An Interesting Solution

Problem:
Lately, I haven't had much time to blog. I have felt bad about it due to the fact that my reason for blogging was so that my boys, in their later years, would have a running "journal" of what was happening in our lives while they were growing up. Given that this was my goal, I've not done a very good job. :( I can comfort myself, however, with the knowledge that they are primarily the reason I am busy so much of the time.

Solution:
I have a dear friend who has recently become a mother of two who has started to blog a photo and caption each day. She's doing really well with it, and I love to see what is going on in the life of her family. As anyone who knows me knows, I love to take photos. I have lots pictures of the boys that I never blog, post, or scrapbook. I have been thinking about the best way for me to meet the original goal I had set for blogging, and I've decided that the photo blog is a really good idea!
While I will begin posting photos and captions once per week, I'm certain that both John and I will still post more lengthy insights into our thinking from time to time.

This first photo is of Jeffery and Greggy listing to Greggy's "moosik". I love it when my boys share well! Greg is constantly asking for one of our phones so that he can listen to either Baby Einstein music or Imagination Movers. The iPod was John's solution.

Earlier this month the boys had their first sleepover. I told them they could invite one friend to spend the night. After little debate, they both decided that Nick was their first choice. The boys had a fun time playing together. Here, they are watching a movie and eating popcorn before bedtime.

This past Friday, we visited my parents. Mom and Dad were glad to have us up for a visit, and the boys were ready to see them too. In fact, Greg pouted all morning because we had to wait for the boys to get out of school before we could make the trip.

On Saturday, we visited with much of my family at Ronda and Gordon's house while we celebrated my Papa Lewter's birthday. Here, he and my dad are relaxing with the boys. We tried for a much more posed photo, but my boys were not cooperating

...at all.

Today, we got out the duplo blocks that Ronda sent home with us. She has collected so many different sets over the years while her girls were growing up. After seeing, on Saturday, how much my boys enjoy them, she sent us home with a cowboy set, an Indian set, a zoo, a house, and several bases. This addition made the duplos that we already have so much more fun!

The boys played for hours!

News...

John and I are anxiously awaiting the next release of the SN list. We originally thought that it came out on the 15th, however, we received an e-mail Wednesday evening letting us know that it did not. Please continue to pray for our family here and on the other side of the larger pond.

In other news, I have been completely torn about what to do concerning schooling for our oldest two sons next year. For a number of reasons, primarily because public schools no longer use classical methods of teaching reading and mathematics, John and I have decided our local Christian School or homeschooling are our options.

Our boys have been attending the local Christian School for preschool, and we don't have any real complaints. Their teachers are wonderful! They have lots of friends. They are both doing well with their content knowledge. To top it all off, if you had asked me a year ago if I would ever consider homeschooling, I would have replied, "Not for a million dollars!" I had no interest at all in homeschooling...NONE!

This year, however, John and I have had the opportunity to observe several homeschooling families. Honestly, I think I was so opposed to homeschooling originally because I didn't have a real philosophy of education. I did not know which curriculum I would choose, and I did not have the foggiest idea how I would go about choosing. It all seemed very overwhelming to me. Also, I have heard people, for years, speak negatively about homeschooling, making all sorts of comments related to the fact the most homeschooling mothers are not trained educators.

John and I have discussed, on numerous occasions, what we want our children's education to look like. None of the options available to us seemed to meet our preferences until recently. I read a book that changed the way that I felt about homeschooling, specifically, the classical method of homeschooling. In it, the author makes a statement about the way that the public reveres public school while claiming that those who graduate from said schools are not fit to pass on what they have learned to others. She asks us to consider if our fear of schooling our own children stems from the idea that we do not honestly believe we have learned much. Are we acknowledging that we have been schooled, but fearful that we have not been truly educated? It seems to me that her proposition is completely accurate for many.

Over the past month, I have e-mailed, called, and questioned every homeschooling mother I know. I have asked many questions and received so much information that my head is spinning. In addition, I have researched as much about classical education as I can. I am reading, reading, reading. It just so happens that we have a Classical Conversations campus in Owensboro. I have attended informational meetings, and I recently sat in on their classes. I, the woman who would have cringed at the thought of homeschooling a year ago, am truly impressed by what I am seeing...TRULY! The classical model of education makes complete sense with everything that I know about brain development as children grow. It is a rigorous program working through the grammar, dialect, and rhetoric stages of learning.

Until several days ago, we had decided that we might begin such a program in the first grade, however, we are currently considering this for our children in the upcoming year. John is all about homeschooling, and I am quickly considering it to potentially be our best option. It would require me to homeschool four days a week, and meet for classes with Classical Conversations one day per week. Please be praying for us as we make this extremely important decision. Also, if you are interested in learning more about the classical model of education and Classical Conversations specifically, I encourage you to check out www.classicalconversations.com.