Hello all;

Well, today our egress window should be finished! Yeah! I think we'll all have to give it a try, I know the kids are jumping at the bit to do so. :)

We've had a good start to the "school year" here. Since we just go with the flow most of the time, our school year is unpredictable. More like, we homeschool year round. I am a firm believer that children are always learning. From the time they wake up, to the time they go to sleep. But, when I refer to "school" I mean the book work we do. I'm hoping that this year, we have finally found our system.

You see, even though I have been homeschooling for 8 years, we have changed our approach often. There has always seemed to be something different and that puts us in a place to change what we had been doing. I've come to see that, with this family, that's just the way it is. I've stopped trying to live up to others goals, and expectations. And just pray and follow God's lead on our family.

We are just simply a different kind of family that most. Yes, everyone is in there own way, but with just about all the other homeschooling and/or Christian families out there, they seem to only take a couple years to find their place, and it works for quite a while. With us, things tend to change quite frequently, and then often swing back to what they were before. I used to try and make us like other families, find our place and stick with it. Then something or another would come along and everything would change. I think that every one in the home should be happy and comfortable with our day and homeschool adventure. Not that we are ALL happy ALL of the time, just in general. So, that means, changing when things need to change.

Example: We tend to take off for December. We would all rather spend our time celebrating the birth of our savior, with all the common ways, making cookies, decorations, visiting friends, getting involved in church things, ect. But usually pick back up in the second week of January. This past year, NONE of us were ready to start up again. We all just needed a break. Dad was able to be home a few extra days, so, we just spent January with an unschool flair. Trips to the library to get good movies (modern, older classics, and educational), read from "The Boxcar Children" series - out loud- and just spent a lot of time together. February rolled around and we started out slow with some 1st time lap booking (I've been homeschooling for 8 years, and had never heard of it before!!!), had a ball doing that, and by the end of February we were back to working in the books. We "quit" for the year two weeks into May. We had a rummage sale to get ready for and it took a lot of work (we are pack rats here, and I have been determined to clear out and clean up the house) - and through the summer, there have been lots of other fun things to do.

SO, this week, we are reviewing the things learned in the last two weeks, working on Bible Quiz memorization, finished up a lap book on Dragons, and just generally, taking a small break from book work, but will be right back at it next week with the full schedule.

Just our "somewhere in the middle" mind set. We are always somewhere in the middle of something around here.

Blessings - Athena