The Simple Woman's Daybook - Sept. 7, 2010

FOR TODAY...

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Outside my window...

 sunny and feeling more muggy again...

supposed to go up to 90 today.

We had a cooler weekend...

weather just letting us know Autumn is coming

I hope it comes soon and stays a long while.

I am thinking...

about the review I need to write today for TOS, it is due on Wed.

I am thankful for...

 the opportunity to dig into and study the Bible with my boys

From the learning rooms...

excited about starting Truth Quest: Age of Revolution 1 today.

I think it will be a great addition to our history study.

I want to buy all the levels of these studies on every topic. I just love the way they are laid out and the incite she provides and the emphasis on history being, "not first the story of mankind, but of the One who made mankind!"

From the kitchen...

I have no idea.

We planned and shopped for Labor Day weekend but need to do meal planning and then some regular shopping. We meal planned last month and were supposed to meal plan for Sept. on Sat. but did not do it.

I am wearing...

tan slacks, flower top, socks, sneakers

I am creating...

posts for 365 project to catch up on..

and I hope to take time to scrapbook this week... I haven't do it for a long while.

I am remembering...

the fun time we had playing our new game... watch for a post on it soon.

I am going...

shopping for food, some time.

I am reading...

 Getting Things Done

Actually have yet to start to read this, hoping to start it later today.
It was recommended by Ellen from Homeschool Marketplace

Also reading Instructing a Child's Heart by Tedd and Margy Tripp for Ladies Bible Study

also something for fun but I don't remember the name because I just started it and the book is upstairs.
Watch for an update in my Shelfari on my sidebar.

I am hoping...
to be able to get together with my friend Michele this week. She said she would call so we could get together. I miss you Michele... call me! Let's get together. I hope you are doing well starting back to homeschooling.

I am hearing...
Beethoven playing for our Music Study for today.

On my mind...
The business my girls are trying to study and what I could do to help us make money from a family website. With my husband laid off things are tight.

Noticing that... 
 we have a lot of work to do on the house once the fall temperatures allow us to work on things and have the windows open. I hope we have the energy to get it all done. Hubby and the boys also have work to do on the car.

Pondering these words...
Matthew 16:24-26 (King James Version)
 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Around the house...
see "Noticing that..."

One of my favorite things... 
walks with my family.
Yesterday we went to a local park. I enjoyed looking at God's creation while walking and sitting.

From my camera...

a lovely vista... 

This photo was taken from my spot while sitting and waiting for my hubby to go find our kids so we could go home after our walk at a park yesterday. A couple minutes after he went down this hill the kids came up the hill by the way of the steps which were to my left. I was so glad I decided to wait here for him. Jessica then went to find him... a couple minutes later they both trudged back up this hill.

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Note: some of the links take you to Amazon where you can purchase the book. These are affiliate links and if you purchase from these links I get a small portion of the sale. I use this money to help buy more things we want for our homeschool.

Homeschool Opposition from Family and Friends

The theme of this week's TOS Blog Cruise is "How do you respond to family/friends that don't support your decision to homeschool?"

When I first saw this question I thought about the responses I got from my family 21 years ago when we decided to homeschool. They were anything but encouraging. Then I thought about the many questions one gets from strangers about homeschooling. These questions may be the same, but remember, family and sometimes even close friends have an investment in us, care for us and want the best for us and our children. We must answer them with firmness and conviction but in love.

It is difficult for friends and family to understand that we may choose a different way for our children, a different way of educating than they choose/chose for their children. I got a college degree in elementary education. I worked at at Christian school for one year. I did not have trouble with friends and homeschooling. A lot of my friends were already homeschooling or knew someone who was. None of my family doubted that I could do the job. They were concerned about the children not having enough friends. One of my siblings wanted to know when I was going to put the children in school and get back to teaching. I was teaching. Teaching my own. But that did not pay anything. I had a difficult experience my one, and only, year of teaching. I was glad to quit and get married. I had no desire to go back to teaching a class full of kids and deal with the parents and administrators. I was happy to only have to please God and my husband in what/how I taught my children. I was lucky to live in a state that required little from us where reporting was concerned. My sister asked me this question often. And I answered her each time by saying something like this, "I plan to homeschool my children and I don't have any plans to teach in any kind of school again." We stood our ground and kept homeschooling. After a few years the questions lessened and then stopped. Until we started some other "radical" thing. LOL Then there were questions about that.

My mother was always supportive. I never had any trouble from my husband's side of the family, but Court's parents were both dead before I began homeschooling. I have no idea what they would have thought about it. His siblings did not have much to say about it that I remember.

This image from Free-Extras

Remember this, "The proof is in the pudding." Be patient with family and friends. If you do your best, if your children are learning, happy and growing, if you pray and keep on keeping on they will come around. They will see the children happy and learning and will come over to your side. And, if they don't keep on anyway. As long as you have the conviction from God that this is what you should do, and your husband is supportive, keep on! The same sibling that once questioned me now has two grandchildren being homeschooled by her daughter-in-law. One other nephew of mine and his wife are also homeschooling their kids. Life is ironic sometimes...it makes me smile.

To see what my other TOS Crew Mates said about this topic check out the Blog Cruise. The blog cruise is every Tuesday. This topic will be up tomorrow, Tuesday the 7th of September, get to it by clicking the button at the top of the page or the Cruise button on my sidebar.