February 2017 Homeschool Mother’s Journal
In my life this month…
We wrapped up our construction project this month! I couldn't believe how quickly everything came together. It was wonderful timing also because my husband's music students started back. He's got a full schedule of students every afternoon (except Tuesdays) from 1 to 5:30. It will nice to have a library in our home for kids to finish up their school work when they need to.
Make sure to check back later this month for the full reveal!
In our homeschool this month…
I've jumped back into map drawing with my Challenge A daughter. When I tutored it the first time, I stuck with the drawings until we got to Europe, and I fell off at Asia. I've loved using these draw books:
We've been drawing once each day. Each time we draw it gets easier and easier. Even though there are complicated spellings and pronunciations all across the continent of Asia, the simple act of attending to details has helped her get really good at recalling and spelling them correctly.
What we're reading…
We decided to read The Green Ember again. The first time we read it, it was the only book out in the series. Since we have two new kids with us now, we felt like we needed to start the series back over so we could enjoy them all over again. We followed it up with The Black Star of Kingston. It's great to read stories about rabbits with swords while playing with Legos. Perfect combination.
In my own reading, I've been devouring A Passage to India. India has always been a fascinating country to me. In addition, I've always found it fascinating how a tiny island like Great Britain could have such a powerful impact on so much of the world.
My husband and I got into an argument about who the main character of this book. It all started because there's a huge court case in this book that seems to be the climax of the book. However, after the case is decided, there is still like three hours of the book left (I love listening to books on Audible -Try Audible and Get Two Free Audiobooks). It seemed like a lot of denouement.
I realized, from my experience using Teaching the Classics, that I had the wrong "mighty mouse" question. The story is not so much answering the question, "Will Dr. Aziz be found guilty?" but rather, "Can an Englishman and an Indian be friends?" As I continued to listen to the story, this question brought so many fascinating thoughts up in my mind. It's been great for dinner time conversations.
What’s working/not working for us…
Through all of our construction process, it's been great to lean heavily on morning time to connect with one another and read together. In the recent past, I've enjoyed having our read aloud time after lunch. It's seemed difficult to add it in first thing. However, this month, we've moved our reading time to the morning. It's been wonderful. Everyone has a little bit more time to wake up, and when our read aloud time is finished, they're ready to get going with their regular work. Win-win!
A photo, video, link, or quote to share…
I'm still thinking about the George Müller biography we finished up last month. He's such an inspiring man of faith. He "considered it pure joy when he faced hardships" because that meant he'd be able to pray and watch God work out the troubles in incredible ways....especially when it came to meeting his family's financial needs. Here's one of my favorite quotes:
On my blog in case you missed it...
My son shared his thoughts on why to study Latin. He's continuing to grow in his understanding of the language and it just keeps growing on him. In the past few weeks he's been studying for the SAT and I'm so thankful that we've taken the time take standardized tests over the past few years. This online test was an excellent option.
As we've reorganized our homeschool gear, I shared a fun way to keep it hidden away and looking great.
If you're looking for a good Christian movie to watch with your family, we found 10 great options on Netflix.
And for my CC friends, you'll want these fun Orchestra cards put together by a fellow CC mom.
How has your month gone? What are your highlights?
I’m adding A Passage to India to my reading list. I’ve always been fascinated by India also!
Congrats on finishing up the new room! It will be fun to see it filled with books. I like the idea of reading while kids are still waking up. I usually read before bed when they are a little sleepy (or winding down for the day) but I love the idea of early morning too. Thanks for sharing the link to your morning time series – I’ve been wanting to be more intentional in a few areas of our homeschool, and have been considering morning time.
Thanks for sharing about The Green Ember – looks like a fun adventure.
Love the George Muller quote, too. 🙂
We are reading The Green Ember for the first time 🙂 My son is loving it! I love Teaching the Classics too. I would love to get the updated version. I’m so excited to see what changes they made.
Stopping by from iHomeschool Network <3