From our family to yours!

On top of our “new normal” school schedule, we have been participating in a Backyard Nature Scavenger Hunt that a good friend of ours is putting together. She gives you an item to find in nature and tells you about the item.  If you post the wrong item, she often has an explanation of what your found item actually is.

Our Day 1 Find:

If you want to participate, it is never too late. In fact, sometimes we get behind – but we eventually catch up.  Here is a link to the Hapless Hiker’s Facebook page so you can join in on the fun.  Here are some photos of our  other finds so far…

We are a few behind and need to catch up ourselves.  Off to the backyard…

Though we spent much time in the garden, caring for animals, playing outdoors, visiting the farm, prepping meals, doing chores – and important learning took place through all of these activities…here is a video of where some of the kids’ formal education took place over the month of March.

Normal book and computer lessons have been completed at the desk, on the floor, under the carport, at my office, on the patio, in the yard, at the dining room table, in the kitchen, in bed… and extra curriculars (Girl Scouts, drama, and Youth group) lessons have occurred through Zoom. I would say we had a pretty good month of learning with a change of scenery often.

It has been 2 weeks since our State shutdown schools due to the Corona Virus. 

Facebook is flooded with posts on everyone’s new normal.  People seem to be spending time with family more… spending more time outdoors… and now, they are forced into homeschooling, and they are trying to navigate through those waters.  Many parents are stressed with their new roles of  working parent and teacher…

Many parents are embracing this time with their children and throwing out the books altogether…

I can’t help but wonder, when this “crisis” passes, what family, school, work, and home-life will look like.  What will be changed?  What will revert back to near “old normal”?  And what will remain similar to our current “new normal”?

We are a homeschooling family, so what has changed for us?

We did not have to skip a beat with our studies.  Homeschooling is our normal, we could pick up where we left off the day before, and hit the ground running.

But, we didn’t quite do that.

We chose to throw formal lessons out of the window, for the most part, and to spend more time focusing on the things we love and the building of oneself.   We aren’t quite “unschooling” like many homeschool families choose to do.  Rather, we reverted back to our homeschooling roots… striving to “nurture our children’s ability to listen, reflect, articulate, delight, serve, and to find beauty in the mundane – because we believe these are tools for a thoughtful life and a rich future.”

We are still doing  the Three R’s (reading, writing and arithmetic), but our history lessons are currently coming from current events, novel studies, and topics involving geography.  Our science lessons are coming in the form of gardening and caring for animals.  The kids are cooking meals for the entire family.  The kids are learning how to build structures using power tools. They are doing nature scavenger hunts. They are participating in an online theater class.  They are doing arts and crafts. They are reading in their free time.  They are doing chores.  They are participating in only Sunday school. They are living.  They are growing as individuals, and their relationships are further being bonded.

Some may disagree with this approach, and that’s ok.  This is “our new normal”. 

Being the wife and children of a fire fighter is not always easy, but we very much appreciate spending time with him on his OFF days.

The curiosity of a child. Let him be spirited. May he always find his strength from within as he explores the world around him! May I nourish his spirit and help teach him where our true strength comes from.❤️

The curiosity of a child. The gentleness of his spirit as he explores the natural world. Let him wonder… let him wander.  ❤️

Today, I should be celebrating the life of a friend who lost her fight with cancer with her family and friends…But instead, given current events, her Celebration of Life was cancelled. So, I will write a tribute here. A genuine spirit. A fighter. A lover of family. A true friend. A shepherdess. I will accept you for who you are because I know whose you are type of gal! An example to all of Christ’s love.  My first homeschool contact, and the one who introduced me to sheep. Blessed to have known her. Blessed to call her “friend”. I still see her in my daily life – in the little things. I remember her violent crazy rooster as I observe my baby chicks, and laugh! I remember her love for cats, as my cat purrs next to me… I remember her knowledge of humane and natural practices and medicine for sheep and other animals, as I watch my children bottle feed sheep at their grandparents and as we do daily chores with our own critters… Continue reading “Remembering a Sweet Soul” →