Early Fall, CC Weeks 4 & 5, and a New Book

Written by Rachel, October 4, 2013

In my life this week…
The air was cooler early last week, so I felt ready to pull out the fall decorations and enjoyed sprucing up a few areas with some orange, red, and brown hues.  We had friends over Friday night to share some chili and enjoy sitting outside by the fire.  It was a beautiful evening!

In our homeschool this week…

We have been working through Weeks  4 and 5 of Classical Conversations, Cycle 2. We practiced identifying rivers and cities in Europe and reviewed some of our past geography, worked on the multiplication facts for 7's, 8's, 9's, and 10's, learned about some cycles of nature, and a small portion of the history of England and France.  B made several crafty items, including a re-covered felt board that she will use as a bulletin board in her room.  J is reading a biography of Deitrich Bonhoeffer, Bonhoeffer:  Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, that his youth pastor recommended.  They also enjoyed throwing the football outside with Dad one afternoon when he was home.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
I just began reading a new book by Ben Foss, entitled The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan.  It has some great ideas that I will share at a later date, but you might enjoy checking out his website, Headstrong Nation.  It has some great ideas, including some short videos about how to use text-to-speech technology to help dyslexic students.

My favorite thing this week was… 
... signs of spiritual growth in our son! We had a conversation after youth group on Wednesday night and he was talking about how he knows a lot of the Bible stories that some of the other children are not as familiar with.  I told him that one of the big reasons that I wanted to teach him at home was so that we could read the Bible every day and talk about it whenever it fit in with what we were learning.  He said, "Mom, I think that made a big difference."  It makes my heart so full of joy to see these small fruits of our labor!  I am thankful that he has a Biblical worldview and is beginning to see the benefits of our home school.  He also enjoyed a special time of personal reflection that night, writing a letter to God, by hand (an amazing accomplishment for this dysgraphic child who balks at almost any kind of hand writing) and then spending time in prayer with a close friend.  Then, the group had a "lock-out" on Friday, camping on the church lawn and did a service project on Saturday morning, doing some painting and grafitti removal at our local parks.  I love seeing him want to serve the Lord!

I am reading ...
The Story, which is a narrative version of the Bible.  I am leading a Bible study group during our church-wide study of this book and we have recently studies the lives of Jacob, Joseph, and Moses.  I have also read a large portion of the book I listed above, The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan.

I am grateful for... 

...time to relax this weekend with my husband...friends...beautiful fall colors...apple cider...pots of chili... and our annual Oktoberfest celebration this weekend!

I am praying for...

I am praying for life-long friends who have a lost loved one recently.  We will gather tonight to visit with them and they will celebrate her life tomorrow.  Loss and grief are so hard, but I am glad to have a Savior who understands!