Baby in a Bucket

Let Freedom Ring!

This was the first year that we celebrated Independence Day with our own fireworks.  The boys finally seemed old enough to use sparklers responsibly.  

Here they are listening to the safety lecture from Dad.

Now, checking out the choices...

A live one!

And Boo-Boo with his first sparkler.

They got to watch Dad putting off a few whizz-n-bang firecrackers too, and they claimed that they liked "ours" better than the city fireworks.

Frankly, I was just relieved that we didn't have a repeat of last year's 4th of July celebration. That included lots of tears and fears prompted by the neighbors setting off fireworks at the end of our street.  We were only watching from the upstairs window.  And that was the bigger boy!

Confessions

Well, at least when I wrote this, I admitted that I was agonizing over my curriculum choices.  But I didn't stop agonizing when I wrote that.

So, this is the update...the revised version.  And I'm stickin' to it - especially since I've already put everything together into a schedule and a binder, and it's just sitting on my desk, waiting for August 9th to roll around.

I actually ditched Sonlight this year.  It's not that I don't like Sonlight because we did enjoy using it in years past.  But I wanted a more chronological, classical approach to history (and a more cohesive approach to science). So we're using Veritas Press History cards. This year's study will center on
Old Testament and Ancient Egypt.

But I couldn't just leave that alone because I didn't like the fact that no eastern history was included. 

So we're combining the history cards with Story of the World: Volume 1 in order to add in some history of Mesopotamia, India and China.  I'm pretty pleased with how the plan looks for that.

For science, we are going to study astronomy!  Mr. Blue-Eyes couldn't seem to make up his mind between the choices I gave him - which were astronomy, botany or animals.

He changed his mind several times, but I tempted him enough that he finally came around to choosing astronomy (which was my choice too!).  We're going to use Apologia Astronomy, and it looks really fun.  He agreed when I told him we'd get to build a volcano, make a hurricane, and make some ice cream!

Math is another big change for next year.  Mr. Blue-Eyes has struggled with math some, and it's definitely NOT his favorite subject.  I had thought of perhaps switching from Math-U-See to another math curriculum, and I gave him a few placement tests.  

WOW.

He was actually excited about taking the Saxon placement test. What???
Yeah.  He said it was fun.

So, it looks like, after a summer session of finishing up his current MUS text and an extra workbook on some things we haven't covered yet, he'll be all set to move into Saxon 2.  And hopefully math will be a lot more fun this year.

Language Arts will remain the same as originally planned, but we will use Song School Latin instead of Prima Latina.  Mr. Blue-Eyes is already bugging me to learn Latin.  He's running around calling "salve" and "vale" to his friends (hello and good-bye).  I hope his enthusiasm doesn't wane as we dig in.

And I discovered a new-ish Bible curriculum from Classical Academic Press called God's Covenant.  We'll use Old Testament: part 1 this year.  (I was rather gratified to learn that this company is based in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, which is very near to where I grew up!  Supporting the locals, right?)

Unless you're a homeschooling parent, you deserve a prize if you've read this far.  It probably doesn't seem like much to get excited over, but this will take over our days for the next year.  So it's enough to excite me!    

For Young Moms...

...or anyone who knows a young mom! You can encourage them by passing this along.

By "young moms" I mean mothers of young children.  You don't have to be under 30 years old.  It's your children that make you "young." 

;-)

9Marks has a great article here that is written to young moms, and it is worth your time.  Really. 

Don't miss it.

So often I experience this guilt that the author refers to - feeling as though I'm not doing enough at church or not involved in enough ministries there. 

But this article is a great reminder that while our children are young, the specific ministry to which God has called us *IS* our children.  Other obligations come second, whether it's VBS plans or church functions or even Women's Bible study.

These are years, weeks and minutes that we don't want to miss.  Our opportunity for teaching the gospel to fresh, malleable minds is here now and will be gone tomorrow. 

Take heed.

And ditch the guilt.

PS - I will note that our church, a small church but a growing one, has opportunities for serving. But there is no pressure to be involved beyond what serves our family well. Thanks to our elders for caring for us so well!