Lots of Little Things

• We had a great week of school - probably because my expectations were so low coming home from vacation. I honestly was just hoping to scrape by with the bare minimum but I think we may have had one of our best weeks yet!

• If you didn't notice in any of the Disney pictures, Toddzilla (who else?) cut his hair the night before our trip. We have never, ever had scissor to hair, marker to wall, lipstick to everything issues around here so I haven't even given the "only the barber cuts your hair speech." Bad move on my part. Crockett appears to be following in his big brother's very boisterous footsteps. I will definitely need many more cups of coffee and many more hours of prayer as the third boy will soon join the party. 

• I've been wanting to post more about the Thomas Jefferson Education book for quite a while. Right after I read it, I lent it to a friend and am just now getting it back. Hopefully, I'll have more to say sometime soon. 

• Still trying to finish my patch-work knit blanket for the baby. Still have not made too much progress on my new year's resolution to get the scrapbooks up to date.

• I'm reading Kate's (of Jon and Kate + 8) book, Multiple Blessings, so nicely sent to me by Juli. Wow, there's a book that puts some of life's trials in perspective. Kate is much more outspoken about her faith in the book; it's a testimony to their extreme trust in God's guidance and care. 

• Finally, if you need a laugh check out Spunky. 
  

 

Mom Schools

I've now waded through both A Thomas Jefferson Education and the Thomas Jefferson Home Companion. Both contain great information - and lots of it. In many ways, this method of education overlaps with what I've found most helpful in The Well Trained Mind and the teachings of Charlotte Mason. It's not a radically different philosophy, but there are many helpful, insightful pieces worth repeating here. I want to tackle my favorite parts so today I'll start with the idea of the Mom School.

Before reading this book, we found ourselves in a Mom School for the first time this year. (Of course we don't call it that, but after reading DeMille, that's exactly what it is). Every other Friday afternoon we meet to discuss a chapter of Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day. The host mom is responsible for that week's discussion: we have the children do reports, we do the experiments from the chapter, we play games relating to the lesson, we go on field trips. It's amazing! Last week's host mom is a science guru herself, and knowing there may not be time for reports, said it was optional. My girls begged to do one. That's how inspiring this group is (I'll get to the "inspire, not require" part of DeMille's book another time).

Because this group has been so successful - and so much fun - I've decided to start a Liberty Girls Club using the same basic idea. (The Home Companion has lots of ideas for this exact club). We'll read a designated American Girl Doll book, talk about the historical time period, do a craft/project that relates to the book, you get the idea. There's something very important about both the parent and the child being invested in learning together.

"Mom Schools greatly enhance children's education...Through group learning, children share their enthusiasm with each other, strengthen desire for knowledge and enjoy mutual inspiration and encouragement. Adults benefit from combined strength, and we all pull each other up."

A Thomas Jefferson Education Home Companion