L is for Layers. I like to think of learning as constantly building layers upon layers of knowledge and understanding. The more complex ideas/skill sets that we are trying to teach cannot be fully understood unless our children have mastered the simpler components that make up those ideas and [...]
Dear Lord Jesus, I thank you for the immense joy given to all humanity through Your Glorious Resurrection! Help me to live these Easter days joyfully through all the little ways -- the tone of my voice, the words that I speak, the love in my eyes, the acts [...]
I was asked recently why my boys seem to be more mature than many other kids their ages who were not homeschooled. I had my own thoughts about this, but decided to get feedback from my youngest son. He pondered the question for a moment and then replied, “Because [...]
I almost always need to Adapt to some unforeseen circumstances and Adjust my plans! This is an important part of my homeschooling philosophy — to embrace the necessity for adaptation. After I have prayerfully formed my plan for the day by selecting certain experiences/activities, I often need to be [...]
Experience is the stuff all our days are made of — all the moments with and without shoes that decorate the fabric of time. Likewise, the E. in my P.E.A.R.L.S. homeschooling philosophy is really EVERYTHING that makes up our lives and provides the raw material for us to be [...]
“Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive–it's such an interesting world. It wouldn't be half so interesting if we knew all about everything, would it? There'd be no scope for imagination then, [...]
The end of a homeschooling academic year gives us a wonderful opportunity to zoom out — to look at the big picture of growth and accomplishments and celebrate the good that we have done. Sometimes, though, it is too easy to focus on what hasn’t been done — the [...]
What does it mean to be made in the image of God? In reflecting on this idea, I have always connected the idea of having a soul as being made in His Image. But something Father Francis said today in his homily made me think about this in a [...]
Saint Francis de Sales Introduction to the Devout Life . . .[F]or that Love, while shining on the soul we call grace, which makes us acceptable to His Divine Majesty; when it strengthens us to do well, it is called Charity; but when it attains its fullest perfection, in [...]
“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. “ I Corinthians 13:13 “As the queen bee never goes out into the fields without being surrounded by all her little subjects, so charity, the queen of virtues, never enters the heart without bringing [...]