School's Out!

Dec. 20, 2007
School's out, school's out, teacher let the monkeys out. My monkeys went out and played in the mud when the bell of freedom rang.
I paid bills and wrote out Christmas cards. I'm glad for a break, I have to admit. Homeschooling is great, but sometimes you just need a break.
We learned about constellations this week, thanks to Prima Latina. It is really interesting. I find that I learn a lot along with the kids. I never knew the zodiac was in Latin, or even how to define the zodiac -- the constellations through which the sun passes.
I read an article this week that said only 47.8% of parents read to their children, ages 0-5, daily. What a shame.
I remember going out to buy some of my favorite children's books to read to Olivia when I was just pregnant with her. And then reading one to her when I was on maternity leave, so I'm sure she did not get the gist of it. But she listened as I rocked and read.
Although my kids read really well for their age, I do read to them for at least 30 minutes each day - usually on a topic we are studying. Maybe it is a Greek Myth or Story of the World.
Our latest is The Jesse Tree by Geraldine McCaughrean. I can't say enough positive things about this book. It presents the major Bible stories in an engaging and extremely well-written way. My kids always want two chapters, if not three, when we sit down to read it.
And I learn. I never knew much about the prophet Elijah, but we read about him today. And his great faith really captivated me. Knowing you are but a tool in the hands of God, and that with God anything can be done.
Good to know.. if only we can believe that when the rubber hits the road.
Well, the rubber is hitting the road. My sister does have cancer -- papillary carcinoma. It apparently is very treatable with a radioactive iodine that you drink. But it's just a terribly hard time for her with a new baby and her husband in a new job and in one of those very Northern states where it snows all winter.
I'll be flying up sometime in January, whenever she says she needs me to come. I'm glad I get to go, but I pray that this road to recovery is not too trying for her, because she has hit a lot of rough spots in the past few years. None of them of her own making. That is where faith comes in. We never know why difficulty comes to certain people, but we know always that God is with us in our trials and in our triumphs.