Saturday, November 6, 2010

First Full Week Of Our New Life

It has been 12 days since we took Mary out of school.  
And to say the VERY least it has been an interesting 12 days.  
Last week was more of an adjustment period.  I told her that we would not start actual classes until the following week (thinking I would have the full curriculum that weekend).  
However,  she she had a different idea all together... imagine that!

I stood my ground for a while and then I ultimately threw in the towel and gave in. 
I know... 

but, even a broken clock tells the correct time twice a day.
In my surrender to her demands of...

MATH WORK

I was able to show her 
WHY... 
she needed to TRUST me
and do it "MY" way.

She fell apart and had a complete and total melt down...
it was UGLY!

Yet, as all things usually do ...
everything worked out EXACTLY as it was meant to.
We began a serious dialouge about all the things she was unhappy with.

Because her wanting to be home-schooled was so much more than just the bulling problems.

Life is not "black" and "white" or "right" or "wrong".
Life is much more complex than that. 

There are so many variables and I can not prescribe one remedy to cover them all.

My daughter is far from perfect...
Thank God!

She is beautifully and perfectly flawed as all of us are.

Mary has many social skill deficits of her own...
like all children, 
some more than others.
She also has some self-esteem issues  to now also deal with.

Like Horses I believe that children need to be "Gentled" not "Broke".

Misty of Chincoteague

Sorry, the terms were not of my own conjuring.

I want my daughter to be an independent thinker.  I want her to think outside the box.
Public School isn't for all people...

Albert Einstein - Funny Face - 24x36 Poster

So what if she does't fall in line and behave as others do... 
we aren't all meant to be the same.

Anyway...

The first several days were difficult, emotional and full of "hard labor".
We dealt with the emotional fall-out of  some buyers remorse.
Establishing some limits and boundaries.
Creating and organizing some Homeschool spaces.

And finally getting ready for the Unbirthday Halloween Party.

Mary finally decided to have the "make up" birthday party she missed back in March.

Because of my brothers surgery, and other happenings last spring she didn't get to have her party.
She was going to have it over the summer so her cousin could come.
But that didn't happen either...and then she just kinda gave up on the idea.
She had originally wanted to have a...
"Alice in Wonderland" Birthday Party 

Alice in Wonderland

Where everyone had to dress up as their favorite character.

So, I suppose it was only fitting that as the Halloween season drew closer, she became inspired again.
So, we decided to have a Halloween Unbirthday birthday costume party.
Shew... that was a mouth full.

The scene was set...

and a spooky Halloween Slumber Party was had.
It was a full weekend.
She was invited to another Halloween party and then to tie it all up a Trick or Treat nite out with the girls.


Rag Doll

Needless to say our first full week of homeschooling got off to a late start a few mornings in a row following all the festivities.



And for those who may think that Halloween and Faith do not mix...

how Halloween can be redeemed
Check this link out




A rainy week also helped us to stay focused.
Because we are down to only one vehicle and a motorcycle and Bill took the truck to stay dry we were able to keep our nose to the books and out of the horses manes.

Even though this is a bit overwhelming and time consuming.
I KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that we have done the right thing for our family.
Even with all the chaos, I feel at peace.

I already see a wonderful peace coming over Mary as well.

We have been able to slow things down and reel it all back in
(Granted this is a work in progress...)
while 
focusing on some fundamental basics.

We have brought our faith back into a daily learning routine 

The Catholic Youth Bible® Revised

and

Heifer International's 
Fill the Ark 



Chore Groove


She has gotten into a better routine with her chores and other responsibilities.

 Friday 


Given my tendency for clutter...
I think this isn't too bad for a begining week of homeschool.

Big Dissapointment



This yarn...

ugggh, this stuff is Terrible!  I thought I would really like it... all fuzzy and soft.
Nope, it just kept breaking.
This was a much easier fix than some of the problems we had in MATH.

.I just put that yarn away and grabed a different skein of yarn from my stash box.


Keeping Up

Keeping up on my cleaning is much more rewarding than keeping up with the Jone's.


READING

This is the subject that Mary struggles with the most.  And it has hindered her in her other subjects.  
Don't get me wrong.  
Mary has been a strong A, A/B student.
She would have been an even stronger student if her reading was more solid.
It frustrated me that she did not enjoy reading.
I had always loved it and still do.  I couldn't relate to her dislike of reading.
She gave up on reading when she wasn't asked  back to the AIG reading class in 2nd or 3rd grade, she was heart-broken. It isn't that she is able to read... she simply doesn't want to slow down enough to phonetically sound out a word that she doesn't recognize. 

I tried so hard to get her interested again.  She has an extensive bookshelf to prove it.

We won't be lacking in the reading department that's for sure.
I am confident that we can get her back up to speed.

It's That Time

It is time to bring in some of the more sensitive plants.  We fell into some pretty low temps last night.  I believe we even had some frost inland.

Just for Me



This entry is for you my soul sista!
See Robin...
I DO still have time to do something for Meeeeeeee!

Even if...  it was partly out of desperation since those hounds from hell won't give up the taste for ...

ok...

I will keep the comments PG

I think everyone get the picture.

For my Bugga B.

I finished this off for my baby bruda a couple days ago.  His favorite colors, red and black.  I made him a headband last year to keep his ears warm while he worked outside.  I had begun a matching scarf but those hounds also have a taste for bamboo... and ate the scarf  right off the needles.

So this was the second attempt at a scarf for Paul.

It's funny, a couple of my knitting friends made a teasing comment about how they needed to show me some other stitches.  What I didn't have the emotional energy to say at the time was...

"I know how to do other stitches, I just need to simply knit"
I need the thoughtless rhythm... it calms me it keeps me balanced.
Having to keep count and pay attention would be more than I could handle at the moment.

I am leaving in 30 mins. to pick up my little brother for his PET Scan.
I am bawling my face off while I write this.
I FEEL...

and it HURTS!

I am calling all prayers and vibrations to help me and my family.

And I have a BIG Family!

TALLEY HO...