Back to school. What does that mean for us?

Hello all! Well, here we are again entering another school year. Autumn is approaching and soon we'll be donning our hoodies and toboggans, enjoying the changing leaves and sipping hot mulled cider & pumpkin lattes. Days will begin to get shorter, the cicadas will quiet down and preparations for the upcoming holidays will begin to unfold. So, what does all of this mean for our family? Well, I'll tell you what it means. It simply means that we will continue to learn daily, as we have every other time of the year, except we all absolutely ADORE fall, and there will be lots more to do in the great outdoors! I honestly don't understand why it is that some people think that you have to be "doing school" in order to learn!

When I first began home education, I'll have to admit, I was a bit nervous & uncertain of myself. I mean, after all, I had been educated in the public school system and this was the only way I knew it could be done! After a year of "playing school", so to speak, and lots and lots of research, reading lots and lots of great books written by experienced/veteran "been there and done that" home educators, I found out that I was quite wrong.


I discovered that learning/education takes place ALL OF THE TIME and what's more, you don't have to order a TON of expensive curriculum to do it! Education is an atmosphere, therefore, you are not required to sit behind a desk with a stack of standardized textbooks for 8 hours a day in order to get a "proper" education! In fact, you don't NEED textbooks at all! I mean, if you enjoy using textbooks in your homeschool, then by all means, use away, but you will probably end up using many other resources to teach with as well, I'm certain!


While I'm on the subject of school, I have to share with you something that I find most absurd and annoying. It seems that most people are under the impression that school is miserable! Imagine that! I say this because every time that I'm checking out at the grocery store and the attendant asks my children if they're enjoying being back in school and they respond "we're homeschooled", the automatic response is, "Oh, well then you NEVER get a break do you?"!!! Firstly, I would like to say that while some might think that doing school year round would be fate worse than death (as would I if it were institutionalized), it's really not THAT bad! IF and ONLY IF you find education/learning to be a natural part of your daily repertoire! We are learning every day of our lives as a family! Secondly, yes, we DO get a break! But, not from LEARNING! It's just natural.

Now, before you think that we sit in our home and do absolutely nothing and that there is absolutely no table work involved in our home learning, then stop right there! I DO teach my children. I DO use books, and quite often at that. I use books, REAL BOOKS aka "living", whole books, for EVERYTHING just about! Reading is fundamental! It is the best way to learn. The kids read independently and we do a TON of read aloud. The library is our favorite place to be, apart from the great outdoors or being piled up on the couch reading to one another!

History, art, music, geography, math, spelling, vocabulary, grammar, science, poetry, comprehension etc., can ALL be learned/taught through the reading of GOOD books! Lots of meaty discussions come about after reading, as well as furthering the research of a particular topic, on the web, or any other resources available.

So, in all of this, essentially what I'm trying to say is this: there is no "back to school" in our "homeschool", because well, we never left it (school)!

TTFN! Happy homeschooling!

Stay tuned~ upcoming posts on what a day in our homeschool looks like, a list of books I highly recommend for parents considering home education, and a list of books/resources we couldn't live without!

A conversation on dress

Today I would just like to share my opinion on the subject of dress. This is just my own personal thoughts, of course, and many won't agree with them I'm sure, but that's expected. As a mother, it's quite grueling going into a department store with your daughters to find decent clothing, only to find fragments of cloth on hangers  that wouldn't cover hardly anything. Then, to pass other moms who are happily purchasing these items whilst wearing similar clothing themselves!! 

 Firstly, I don't and never will agree with the phrase "if you've got it, flaunt it!". To me, it's not always clear what "it" is, because what's attractive to some, may not be to others, and in that sense, let's just assume that it's best to just keep "it" hidden and we'll all be on the safe side! That's not the purpose of dress anyway.

 Seriously though...I do understand that silly phrase, but I think in our society, filled with pedophiles, rapists, and so on, we should keep a modest wardrobe for our daughters and... OURSELVES ladies...and fathers if you're reading! I mean, even if the streets weren't filled with such grotesque, perverted people...we should still have more decency and morals about ourselves, and consider hormonal teenage boys and onlooking men! I do realize most people DO consider these things, and that's their whole intent, is to attract the opposite sex...but why do it that way? Really! 

 The sad thing is, most people don't think anything of it. 

 I am not a summer person, not only because of the wicked heat and humidity, bugs, high electric bills from running fans and A/C non-stop, longer days and shorter nights, just to name a few! LOL,  BUT...I can't leave the house without having to be exposed to half naked people everywhere. It's quite disgusting to have to see what some people consider to be clothing out there. Honestly, it's hot, but you don't have to expose yourselves in that way to keep cool. 

 I don't like my young girls or my son to be exposed to this every time we go out somewhere. It just makes every outing awkward. I understand, adults can make their own choices about what to wear and unfortunately, they don't choose well, but PARENTS! COME ON! Let your children be innocent children while they can. Let little girls be little girls. Feminine and lady like. Mothers and fathers, teach your children by way of example in your own daily attire. Modesty isn't a bad thing. Leaves something to the imagination. 

 It's very distasteful to dress that way. I have better luck finding cute clothes for my girls at yard sales, really, than at any department store these days...It's a rare occasion to find something cute and decent anywhere. I suppose I'm just old-fashioned.