Thursday, January 14, 2010

Fresh Air

I love this image of a child surrounded by books.
The way the light enters is lovely.

Our term 3 is starting out slowly,
but right on target.
Lively slowly.

Our home school direction seems to be changing.
Not really sure were the path is leading.
Ambleside online doesn't seem to "fit" us anymore.
I found us tweaking a lot.
I guess I have known this for awhile.
When I first found AO, I thought this was an answer
to a prayer.
We tried, all books purchased, weekly outlines made.
We struggled.
We have tweaked so much that really all AO is to us
is a list of good books to choose from.

Though I am sad that AO is not working for us.
I am thankful that as a home schooling family,
we are able to seek and find what
does work for us.
I look at this as exciting.

Our rhythm, our balance seems to be finding us.
Our days are full.
Living slowly, learning at a natural pace,
seems to fit us fine.

We do not seem to "fit" fully into any certain
education philosophy.

So, I guess for now, we will define us as
nothing more than a
nature and book loving
Christian home school family.

8 comments:

Homeschool Friend said...

:-) I'm right there with ya!!!

sunnymama said...

That's a delightful picture! I love the mosaic you're using for your header picture also. :)

Michelle said...

We mix and match all kinds of things to match our style. I have not found one program that fits all of our needs. We take bits and pieces of things and make them our own. To me, that is the fun part! I am curious how the marathon went.

Blessed Mommy said...

Michelle- I have not posted about the marathon because my friend in her first marathon, had an asthma attack around mile 3, she tried, but at mile 8 I called the race and got medical. She was soooo upset and sad. She wanted me to go on, but, of course, I didn't. She felt better after a few hours and we spent the day at Magic Kingdom with no kids, It still was a great weekend with a good friend. Thanks for asking. I told her, we all have those days and that it was just a race, there will be plenty others.

Jill said...

I love the fact that I'm not alone in discovering that one curriculum just doesn't "fit" us. I'm loving pulling from this one and adding to that one. I pray you go with what the Lord is leading you towards and can't wait to hear what that is. Oh, and I'm so sorry about the marathon. But what a wonderful friend you are!

Michelle said...

I am sure you both were disappointed but what an accomplishment to get there! Character can always win out over achievement any day!

Deborah said...

Hopefully you'll find some new stuff soon. :) I do a LOT of mix and matching.

Hen Jen said...

don't feel down about it at all, we are all a family work in progress!

I did AO for a while, I really clicked with scheduling a book until it's done, but I found I was having to tweak a lot, too. Many of the selections seemed archaic picks...chosen maybe for a love of nostalgia and my kids didn't enjoy them. There were some winners, too.

good luck on your journey of finding what 'fits'. I have learned that even the perfect fit will change as your family and family life changes.

much grace and peace to you!