Hold Me Jesus

I've been attempting to share another YouTube video, but it isn't working. You'll have to click here to see the video of another song which has been my heart's cry through the various trials and tribulations: Rich Mullins' Hold Me Jesus. A few lines really resonate with me. I'm often "shaking like a leaf" and just need Jesus to hold me. I can also relate to, "Surrender don't come natural to me. I'd rather fight you for something I don't really want, than take what You give and I need." Why do I do that? Fortunately, His "grace rings out so deep it makes my resistance seem so thin." And finally, the repeated line, "You have been King of my glory; won't you be my Prince of Peace" is such a beautiful prayer! I have experienced His grace as both. I pray that you have as well.

And with that, we're heading out for the weekend to go camping. There's a part of me that would rather be driving down to Texas for a viewing today and funeral tomorrow. That's just not an option. Instead, I'm going to celebrate Dozer's life by enjoying my own children. Marsha was blessed to have enjoyed Christian so much in the too brief 3 1/2 years that he was on the earth. She blessed so many more by sharing him with the rest of us. Now she can be comforted by precious memories.

Our life lately has been very hectic, and I haven't had as much time to spend enjoying my family. I'm looking forward to an uninterrupted weekend with

• no computers,
• no work cell phones,
• Olympics recordings or pre-season NFL football,
• no Financial Peace University,
• no dance or football practices,
• no election coverage (although when I saw that McCain's making his announcement at noon in Daton, I considered for a brief moment dragging the kids to experience history! I'm quite interested in his VP pick, very pro-life, mother of 5, Sarah Palin but that's a post for a later date).

For three days it will be just

• our family,
• a bunch of friends,
• a tent,
• an old faithful Coleman stove,
• sleeping bags on the ground,
• a fire for roasting marshmallows,
• a puppy that will probably bark the entire time,
• bugs,
• and a (hopefully clean) bathhouse.

All the while, as I appreciate our get-away, I'll be continuously praying for my dear friend and her family & friends as they say good-bye to their precious Christian "Dozer" Drews.


Hug your kids!
Enjoy your family!
Have a peace filled weekend!

Grace and Peace,

Angel

The Anchor Holds

My precious friend Emily had a great idea of a way to bless Marsha. She's putting together an ipod full of songs of worship and comfort for her.

Although I've never faced a trial like the one the Drews family is enduring at this moment, this song has been a blessing to me time and time again for many years. After you watch this video, be sure to go to http://thelearningneverstops.blogspot.com/ and share your choice of a song for Marsha.

Grace and Peace,
Angel

"I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD
In the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the LORD." Psalm 28:13-14

The Valley of the Shadow of Death

I have no words; just stunned silence and tears.
Please pray with me!

Celebrating the life of Christian "Dozer" Drews

Fruitful Vine Creation Contest

Is it any surprise that I love words? ;)
I'd much rather decorate my house with words and photographs than tchotchkes. Artwork is nice too, but I don't know anything about it and it can be really expensive. I don't have any. Well, except for Norman Rockwell prints. :)

Michael Podesta is my favorite calligraphy artist; I wish I could order the entire catalog! I stayed with some friends of his once, and their entire house was filled with his originals. It was fabulous to see God's Word so beautifully displayed everywhere.

I've attempted calligraphy myself, but have never become proficient. I've never been able to paint, so even if I could do calligraphy on paper, I doubt I could do it on the walls like I've seen other women do. But, there may be an option for me now. Cling. I just heard about this contest that Becoming A Woman of Virtue is hosting. She's giving away a Fruitful Vine Creation. Go check out their website and find out how easy they make it to decorate your house with eloquent words.

Grace and Peace,
Angel

Amada's Blog Warming

My dear HSB friend Amada has started a new blog here at blogger and is having a blog warming party to celebrate, complete with a fabulous prize. Amy and her husband are missionaries in Peru where they homeschool their five adorable kids.

She's asked that in addition to posting the info about her blog warming, we also post our three favorite things about homeschooling and one thing we'd like to change. So here I go.

My 3 favorite things about homeschooling

1. Freedom- I enjoy the freedom homeschooling gives us on so many different levels: freedom to cater education to my kids' strengths, weaknesses, and interests, freedom to use methods that suit our family, freedom to school when and where we desire, freedom to pursue the opportunities God brings into our lives...
2. Time- I've often said that the quality time comes within the quantity time. I cherish the quantity time that I have with my kids. I appreciate that I don't get the leftovers when they're tired after a long day at school or in between after-school activities. Within this quantity time, I am able to point my children to God and refer to Scripture over and over again. My kids don't have a sense of compartmentalized time that God is for home and church, but not school. They see that God is sovereign over time and involved in every aspect of our lives. God is involved in history, science, and literature. He is glorified in art, music, and play. We depend on Him all the time!
3. Relationships- The closest relationships we have are within the walls of this house. I am excited to watch my kids' relationships deepen, and though there are many other friends, the best friendships are forming as we learn and grow together. I enjoy the relationships I have with my kids! Even more so, I am honored to encourage them in their relationship with the Lord. I have a wonderful opportunity to lay a solid foundation of Bible Study, prayer, and walking in the Spirit. I also enjoy relationships with other homeschoolers. I have found such kindred spirits in the homeschool community and it's fun to learn together with them whether on field trips or at poetry recitals or in co-ops.

one thing I'd like to change

1. Inconsistency- I would like to become more consistent on several different levels: with academics, with Bible study, Scripture memory, missionary study, & hymn study, with read alouds, with music, with crafts & fun activities, with nature study, with housework, with rising early and eating breakfast,.... I enjoy the flexibility that homeschooling offers, but I need to become more consistent!

Okay, now all the rest of you need to go visit Amy, welcome her to Blogger, and enter her contest. Let me know if you do the 3 favorites and 1 thing to change on your blog. I'm interested to know what your answers are.



Click here to visit amada's blog-warming party and enter to win a year's subscription to the Old Schoolhouse digital magazine! or copy and paste: http://fisheracademy.blogspot.com

A Taste of Aloha

Christa was one of the first blogging friends I ever made. I was instantly captivated by her endearing spirit, eloquent writing, and beautiful family. As it turned out, we even had some common real life friends. What a small world! We always talked about getting together while they lived just 2 hours away in Daton, Ohio, but it never seemed to work out. Then they were off to Florida and eventually Hawaii. So for 2 1/2 years now, we have remained imaginary friends and lamented the fact that we didn't become real life friends when we had the chance.

Consider my joy when I received a call from her last week that she would be back in Daton and willing to drive over to Indy to meet us! How much fun it was to finally meet her face to face and get to know her delightful children a little bit. The kids hit it off immediately, just as we thought they might. Christa and I had a wonderful day chatting about God's goodness, homeschooling, our families, the Navy, places we'd lived, college, gardening, and a plethora of other topics. She really is a kindred spirit and even more beautiful in real life than she is in her pictures. She has that radiating internal beauty that shines through her! I was so blessed by her visit!

Christa and Me

The Kids- Ages 12, 11, 10, 9, 9, 7, 5 1/2, 3 1/2, and 15 months (missing one 5 1/2 year old boy)

Goofy girls who insisted upon a bunny ears picture

A sweet all-girl picnic

Thanks again, Christa for making the trip to see us! I'm already wishing we could do it again next week! :)

Grace and Peace,
Angel

Blog Around the World

I've been delinquent in announcing this fabulous new blog. It's pathetic really since one of my very own real life friends is the creator. Whilst all her imaginary friends and complete strangers excitedly displayed the new buttons, I have been remiss. My sincere apologies, Debbie!

I am now calling on all my readers to help me redeem myself. Go HERE, check out the fun and get your blog added to your state's category. This really is a fantastic idea for a blog! Bloggity goodness at its best! Oh and Indiana, we really need to step it up! So far I am the one and only blog listed under Indiana and I'M LONELY!!! I know I have quite a few Indiana bloggers reading, and I would be so honored if you would join me in representing our fair state. And if any of you other non-Indiana bloggers decide to take pity on us, you are more than welcome to move to the Crossroads of America yourself. There are several houses for sale in my own neighborhood. Now wouldn't that be fun?!?

P.S. Okay I was wrong. There are 4 Indiana bloggers. I guess that (1) next in IN didn't mean one; apparently it means FOUR. But still, four is not enough to cure my loneliness! So go already!

Dave Ramsey is Kicking My Butt

Last night was our second session of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. We need to be in this class. It's going to be very good for us, but that doesn't mean that it's easy. Dave Ramsey has a great sense of humor. I think he got it from Mary Poppins. It's the proverbial spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down. I like sugar. I don't care for medicine.

We're in a tight spot financially. We've been here before, but we'd worked dilligently to implement a budget using Larry Burkett's materials, had payed off all our credit cards, and done relatively well for a few years. The past couple of years, the budget fell by the wayside, and we've made some mistakes. So we're tightening our belts, rolling up our sleeves, and trying to get back on track.

It's a little depressing. Ignorance is bliss. Facing reality can be painful. I've been a little glum as a result.

BUT, the kids and I started a Bible study on the book of James this week, and our first memory verse is,

"Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its perfect result so that you will be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

James 1:2-5

All joy....As we recognize our failures and confess our sin.
All joy....As we say no to fun things that we'd love to do, but really can't afford.
All joy....As we make budget cuts and consider disconnecting the Cable TV.
All joy....As I consider whether I should and how I can contribute financially.
All joy....As I look for ways to become more frugal and save money.
All joy....As we strive to be content.
All joy.

It's not going to be easy. We need to learn to be disciplined. I'm not good at that! It's difficult to consider it all joy, but I'm reminded of another verse.

"All discipline seems for the moment not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness." Hebrews 12:11

The peaceful fruit of righteousness. Now that's something worth rejoicing about.

Grace and Peace,
Angel

Artes Latinae Snafu

After hours of researching Latin curricula, I was so excited to be able to get a great deal on Artes Latinae (the "Cadillac" of Latin curricula) on E-bay a few months ago. Today, I'm wishing I'd read the fine print. The CD isn't compatible with our computer, and I can't afford the $230 for the DVDs that are. :(
Sigh! Now I'm not sure what to do.

Phelpsian

Did you see it?!?!?!

WOOOOHOOO!!!!!

There were actually less screams tonight than on previous nights due to the lump in my throat and the tears rolling down my cheeks. Verklempt doesn't come close to describing it! I could hardly breathe through most of the relay! I love watching history LIVE!

I actually prayed just moments before the race to the God who is sovereign over all things, even olympic races, that He would be glorified, that He would use this race in Michael Phelps' life to draw him closer to Himself. And if losing this race might accomplish His purposes better that His will would be done. May His will be done in Michael Phelps!

What a night! What a week!
What humility! What character!
This is what the olympics is all about.
I absolutely love love love it!

And now I'm off to bed where I'll be unable to fall asleep! LOL

Grace and Peace,
Angel

P.S. Gayle, I love you girl! ;)

Handbook of Nature Study: The Positives

After this post, Renee asked my opinion about the rest of the book. The majority of the content I mentioned in the first post seems to occur in the Mammals section where it is a repeated theme. In a book that is 885 pages and covers animals, birds, insects, plants, trees, fungus, astronomy, etc. etc. etc. it's hardly worth mentioning, except that it was the very first thing that I read aloud when I opened the book and was a considerable shock to me. But the greater value of the book as a whole far surpassed any momentary thought to send the book back.

If you are really interested in pursuing Nature Study, this book is truly an invaluable resource; especially if you don't have much experience yourself! (Like I!) The real value of the book beyond any other nature guide is in the Lessons and in particular her Observation exercises which are lists of questions to ask that encourage and teach observation. These are excellent! They are extremely helpful to the homeschool mom who is not skilled in nature study. There are 232 lessons in the book from Feathers as Clothing (Lesson 1) and The Katydid (Lesson 81) to The Dogwood (Lesson 682) and The Two Dog Stars (Lesson 228).

The book begins with a 24 page introduction on The Teaching of Nature Study. The author explains very clearly how and why to incorporate Nature Study into your school. She even writes short sections on the correlation of Nature Study with Language Work, Drawing, Geography, History, and Arithmetic. How cool is that?!?

There are so many other helpful sections like How To Begin Tree Study (pg.622-623) & Tree Study (Lesson 172, pgs. 623-626) and How To Begin the Study of Plants & Their Flowers (p.453-459). Reading through these explanatory sections takes only a few moments and prepares you for a lifetime of education through nature. Anna Botsford Comstock was writing this book as a resource to educators who might not know how to teach nature study. She really has done an excellent job in laying things out so clearly, and her methods adapt very easily to the homeschool. Now that I'm prepared to exercise discernment, I am very excited to dive in to nature study using this book.

The book is available free in its totality on-line here. As much as I like free, I found that it was worth investing in my own copy so that I can carry it with me to the places where we will actually do nature study and it will benefit me the most. But, if you had a plan to study a certain subject (a specific tree for example), you could always print out those pages of the free e-book and tuck them into a notebook, and you can read through all of her How To sections and begin implementing them on your own. Just skip the parts about "scientific instruments of death." ;)

Grace and Peace,
Angel

Critical Thinking with Handbook of Nature Study

It was with great excitement that I opened our newly acquired Handbook of Nature Study to read about squirrels with my daughter. It seemed the perfect follow up to the lesson we had just finished in Emma Serl's Primary Language Lessons.

I have long been intimidated by Anna Botsford Comstock's highly acclaimed, 885 paged handbook. I remember purusing it on numerous occassions at homeschool conventions, but never purchasing it as I had no idea how to incorporate it into our homeschool. Reading Pocketful of Pinecones a few months back removed any intimidation that I felt in using this handbook. As I came to understand its value in the Charlotte Mason activity of Nature Study, I added it to my shopping list and waited expectantly for its arrival.

Imagine my surprise then as I opened the book and began reading aloud a treatise against the NRA.
"We ought to yield admiring tribute to those animals which have been able to flourish in our midst despite man and his gun, this weapon being the most cowardly and unfair invention of the human mind. The only time that man has been a fair fighter in combating his four-footed brethren was when he fought them with a weapon which he wielded in his hand..." (Cornell University Press p.233)

I stopped short and skimmed ahead, looking for something that resembled a nature handbook rather than a PETA pamphlet. What I found was, "How any man or boy can feel manly when, with this scientific instrument of death in his hands, he takes the life of a little squirrel, bird, or rabbit, is beyond my comprehension." Oh, my!

What did I just purchase?

Now I must say that I am not fond of hunting. I remember well when as a young city girl of eight years I visited my aunt and uncle's farm where I was compelled to eat squirrel and rabbit. All I could think of was my deceased pet rabbit and the squirrels which romped merrily on the telephone poles outside my bedroom window. With tears running down my cheeks, I valiantly refused while my country family laughed. "It tastes just like chicken," they assured me. I didn't want to find out for myself.

Nevertheless, as an adult, I have come to understand and appreciate the oftentimes necessity of hunting. Where hunting restrictions abound, so do deer who overpopulate an area, cause problems, and end up as road kill. Better that they are enjoyed in venison stew. And even if I don't prefer to eat squirrel and rabbit, I am certainly not going to teach my children to disdain hunting, especially when there are many in their own family who enjoy hunting and reap its numerous benefits.

Here I was so excited to teach my children about squirrels, and instead I find myself having to wade through indoctrination about the evils of killing our "brethren" the animals with guns first. Lesson learned: just because a book is published in 1911 and receives rave reviews in homeschool magazines does not mean that you should read it aloud to your children before you've had a chance to pre-read yourself. Being over one hundred years old doesn't make it exempt from exercising discernment. As my husband reminded me, by 1911 Charles Darwin's teachings had taken hold in the scientific community, and with their literary counterparts, Thoreau was en vogue. Naturalists abounded. I should have thought that through a little more; my husband is so smart. It's interesting that in all the reviews I'd read, no one else had warned me. Consider this your warning.

In the end, it's obviously still an excellent resource, but like most things, it's flawed. I can only think of one Book that isn't.

Dude, You're Killin' Me!!!

I love my DVR. Love it! What I do not love is when the screen says, "Recording Finished, Delete/Do not delete" just before the most pivotal moments.

First it was the American Idol finale.
Then it was the best tennis match EVER!
Now, just before they announced the score of the last American male gymnast to perform in last night's Men's Team Final.

This is me, tears rolling down my face, listening to the guys talking in their huddle, watching David Durante break down in tears as he watches from the stands, just as Sasha has completed a fabulous routine on pommel horse after two potentially devastating performances by Raj & Kevin....and the recording is finished. No results, no flag ceremony,.....DUDE! You. Are. Killing. ME!

Now I have to go see how they how they did, provided my computer doesn't crash and burn. I should have known better than to go to bed at a reasonable time last night. Technology can not be trusted. You'd better believe that I'll be staying up tonight. It's either that or add another hour onto the recording time of the already 4 hour long scheduled recording.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who obsesses over the Olympics like this!

Oh and is it just me or does it seem like they're doing less of those featuring Olympic athlete vignettes than they've done in the past? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the actual sports themselves, but those human interest pieces are the icing on the cake and there just hasn't been enough icing this year. What's up with that NBC? I actually saw more in the US qualifying events leading up to the Olympics.

Anywho. I hope you're all chanting USA USA USA with me tonight as we watch Michael Phelps and the US Women's Olympic Team go for GOLD!

GO TEAM USA!!!!! WOOHOO :)

3 Questions Re. Parenting

• Why is it that we as parents expect sanctified kids when we're not even sanctified yet ourselves?
• How can we get so frustrated with our kids' shortcomings and imperfections when our own are so much worse?
• What was God thinking when He gave me kids?

I hope your day is going better than mine.

Grace and Peace,

Angel

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Scroll down for my responses.

So.
When you log in to check your e-mail and the news headline reads, "See Katie Holmes' new pixie haircut," do you:

A. Click the link; celebrity hairstyles are your weakness.
B. Wonder to yourself how she could be so stupid to cut off all her gorgeous hair.
C. Think, "Who is Katie Holmes, and why should I care about her latest haircut?!?"
D. Ignore it; who cares how Tom (who divorced his first wife and went crazy with Scientology) Cruise's wife wears her hair these days.

Dish. Oh, and I want to hear your predictions on what I did too. ;)

Have a great day! It's gorgeous here!

Grace and Peace,
Angel

P.S. One more question? Are you more likely to click on:
A. Brett Favre traded
B. See Katie Holme's pixie haircut
C. Condoleeza Rice answers Iraq war claims
D. None of the above, who in their right mind relies on Yahoo! as their news source?!?

Thanks for playing. ;)

UPDATED: I thought this was such a frivolous post, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. You guys are fun! :) I know some of you are in suspense as to what I did. With regard to Katie Holme's hair, I B(wondered why she'd cut it) and D (didn't care enough to see what it looked like). I'm not fond of pixie cuts or Katie Holmes. I must admit that sometimes I do click over, but Katie & Tom have gone so far off the deep end and that whole requiring total silence for their baby for the first so many days of its life was insane. And how I know all that, I don't know. I'm not a People magazine reader or an Extra viewer, but somehow I pick it up here and there. I do remember how cute her hair cut was after the baby was born; I saw it on the cover of a magazine in the grocery aisle. But why that is news is beyond me!

For the second question, I clicked on A. My sister is a huge Packers/Brett Favre fan, and I did want to find out who he'd been traded to. I far too often rely on Yahoo as my news source, but mostly for the frivolous things like sports, never for political or valid current events stories. For those, I try to find a more reliable (and less liberal) source like Fox News or the Washington Times or WorldNet Daily (we went to church with the editor in VA).

I've never been a news junkie though. I never liked reading the newspaper except for the editorial section. My mom is a major news junkie, and she keeps me filled in on the very important things and is always appalled when I'm completely unaware of some major current event. I'll never forget when John Kennedy Jr. died in that plane accident, and my mom was visiting us and we didn't have cable or a newspaper, and she found out at church when someone mentioned that we should pray for his family and she about flipped out asking what happened. She couldn't believe that she didn't know about it! Needless to say, they bought us cable for Christmas that year.

Now you know...more than you wanted. ;) Thanks for playing! :)

Millions in My Inbox

I was already thrilled to hear that I'd won some kind of lottery that I didn't even enter in England, but imagine my glee to discover that I've also won in Ireland and the Netherlands! What are the chances?!?! Now all I have to do is reply with all of my personal information and they'll send me a check. It doesn't get much easier than that!

Now all I have to figure out is what to do with all my riches...

Fels Naptha for Allergic Reactions: WFMW

I don't enjoy weeding. Who does? One reason I especially loathe the chore is that when I spend time weeding my garden, my forearms break out in an itchy rash. In previous years I'd ignore it and within a few hours the rash would go away. It wasn't anything serious, just a mild allergic reaction to something in the garden.

This year, I purchased a couple of bars of Fels Naptha soap to try to make my own homemade laundry soap. An on-line search informed me that Fels Naptha is good for so much more than just laundry soap. One thing it is known for is poison ivy relief. So earlier this summer when my daughter was weeding and pulled some poison ivy, I sent her inside to wash immediately with Fels Naptha. She never had a reaction. Another night, all of my kids were helping me lay mulch and we were all an irritated mess by the end. A washcloth with Fels Naptha did the trick and no one had any irritation, despite the fact that I'm positive we exposed to poison ivy while we worked.

Having seen such good results, the next time my arms were itching, spotted, and beginning to swell I reached for the closest bar of Fels Naptha and experienced instantaneous relief. Within 30 seconds, the rash and swelling had disappeared as if I had washed them down the drain with the soap suds. It was amazing! Now every time I work in the garden, I wash with Fels Naptha afterwards. I have extremely sensitive skin, and have never had an adverse reaction to using it, even when I've washed from head to toe including my face. Every time the itchiness and rash miraculously wash down the drain. I never cease to be amazed!

As I read through the list of other marvelous things for which Fels Naptha is useful, I can almost hear the traveling salesman lauding its miraculous benefits. I can't speak to its uses in the garden or in cleaning paint brushes, but considering how well it has worked when I have used it, I don't doubt the validity of its claims. Now if only it claimed to cause massive amounts of weight loss...

Fels Naptha is available on-line, or in the laundry soap aisle of your local grocery store. (I found mine at the local Kroger store.) Now can anyone tell me where to find a cup of chewing tobacco juice so that I can mix up a batch of bug spray for my garden?

Fels Naptha soap certainly works for me! For more Works for me Wednesday post, visit Rocks in My Dryer.

Grace and Peace,
Angel

Mrs. Robinson anyone?

The Sound of Silence is reverberating through the floorboards. Seriously, my kids have taken a liking to Simon & Garfunkle. I happen to think that's fabulous, especially when my 7 year old spontaneously bursts into singing Mrs. Robinson. I absolutely love love love it!

So what CDs have your kids taken from your shelves and added to their own favorites?

Natural Learning through Address Books

The longer we keep our kids at home with us, the more I recognize how many natural learning opportunities are sprinkled throughout life. Case in point: My husband purchased Daytimer like calendars for the three older kids a few months ago. Yesterday, my eldest daughter wanted to send a card to a friend, so she asked me for the address. She was so excited when I told her she could write it in the address portion of her planner. Not to be left out, her seven year old sister decided to do the same. This morning, I came down to find all three of the girls sitting at the schoolroom table copying addresses from letters they've received into their address books. So what's the big deal?

I followed a more traditional textbook approach with my son from the beginning. He's consistently worked through his Saxon math textbooks and Rod & Staff English. As his sisters joined our school, and as I grew in freedom in creating a lifestyle of learning that often extends beyond textbooks, I have not bound myself to those same textbooks in educating them. Instead, we've taken a more relaxed approach to education.

When I worked through the traditional English grammar textbooks, I remember teaching how to write your address in 1st and 2nd grade. I remember identifying the different parts of the address and teaching my son how to correctly write his own. There were assignments requiring him to copy various fictitious addresses and even instruction to address a letter and mail it (to himself). I couldn't help but wonder whether I really needed a textbook to teach my son about addresses and letters, isn't this something that is going to come up naturally? But I dutifully taught him as the textbook proscribed.

There's a lot of stuff like that in textbooks. Things that come up naturally in life. Even when I used the textbooks, I remember skipping over countless lessons because they were things that he had already learned. Don't most kids know that their mother's sister is their aunt in first grade? Yet countless pages in his first grade grammar book were spent on such things. Why waste our time?

Just as I suspected, my girls have learned how to write letters and address envelopes without the help of a textbook. They're getting valuable review and cementing the proper form into their minds through copying addresses into their planners, and they think it's fun. It's not a drudgerous grammar assignment; it's life, their life, and they enjoy it.

This is only one example of how my girls have learned in the course of natural living without the need of textbooks. Recognizing these natural learning experiences has given me more confidence in not being bound to textbooks. Textbooks can be useful, but they can also be redundant and even worse...frustrating. They are not always necessary. They were written to teach children who have been removed from their natural learning environment and placed in a classroom. We as home-educators have the freedom to use them to assist us, but we don't always need them. We certainly do not have to be ruled by them!

Good things to keep in mind as I get ready to place my annual Rainbow Resources order.

Grace and Peace,
Angel