love to paint

Last year, one of Autumn's friends wrote a poem at school that was quite creative and cute.  When I read it, I questioned whether Autumn could write something like that.  This wasn't the pride kind of questioning.  It was the 'is she even able'--'does she know how to write at all'--kind of question.  I've written on this blog that I decided to switch writing curriculums this year.  For Kindergarten, I had used The Writing Spot with the girls.  But, the first grade teacher's guide I had wasn't specific enough in its plans so it seemed overwhelming.  That was why I'd switched two years ago.  After two years of Writing With Ease I had questions like the ones I mentioned earlier.  Is Autumn learning to write?   She is a creative little girl and my feeling began to grow that she needed a creative curriculum.  So, I went back to the curriculum I'd started with in Kindergarten from Great Source .  I'm starting Autumn with the seco...

I find that I often straddle a line.  Before I homeschooled, I was a public school teacher.  I earned my master's degree in education.  I learned a lot in my classes.  There is an old saying that teachers teach because they can't do anything else, but that simply isn't true!  It take so much skill to be a good teacher.   When I worked in the public schools, I grew to respect and admire the knowledge and experience of the special education teachers and the teachers that worked with students with learning disabilities.  They had training beyond what I had.   I saw their demeanors and patience with their students.  Because of my experience I have doubted whether a homeschool parent could teach their child at home as well as teachers with specialized education could.   Two weeks ago, I read a book that changed my mind.    The book was written by Melinda Boring.  It is titled Heads Up Helping .  It was published abou...

I only have a minute but I wanted to post this before I forgot.   People who don't homeschool often ask me why I do when I tell them that I homeschool my three children.  What exactly was it that was the catalyst to my decision?  I say "my decision" because it prompted me to bring it to my husband and then we discussed it together.  That catalyst was a conversation I had with a friend when Autumn, my oldest daughter, was 1 1/2 years old.  My friend had twins in first grade and a two year old.  She had received that week a notice from the school about sex ed. that requested her permission for instruction of her children.   First grade?  Sex ed.?  What???   Now, what sex ed. meant to this school district in Georgia in first grade is probably different than you'd expect.  Although, sexual reproduction is now discussed across the country in fourth grade instead of in seventh as it was when I was growing up.   Sex ed. in...

This past week was a bit stressful and busy in our house.   My husband decided in July that he would like to take the week off before we started our homeschool year.  I also had been notified that I had jury duty and we thought that this of all times I could actually go.  So, last Wednesday we headed off to Dutch Wonderland for the day.  It was great.  We all had a good time, though the water park area was way to crowded to be enjoyable.  The lines for the rides were never too long (I grew up near Disneyland which routinely had 1-2 hr. waits for rides).  So, that was Wednesday.   Thursday my husband began talking again about a second motorcycle.  We've been in the discussion phase for a long time about this.  I had shared with him that I felt my van loan should be paid off before we bought a new bike.  We realized that next month we could either a) pay for a bike outright or b) pay off the van.  On Sunday, I called in and...

A week or two ago, I posted a link to ChristianAudio.com.  They are offering a free audiobook download of Hannah Coulter this month.  Hannah Coulter is one my favorite books.  It is written by Wendell Berry.  What I remember most being struck by in this book is that a man wrote it.  He wrote it with all the reality of life and accurately wrote what a woman would think or feel walking in the shoes of Hannah (or at least what I, as a woman, imagine she would think).  What often with books is that people of the of the opposite sex, particularly women, write what they would want someone of the opposite sex to say--not necessarily What they would say.     This past week I read a book that made me feel just this way.  It was written by a woman, but it felt a bit unbelievable.  I just couldn't imagine a man saying what the man in this book did.   The book I read was  Mercy Come Morning by Lisa Tawn Bergren.  I wanted to re...

I remember when I was student teaching in fifth grade and I asked the kids a few questions.  First, I asked them what was they liked in Math.  I wrote the list on a transparency so they could see it.  Then, I asked them one by one if the items on the list were easy or hard for them.  Then, I went second list of what they didn't like to do in math.  I asked again for each of the items on the list if they were easy or hard for them.  My students started to see the point.  They realized that they liked what was easy for them and they didn't like what was hard for them. I then asked them how long they'd been doing the things that were easy for them and how long they'd been doing the things that were hard for them (I picked one or two things from the list.).   The connection started to be made...  I pointed out that the things they'd been doing a long time were easy for them and the things they were just learning were hard.  So, they needed t...

Today was one of those days.  It had its ups and its downs.  It started off with a down.  I slowly climbed back up.  Mid-morning I sat down in Starbucks with Broken-Down House and opened it up to start reading where I'd left off.  I didn't realize it, but I'd opened up the book to a different page.  I began reading and began here... "...as we experience the reality of life in this house, sometimes it will leave us confused and overwhelmed.  Sometimes it will leave us hurt and angry.  Sometimes we will give way to envy because the house of someone living nearby seems far less broken.  Sometimes we will just get weary of the stress of it all and long for a house in perfect repair." from p. 85 of Broken-Down by Paul David Tripp I was then comforted by this reminder farther down on the same page of this book... "You have not been left alone...He knows who you are and he knows where you are living.  he knows how hard it is to live in...

Children have so many fears when they're little.  I remember two years ago when my girls were SO afraid of bugs.  I'm afraid that I wasn't much help since I actually don't like bugs.   Still, I continually tried to encourage them not to be afraid.  I hid my fear of bugs.  When they were upset, I spoke in a calm voice and tried not to make a big deal out of it.  They did seem to grow out of their fear though they still didn't them them. This summer they changed.  My daughter, Sami, has actually gotten crickets out of the underbrush for a friend's frogs.  She's come a long way.  I believe that part of what has helped her is my friend, Jenny, who loves bugs.  Her example and joy in God's creation--bugs--has opened my daughter's eyes and helped them to feel comfortable holding, touching, and being around bugs. Sometimes it's hard to know just what to do to help our kids get over their fears.  Bugs are a common fear among kids. ...

I love used book sales!  At this time in my life, it is less stressful to fill our house with books from used booksales then to stress about finding a lost library book somewhere in our house.  I am blessed that several of the libraries sell used children's books at their book sales for a quarter each.  Whenever I find children's books about God, I always pick them up.  I take them home and read them.  Most of the time I redonate them to the library.  But, every once in a while, I find a buried treasure.   Four or five years ago, I found one of these.  It was titled Everyday Adventures .  I only paid a dime for it.  I read through these stories with my daughters and I loved them.  They enjoyed them too, though my younger daughter wasn't able to follow them as well because it was a lot of reading and not as many pictures.  She was only 2 1/2 at the time.   I tried to find the author, Pat Holt, online.  At first, ...

This morning I went to visit a friend while my kids were at VBS.  This friend happens to be in a nursing home--in the Alzheimer's unit.  She came to live there a little less than a year ago.  At the time she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, she and her husband were told to expect about 3 years of coherancy before she she lost touch.   But, doctors are often wrong. She got sick and was given an antibiotic that triggered her Alzheimer's to rapidly take hold of her mind.  She had hallucinations and lost her awareness of what was real and what wasn't.  After she was taken off the medication, she regained a tiny portion of what she had lost, but not a lot.  Within a month, she was in the nursing home.   Over the past year, I've tried to visit her periodically.  But, because I have 3 young children someone has always been sick.  I could only go visit when everyone (including me) was well.   The last time I visited was a month a...

Hannah Coulter is one of my favorite books.  So, it seems odd that I don't actually own a copy of it.  It's written by Wendell Berry.  It has always amazed me that a man wrote this book.  It's a wonderfully written book full of insight.  ChristianAudio.com offers one free audiobook a month.   August's selection just happens to be Hannah Coulter. If you decide to download it, I do hope you enjoy it!   www.ChristianAudio.com

I spend a lot of time reading.  There always seems to be something I am pondering, struggling with, or sorting through.  On the first day of this year, I reviewed a book about suffering titled Be Still, My Soul   http://lovetopaint.blogspot.com/2011/01/understanding-and-accepting-suffering.html .  I enjoyed the book and was encouraged by it.  I read the book because I struggled with understanding the place and purpose of suffering in our lives.  It encouraged me a lot, but I was still left with some questions. How do I cope with the yuckiness of the world? How do I keep it from overwhelming me and not becoming cynical?  How do I keep sight of eternity? How can I best love a fallen world? What should I expect of the people in my life? How do I hold onto hope? As usual, a book came across my path that I hoped would help me answer some of these questions.  I mentioned it a few months ago in this post:   http://lovetopaint.b...

Today a new book arrived.   I Remember When... is written by Dawn Wynne.   She happens to live in Southern California, where I grew up.   When this picture book arrived, my children wanted to read it right away. So, we did. Even though they are 7, 5, and 3, they all enjoyed touching the book and turning the plastic dial on the phone. I explained to them what each of the items on the pages were and how they were used. I also shared with them which ones we have or friends have. I just lent my friend my film camera and my mom still types with her typewriter. We just visited my mother in law's house where there is a rotary dial phone. One of my friends just bought a record player. Many of my friends actually do hang their laundry out to dry. I do realize that for many children all of the things in this book will be foreign to them. My family and friends may be a bit unusual. On Dawn's website, she has pictures of a storytime she did. She read the book and brought in a...

Is faith in oneself the same as faith in God?   No. Is Courage based upon who one is the same as courage from God when we are weak? I don't think so. Is Hope that our dreams will come true the same as the Hope we have because of Christ? No. Our culture touts the values of hope, courage, and faith.  But, it bases these values in the potential within ones self.  It grieves me deeply.  The way these messages are conveyed to us sounds good and encouraging.  How could they be bad things?  They aren't necessarily bad--but they are bad if they take God out of the picture.   Psalm 2:1-3 ESV    1 Why do   the nations rage    and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves,    and the rulers take counsel together,    against the LORD and against his   Anointed, saying, 3 "Let us   burst their bonds apart    and cast away their co...