Classic Hilton's

I adore September.  It's not what you're thinking. I'm not a big fan of pumpkin spice anything and I'm not counting down the days until Christmas, but I do love Fall and Winter. True, September 1st is not the start of fall, but it is the beginning of the end of summer.  In September I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  The end of the oppressive heat and ever fluctuating vacation schedules. Rhythms return to normal. Apples will soon be out in delicious abundance and yes, pumpkins will turn the world a lovely color of orange. Cooler weather and warmer drinks; September is beautiful and full of promise. 

The 2016-2017 Academic Year officially commenced on July 1st, 2016.  I am now the proud (and terrified!) mother teacher of a 5th grader, kindergartner, and pre-k-er.   We planned to start school on Monday July 11th, but an unexpected tour around Lancaster county turned out to be very educational, so we counted it as a field trip and Monday became day 2 of our school year.  We are now in our second week of our summer term, and things are going swimmingly.   We are keeping a light, flexible schedule, leaving plenty of time for impromptu play dates and lots of time outside. We start with "Morning" time, which usually takes place after lunch when it's too hot to be outside.  We read aloud (we finished Roverandom ,and a really bad adaptation of  Peter Pan , and we are currently working through  Cricket in Times Square ) and color for about 10-15 minutes.  Then Brooklyn works on her math while Grayson and I do Calendar time. Madi sort of flits around, half participating, ha

So do not worry, saying 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own. ~Matthew 6:31-34 (NIV) I like to make plans.  Well, sort of.  I like thinking long term.  My favorite part of homeschooling is taking time at the beginning of the academic year and looking at what I call the Bird's Eye View. Officially our philosophy is to treat each year individually and make decisions based on what is best for that child at that time, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that I have a pretty good idea about what we'll be doing for the next thirteen educational years.  The "sort of" part of my planning abilities come

Two things really stand out to me at the end of this jam packed weekend.  First, my mom came into town to watch my kiddos while I attended a two day homeschool convention.  That act alone is not what inspires me, though I am so grateful for her willingness to help when I need her!  In the days leading up to the convention, she took us to the park to walk. We walked and rode bikes around Stoner and Overlook parks every day, sometimes twice! (we are all exhausted!)  When it comes to exercise, I have a million and one reasons not to do it. But walking around with my mom this last week I realized that it doesn't have to be complicated. I don't have to make any big commitments, or walk the track in a certain time frame, or wait for perfect weather conditions.  I just need to get out and move.  I DO need to remember to bring a first aid kit and to SHUT the doors of my car...but that's another set of issues all together. The second thing that inspired me was something I heard

"The act of reading is a partnership. The author builds a house, but the reader makes it home." ~from Between the Lines I thoroughly enjoyed reading Between the Lines  and Off the Page  by Jodi Piccoult and her daughter Samantha Van Leer. I was completely swept up by the story and felt like I jumped right into the book and lived the adventure with them.  They are not "Christian" books but the spiritual undertones are rich and surprising.   What captivated me most was the idea of authorship.  In this world, an author wrote the story, but once it has been read it cannot be changed. The author is not all powerful because it is the reader who brings the imagined world to life.  It made me think of how God created the world and invited mankind to work in the garden and name the animals. (The difference being that God is  all powerful.) On another level, the characters in the story all recognize, simply because they exist, that there must be an author...    "Ye

Wow.  Just wow.  It is very nearly the end of the school year.  I'm sitting here, counting up our April attendance and realizing that we only need to log seven more days to meet the state requirement. Seven. One week.  Our very first year to educate our children at home is coming to a close.  I'm a little floored. Of course we have more that I want to accomplish than can be done in seven days so we will go on a little bit longer, but still, it's nice to have the ducks in a row.   I can't say enough about how good  God is.  This year will go down in my memory as an unqualified success!  We have learned so much, not only academically, but about our family culture, balancing flexibility with boundaries, and how to serve the Lord in the nitty-gritty day to day stuff of life.  I think the hardest part is yet to come. State requirements dictate that we must create a portfolio, submit to an independent evaluation, and turn in documentation by June 30th.  The portfolio do

This homeschooling journey has been as much a learning experience for me as it has been for my children. One thing I have learned is the importance of understanding  my  strengths as a mom and teacher.  If our curriculum is made up of hands on projects requiring lots of intensive prep and clean-up...we ARE going to fail. It's a given, because, no thank you! Likewise, if it's nothing but pulling the next worksheet out of a book we won't do so well there either. The best homeschools thrive when everyone's style, including mom's, is taken into consideration.    In Teaching from Rest  (highly recommended!), Sarah Mackenzie uses the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 as a great example of this ( John 6:1-12 ). She encourages moms to come to the table with what they have. Jesus can take our little basket of fish and bread and use it to feed a multitude! We just have to bring our basket. Truth be told, I panicked when I read that the first time.  What is in my basket? Wh

When your job is to homeschool your three children, you end up spending a lot  of time together. Of course close sibling relationships is one of the benefits of our school of choice, so this is not a bad thing. But let's be real. All that quality time together means that eventually somebody is going to get on someone else's nerves! The other day I read a passage of Scripture that hit so close to home I laughed out loud. Maybe other mom's here can relate.  In Numbers 12, Miriam and Aaron, the big brother and sister of Moses, start complaining because Moses has a foreign wife.  Now this isn't new information to them.  He didn't go out for a weekend to blow off steam and come home married or anything. But all of a sudden Miriam and Aaron are bugged by it and start complaining, so the mother in me knows they were just trying to pick a fight. I love the end of verse two: "And the Lord heard them." In my home, I do my best not to referee every single

First, let me clarify. I genuinely enjoy homeschooling. The planning and organization can, yes, be a tad overwhelming. Nevertheless, they fall in the sweet spot of my wheelhouse.  I look ahead. It's what I do. In March 2014, I was already planning our whole 2015-2016 academic year.  It is January now, we are about half way through the year and my brain can't help but skip ahead to July and August when my little school will house a 5th grader, KINDERGARTNER, and a 4 year old. It's what I do.  Before you write me off as crazy, I would like to point out that I don't hash out every detail. The farther away I am from an event, the broader my brush strokes. At the start of the year I catch the flavor, figure out our direction. In March-April-May I start making decisions and buying curriculum. By the time our academic year starts in July I have a pretty good birds eye view of what we're going to cover.  Since this is our second year of preschool (and next year will be ou

He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. Isaiah 40:11 (NIV)  I can't help but chuckle over the tender ways God deals with me.  It is not easy to describe what has been going on in my heart and head, but I suppose the best way is to say that so many of my dreams have come true or changed that I don't quite know what to dream about anymore. I know that sounds ridiculously hopeless which is not at all how I mean it because I know I have so much life to look forward to. I guess it's just in the vein of personal development...soul nourishment...what is my place outside of wife and mother?  I could go into a lot more detail here, but for now I think I'll leave it and just say that I have questions and I've been seeking the Lord about them. So then there is Grayson. Sweet, tenacious, four year old, control-freak Grayson. All of my children like plans, but Grayso

As a child January always felt bleak - cold and barren compared to the warmth and bustle of the Christmas season. Now as an adult, a mom, and a teacher it feels like the perfect fresh start. Phase One of the restoration promised with the redemption of Advent. Perfect time to take stock, evaluate growth, and set goals. Personally I am working through a bit of a "who am I?" crisis of the soul, but that is not the topic of this blog.  I started this academic year with much excitement, lots of very detailed plans, and (I think) pretty realistic expectations. As I examine our Fall and Holiday terms, I find myself over the moon pleased with how things have gone. I think maybe the Lord (who has very much been the leader of this little endeavor!) allowed things to progress smoothly. Maybe he knew I would need validation or maybe he's giving me some good memories to hold on to when things get difficult down the road. Or maybe it's true that peace is a natural byproduct of or

October 24, 2015 We have officially completed our Fall Term* of the 2015-2016 Academic Year! (Loud cheers and confetti!) *Explanation: During my planning at the beginning of the year I broke the academic year (July 1-June30) into six terms. They are all approximately six weeks with breaks falling when we need them to and around holidays, etc. I use this as a very flexible guide to keep me on track, mostly for those days when I just don't "feel" like doing school. I know we have some wiggle room available, and the idea of doing school in June (yuck!) is usually enough motivation to persevere.  To date we have logged 73 of our required 180 days. I saw a discussion recently on what "counts" as a school day, especially when such a big part of our educational goals has to do with character and life skills. Do I count the hour my nine year old learned how to do laundry as school? What about the random discussion we had about Bhutan after church? Geography? Check