Practical Application

Thing 3 to Thing 4, "You are a grotesque and vulgar individual! Even odious pit bulls are more amiable than you, and worms are more venerable!"

Thing 3 to me, "Mom, I'm not serious. I'm just trying out my awesome new vocabulary."

Thank you, Caesar's English. (And a hat tip to my good friend for finding this fabulous language arts curriculum.)

One Year Down!

Our first year of Otherwise Educating is finished and we're well into our summer break. I had big plans to school over the summer, but so far those plans haven't materialized. Neither have my plans to paint two rooms and organize all my closets. Oh well...at least I'm consistent.

I learned a lot in my first year of Otherwise Educating. Here are just a few things I learned:

• Homeschooling is harder than I thought it would be.
• Greek Mythology is really interesting!
• So is Ancient History.
• I own the curriculum. The curriculum doesn't own me. (Many thanks to veteran HSing mom, Meredith, for that pearl of wisdom.)
• It's tough for some kids to hold on to a pencil for longer than five minutes at a time.
• When you realize the day is going downhill fast, it's ok, and probably even wise, to ditch school and do something fun. There's always tomorrow.
• A good network of homeschooling moms is essential.
  
• Making the bed is overrated.
• So is cleaning up the breakfast dishes before dinner.
• Time spent with my children is priceless.

While I'm enjoying our summer off, I am excited to get started next year. I have finally settled on all of my curriculum. I'm going to start seriously planning as soon as our new Latin and Language Arts programs arrive.

I'm really excited to start using our Oak Meadow curriculum. I'm hoping it's going to add some fun and creativity to our school days.

And just because I think all blog posts are better with a picture or two, here are a couple of pictures from our summer vacation.


Thing 4 at Space Center Houston:




Thing 3 as an X-Man: