Saturday Examen + Homeschool Snapshots ~ first week {Day 20}

Cat fluff + sunshine = happiness πŸ˜„β™₯️🐈✨

β€œNo one ever cared for me like Jesus
His faithful hand has held me all this way
And when I’m old and grey
And all my days
Are numbered on the earth
Let it be known in You alone
My joy was found”

~Stephanie Gretzinger

Song that has been carrying me through this week. πŸ₯Ήβ™₯️✨

We had a great start to our homeschool year this week. I changed our multiple journals that we’ve used in the past to one (plus a group one) for each of us and that is going very well! We so far are enjoying our books…the clear favorites of the week are our continuing a summer read of Jane of Lantern Hill by LM Montgomery, By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Around the World in 80 Days audiobook by Jules Verne. I attached some things to meal/tea time and it’s working well. I so enjoy reading public library picks with my youngers in spare moments. I’ve worked out a rhythm for working through individual work my youngest to oldest and it’s working wonderfully. We still have some wrinkles to iron out as my 12th grader 😭β™₯️ is working two days a week this year and we haven’t hit the co ops we are in yet. They start next week! Overall, I’m pleased with the forward motion. How was your week? Bless you as you put your hand to YOUR plow! β™₯οΈβœ¨πŸŒ»πŸ“šπŸ₯°β˜•οΈπŸ’ŒπŸ–€

β€’supplyβ€’ {Day 19}

Let the child himself do that which the teacher usually does for him. Let the child by narration supply both question and answer.

from Karen Glass, Know & Tell, quoting the P.N.E.U

Monday Ponderings {Day 17}

Fly little butterfly. πŸ–€πŸ§‘πŸ–€πŸ§‘πŸ–€πŸ§‘

Monarchs are β€œtough and powerful, as butterflies go.” They fly over Lake Superior without resting; in fact, observers there discovered a curious thing, instead of flying directly south, monarchs crossing high over the water take an inexplicable turn towards the east. Then when they reach an invisible point, they all veer south again. Each successive swarm repeats this mysterious dogleg movement, year after year. Entomologists actually think that the butterflies might be β€œremembering” a long-gone, looming glacier.

Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, p.258

{God’s creation astounds me! It inspires and encourages me. Happy Back to School week and Happy September! }πŸ“πŸ–€πŸ“šπŸ““πŸŒΏπŸŒ»πŸˆ

β€’faithfulβ€’ {Day 16}

But I will sing of your strength

and will joyfully proclaim

your faithful love in the morning.

For you have been a stronghold for me,

a refuge in my day of trouble.

To you, my strength, I sing praises,

because God is my stronghold ~

my faithful God.

Psalm 59:16-17 CSB

~

Monday Ponderings {Day 13}

Crockpot Chicken Pot Pie for the family πŸ§‘πŸ’›πŸ’š

Nothing is trivial that concerns a child; his foolish-seeming words and ways are pregnant with meaning for the wise. It is in the infinitely little we must study the infinitely great; and the vast possibilities, and the right direction of education, are indicated in the open book of the little child’s thoughts.

Charlotte Mason, Home Education, p. 5

One week here before we start back to formal {home} school! Praying πŸ™πŸ» and trusting. πŸ§‘πŸ’›πŸ’š

Wednesday Wonders {Day 9}

Sticker-ed my new prayer journal! 🧑

Listening… I’m interested in learning more about communist history and there’s a readathon on Booktube/Bookstagram in September called RedSeptember. I don’t necessarily follow the prompts etc, but I started early listening to Red Scarf Girl by Ji-li Jiang. Fascinating and heart wrenching memoir looking at the cultural revolution in China. I’m hoping to listen to Animal Farm by George Orwell next.

Reading…I’m working hard on Charlotte Mary Yonge’s, Dyvenor Terrace and The Cross by Sigrid Undset. I’d love to finish them by September! The Kristin Lavransdatter saga is so beautifully written, however the story was heavy! I’m going to be processing for awhile.

The Cross

Watching…I recently got The Boy and the Heron from the library and hope to watch it soon. I’m a big fan of Hayao Miyazaki. I’ve heard it’s a bit dark, so want to preview it without children! πŸ˜…β™₯️

Noticing…We saw a β€˜V’ of Canada Geese last night! 😭 I noticed a cluster of beautiful brown, amberish colored cones at the tippy tops of our blue spruce trees. Autumn πŸ‚ is creepy inβ€¦πŸ§‘πŸ€ŽπŸ–€

I’m reading this on kindle, but saw this original illustration online! πŸ’•

How about you? What are you listening to, reading, watching, and noticing? πŸ‚πŸŒΏπŸ–€

Monday Ponderings {Day 7}

β€œWords are one way we leave tracks in our world, Sol. Maybe one day you will write a book, like Olaus, or Molly Thorn. And people will read it, like I’ve been reading to you. And they will know that you were here, and a little about what you were like.”

Sol’s face remained far away. Her cheeks were white and hollow, but her eyes shone a bit, I was fairly sure.

Leif Enger, I Cheerfully Refuse

Saturday Examen {Day 5}

The smell coming out of our public library was intoxicating! 😍β™₯️

I really enjoy this app and that they make Saturday a time of spiritual reflection over the past week. β™₯οΈπŸ™πŸ» I highly recommend listening (you can listen on their website, too!)

I jotted down their questions this week and found it so refreshing and challenging to honestly pray through them. It’s sobering to deeply examine oneself in the light of our Lord!

Does the LORD take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD?

Look: to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.

from 1 Samuel 15:22-23 CSB

How was your week? 🌲β™₯️🌲

Wednesday Wonders {Day 3}

Listening… I’ve been loving these playlists! So peaceful and calming.

Reading…This essay from Joy Marie Clarkson and this essay from Carol Hudson! Both have excellent food for thought.

Watching… I love the peaceful atmosphere of Cath’s vlogs. If you love cozy stationary, journaling, or slow reading reflections, her channel is for you. We don’t perfectly line up in reading tastes, but I enjoy her videos so much.

Noticing…the grasshoppers fleeing the edge of the road as I crunch past on my walk. The golden edge to the weeds and fields.

What are you listening to, reading, watching, or noticing? πŸ₯°β™₯️

β€’sweetnessβ€’ {Day 2}

Lord, you do not withhold your compassion from me. Your constant love and truth will always guard me.

~Ps. 40:11

The Lord will send his faithful love by day; his song will be with me in the night – a prayer to the God of my life.

~Ps. 42:8

What secrets fly out of the earth

when I push the shovel-edge,

when I heave the dirt open?

And if there are no secrets

what is that smell that sweetness rising?

~ Mary Oliver