Thursday, November 26, 2020

Thankful for (in no particular order, mostly)

Jesus

 A house full of people I love

Our extended family

Our church

Our small group (which we’ve been with for eight years!)

A puppy (who likes me best)

Home schooling before this mess of remote school started, so it wasn’t so challenging for us

Tapestry of Grace

Genuine ‘thank yous’

AHG

Trail Life

Food to eat

Clothes to wear

Heating and air conditioning

Giggles 

Books

Coffee

Fuzzy blankets

Flip flops

Smiles

Photographs, to freeze moments 

Health








Saturday, November 14, 2020

Half Way Through the TOG Year

 ...not to be confused with halfway through the school year.

We are in Tapestry of Grace year one, for the second time.  If you aren’t familiar with classical education, there is a four year cycle of roughly: ancients, Middle Ages, early modern, and modern.  Then children are divided by grade/ability in Lower Grammar, Upper Grammar, Dialectic, and Rhetoric.  Each child would, if beginning in first grade, make their way through each rotation three times at different levels, gaining more depth each time.

I’ve found we could combine a couple of the weeks this time to give us more flexibility in our schedule for field trip or project days later.  So last week we reached the end of TOG week 18.   87 days of school, then.

In high school we’ve read Egyptian literature, the Iliad, and the Odyssey.  They’ve all read Greek myths, studied the ancient cultures of Sumer, Egypt, The Maya, China, Israel, and Greece.  We’ve written poetry, labeled maps, and learned to write reports of various types.  Katie studied essay tests, Nate studied outlines, and Gabby covered persuasive essays.

Poetry Tea

With their own poems to read.

Drama masks

Overseen by Gabby & created by Nate and Ellie

A salt map of the Near East by Ellie & Gabby (FYI, while it might look like icing as it dries, it doesn’t taste like icing)

Gabby & Ellie reading about King Solomon

I do love ancients!!

Friday, November 13, 2020

Eleven

Happy Eleventh Birthday to our only boy!

He loves adventure,

Making things with his hands,

Reading, especially if it isn’t assigned,

And being outside.

He is rough and tumble (climbing before he could walk—ack!),

Takes care of Ellie,

And is a great companion.

Love you always, Nate!  And love seeing who you are becoming.