We found this lovely little walk yesterday...

Outdoor heating


Amazing colours


Wonderful textures

Literature : D'Aulaires' book of Greek Myths Week 1

This unit is very much a mix of two aims. the first is as a catch up for my oldest who for various reasons has never gotten past the first chapter of this book. I suspect that it will be useful to study this before we head to far into the omnibus work.

The unit is also aimed at my youngest who has read through these myths several times on his own, but who I still want to process his reading against a Christian worldview.

Week 1 Read through the creation story pages for the Ancient Greeks. Narrations and discussion questions.

• Day 1 Read through pages 9-15
  
  
• Day 2 Questions from earlier reading.
  
  How did they see the world coming into being? What was the reason for the creation of the world? What was it like?
  
  What was important to them? How did the Greeks see their gods compared to the gods of other nations?
  
  
• Day 3 Read and narrate pages 16 to 23 Narrate these pages.
  
  
• Day 4 Questions from earlier reading.
  
  What were the important character traits of a good person in Greek culture? What type of things did the gods control or look after?
  
  How did they solve their differences? I found it interesting that most of the time they solved problems by trickery and force.

Writing Project:

• Compare the character traits important to the Greeks to the character traits important to those of Christians. How do the Greeks values compare.

Art Project:

• Draw a scene from our reading using the skills you have learned.

Wheelocks lesson overview

My daughter and I still have to find a rhythm for breaking our Wheelock's studies into a regular pattern. I've been playing with this. Yes we are doing all the exercises and I could do it shorter, but so far the practice seems to have helped us cement in the vocab.

Day 1 Read through the new lesson and include notes in our latin grammar books. Copy vocab into vocab section.

Day 2 Review drill cards Grammatica section of workbook

Day 3 Drill sheet / Exercitationes section of workbook

Day 4 Drill Cards, Vis Verborum section of workbook and practice and review exercise from Wheelocks

Day 5 Drill Sheet Lectiones (Readings) from Workbook

Day 6 Drill cards Sentetiae small readings

Day 7 Drill sheet. Sentetiae main readings

Day 8 Translation exercises from Lingua Angelica or 38 Latin Stories.

For the drill sheet only include new words and missed words. That should make it a manageable size.

Unexpected Visitors

We had a fun, unexpected change to our weekend. My sister rang on Friday night looking to crash on our floor with two international students she was hosting. It was fun. My trio enjoyed showing off, we got to learn a little about other ways of life, and I got to catch up on what has been happening in my family.

It would be good if 2010 had more of these fun surprises.

Beauty

I've succumbed to the word craze of picking a word to describe where the next year is heading to. In reality it seems that the word has brought itself to my notice as a good mascot for what I want to achieve this year.

"Beauty" sums up so much of what I want to work on this year. Fostering beauty in relationships - being gentler with the kids and Tony, and myself. Not stressing over the small stuff. Last year I wasn't always gentle in what I said, this year I want to work on it.

I want our home to have an atmosphere of beauty to it. Much is already in place and yet it would be good to keep a better routine of order and peace.

Yes I have personal beauty goals as well. At the start of the year I started sewing with my girl, and it was fun. She's rapidly becoming a young lady and I would like to be a better role model of feminine, modest beauty than I currently am.

Beyond it all I want to see the beauty of laughter, and joy in our home, and overflowing it.

So my word for this year, my mascot is looking to find beauty.

My Daybook

FOR TODAY
Outside my window,

Sunshine, beans flowering in the garden, stillness and morning quiet.

I am listening to...

The fish tank bubbling and the computer fan, the birds on the roof, morning noises before everyone emerges to start the day.

I am thankful for...

I'm thankful for holidays, grace, time to rest and restore the balance again.
From the learning rooms...

I still have planning to do for when we start back, thinking about how to achieve that and the endless frustration of not having a simple system to translate what we want to achieve into achievable chunks in a planner on my desk. Something easy to prepare, detailed enough to keep me in touch with what we need to focus on, and streamline enough that its just in one place. Unfortunately I just don't write in small enough lines to do that on a double page spread, and over two pages it just gets overwhelming... the quarterly juggling act in its reality.

From the kitchen...

Not much, over the holidays everyone is pitching in and doing dinner in turns.

I am wearing...

Long soft summer skirts and floppy white tops.

I am reading...

Stowaway be Karen Hesse, I love being able to get ahead of the pre-reading over summer and throw a few books the kids way that get them feeling excited to read.


I am praying for...

Refreshment and joy in our family, its been a long time since we have playes and laughed and embraced life together.

On of my favorite things...

Long restful walks in the bush, reading by the beach, simple easy meals, Christmas cake and coffee.

A few plans for the rest of the week:

This week we are hoping to go raspberry picking, enjoy the beach, and alow the kids and
Tony to spoil me for my birthday.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...


The spot where we crashed and watched the kids swim after a walk on Monday.

In the tradition of the Simple Womans Daybook

Breathing Green...

This has got to be the most refreshing way I know of to recharge my batteries...
This is why I love living here so much!

Welcoming the New Year

Its been a relaxed and enjoyable start to the year. Usually we rise early on New Years day and watch the sunrise. This year we did something different. We let the kids stay up last night for the first time that we have ever seen the new year in at midnight as a family. And yes we need some really good New Year's traditions to make it more meaningful than "hey we stayed up really late". This morning hubby cooked Eggs Benedict for breakfast, and the sun has come out calling us to the beach later on. So far this year is clean, bright, full of promise.



I need the freshness, the clean start, the hope of a year without all the stress of the last one. I long to be free from the frustrations of the year, to find again the joy of just being alive. Our pray this year is to rediscover the joy of living life with God. OK it is much the same as last years goal, last year it seemed like we knew that was the goal, and yet we seemed to go from issue to issue. So while I fear it is a little like asking God for patience I am hopeful that this year we are a little more practiced.