PrincipledMom™

Things are hopping around here. We are painting, laying wood floors and making various repairs here at Casa Hawthorne. Please pray that I will recover from the soreness and general fatigue quickly, and that we will get things back in order ASAP so the kids will have their home back. So in the midst of that we are still trying to have fun and get something done.

The plan is to get back in the groove next week. I'm still working on the Benjamin West unit and will post more on that soon. I thought I'd talk a moment about what week looks like, in a general way. this is not always the order we do things, but it will give you an idea of what we cover in a week.

Monday

• Bible
• Math: intro to lesson and assessment,
• English: give spelling list, read McGuffey story, diagram sentences from the story, Daily Grams page
• Literature

Tuesday

• Bible
• English: Daily Grams, vocabulary from the story, penmanship
• Math: define terms, apply method
• History/Geography
• Botany

Wednesday

• Bible
• Literature
• English: Daily Gram, spelling test, continue vocab. if needed, penmanship
• Art: lesson on an element
• Math: review lesson, activity

Thursday

• Bible
• English: write a paragraph related to the story
• math: performance
• History/Geog
• Botany

Friday

• Bible
• English: retest if needed, finish paragraph, penmanship
• Math: test/review
• Literature
• Art: project

Many home educating families don't follow a strict schedule or even a routine. That doesn't work well for us. (God is a God of order--see the days of creation, the times and seasons and his plan for church government, for example.) When I don't plan our day, we seem to waste a lot of time doing things that are unproductive. We like to keep to a schedule as a tool to help us get done all the stuff we need (and want) to do. So, the way we approach our lessons may look a bit like a traditional school, but our approach to learning is not.
Basically we have Bible, math and English every day. This may change as she gets older but to me these are important enough to cover daily. Science is twice weekly and history, geog. and literature are integrated as much as possible.

Someone asked me if I keep the subjects separate or if I integrate them. The answer is yes to both. I celebrate each subject's individuality (See how common God's Principle of Individuality is!) and demonstrate their connections as they naturally occur. This works well for us, and we are enjoying our lessons more and more. Feel free to share your school schedule (or whatever you call it).
Well I must get back to painting and planning. I cannot wait to share about Benjamin West and Dr. Hooker and...vegetarianism!

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In our break this week I have been a busy bee, trying to prepare lessons for the next 12 weeks so that I can focus on the principles and not spend all my time preparing on the weekends. You may know that we educate year-round, with a month off in April, August and December. This works very well for us.

So my plans are in overdrive. With God's grace I was already able to plan for things that are sort of easy to plan--math (Ray's), science (Dr. Hooker), art and English (McGuffey). Because I follow the recommendations for these subjects, that was not complicated. I find the principle and go from there.

History/geography and literature will be combined this quarter, with a majority of the study on Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin. I love literature studies and know that this will be a lot of fun. However I must do a lot more preparation for this, so the majority of my remaining time will be on this.

Do you wonder where my Bible plans are? Well, like Miiko, I use that as my own spiritual study, so I do that as we go. It is so enjoyable and rewarding. Spanish always seems to be the subject that gets left behind, so I'm not sure if we will work that in or not.

As I always do, I'll share what resources I'm using and what I discover along the way. And I'm planning on sharing an interesting post on food very soon, so stay tuned for that. Oh, and if you are a member of the bibleprinciples group then watch your inbox for a post on an exciting study coming up in May that Lisa H. and I are working on. Good stuff!

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In botany last week we discussed bud coverings, structures that serve to protect buds in harsh weather and keep them safe until spring. They are thick shingle-like coverings with a glue-like substance to hold them shut tight. In some plants the inside of the bud covering (sometimes called a "winter-cradle") is lined with a downy substance to shelter the little bud and keep it warm--its little blanket.

 The trees in warm climates do not have bud coverings, so if you put an orange tree in a cold climate the buds will die, and there will be no fruit or leaves. They will have been unprotected.

Spontaneously G reasoned she was the bud. She went on to say that her dad was the covering and I was the glue that held it all together. I suggest Jesus is the glue, but she did a great job. She is right. We are to shelter our little buds until it is time for them to blossom. We should offer them a soft, warm place to grow, safe from the cold elements.

It's amazing what children will glean from a lesson if given the chance to reason. God has so much to teach us, using His creation, if we will just listen.

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Melissa has some terrific ideas to make Easter more meaningful. See them here. We are adding to our traditions. Last year we started a tradition of serving communion on pillows in the LR and reading from the account of the Last Supper. It was such a sobering experience. I can't wait to try some of her suggestions.

Hope her ideas will inspire your family to make Easter more of an event.

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I had the most amazing weekend. It had nothing to do with home education or church or family. It was all about art. I almost never get opportunities like this. Here's what happened.

 First, I went to a workshop at the Philbrook taught by my favorite book artist, Julie Chen. It was so fun to meet her and spend the day making books. We did a carousel book and you can see it on my Book Arts page. It was so good to see my "bookie" friends and hang out at the museum. We are probably going to have Julie back next year for a two-day workshop. That would be terrific!

Then Sunday afternoon Julie gave a lecture on her books, reviewing her process, showing mock-ups and the journey of a book from idea to reality. She also showed slides of her studio and equipment, which is always fun to see. I like to see where artisits execute all their ideas. This was so helpful. She explained how she decided how many books to make in a run and how she sells them. I learned so much about her artisic process and about how things work in the book arts world.

After the lecture some of us went to a docent's house for appetizers. We got to talk with Julie and have a great time chatting about books and art in general. It was so nourishing to my soul to talk about art with people I never get to hang out with. The weather was amazing as we sat on the back patio and talked about the museum, the calligraphy guild, and just minutia among the azaleas and dogwood trees. Everyone had such an interesting story to tell, about their lives and about art.

I cannot wait until we get our book arts guild up again. That was so much fun. It was a place to really spread your artisic wings. We are trying to hook up with the museum and meet in a classroom there. That would be a great partnership.

This weekend was like a gift. I didn't have to pay a lot of money, leave my family or make a trip. It all happened right here in my backyard. It was a time to refresh and reflect, both on my journey as an artist and on my plans for the future. It helped settle some things in me, about the direction I want to take and how I want to get there. I know God will use my art and I'm starting to see just how He could do that. Now I need to make some time to get the studio and create some books!

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