You may have noticed that the blog has been a bit quiet. Yeah, sorry about that, but we’ve had quite a bit going on. Big life-changing things. No worries. Not bad things at all, but challenging things that I am really not much at liberty to discuss here (sorry), but I can say that these things affect our days down to the smallest detail — how we live, how we work, the difference between surviving and thriving through adversity. In this, our stage is set for a new school year.
You may also have noticed that I am a bit of a control freak. I think the personality trait is inherent to many homeschoolers. It’s not a bad thing; someone has to be in control. I firmly believe that God sends me little adventures every now and again (bed rest while husband is TDY and premature baby, anyone?) to remind me that He is ultimately in control of everything, and in the end I must simply trust in Him. But I also don’t think He begrudges me my little personality quirk that causes me to organize everything when life spins out of my control.
So I’ve been organizing our new school year. Planning, choosing, researching — all of it has kept me focused on things that I can control on not fretting on those things that I cannot. Plus, I have been having fun! I have had an opportunity to delve into some methods of homeschooling that I had previously explored and not fully understood.
I have read the first parts of The Well-Trained Mind a number of times, and am a frequent visitor to The Well Trained Mind forums, but it wasn’t until I read The Core: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of Classical Education by Lee Bortins recently that I came to a much better understanding behind the methods and purposes of a classical education. My apologies to Susan Wise Bauer, who I think is wonderful. I am sure she did a good job explaining classical education in her book, but for me it got lost in all of the curriculum recommendations, and I couldn’t see the forest for the trees. I found her audio lectures much more helpful and approachable — in fact I would go so far as to call them fantastic. I have also steeped my summer in Andrew Pudewa audios as well. Can’t get enough of those. If you are interested I will post about my favorites from those two.
Far beyond Latin instruction and a four-year history cycle, the classical model employs its own techniques and methodologies of instruction. I am just beginning to understand what these are, the purposes they serve, and the potential value they have for my kids. (You can insert the mad-scientist laugh here.) I have been planning our days this year to include some of those methods. Far from my initial assumption that classical methods were tedious and complicated, I am finding a certain simplicity and freedom in making plans based on a few, select goals and methods.
All of this to say, this is what I have been up to (in case you were wondering where I had been), and this is what the conversation is going to look like around here for a bit (in case you were wondering what I was going to write about next). I would love to have you join the conversation as we focus on the us in us-schooling and how we can best be served by our education. I will not be speaking as any kind of expert, but as a seeker who is exploring the value of her discoveries. If you are interested in the journey over the destination, then you might enjoy the ride. More to come…
*Photos by the incomparable Tina Richards. If you are local, I would love to give you her contact information.
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