What's the Plan?

Still very limited internet. And no telephone at all. The Verizon guy is supposed to arrive any time now. Bummer; I was enjoying the quiet;-). I've been busy, both outside and inside. It's that planning time of year again. For those of us who relish the idea of creating our own curricula, this is a glorious time of year, characterized by all night binges with the library website open and hours at the playground with catalogs on our laps. I'm thrilled with the shape that the coming year is taking. Colleen, Marisa, and I have been fairly bubbling over with ideas and we've made them as practical as possible. I'd like to offer you a rough idea should you care to wander with us at Serendipity.
We're going to focus on American History this year. Literature-based plans for three different age levels (Primary, Elementary and Junior High) will share reading suggestions and craft ideas. The older children will use IEW's US History-Based Writing lessons Volume 1. Everybody will share in quality literature and will narrate and make Books of Centuries. The reading list for the first couple of months will be on the lefthand sidebar in the next few days.

Weekly installments will take us over several time periods.
September and October: Colonial America and the American Revolution
November: The Louisiana Purchase and the Explorations of Lewis and Clark
December will be devoted to welcoming the Babe in the manger (and a new baby in our house)
January and February: Pioneers
March: Native Americans
April: Spring term--Devoted to intensive nature study (also known as "Easter and Bluebell Break) and a Shakespeare block
May, June, and July: The Civil War
August is a scheduled break.

But that's just the beginning...

Lively Language Lessons will pick up where we left off and continue through all of Ruth Heller's grammar books.We're going to add these color-coded diagramming lessons that use the Ruth Heller books.

G is for Geography will begin again, this time studying the states in the order they entered the union, focusing more on map work, and tying the States' quarters into our studies.

A fine arts block will use M is for Melody as a spine and introduce some Montessori three part cards and the Music Masters CDs, along with Mike Venezia's biographies. In addition to Music Study, we'll use picture books, the Venezia biographies and M is for Masterpiece to study great art and artists and art terminology.

Poetry will have pride of place this year. Using R is for Rhyme as a spine, we'll learn terms and try our hand at writing poetry, while studying the great works of the masters. We'll use the Poetry for Young People series as we go.

Foreign language will be a family affair. The big boys are using Latin Alive! And the younger children are using Latin for Children.

We're going to focus on Charlotte Mason-style Nature Study in one big block a week, along with intensive seasonal study. The Handbook of Nature Study will be our spine along with Keeping a Nature Journal, Nature Drawing and Animals Alive!.
Our older children will use the syllabus for Laura Berquist's Natural History course.
Once a week, a focused science block will use literature to teach through a variety of topics. We'll have those books in virtual baskets on the lefthand sidebar at Serendipity over the next few days. These studies will be lowkey, with some reading and notebook pages and maybe a hands-on activity or two.

Truly, I plan to adapt all these plans for most children from K-12. I need to keep us all on pretty much the same page.

Gnomes and Gnumbers will continue, with some new organization. We're going to break lessons down into smaller segments and integrate manipulatives, drawing, original stories and living math books.

The Alphabet Path is nearing its end. Truly, if it weren't for computer difficulties, we'd be there already. All three of us are planning to meander down the trail again next year with our little ones picking and choosing from the plethora of good books.

~~~~We interrupt this post to go greet the Verizon repairman.Whew! She says she can fix it all today. Christian doubts it. We'll see...~~~

I've done some fiddling on iCalendar (Katherine offered me a late night tutorial since it's a Mac thing and I can't ever be on the Mac when Michael is around to help me figure out how it works.). Here's how the week will look:
Download weekly_rhythm.pdf

~~~The computer was hit by lightning. No internet on that machine until we see if it can be repaired. Oh bother. How often does this have to happen? I asked her how to protect my computer. She suggested moving. Apparently, this neighborhood gets hit with alarming frequency and when it strikes, it strikes with ferocity. No pictures on Serendipity for awhile.~~~

Simple Woman's Daybook ~June 22

~ Do stop by Peggy's for all the links entered in this week's Simple Woman's Daybook ~

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Outside My Window ... that tiny Bradford pear tree we planted for Katie's birth has easily reached my second story window.

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I am thinking ...almost incessantly about next term's lessons and plans.

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I am thankful for ...homecomings after long business trips .

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From the kitchen ...For breakfast: bagels in the van on the way out to the country; for lunch: tomato and mozzarella salad with fresh garden basil (I live for this:-); for dinner: Teriyaki stir-fried beef and broccoli followed by fresh blueberry pie and lots of homemade whipped cream...

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I am wearing ... A white t-shirt, khaki capris, crocs and a bandana.

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I am creating ...lesson plans and booklists--lots of them! Still.

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I am going ...to meet some friends bright and early to go blueberry picking.

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I am reading ...Regina Doman's new fairytale, The Midnight Dancers.

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I am hoping ...my husband returns homely safely tonight. Out-of-the -country trips are always disconcerting.

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I am hearing ... Gracie by Ben Folds. Karoline is dancing.

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Around the house ... I'm learning to celebrate little victories and accept with cheerful resignation the inevitable messes.

One of my favorite things ...long Sunday afternoon naps with Karoline.

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A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: I'm sure there will be a big, huge breakfast in bed with bunches of children tomorrow when they see Daddy arrived home in the middle of the night;  for the rest of the week: mornings outside in the garden and afternoons with our noses in good books.

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Here is a picture thought I am sharing~

 

So, really, what is He saying?

About ten minutes after I posted this, my computer died. Not just a crash--a complete refusal to get online. I can still access files and photos (thank goodness) but I can't get online. And I admit, I really thought that God was making it very clear where the pruning was happening. I have limited access to Michael's computer. It was formerly a Mac laptop. The screen burned out and now it's a Mac laptop hooked up to a Dell monitor. It's awkward and I miss my mouse. I can't figure out how to hyperlink.It took about ten minutes to link above. The only time I have access to it is when my children are sleeping or outside or otherwise engaged happily (as with my desktop) AND when Michael doesn't need it. And he's doing summer school online.So, pretty much, all the stars have to line up, all the children have to be asleep, and Michael has to be out of the house in order for me to get online. Problem is, if he's gone I can't ask him a million questions about how this works.

We spent yesterday outside, picking cherries.I have great pictures but no clue how to upload from here.

And I miss my bookmarks!

Oh, yes, about thirty minutes ago, I was firmly convinced that God's message was to walk away from time online. The computer broke. I can't get online. Maybe God is telling me to focus more completely on laundry, right?

Half an hour ago, Mary Beth came up to inform me that the washing machine isn't working. Again. It breaks more than the computer. I have no back up washing machine.

So,what exactly IS He trying to say?

Pruning Roses and Souls

Last year, I planted roses. I planted two varieties, six bushes in all. Three of the bushes were white roses called John Paul II. The other three were Our Lady of Guadalupe roses — beautiful pink roses that bloomed abundantly until the first week in December. 
I had been warned by experienced gardeners that growing roses was tricky business. But I found otherwise. Michael dug some holes, we stuck the bushes in, filled them up and watered occasionally. We were rewarded by bouquet after bouquet of fresh-cut, sweet smelling roses for over six months. I admit that I thought I’d stumbled upon the perfect rose bushes.
I wasn’t sure what to do with them last winter, so I didn’t do anything. I wasn’t sure what to do with them in the spring and I was so sick with all-day-long morning sickness I didn’t care. The roses came back and all through May, they bloomed generously. Yep. I had this rose thing all figured out.
And then June came. The leaves started to turn yellow with black spots. Holes appeared in the leaves. Blooms yellowed on the vine before they fully opened. The bushes looked like they were dying very, very quickly. I asked for rose advice and it came back to me with authority — prune them way back, remove every trace of the diseased leaves and branches, clear the debris from the ground, treat the remaining plant and then wait for it to come back, healthier than ever. I was heartsick at the thought.
I set out with Mary Beth early one morning to do the deed. We donned gardening gloves and wielded pruning shears. She began to cut one leaf at a time. I told her to cut the whole branch. She cut off the tip. I told her to go lower and cut the whole branch. She winced. So did I. She questioned the wisdom of removing so much of the plant. I told her that the experts claimed that it was necessary to save the plant. And so, together, almost silently, we cut all six bushes back to nearly bare branches.
When were almost finished, I commented to her, “You know, God does this. He is the master gardener and He most certainly does prune. There are times in our lives we will feel stripped as bare as these bushes. Remember this morning. Remember how hard it was to cut it all away. Remember how much we want to save these flowers.”
She nodded solemnly. She thought I was nuts. One day, she will remember.
We set about in life with such good intentions. We fill our lives with relationships and our calendars with events. We get involved and seek friendships. Most of us seek also to give and to serve. We look for opportunities for our children to learn and to grow. We think we’ve found the perfect plan. For a while, it all blooms so beautifully. Our happy combination of activities bears abundant, sweet-smelling blossoms. We are quite sure it’s all God’s will for us.
And then the black spots start to creep up. Sometimes, it’s a slow process. Sometimes, we wake up one morning and find the whole bush covered with blackened, holey leaves. If we allow it, God begins to prune. Often, the pruning is painful, very painful. The only way to bear the pain of the pruning is to keep our eyes on the face of the Gardener. He has a plan. It’s a plan to save us, a plan to allow us to bloom abundantly. But first, He must strip us bare. 
And there we stand in the summer sun, naked in our seemingly barren state. Very little green remains, no blooms can be seen. We need to begin again, confident that the Gardener will provide all we need to grow and flourish. We trust in the One who said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:1-5).

Praying for Cate: Today is the day for a miracle

From Cate's Dad this morning:
Greetings from the TCH 17th Floor waiting room, its 6:22am I amsitting watching a huge sun rise of the city of Houston. Everyone else’s life is beginning out there, there are more cars on the streets and more horns honking. It feels like everyone else’s life is going on as normal and ours hangs in the balance. I don't have many words this morning I really just wanted to ask you to pray. I am sure you get tired of hearing me say that, but we are running out of chances. I woke up this morning saying, This is the Day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad and that is my Declaration of Hope this morning. They are going to attempt again to wean her off the machine around 8:00am, this will be one of the last chances from what I can tell. Please brothers and sisters in Christ pray just a little harder. Know that Ali and I love you and as soon as I hear something I will let you know.