A New Rhythm

This week was a little off with Labor Day, having to watch Abigail Tuesday and Wednesday, and then court on Thursday (traffic ticket), but I'm sure our rhythm will fall a little bit more into place next week. We did start preschool on Tuesday for Eaden and she loves it. There is not too much of a difference to our days. I read a lot less blogs, blog less myself, and spend more time with the kids suggesting and guiding activities. They usually are all about doing them. The weather has cooled down considerably (highs around 90-93) which means we are spending a lot more time outdoors. I can even kick them out back and they will stay which allows me to get a little cleaning done (or reading, knitting, relaxing, etc). However, the temps are supposed to rise again next week, there is no rain in sight, and forest fires are everywhere. Besides the fires, trees are dying like crazy from the drought. It's really getting old. Anyway, here are some moments from the week:

Eaden on her first day of preschool.

 We took the autumn books outside to read (yes I realize it is not yet officially autumn but we can pretend).

We painted some acorns.

And then decided to draw some acorns.

We collected acorns and created "acorn math."

We went for wagon rides.

Played hopscotch.

Eaden loves to write.

We painted some pots.

 Planted some veggies for fall.

My husband took off of work Thursday so I could go to court. After my wonderful morning there, I took Naia for a nature walk. Eaden stubbed her toe pretty bad at the beach house and then restubbed it in the same place riding her scooter the other day. So she didn't want to wear shoes. Her and Taven went with my husband to get a goat for the deep freezer my brother-in-law gave us a few weeks ago.

This morning, we're making bread from Soulemama's new book, Rhythm of the Family.

Let me add a picture of Taven, poor thing.

I am so happy and so thankful to have homeschooling as an option. I think that what I dislike most about public and a lot of private schools is the herding the kids around, keeping them calm, keeping them inside, lining them up with their hands behind their backs, etc. It's a colossal waste of time and completely unnatural. The teacher to child ratio here in the home is 1:3 and that allows for a lot of free time to play, run around, camp, think, explore, ...live. So much of what I know I learned on my own, sitting alone in my tent reading and writing. I would get so angry that no one ever taught me much of anything that was important. I was angry that I got such a late start on learning. Personally, I would have been thankful for someone to guide me in the right direction or give me something to read I would be interested in. That's one of the reasons I'm not all about letting the kids guide themselves. I guided myself most of my life (well maybe the schools misguided me. it's all so confusing) and it got me confused and searching. Confused and searching is not a bad thing, I just wish it would have happened earlier. People always say, "you're fine. You went through public schools, and you turned out great." Yes I did, thanks! But it was not because I went to public school. I went through public school getting into tons of trouble, doing drugs, and waiting for the bell to ring. I always knew that things weren't right in the world, that I wanted to be different, but I didn't know what wasn't right and I didn't know who it was that I wanted to be. People say "your kids are going to miss out on this and on that..." Who gives a sh@#! They would miss out on so much more if they were locked in a school building all day. Yes, I realize that some public schools are better than others, that there are some great private schools, and that everyone has their own unique situation and experience. I'm just talking about myself and my family. We are going to have the times of our lives and we are going to do it as a family.

Sorry that was so long, but I thought it would be easier to do one long post than a bunch of little ones. Hope you all had a great week and have an even better weekend!