butter and strained nuts.

Add 1 bablespoon of brown sugar-or whatever color you can find.

Wix mell.

Grease oven.

Turn cake pan to 350 gredees. Pour mess into boven and ake. Check run again and bo to ged.

..ADN HALPIE HOLIGLAZE TWO YA'ALL!

Weekly Report ...

I have not done a Weekly Report in a long time. I need to take stock of where we are this year. It was a busy week, with some very time-consuming non-school related matters to which I needed to tend (illness in one of the children, washing machine break down, flooded laundry room, Dr. visit, toothache). Just a few minor annoyances - par for the course. But we still managed to stay on track.

In World History, we completed three more chapters in SOTW, along with corresponding readings in The Encyclopedia of World History, and CHOW. Written work consisted of the SOTW tests and all the mapping and activity pages from the activity book. The kids are also reading Short Stories from English History, and the older ones read Tales from Robin Hood and Marco Polo to the younger ones. Both of those books are from the Sonlight Core 1/2. I did look on United Streaming for supplementary videos on the Silk Route or the Diapora, but all I found was the Nest Animated Classic on Marco Polo. We have watched it before, but it is enjoyable, so no one complained about another viewing. There were some Horrible Histories and Time Warp Trio episodes also available, just nothing meaty.

In Science, Little Bear read about Mars and watched a video about a futuristic settlement on the planet. She did her journal pages in the corresponding Apologia notebook. This is my second time through this book and, secretly, I am anxious to be done. I just do not enjoy the same topic for such a long stretch in science. The twins are on their own with SL Science, and completed Week 16.

In Latin, Little Bear completed another Lesson in Matin Latin, the topic of which eludes me at this hour. She is doing very well with the vocabulary, but is struggling a bit to comprehend the "whys" of the declensions. The oldest twin finished the second review lesson in LC II. She grasps the grammar flawlessly, and struggles with vocabulary. When teaching Latin, I constantly remind myself and the kids that our goal is not just learning Latin, but learning about our own language from Latin. In other words, vocabulary and derivatives are very important elements. Sometimes I feel LC II falls short of my goals, and I have the urge to switch, but Oldest Twin is quite content and will not hear of it. Youngest twin continues with his Greek studies.

In Fallacy Detective, we covered Genetic Fallacies and Tu Quoque. Everyone participates in this. They all enjoy it.

Little Bear is on the last disc of Teaching Textbooks 4. Her goal is to be done by Christmas. She is learning so much with this program. And, in a proud Momma moment, I heard her brother exclaim, "You just listened to that part ... Why are you doing it again?", to which she replied, "I did not quite understand what he said. I want to listen again." WONDERFUL!!! Youngest twin continues with TT 6. And Oldest Twin completed Lessons 41 & 42 in Life of Fred: Pre-Algebra with Biology and Lesson 18 in MUS Pre-Algebra. She is very cognizant of how silly her errors are, and is working hard to improve.

In Language Arts, the twins and I worked our way through the Analytical Grammar lesson on prepositional phrases. Although the lesson did not call for it, I had them diagram the entire sentence, after labeling all the parts. With our background from Rod & Staff, it was not that difficult. I am having a hard time adjusting to AG. I much prefer R & S, even though it was tedious at times. I believe this purchase was a case of the grass is greener syndrome ... Little Bear completed an SL LA activity sheet with dictation, and a few lessons from Primary Language Lessons. She already completed her Wordly Wise book, and did another R & S spelling lesson. The Oldest Twin also completed a writing assignment from Lightning Lit. , having finished all the readings and workbook pages for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

Finally, in Bible/Christian Studies, we completed the final two lessons in our survey of the Old Testament. The kids loved this course from Grapevine Studies. Of course, any academic pursuit that can be supplemented with a Veggie Tales episode has to be fun!

All the kids had their dance classes. The twins took on the task of "speaking for homeschoolers everywhere" when they corrected the false notions of some girls in their tap class who mistakenly assumed homeschoolers sit around in pj's all day and play video games. This particular comment really upset my eldest girl. She stewed on it for two weeks. I am proud of the way they handled the criticism and did not shy away from confrontation with someone who was just ... wrong.

Those are the highlights from the crux of the three older kids' studies. Rocky and I worked our way through week 2 of MFW 1st Grade. He has now covered all the letters of the alphabet, and is getting pretty good at the dictation assignments. In math, he has been doing fact families on Flashmaster. He has a stomach bug mid-week, so we will make-up science next week. We did get to watch a video on making an ant farm on United Streaming. My kids were not blessed with a mom who will go in the back yard, dig up an ant hill, press it between two pieces of plexiglass, and keep it on the kitchen table for observation. So we watched one instead. Can I lose my home-schooling license for admitting that?