athelas

 Faith is writing about her past year on her blog. She writes:

In fact the very style of homeschooling which has lasted the longest with us is classical. I think it really suits us best. However to make it work, it needs to be tempered with 1)fun 2)a relaxed atmosphere 3) frequent breaks in routine that allow for down days and rabbit trails.

Hey, I could have said the same thing, only she said it for me. Faith and I so often seem to be on the same wavelength as far as homeschooling preferences go. (Except that I have never been able to make any kind of sense at all of Waldorf. Faith and Lissa make me feel like I’m …… almost…. getting a glimmer but that’s all.)

Steph wrote a great post about self-directed vs prescribed learning that talks about some of the same types of things.    Most of those reading this have probably seen it already but still — I wanted to keep it for my collection.
I’m home from a dental procedure and that is about all I have to say about today, except:

• Aidan‘s new tag line is:  “The reign of Mewtwo will soon begin.” (said with menacing inflection — he has learned a lot about intonation from watching movies over and over again).
• Paddy said to me after I came back to the car:  “I LIKE you, Mama…. somehow.”
• I like him too, somehow, even though he just shrieked at his brother and threw a game control and scared Aidan half to death, and then Aidan came in here and started to hit the ESC function key and telling me “I’m deleting your profile”.
• Kevin is putting a new seal on the deck.  And here I am idling on the computer….blah.   I am not going to make dinner tonight either — that is what the chicken nuggets in the freezer are for.
• Clare is going to try to get the church youth group interested in sponsoring a swing dance, so she is immersed in her Dad’s eclectic CD collection — pulling together a playlist of songs with a brisk 4/4 beat.
• The Steller jays are nesting on our porch light again.  They are the original trashy neighbors with their loud hoarse voices and the drooping, messy bundle of sticks that they use as a nest.   We love them, though.
• I am determined to zealously, ritualistically practice first-rate dental hygiene from now on.    I realize that this is a reflexive behavorial response to the stimulus of three dental visits, with at least four yet to come, and the associated price tag.   STILL.