Homeschooling

*The practice of teaching one's children at home* All parents do it. That's not only my opinion, but also a dictionary definition. There is lots of teaching going on in our home. And so, that's why I consider myself a homeschooler.

Shedding a little more light on the issue, some of us teach our children at home exclusively and some send their children to boarding school, stretching the definition of *at home* to its thinnest. Even the families who teach mainly at home usually contract for some services within their communities in the same way that the family who contracts with the boarding school is outsourcing most of their teaching efforts.

For example, if a family is involved with a homeschool group or if they consolidate their efforts and one parent teaches a group science class, some services are outsourced. Consider that the practice of enrolling one's children in recreational activities (physical education) through local associations is also contracting for services. Even using one's public library is, in a sense, contracting for outside services.

And so, in our family, we chose to contract for some of the teaching efforts by sending our children to a private, Christian school. Although we highly regard our responsibility before God to teach our children (Deut 6), we chose to delegate a portion of this responsibility to some Christian helpers for a part of the day.

We never lost sight of our duty before God to bring up our charges in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Here's a link to a speech I gave several times. We continue to have the utmost regard for the Lord's Will and the vision He has helped us to have for their roles as Christian women of the 21st century.

With that explanation, now I will attempt to answer a questionnaire about which homeschooling books/resources I found most valuable or invaluable.

Homeschooling Meme

Dana/Dana (Okay, I'm (that's Ruthanne)breaking the rules here because Dana is not a homeschooler. However, she is very homeschool-friendly and loves life and learning. I really like Dana and would love to hear her thoughts on worthy educational resources.)

As you see I've been *tagged* And while there is no pressure to participate, I think I will. Actually I was thinking about these questions BEFORE I was tagged. And I started an answer....

So, in order to finish, I will break down the answers to one per day. Otherwise, the thought of putting all these ideas in one entry seems to keep me from completing the task.

That's the ticket...break it down into *doable* portions.

Touchstone

Shoutout to any of my reader/lurkers who subscribe to this magazine. I am looking for an article in the July 2006 issue. It's the one about cousins.

Leave me a comment if you are willing to email or snail mail me a copy of this article.

Thanks.

Sunday Sermon Series

For the past five weeks, and I expect for the coming five, at least, our pastor is preaching on various Scriptures and tying in the lives/works of historical personages. This is related to his particpation in Vision Forum's Mega History Conference which took place in July. I was unable to attend, and so, I am delighted to be hearing snippets JCM's lectures.

So, far we have covered 1) John Calvin and II Cor 10:1-6; Martin Luther and Romans 3; 3) Augustine of Hippo and Psalm 48; and 4) Survey of Martyrs from 1st cent thru 17th cent and John 15:16-27; and 5) Jesus thru the centuries and John 1:1-14 & Phil 2:5-11. Obviously, the hour-long sermons are just skimming through history, but they are informative and motivating.

One of the best effects of sitting under this type of Reformed preaching is the HOPE it inspires. Just like Gen Rbt E Lee in a letter to one of his captains, lamented that the *march of providence is so slow.......but that it is history that teaches us to hope.*

From my point of view, I dont want to be one of those people described by George Santayana.....who cant remember the past, and therefore, is condemned to repeat it.



PS Last Sunday, the girls sang a capella *Great in Thy Faithfulness* 

Wish you could of heard them :)

Meme for Five Things

Freezer
1)Bread and bread crumbs
2)Homemade soup
3)Nuts=pecans,walnuts,peanuts
4)Flour
5)Chicken Breasts

Closet
1)Upper rack=fall/winter clothes
2)Lower rack=spring/summer clothes
3)Floor(left)=dirty clothes basket
4)Floor(right)=shoe basket
5)Upper shelf=quilts/blankets

Car
1)Map
2)Jumper cables
3)Briefcase
4)Water bottle
5)Purse

Purse
1)Drivers License
2)Checkbook
3)Pen
4)Lipstick
5)Cell phone

On my mind
1)New employee
2)DD#1=Dec wedding
3)DD#2=Italian semester
4)DD#3=Newly collegiate
5)DD#4=Driving in AM traffic

Happy Birthday
DD#2, my artist/writer, is celebrating two decades!

In less than ten days she will be spending her Fall Semester studying art and writing in Italy!

She is the model in the painting in my Fine Art Friday entry over on my Xanga site.


Her special dinner menu which we all thoroughly enjoyed: Grilled Steak, Steamed Corn on the Cob, Steamed Broccoli, French Bread, NY Style Cheesecake w/fresh strawberries drizzled with hot chocolate fudge sauce.

Setting the Table
Just to give you an idea from last year's celebration, I'm posting this photo. This year's table setting uses a lime green cloth and napkins! Dishes are off-white with blue trim. Each place will have a knife, fork, spoon, dessert fork, and glass. Do you set the table completely for each meal in your home?

The colors and shapes on the plate have always captured my interest. In the case of our Low Country Boil, consider: The shrimp are pink and crescent-shaped. The sausage is red and log-like. The yellow/white corn is cylindrical or silo-like. The potatoes are small and spherical. The salad is very green, light and fluffy. Lest you think I a little *loco* with my efforts, consult my mentor, Mrs. Schaeffer, in her chapter on food, pgs 122-123, in Hidden Art of Homemaking.

A plate can be though of at times as a kind of *still life* - not a lasting one, of course, but lasting in memory. Dishes should be apart of the background for the colours of the food, and as one chooses dishes there should be some variety - even if the dishes are polished pieces of wood, shells, or large leaves from the jungle!

See my Fine Art Friday entry on my xanga site, too :)

Grocery Shopping

Although this rule is not hard and fast, Thursdays is my preferred grocery shopping day. If I were a *senior*, I might be tempted to switch to Wednesdays because of the discount offered :) But when the children were very young, I shopped only once per week and on Thursdays. It made for a good routine. We economized that way. We made friends at the store because they knew us.

So, since it's Thursday, I'm headed out to secure the foodstuffs for the Low Country Boil. Here's the menu. I won't embarass myself by listing the amount of each item needed to serve 16 guests, but I am wishing I could find my list from last year. It would save some brainwork.

Low Country Boil (shrimp, sausage, corn, potatoes)
Caesar Salad (DH's favorite)
Coleslaw (Becky is bringing)
Rolls
Pickle Tray

Iced Tea, Beer

Dessert (Carolin is bringing)

PS Although I dont usually use coupons (I buy store brands), I do shop from a list and rearrange when I'm there according to what's on sale, not having studied the ads before-hand.

Low Country Boil
Taken last July, this photo relates what's happening today and now. Guests are coming for this fun feast on Saturday. I am busy shopping, cleaning, and cooking.

Details concerning the recipe will follow.

Pictured in the photo (L-R) DM, DD#3, Nephew, Nephew, DD#1, DD#4

The Brook

Seems as if I've lost my blogging stride, but I trust it will return in time. Routines and habits play a big role in how much I accomplish each day, so once that rhythm is in synch again, the posts should begin to flow.

Which makes me think of this neat poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and how Spurgeon capitalized on one of its phrases.

The Brook

I come from haunts of coot and hern,
I make a sudden sally
And sparkle out among the fern,
To bicker down a valley.

By thirty hills I hurry down,
Or slip between the ridges,
By twenty thorpes, a little town,
And half a hundred bridges.

Till last by Philip's farm I flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on for ever.

I chatter over stony ways,
In little sharps and trebles,
I bubble into eddying bays,
I babble on the pebbles.

With many a curve my banks I fret
By many a field and fallow,
And many a fairy foreland set
With willow-weed and mallow.

I chatter, chatter, as I flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on for ever.

I wind about, and in and out,
With here a blossom sailing,
And here and there a lusty trout,
And here and there a grayling,

And here and there a foamy flake
Upon me, as I travel
With many a silvery waterbreak
Above the golden gravel,

And draw them all along, and flow
To join the brimming river
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on for ever.

I steal by lawns and grassy plots,
I slide by hazel covers;
I move the sweet forget-me-nots
That grow for happy lovers.

I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance,
Among my skimming swallows;
I make the netted sunbeam dance
Against my sandy shallows.

I murmur under moon and stars
In brambly wildernesses;
I linger by my shingly bars;
I loiter round my cresses;

And out again I curve and flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on for ever.