SUMMER READING

We LOVE books.

 

 

I definitely consider reading one of our top priorities in education and I pray I might instill in the hearts of my children a deep love for reading over the years. Naturally, some will enjoy this valuable tool more than others, so when the library is hosting summer reading incentive programs I jump at the chance to participate.

 

 

It's encouraging to see even my kids who've historically been more resistant to read (mainly because it's a challenge) perk up and READ and READ and READ simply because there's a bookmark reading log and reward in sight.

 

Genius!

 

 

I'm not huge on charts and the like, but when the librarian handles the painstaking details,

 

I'm in.

 

 

(Thanks for the ever-rare "Mom in action" photo, Brodie! Ha! Can you just feeeel the pearls of perspiration as I PRAY my tribe of children doesn't completely obliterate the serenity that IS the library with our less than ambiguous presence?? Ahh...the exhale that takes place when we ALL make it safely {and quietly} out the front door.)

 

Though, I do love the library.

 

And, who knew a kid's meal at Rubio's could bolster such discipline?!

 

 

There's something to be said for charting progress and this summer we've found the library summer reading program to be just what we've needed to kick start a new school year filled with enthusiasm to read.

 

 

For most of us anyway...This guy prefers to rearrange the library's landscaping!

 

 

Thanks, library!

 

 

Thanks, Rubio's!

 

(Insert mental photo memory here of our table full of children all sitting proper
with their VERY OWN kids meal right after our big day in court. It was really fun!)

"Let the wise hear and increase in learning."
Proverbs 1:5

{ACCIDENTAL} CATCH OF THE DAY - HAWK

OK, so we have this "tradition" around here of acquiring uninvited National Geographic type house guests when Brodie is at work. I'm talking about snake lizards, rats, insects, and birds of various types...

they all love to invade our home specifically when Daddy is gone.

 

But not this time, THANK THE LORD!

 

So, the other day when Brodie and I were upstairs we suddenly heard the kids shrieking in the kitchen.

Being that shrieking (to our dismay) is not a terribly out of the ordinary raucous around here,

we took our time to see just what the commotion was all about.

 

"Bird! Bird! There's a bird in the house!!!" they all yelped.

 

Now, we've had birds in the house before (again, always when Dad was at work), but I could never have imagined just what had flown in this time...and gotten himself trapped behind the bread box in the kitchen window:

 

 

Let's just say...shrieking justified. Check out this guy's claws!

 

 

 Hello!? It's not like we live in the middle of nowhere (though how I wish we did!).

We live in a (much too) normal suburban neighborhood and yet
this is who came for a visit right through our backyard sliding glass door.

 

He thrashed about in our kitchen bay window, trying everything he could to get out until finally he got himself stuck.
Poor guy! Poor us too...
How do you get a gigantic hawk/harrier/who-knows-what kind of jumbo size bird of prey out of the house??

 

Fortunately, Brodie WAS home this time (my hero!) and little did I know I'd married a natural born bird whisperer. Without a blink, my trusty husband whipped out his handy dandy closet dowel and got the [huge!] bird to perch on it. What?!

 

{Please just imagine the amount of shrieking by this time...}

 

Then, he swooped the poor frightened little [BIG] thing back out the same way he'd come in.

 

 

Oh my! It was definitely a sight. That's him up on the basil plant he mutilated in all his hysteria. I'm just glad he didn't fly into the front room of the house or up into the bedrooms!

 

Anyway! Need less to say, it was a bit of excitement for the day and now we have another impromptu research project to boot thanks to our {accidental} catch of the day!

 

HAWK?  HARRIER?  HEN HARRIER?

 

(I think we've narrowed it down to one of/all of these.)

 

Here's a video of a hen harrier which we've come to learn is a type of hawk.

Looks pretty similar to our house guest:

 

 

And more birds of prey in slow motion flight. Beautiful!

 

 

"Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"         
Matthew 6:26

SENSING FALL

The senses of fall are upon us.

 

Store isles once brimming with floaties and bubbles now team with binders and pens.
Vacationers pack freeways for summer's last hoorahs.
Finally, beaches return quiet...soon.

 

Propane runs out. Thoughts of thyme, rosemary, roasted veggies, and soups simmering all the day indoors warm my core.
I can almost taste the beauty of children lined up around kitchen table, absorbing knowledge intentionally.

I see, smell, feel, hear, taste the offerings of fall.

 It makes me want to buy school supplies...bouquets of newly sharpened pencils.

 

So, out today I go...gathering paper and pencils and crayons with fresh tips.
I'm glad to stock up for the year. Though summer still reigns, fall peeks around the corner and emotions get jumbled again.

 

Fall.

It's a time of new beginnings every year. And, a time of sorrowful endings past.
Having lost both of my parents in September invokes the same memories every time.
I haven't escaped it yet. But with loved ones lost comes gratitude for what was.
Legacy spurs me on.

 

Endings, beginnings, goals, decisions, excitement, reluctance, new, tried and true,

glue, read, think, organize, gather, bake, study, teach, learn, relearn, hold on, let go,

remember, move past, disciple, invest, retreat, regroup, stock up, Thanksgiving,

potato soup, cornbread, chili, oven roasting, pumpkins, porridge, play, love, PRAY...

just some of the words that come to mind in this season of sensing fall.

 

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven."

Ecclesiastes 3:1


YOUTUBE?!

We've always loved snuggling up at night to watch family movies.

Lately, we've discovered a way to combine education with our cozy pastime
and even I'm surprised to say it's thanks to YouTube.

 

YouTube?!

 

If it's nighttime, we'll usually prop up the laptop, gather blankets, pillows, even our favorite ladybug tent sometimes in Mom and Dad's bedroom...then we search through the vast resources available with the simple click of a keyboard. It's fun! The kids will ask about things, each choosing topics they are curious about, and then we go hunting for documentaries.

In the morning or during school hours, we'll gather around the kitchen table (smoothies in hand) or make a semicircle on the floor while we watch and learn. Gone are the days of film projectors such as I watched back in school. For us and our homeschooling lifestyle, a laptop and pjs will do. :)

It's amazing the wealth of knowledge we have at our fingertips these days and if we spend our curiosity wisely, there is much to learn through web resources...and...it's free! (Not to mention landslides more productive than anything Redbox has to offer.) I definitely count YouTube as an asset to the homeschooling family when it's utilized with integrity.

 

Tracking back a few years ago, I recall it was YouTube videos that opened our eyes to the cry of the orphan worldwide and even influenced our hearts toward adoption. To think we can see in an instant the desperate needs across the globe is mind blowing! Truly, we are without excuse to recognize the needs of our global neighbors here in our world of modern technology. The eyes of our hearts ought to be moved when we SEE our brothers and sisters in need.

 

"By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and SEES his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth."

1 John 3:16-18

 

I remember our family years ago sitting around our computer screen with all of our children watching a documentary about families who lived in a garbage dump so they could eat (from the trash) and collect rummage to sell for mere coins as income. This happens all around our world everyday while others of us have well more than our daily necessities.
I want my children to understand this. I want to understand this...and be moved to action.



"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing."
James 1:22-25

I remember inspirational adoption stories which opened our eyes and ultimately our hearts to the calling God was preparing us for through adoption and orphan care. I remember realizing that we could offer a loving home to a child in need because of simple YouTube videos the Lord allowed our family to see.

Clearly God can use the internet's power for good.
But, the enemy can also use it for destruction, so we must be watchful.

 

"Be sober-minded; be watchful.
Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."
1 Peter 5:8

 In our family, we employ a PARENTS ONLY search rule for desired documentaries and educational content without little eyes watching (You never know what might pop up on a YouTube sidebar!). But indeed YouTube has taught us much and provided an educational and entertaining component to our home education. (PS...I always click into full screen mode before sharing my search results with the kids to avoid the unknown on the sidebar.)

 

The internet can be a blessing or a curse so we must google wisely, keeping our hearts and eyes with all vigilance. That said, we have learned about lots of interesting things lately from our snuggle up family time exploring fascinating facts via YouTube and I hope we continue to see and witness and learn even more in the days and years yet to come.

 

"Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life."

Proverbs 4:23

"An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge."

Proverbs 18:15
 

 "How can a young man keep his way pure?

    By guarding it according to your word.
With my whole heart I seek you;
    let me not wander from your commandments!
I have stored up your word in my heart,
    that I might not sin against you."

Proverbs 19:9-11



HOMESCHOOL DAYS & DISCOUNTS HERE IN S. CALIFORNIA

We're excited to take advantage of some homeschool discount days around town this coming year. There are endless opportunities for educational field trips, but it's always helpful to find the ones which offer special deals for homeschoolers. We definitely aren't the type to "do it all" but a few of these just may be worth while this coming 2013-2014 school year:

 

AQUARIUM OF THE PACIFIC

$6/person Homeschool Days

 

SEA WORLD

$6/person Instructional Field Trip (2013-2014 Dates TBD)

 

SAN DIEGO ZOO

$7/person + free curriculum download

 

CALIFORNIA SURF MUSEUM

Free Tuesdays

LEGOLAND

Homeschool Discount Mondays

BATES NUT FARM
Weekday group rates

 

These are merely a few of the countless local educational and experiential opportunities available to curious homeschoolers here in Southern California. I'm holding onto THIS LINK to access MANY more. It's sure to be a FUN year!! 

 

"A disciple is not above his teacher,

but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher."

Luke 6:40

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Reading should not be presented to children as a chore or a duty. It should be offered to them as a precious gift."

-Kate DiCamillo

CATCH OF THE DAY - CRAB

Another fun catch of the day...CRAB!

 

 

We're still trying to research exactly what type of crab we found at the beach yesterday, but in the meantime we have had lots of fun learning that there are WAY more varieties of interesting crabs in the sea than we ever realized!

 

For example, we discovered that the Japanese Spider Crab has a leg span reaching up to 12 feet wide and can weigh up to 41 pounds!! That's a HUGE crab!

 

 

 

What a creative God we have!!

 

Thanks to our catch of the day, we've learned how to cook live crab (something I've never personally done...but perhaps it's time??) as well as the correct way to shell and eat crab too.

 

We also found a unit study here which we will check out this week. Mostly we've grown in our curiosity of God's creation under the sea. Who knows where else that could lead?

 

 

(He wanted to love it...but he didn't.)

 

 

(They did!)

 

It's awe-inspiring to explore the wonders that exist beneath our beautiful oceans.

 

How great is our God!

 

 

"Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure."

Psalm 145:7

 "O LORD, how manifold are your works!

In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures."

Psalm 104:24

STUDYING THE WORLD...FOLLOWING OUR HEARTS

Over the years, God has inspired our hearts more and more to expose our children to the least of these, the desperate places of our world, our global neighbors. We see our school year as an opportunity to teach our children about cultures that differ (some significantly!) from our own and to apply our personal experiences to the equation.

"You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Mark 12:31

We find that when we follow our natural curiosities and God-given interests, we're most likely to enjoy and absorb what we're studying...and so goes our strategy for global prayer, studying God's Word, geography, literature, language, biographies, music, missions, global economics, history...to name merely a few!

It all started in 2011 when our school year began with Brodie and Aida's mission trip to Beijing in September. In excitement and preparation for their trip, we focused our attentions on China the first half of the year. We prayed for the Chinese people by province, watched DVDs, dabbled in the language, prayed for orphans and ministries we discovered through their trip, did reports on the country, read biographies of missionaries who gave their lives to the Chinese people, and grasped an understanding of the underground church movement/persecution of Christians in China that still exists today. My kids know WAY more about the history and modern condition of China than I ever did!

Our experience that year was eye opening and began a new theme for each year since.

 

In 2012, we focused on the continent of Africa while we were in the adoption process for Noble and India as well as preparing for Brodie's trip to Malawi and South Africa.  Specifically, we studied each country in light of our Operation World book. We printed out a blank labeled map of Africa, colored in a different country each day, looked up photos on the internet, and most importantly prayed for each one. I bought this puzzle of Africa which was really helpful (even though Sudan is now divided) and I dreamt of buying this one. We highlighted the Democratic Republic of the Congo since that's where our children were born and we all learned a ton! I know I learned more about Africa that school year than I ever had in my whole life...one of the best blessings of homeschool!

We parents get to learn new things too!!



In 2013, we turned our attentions to Haiti in anticipation of our Kids Around the World mission trip. To allow our older children (and our younger vicariously) to actually smell, feel, live, breath, taste, touch Haiti in addition to our home studies is what homeschooling and all of life really is about for us. We'd like to be doers as well as thinkers. The kids learned about ministries that are doing amazing things in Haiti and got to visit them firsthand. Aida has become particularly inspired to gear her life toward the goal of becoming a medical missionary of some sort as a result of the trip and the clinic she learned about which is currently being built at Respire Haiti. Also, Aida felt very inspired to learn to play guitar before the trip so she could sing with the Haitian kids (a prime example of Delight Directed Learning). :) This led to now all 3 of our oldest picking up the instrument which will be a wonderful addition to our 2013-2014 year and has already blessed our family worship time abundantly! I'm amazed by all that God taught us this past year as a result of our preparation for Haiti! I couldn't possibly capture all of the details just here...and more is yet to be revealed...

This coming school year, 2013-2014, we are anticipating another Kids Around the World trip, this time to Puerto Escondido in southern Mexico. We'll be learning some Spanish, celebrating Mexican culture, studying the country's geography and history, following the ministry where the trip is heading (which is run by my brother-in-law's cousin's family), praying for the people of Mexico as we understand the challenges unique to them, learning some authentic Mexican cooking and baking, singing Spanish worship, and I have a fun plan to lead up to a big fiesta at the end of the year! I'm hoping by the time the trip comes, those who GO will be able to communicate in Spanish on some level with those they interact with as well as have a genuine understanding for and appreciation for the culture. We're excited!

One of our most appreciated blessings from homeschooling has been this experience to use our time learning about the cultures of the world, applying our knowledge to practical experiences, and immersing ourselves spiritually and physically in what God is doing around the globe. We pray these studies and life lessons will open doors our whole lives long as we follow God's lead each step of the way...studying the world...following our hearts...and hopefully making a difference for God's glory!

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations."

Matthew 28:19

DELIGHT DIRECTED LEARNING

Over the years as a newer homeschooling mom, I had heard periodically about this "delight directed learning" style of homeschool education...and my curiosity was constantly perked. In particular, I found that the sources which generally advocated for such learning were interesting people, typically out-of-the-box thinkers, and those I've found myself identifying with for our own homeschooling family.

Delight directed learning involves following the natural, God-given gifts, talents, and curiosities of individual children and families, exploring the world around us and making almost anything and everything into a learning experience. This makes much intuitive sense to a mom like me and so I've become increasingly open to the idea of adding more and more "delightful" learning to our homeschooling experience.

Choosing a homeschooling style isn't so tricky when we're aware of the many options, but the catch is to experiment prayerfully and ask God to guide our hearts into alignment with His will. God has unique plans for each of our unique children in life and He is quite the creative God with infinite possibilities to use His creation for His glory. If only we would all be brave enough to search outside of the molds of society and step into His individualized plans for each one of us. How much time we could save following man...if we would wholeheartedly follow HIM!

"And he said to them, 'Follow me.'"

Matthew 4:19

Though our family remains eclectic in our homeschooling approach and we choose to follow curriculum for core subjects, we also intentionally seek to allow the delights of our hearts to lead us into learning of all kinds according to God's best design. We strive to remain flexible learners, navigating life together, and we're intent on prioritizing matters of the heart. We're following God and His Word most earnestly of all and we're confident He will forge the right paths for each of us as we do. His plans are always best and sometimes rather surprising...

And so, with the coming school year and each day between here and there and well after, I'm eager to encourage my family members (big and small) to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, knowing that all we need will be added to us when we do (Matthew 6:33), knowing that God will give us the desires of our heart and lead us into His will for our part in {His story} through whatever means He deems best. Here's to a year filled with delight directed learning!

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday."

Psalm 37:4-6

CATCH OF THE DAY - GUITAR SHARKS

You can imagine how excited we were as our beach day Friday turned into a science lesson when we and our friends found not one, but TWO guitar sharks! How fitting to end our oceanography study this year!

(Are we ever not studying the ocean??)

 

  Looks like we have more marine life lessons in store thanks to our catch of the day!

 

Learn more about guitar sharks with us here...

 

and guitar fish here.

 

 

 

"So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds...And God saw that it was good."

Genesis 1:21