Archaeologists think they found the Garden of Eden! Or at least, a temple that is 11,000 years old.

Schmidt points to the great stone rings, one of them 65 feet across. "This is the first human-built holy place," he says...

Prehistoric people would have gazed upon herds of gazelle and other wild animals; gently flowing rivers, which attracted migrating geese and ducks; fruit and nut trees; and rippling fields of wild barley and wild wheat varieties such as emmer and einkorn. "This area was like a paradise," says Schmidt, a member of the German Archaeological Institute.

Well, if not the garden of Eden, the oldest known holy place.

Good rebuttal of a call for a ban on breastpumps for nursing mothers in the workforce, by women who "feel like cows".

It was hard enough to get employers to accept women pumping at work; if you don't like it, don't do it- but don't make it harder for others!

I *think* that the point the writer of the original article was trying to make was that there should be long, paid maternity leave for 6 months. Which I also have a problem with, even though I am a woman who nursed while working and didn't get enough maternity leave because it was unpaid!

Obama's Education Secretary wants to expand the second worst legacy from the Bush administration - No Child Left Behind. Of course, it involves expanding federal involvement in education.

"We need national standards, and assessments to measure them," Duncan said. "The idea of having 50 states designing their own standards is crazy."

No, more testing and letting the Feds decide what an appropriate education is for my child is crazy.

Dresses only? I never considered all of the perks...10 Reasons Skirts Are Better Than Pants.

Related but belated is this post from Taliban Rising, which examines some of the more extremist views on women held by some SPPX Catholics.

Remember when I talked about someone setting the grass behind our house on fire? Tonight someone broke into the neighbors house in broad daylight, coming from the same place. I was home all day and didn't hear a thing.

Even scarier - I let the kids play in the backyard. My boys love going to the water to get critters (I can see it from our house, and I can usually hear them, too!) But what if it was our house they had targeted? I'm 8 months pregnant - what could I do with all these children? Run out the front door?

We've talked about buying a gun, but even if we did - I don't know how to shoot and have never touched one in my life. My doctor recommends against shooting classes until after delivery (decibel level and apparently shooting kicks up lead dust, too). (And yeah, I did ask him. This being Texas, he didn't blink an eye!) I'm still hesitant because my oldest is not the most responsible child.

I don't know if the boys should still go down there. There are no parks in my neighborhood or open play spaces and fields. I firmly believe boys especially need to be outside, and experience the outdoor world as often as possible.

Any thoughts?

Miss C hurt her finger, and her siblings are taking good care of her. Mr S is giving her water - holding the glass to her lips for sipping, and the girls are giving her their stuffed animals and books. All without any adult prompting (she split her fingernail - not a mortal wound, after all.) Maybe there's hope for the heathenish tribe, yet!





Even if they tattle on themselves by taking pictures of jumping on the bed.

Visit Jen at Conversion Diary and check out the other Quick Takers!

Labels: 2nd Amendment, 7 Quick Takes, C, Catholic, children, education, Texas, Why We Homeschool

Just for you, Lesley!

These are some of the blogs subbed in my bloglines.

Starry Sky Ranch (check out her links, too)

By Sun and By Candlelight (I love Dawn's seasonal planning and use her file crate system)

In the Heart of My Home (Elizabeth Foss's site. She's written several books)
Related: 4 real Forums
Related: Serendipity

Boys Plus Academy - public school teacher turned homeschooling mom

Trivium Academy - posts weekly updates and very detailed planning of Tapestry of Grace

Principaled Discovery - Homeschool watchdog, politics.

Three Plus Two - homeschool mother of 6, aged 1-12

Homeschooling with Joy

Wings and Prayers - Family life in a HS family, from Birdie's blog.

Shower of Roses - Catholic HS Mom living the liturgical year

Wildflowers and Marbles - more inspiration

Montessori Mama - Montessori is not just for littles!

Aut-2B-Home - Tammy HS her autistic teenage daughter (and also her son) using Charlotte Mason's approach.

(Of these, Serendipity and By Sun and Candlelight probably have the most influence on our schooling methods)

The Homeschool Classroom (group blog)

Chasing Cheerios - Montessori type activities for toddlers

Crafty Crow - tons of crafts for kids

Think! - One creative/critical thinking activity per week, and they encourage readers to send in their "solutions".

Happy Hearts At Home - always has interesting links!


Notebook Learning (free notebooking pages to print)

Freely Educate (posts free resources and links)

Waltzing Matilda (beautiful printable coloring pages for Catholic feast days and the liturgical year.)

And check out Blissfully Domestic - I'm going to be writing for their new Special Needs channel, but they have a Homeschool Channel, too. Mrs. Fussypants HS her 5 boys AND runs an online magazine!

Labels: education, Freebies, Linky love, Montessori, special education, Why We Homeschool

I've been reading a lot of homeschool blogs, and everyone is starting fresh for the new year.

I just realized - I'm doing it all WRONG!

I don't have a niche. We're not unschoolers. We're not school at home-ers. We're not pure Charlotte Mason. We're Montessori-esque, but not purists. We meander along the classical spectrum, but I sometimes teach history out of order. We've never diagrammed a sentence (yet, but I'm planning to start...someday). Our children don't have their own desks but we do have a table and a whiteboard. And crayons and markers and Dover coloring books. And a kitchen lab.


This is what my school table looked like at the end of the day yesterday. Don't you have stuffed cows at your school?

If we saw an trail in the sky, we'd discuss contrails. And look up on the internet about them, speculate where they came from (nearby military base? Airshow?) and probably discuss cloud formation. And let's face it, any trip to a weather related website usually ends in a stop at TornadoVideos.

I let my oldest write his spelling words out in the shed today. He works best alone and outside.

My daughter wrote her spelling words sitting under the table with her horses. Using purple marker. My other son wrote his numbers on the marker board.

And I spent much of the day on the floor. (Note to self: must vacuum).

I'm sad to say he was probably barefoot. I cannot keep shoes on my kids. They are just like their dad! I have even made my boys write sentences - "I will wear socks". Because shoes minus socks are just stinky.


Playing Risk is the latest craze, and suddenly my boys know the continents, the oceans, and the locations of several countries. That's one of their friends - I usually have 8 or 9 boys playing all at once because the neighbor kids love the game, too. They have to double up and share colors. Those same friends have convinced my kids that ketchup on bread is a good snack. Bleh.

My boys would die of boredom if they had to do worksheets all day. So we catch snakes and identify them, then draw them in our nature journal. We mix borax and salt and look at it under the microscope. We grow Venus flytraps.

And I don't have a single form filled out to back it up.


Our new science this semester is about the human body. My Kindergartner will be making a lapbook about the 5 senses. The kids got a very cool anatomy pop-up book from their aunt and have been reading it non-stop. I have some Usborne books about muscles, bones, lungs that we'll read.

We'll hit the library. I want to pick up an Anatomical Man - the ones whose bones come out. The dollar store has them, but I want to get a better quality one and Michael's sends out 50% off coupons each weekend, so I'm hoping I can get a deal. I have a book with blackline masters and worksheets, but that's a supplement (and the worksheets will probably find their way into lapbooks, instead of being used as tests.) Maybe we'll use this for our lapbook, too. Maybe not.


I don't give tests. My kids get A's, if I graded (which I don't), because I don't accept it until it's right. Sometimes they have to change their answers several times. I only have 4 students, and I have a pretty good handle on if they've mastered a concept or not. (Well, maybe I do give tests. I've been known to make them spell a couple of their spelling words before I give them a special privilege, like haunting the creek or visiting Legos.com.)

And yet I make them write math drills and times tables. I make them write out handwriting sheets even though there is the great possibility that my boys hands might just fall off if they have to write another cursive "C". Every day, they write their spelling words 5x each, in addition to filling out comprehension activities.



HS Mamas - where do you fall on the line? What does your day look like?

The other pictures are of my 7 yo daughter making biscuits from her "American Girl Samantha" cookbook.

Labels: children, education, Montessori, Science is Cool, Why We Homeschool

No, I don't think teachers are stupid. Administrators, though...

A 13 year old boy was arrested because he was farting in school and turned off the computers. ARRESTED!

When did detention turn into state custody?

Labels: Why We Homeschool