Small Successes and Works in Progress
/1
I began a massive home re-purposing project. In an effort to make a new bedroom for my three little girls, I dismantled my "schoolroom." I had a pretty big schoolroom, full of a lot of "stuff." Now, I don't have a schoolroom at all and, I'll tell you, I'm thinking twice about just about all of this stuff.
To show for my efforts, so far, I have one very pretty space in the sunroom and one awesome closet that used to be a pantry but now houses hands-on learning materials.
The kitchen is super-cleaned and the new pantry is very well organized.
And I have a whole bunch of messes.
When I'm finished, five out of nine children will have new places to sleep. And I won't have bought a single thing. It's all about re-purposing.
2
I got everyone up and out the door to Vacation Bible School by 7:15 every morning this week. Along the way, we all learned that we are glad we usually have no where to go in the morning.
Can you say, "nap?"
3
I put the finishing touches on several pieces of pretty curriculum. It made me happy to work with gifted and lovely ladies to write them. It makes me happy to share them. It makes me even happier to see those beautiful books all neat and ready and waiting for us in those two spaces referred to in #1.
4
I wasn't completely blown away when I logged into Typepad just now to discover that everything is completely different and I'm test-driving their "new and improved whatever." I don't, however, have time for the learning curve and this post is going to go up without the logo because it's not where I left it and I can't find it right now.
ETA: Apparently, I have no idea what I'm doing in this new Beta version because this whole post looks centered in my draft and it looks justified-left on my blog. Oh, bother.
Ooh, that's harsh
/Katie and Gracie are struggling with the looming change in their relationship that's coming when Gracie moves at the end of this week. They've squabbled more than usual the last couple of days.
Today, playing Wii:
Gracie: No fair! You can't win all the time.
Katie: I can if I do. And I did.
Gracie: Then I'm not going to be your friend any more.
Katie: Fine. When you move, I'll delete your Mii.
Gracie (lip quivering): And then you'll never see me again.
Long week, this one.
The Curriculum I've Been Writing All My Life
/Ever since I was a little girl, I've always had a mental filing basket for those gems that are so meaningful to me that I want to be sure to pass them along to my daughters. Certain books made such big impressions on me that I wanted to be certain they were a part of my girls' formation. As I grew into my vocation as a wife and mother, many more books went into that basket.
Now, I have a daughter who is old enough and more than eager to start reading them. Last winter, when I went to pluck a tattered Montessori book off the shelf in our family library, I discovered it was missing. And so were all the other Montessori volumes customarily found there. They were all downstairs on my daughter's nightstand, along with 20 and Counting and It's So You! The wheels started turning. At last, it's time to share all the treasures of my vocational library with my daughter.
Jennifer Mackintosh and I started talking with each other about how this unique curriculum would look all laid out beautifully. We were all too happy to begin to fit together the pieces of a young lady's education: one that would teach and inspire and equip our girls to embrace God's calling with wisdom, knowledge, and grace. We've just begun and we are happy to share an overview of the first year and details of the first couple months on Serendipity.
There are two different versions of the curriculum because we've taken seriously our commitment to tailoring for each girl. I expect that I will tailor again three more times for each of my daughters. Mary Beth is excited about how the treasures in these baskets will work with her real life--daily life spent with her siblings, moments beside me in the kitchen or marketplace, quiet mornings twice a week leading little ones to the Good Shepherd in a Montessori atrium, and many, many hours in a dance studio--to form her into a young lady. The future has a bright, rosy hue indeed!
