Weekly Reflections - Week Nine...

At Home

We had another busy week here on Drywood Creek.  I was away from home five days in a row for one reason or another.  This puts new meaning to homeschooling.  It's been more like school on the run.  Sadly, this week Ruben told me he "hates every program we're doing...science, math, poetry, all of it!"....sigh.   I have decided school on the run does not benefit any of us.  Unfortunately, this will be my story for the next couple of weeks.

All of this running prompted The Farmer and I to talk about the meaning of education.  Is it the number of boxes we check, relationships we build, or life lessons we teach?  The end of our first term is a couple of weeks away.  I'm looking forward to reassessing, regrouping, and refreshing.

Around the Web

I absolutely love what Mystie Winckler says in Why Homeschooling is Hard, "we have to know that we are called to be faithful, not successful" -and- "doing the next right thing is what we’re supposed to be doing – that’s faithfulness".  This is where I'm at right now.  It really brought perspective to some of my thoughts.

I was inspired by the insight of Rachel McClure, a first year teacher, after reading Teaching is Making the World More Enchanting.  It sounds like Ms. McClure is off to a great start!

On My Shelf

Consider This: Charlotte Mason and the Classical Tradition by Karen Glass - Our CM Study group meets next week to discuss Chapters 4 & 5.  I hope to post soon regarding Chapters 2 & 3.  Stay tuned...

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery - I'm reading this for our next Middle School Book Club meeting.  Last month we studied The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.  I'm looking forward to comparing Huck and Anne as the male/female protagonists.

Teach Yourself Visually WordPress by George Plumley - I've been skimming through...well, mostly looking at pictures, trying to decide if I should move this blog to WordPress.

Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet Cookbooks - I currently have several of these checked out from the library.  Not that I'm looking for 'diet' food, but I really like the layout of the pages in these cookbooks.  There are lots of colored pictures and the recipes have ingredients that I typically have on hand.  I tend to go through a cookbook craze this time of year.  I love the fall harvest and cooking is just so fun with the wide variety this season offers.

The Dust Bowl, a film by Ken Burns - While reading The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck, I was put in mind of this Ken Burns documentary.  I've caught parts on PBS different times, but never sat down to watch the whole film.  Our family is currently working through it....such a sad, yet interesting time in our country's history.

What's on your shelf?  Please share in the comments below...