Building Sandcastles

I know.. I know...

2008-09-26T03:56:00.002+02:00

This design is a bit ... erm ... intense. But we are a work in progress.

Such a dilemma I have concerning my family and I must make a decision soon. I feel like Solomon dividing the baby.

Has It Really Been So Long...

2008-09-22T16:24:00.004+02:00

... since I last posted here? Now I have even more to catch up on.

I am thinking about closing down my blog at Xanga.com, where I've been "living" for 5 years now. Imagine that, stop blogging for nearly a year and people tend to fall away. Even my stalker program says I have no activity. LOL But it has been my ministry for the Lord and this one has been my homeschooling/life in Sweden blog.

It's not easy to let go; maybe I should be rebuilding my "blog life" the same way I am attempting to rebuild IRL.

Back In the USA

2007-10-04T15:25:00.000+02:00

Well, it's been quite a while, hasn't it? And there is so much to say. I hope I can revive this blog (does a blog exist if there is no one who reads it?) God *is* good.

God is good!

2007-01-31T14:06:00.000+01:00

Thank you so much, kind people who left me comments of hope, faith and encouragement. God's promises are true and he has been sustaining us.

Hindsight truly is 20/20. I didn't know what else to do so went directly to the Lord in prayer; He gave me such a peace about the whole situation. He's filled the empty places in my life and given me strength and a clear head to move on with His plan for our lives.

It is so indescribable to watch His mercy unfold before my eyes. We truly have no resources here: STBX's family acts like we don't exist, we are waaaaay out in the country where there are few houses in the area, we just moved here a few months before he left us so we knew no one. And my family is 5000 miles away. Legally, STBX is supposed to maintain us, since my income is sparse, but he hasn't been -- and I can't get help even from a local agency because we're still legally wed and I can't "prove" I don't have access to his finances. So we must depend on God for everything.

And He has been faithful in His promise to provide for us.

If all goes as planned, we will be returning to the USA by the last week in Feb. My eldest brother is very, very sick and needs help; I need a place to go to with the girls. We'll be taking care of each other, and the girls and I are actually looking forward to being in America for a while.

When the divorce is final in July, I will be eligible for grants and/or scholarships and I've decided I'm going back to college. I could either get my digital editing certificate or study intervention radiology. Either way, I will be able to provide for my family.

My eldest daughter is looking forward to getting her driver's permit this year ((gulp)). My brother worked for the sheriff's dept. for a dozen years; he can teach her to drive!

Surprise!

2007-01-05T11:58:00.000+01:00

I got a big surprise too, recently. From out of nowhere, my husband decided that he was "tired of having the responsibility of a wife and children" and walked out on us, stranding me and the girls on the edge of the second largest city in Sweden without a second thought.

We are struggling to find a way back to the USA and trying to figure out life in general. I was a good wife to this man; he may not love me anymore but how can anyone just walk out on his/her children and not care? I'll never figure that one out; all I can do is handle things one day at a time, keep my eyes on the Lord and get my family back to a familiar place with friendly faces.

Shalom.

Hiya.

2006-07-19T08:19:00.000+02:00

Been very busy with the garden and life in general. But I'm still here.

Shabbat Shalom!

2006-07-08T11:52:00.000+02:00

Looky What I Did!

2006-07-03T15:49:00.000+02:00

I'm such a homeschool geek. I love the scent of new texts, divvying up the lessons and figuring out the next year's schedules and events almost as much as the schooling adventure itself. Some people claim that I'm a micro-managing freak (but they just don't know me); I say it could be because in a previous stage of life I was forced to organize books that lie -- for strangers, with little pay and even less benefits. Now I get to do it to disciple beloved kidlets who won't appreciate me until they have kids, for no money but the best of benefits!

And now we segué not-so-smoothly into the whole point: I have worked out the 2006-7 school year's tentative weekly class schedule and I want to share it with you! Okay, so Hub is generally apathetic and the girls are blinded by the summer sun right now. I guess I'll have to toot my own horn cuz I feel like a 5yo who just did the whooooooole puzzle by herself for the first time!

This schedule is everything I could have asked for to present to the Municipality; it fulfills the class and time obligations (yet shortens the average 7 hour time spent each day in classes to a more decent 4.5 hours). From breakfast in the morning until parents pick them up after work, the average Swedish child spends 12 hours a day, year round in school because - once kids are enrolled at age 6 - school also becomes daycare. How's THAT for state control?

Anyway, a few explanations. TeenGirl is supposed to begin studying world religions this year, so I figured we'd start with Judaism. *wink* Geography ties into religion class, as we can learn about the countries of the different faiths.

As I stated earlier, we will be doing the Ambleside art/music rotations. Why change what is working so well? At 10:15 is a stretch and potty break; English and Swedish are mostly reading practice and copywork. Natural science is a favorite of ours; I know the research will continue on well after "school hours".

Handicrafts is probably a new subject to Americans (unless you're a Charlotte Mason family). Handicrafts class isn't just woodshop or papier-mâché; its goal is to teach the child something useful that he/she can use throughout life. So we will be sewing and knitting and cross stitching -- but we'll also be learning things like basic carpentry, house/vehicle maintenance and self-sufficiency. This will be our first project.

Gym class was purposely set to be the last class of the day. We are outdoor people: we bicycle, swim, go hiking and do garden work almost on a daily basis. All of these (as well as dance class and a lot of the other things we do) can be described as exercise. After a long day, the first thing I want to do is get outside and play in the garden! Home Ec is also intentionally set for the last 2 classes on Friday, as Friday afternoon is when we prepare for Shabbat -- and the girls love to make bread and cook dinner together.

No, I'm not a stickler for a schedule, but it is nice to have a guideline to send to the school board and it adds to our credibility. If you read all the way to the end, you're doing better than Hub right now *winks*.

If you celebrate ...

2006-07-01T12:00:00.000+02:00

Good news!

2006-06-30T14:49:00.000+02:00

We were able to find a local Christian school willing to provide us with not only the names/publishers of the textbooks they use, but also the girl's schedules (if they were to attend the school). Here is what it looks like:

Class	TeenGirl (hrs./wk)		PreTeenG (hrs./wk)
1. Art	1.0	--	1.0
2. English	3.0	--	3.5
3. Life Skills	1.0	--	0.0
4. Maths	3.5	--	4.0
5. S.Studies	0.0	--	3.5
6. History	1.75	--	0.0
7. Geography	1.75	--	0.0
8. Religion	1.75	--	0.0
9. Civics	1.0	--	0.0
10. Sciences	3.5	--	3.5
11. Handwk.	2.25	--	2.25
12. Swedish	3.5	--	6.5
13. 2nd Lang.	3.0	--	2.75
14. Elective	2.0	--	2.0

The times work out to about 6.0 hrs./day. The minimum requirement is 4.5 hrs./day, 185 days/year -- and up to 1/3 of those hours may be taught outdoors!). The reason we're so excited about this is because if we can fashion our schedule to be similar to an "approved" one, we will have less problems from the municipality. I have been in contact with a lovely Norwegian woman who is homeschooling her daughter using the actual school texts (although she uses state school texts) and she has homeschooled for three years now with minimal problems.

Ahem ...

We do plan to change a few things, of course. Making the classes shorter, to begin with. We prefer the Ambleside artist rotation. By law, the girls have the right to study their "home language", so equal time will be given to English and Swedish studies. The usual choices for second language are French or German, but TeenGirl wants Spanish, and I believe it's a more relevant choice for her. Music is usually chosen as the elective, so we are continuing with Hebrew prayer.

Some things puzzle me.

Surprisingly enough, the Christian school only devotes one hr./wk to the actual study of Christianity (!). It is actually a legal requirement for the students to learn about world religions, but why does the Christian school devote more time to religions other than its own? *shrugs* As for me and my house ... we will be continuing our Torah Studies; using Torah Class, Heart of Wisdom, and First Fruits resources (and of course, the Scriptures themselves).

Finally, isn't Social Studies the same as History and Geography? I always thought it was. They even give the two the same amount of time for 6th and 7th grades. Interesting ...

Contest!

2006-06-27T23:13:00.000+02:00

Homeschool Math Blog is giving away an A+ Membership to Webgraphing.com and lots of math ebooks.

For more details, read the Homeschool Math Blog.

Blogging Chicks

2006-06-25T02:24:00.000+02:00

Local Edibles.

2006-06-24T21:54:00.000+02:00

As a part of our nature studies, the girls and I are gathering photos and information about plants and herbs that grow naturally in our area. Quite frankly, it got big. As a Native American interested in alternative medicine, I knew the uses of some of these plants, but we stumbled onto a wealth of info of which I had no idea! It was going to be just one post, but I've decided to make this an ongoing thing.

Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica) -

Stinging Nettles are perennials (they live for several years). They grow in practically any weight of soil, in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade, but the soil must be moist. They grow best in moist forests and prefer shady disturbed areas where they grow in patches.

Nettles are one of the first plants to appear in the Spring. Each of its leaves are about 10 cm (4 inches) long, roughly heart-shaped and have large teeth around the leaf edge. They also have tiny hollow hairs on the main stem, leaf stems and on veins on both upper and lower sides of the leaves.

When a human brushes by the plant, the tiny hollowhairs break off and release formic acid (the same acid ants have in their saliva glands), which irritates the skin and causes small itchy spots to appear. The degree and length of itchiness varies from person to person. Applying a paste of baking soda made with a little water soothes the sting for most people if applied to the site immediately. Human spit rubbed into the itchy area will help if baking soda is not handy.

Uses.

Only use young leaves and wear stout gloves when harvesting them to prevent being stung. For medicinal purposes, the plant is best harvested in May or June as it is coming into flower and dried for later use.

Leaves are cooked as a potherb and added to soups.
They can also be dried for winter use (usually as a tea).
Old leaves should not be eaten, as they can irritate the kidneys.
Extracted chlorophyll is used as a colouring agent in foods and medicines.
Leaf juice can be used as a rennet substitute for cheese making.
Nettle beer is brewed from the young shoots.

Medicinal uses.

Once cooked or dried, nettles are easily digested.
High in minerals (especially iron) and vitamins (especially A and C).
Used in the home as a herbal remedy and nutritious addition to the diet.
Leaf tea traditionally used as a cleansing tonic and blood purifier.
Often used in the treatment of hay fever and arthritis.
An infusion is very valuable in stemming internal bleeding.
Used to treat anaemia, excessive menstruation and haemorrhoids.
Externally used to treat skin complaints, especially eczema.
The fresh leaves can be rubbed onto the skin to treat rheumatism.
An infusion of fresh leaves is healing and soothing as a lotion for burns.
It is used externally in the treatment of chickenpox and bruises.
The root has a beneficial effect upon enlarged prostate glands.

Other uses.

Fibre from the stems is used for making string, cloth, and good quality paper.
Pulp is used in the manufacture of sugar, starch, protein and ethyl alcohol.
An oil obtained from the seeds can be used as lamp oil.
Leaves are also an excellent addition to the compost heap.
Soaked for 7 - 21 days in water, leaves make a very nutritious liquid feed for plants.
This feed is both insect repellent and a good foliar feed.
The growing plant increases the essential oil content of other nearby plants, making them more resistant to insect pests. Works best with fruit trees.
Flies are repelled by the plant.
A bunch of freshly cut stems is useful as a repellent in food cupboards.
If plant juice is rubbed into small cracks of leaky wooden tubs, the tub becomes watertight again.
A hair wash made from infused leaves is used as a tonic and antidandruff treatment.
A yellow dye is obtained from the root when boiled with alum.

I thought of this plant mainly as a pest, deterring the gathering of berries and keeping us from walking freely in the woods. I plant to gather a good deal of it this year and not waste such a precious consumable resource!

Naked Stargazing.

2006-06-21T02:42:00.000+02:00

Got your attention, didn't I? ((LoL))

If your mind is conjuring up visions of "The Crucible", relax. In this case the word "naked" refers to your eyeballs. I "discovered" this while doing my Sunday work -- preparing for the next week's seatwork. Even if you don't live in Florida or aren't fortunate enough to have this program carried on your local PBS, you're still in luck. Jack Horkheimer's Stargazer shows are here to download to your RealPlayer.

The "shows" are little 1 or 5-minute presentations on what you will be able to witness in the skies (star-wise, anyway) for the coming week. No special equipment needed here; your naked eyeballs will do. Just to warn you, the man has a bad hairpiece and is, as my eldest remarked, "out there, Mom". But his pure enthusiasm will win you over.

If you and/or the kids love to look at the stars, this is a must-see.

Town Day.

2006-06-20T14:11:00.000+02:00

We have a number of things to do: the kiddies monthly junkfood takeaway (takeout for all you 'Merikans); buying two back summer tires for the Audi; trips to the grocery and the gardening warehouse. All this (and a bit more) must be accomplished, plus tummies must be filled before Hub goes to the football (sorry, soccer) game in Gothenburg with The Guys.

Hub is calling the municipality to get a list of the school books, so we can buy copies of the Swedish history, nature and language books for grades 6 & 7 of the coming year. Bible, Math, foreign languages (in our case, that would include Language Arts), World history and Science books will be our own choices. Art, music, folksongs & hymns and handiwork course ideas will be taken from Ambleside.

I wonder if I can find anyone who has used Dr. Dino's Creation Science books and ask if they are any good. I've seen lots of reviews about Apologia Science, but they are sooooo expensive. =(

Anyway, I'm off to get ready. Have a good Tuesday, All!

What manner of jackassery...

2006-06-17T11:39:00.000+02:00

Those of you who read Non Sequitur will understand the phrase.

I don't usually follow this stuff, but man, this Kate Moss thing burns me! The woman is videotaped snorting cocaine and providing it to others to snort. She confesses her guilt. She goes scott free (no criminal charges) and the reasoning is "There's no forensic evidence to back this up." Come ON!

Yes, once again, this relates to all of the trouble I've had trying to educate my children at home while living in Sweden (where it's supposed to be legal) and the condition of the world today. Now if that were ME instead of Kate Moss, snorting and supplying, do you think I'd be charged? HAH! They'd probably lynch me. But I'm "nobody".

So, do you think Kate Moss would come to Sweden for me and claim that SHE is homeschooling my kids? No? Me neither.

"How blessed you are whenever people hate you and ostracize you and insult you and denounce you as a criminal on account of the Son of Man. Be glad when that happens; yes, dance for joy! because in heaven your reward is great. For that is just how their fathers treated the prophets." (Luke 6: 22-3, The Complete Jewish Bible)

Yeshua Messiah, come quickly ...

2006-06-16T18:00:00.000+02:00

Library Day!

2006-06-15T18:50:00.000+02:00

The library in Gothenburg has a lovely, large English section. It's been years since I actually had trouble making choices; actually, it's been years since there were choices -- period. Vetlanda's library is small even for small town standards (although, I noticed, there is no shortage of Arab publications). But then, there are a lot more Middle Eastern peoples living here than there are English-speaking peoples.

Anyway, here's what we brought home:

Vem chattar du med, Sofie? (Who are you chatting with, Sofie?)
Det Lysande Ögat (The Glowing Eye)
Harry Potter Och Den Flammande Bägaren (Guess...)
Vita Tänder (White Teeth) by Zadie Smith
Standing Rainbow by Fannie Flagg
The Tatooed Girl by Joyce Carol Oates
How To Be Good by Nick Hornby

I also wanted to get "The DaVinci Code" and they said it was in but the librarian couldn't find it. =( The top three books are for Teen Princess; the rest are mine (yes, I pratar Svenska badly, but I do read it fairly well ...) Preteen Girl is still reading through the Chronicles of Narnia (plus she's already read three other books) and Danibear has boxes of books already at home.

Discoveries.

The Teen Princess (who has henceforth requested to be called "Teen Girl") has revealed to me that she "hates history". This came after a struggle yesterday to get her to relate to me a 2-page story about the Civil War. Now, TG is as much of a visual learner as one could probably be and this just made me realize that I am pushing her. Not the "gently nudging" kind that parents do, but the "trying to please the school board" kind. Bad Momma. But I am patting myself a little on the back now, because instead of looking at this as "rebellion", I had sense enough to realize what it is (frustration; see, Moms can learn too!).

So we struck a deal: she picks a period of history to study, then I get to pick. The rest of the day was peaceful as she enthusiastically jumped in to research her subject. Yay! I do have a few surprises for her, though. I have spent a few hours finding the memoirs of women who fought in the Civil War; I know she will love the adventures. Also, TG adores movies - particularly action movies. I found a list of the top six movies depicting life during the Civil War era and to my delight, we have three of them at home! Here's the list:

Glory (we have it)
Gettysburg (haven't seen it)
Gone With the Wind (we have it)
North & South (the miniseries)
Red Badge of Courage (John Huston's 1951 version)
Shenandoah (we have it)

So along with the regular studies next week, we're going to get a glimpse of the lives of some great women in history AND watch some of my favorite movies together. Can't beat that.

A Math Solution.

2006-06-14T15:50:00.000+02:00

Math is a struggle for The Teen Princess. She learned to be afraid of it and then dread it in her state school years, and so I struggle with her too. We've tried all kinds of books and drills and illustrations and she just clenches.up.tighter. The fact that her younger sister just seems to soak everything up doesn't help either (although Preteen Girl never rubs her nose in it).

When we were trying out yet another program, one of the pages used Lego as math manipulatives. I am not kidding when I tell you that Princess completed no less than 28 fraction problems in less than five minutes! That was all the urging I needed; I found a LOAD of LEGO lesson plans for math, science and other subjects online.

I also discovered a lovely website (E.H.O.), full of ideas, articles and links for eclectic homeschoolers and I believe I've found a sensible solution to our opposite views. The girls like the security of using text books; they don't "feel" like they're learning if they don't have seatwork (another lovely lie learned in state school). I hate the rigidity of textbooks and want them to have a more rounded education. So we are going to switch off: on the odd weeks we will do math seatwork; on even weeks we will use alternate resources like these:

Real life math (sewing, shopping, bills, etc.)
Recreational math (math games)
Math adventures (math reading)
Mental math
The science of patterns

I know I should have seen this simple solution earlier; my only excuse is the continual stress I've been under since last August. I'll let you know how it goes, but I think I already know. =)

Did I mention?

2006-06-12T08:59:00.000+02:00

After waiting a total of SIX WEEKS (instead of the normal eight days), the provider FINALLY figured out how to connect us to the DSL. That's the extent of my venting about it; I'm just thankful (to You, Adonai!) that it's finally on. Now I can download and upload and do all the lovely things I couldn't when we were on modem, which wasn't much because in Sweden we are charged for the connection like long distance. Man.

2006/7 Curriculum changes.

After more discussions with others in this area who went before us homeschooling, Gunnar and I have talked and decided to teach part of the curriculum in Swedish. One parent I spoke to has a child who is advanced academically; the child was restless and bored in class. This person found out the name of the publishers of the school books used locally and now teaches her child at a progressive pace.

If we do the same thing with certain texts, like the Swedish language and cultural texts, etc. we can use a better math program, as well as real English literature, a Bible curriculum and Creationist science courses. So Gunnar's assignment is to find out contact info on the Swedish publisher ASAP. This benefits everyone, IMO: Gunnar will be more involved, as he has pledged to help the girls with the Swedish part of their schoolwork; the girls will have a well-rounded education and be able to keep up with Swedish culture and language as well as English; there'll be less stress about curriculum approval, since we are using local books -- and we'll certainly save money on the unbelievable shipping costs of texts from the U.S.A to Sweden. Definitely praying about this one; we'll see what turns up...

The new (to us) math.

Speaking of curriculum, we've settled on a few new things for this coming year. Preteen Girl is a sequential learner; and since most curriculum is made for sequential learning, she pretty much strolls through everything, including math. However, Teen Princess is exactly the opposite: she is a visual learner; for her some subjects (particularly math) are really on the painful side to learn. Visual learners are prone to give up easily and she is no exception; if it seems "impossible" at first glance, she will shut down. After spending a YEAR trying to find a more helpful resource that doesn't make her feel threatened, we "discovered" Making Math Meaningful. MMM was written by a homeschool parent in such a way that all types of learners can understand. This is especially important to us as TTP is beginning more complex maths this year and really needs to have the basics "down pat". The books cost a few dollars more than other homeschool texts, but worth every penny (and more!) to us. |0/ Yay!

God n' science n' math -- oh my!

We've also decided to try and find some affordable copies of Apologia Science, Lord willing. We are science-as-entertainment geeks and the lessons look able to hold even a parent's interest. ((LoL)) From the website: "Apologia Ministries exists to give the home-schooled student a scientific education that will help him or her make a reasoned defense of the Christian Faith." They also offer audio CDs, a source for online courses, full course multi-media CD-ROMs or companion CD-ROMs. Sounds like just what we're looking for, but man oh man! $35 - $85 each! Am praying either to find them less expensively (eBay, perhaps?) or to get financing from the Father. If not, we will probably go with standard homeschool texts (Bob Jones or A Beka). That will do, but I'd sure love to have the Apologias.

This is getting too long; more later. Shalom.

A Peaceful Day.

2006-06-08T22:08:00.000+02:00

Early today, Hub and Teen Princess shared the 3-hour drive to our former town: he, to witness the 9th year graduation of his son from "ground school"; she, to attend avslutning (last day of school ceremony) for Eva, her best friend. They are in Vetlanda overnight and will return tomorrow mid-day. And so it is peaceful and quiet here at home.

Today's special project with Preteen Girl and Danibear: making (and eating!) chocolate chip cookies, a rare delicacy in Sweden. We also folded some laundry and (shame on us) we kept the history channel on all day long (PTG's idea!) We indulged ourselves.

I also spent a good amount of time preparing the letter of application to homeschool in August. The last meeting of the school board is June 20th, so I'd like to get it sent in as soon as possible, along with the schedule, calendar and scope & sequence for the year.

The not-so-good news is learning that the district will want to test the girls, at the very least, on their math skills. That IS a problem, as math is the most difficult subject for both girls and one of the reasons we took them out of state school is because the school is terribly, terribly behind in mathematics. Looks like summer school is about to start ...

The good news is that since the girls are fluent in both English and Swedish, they will not have to go through a Swedish course in the state school. And this year, Hub is not working for the municipality, so he will be more involved in helping to teach the girls. Yay!

Also, I was informed by someone who homeschools in this area that the municipality is very strict for the first year, but basically, when they see that you are actually teaching your children, they will not harass you. That is really good news.

Back to work. Shalom.

The Story of Mankind

2006-06-06T21:34:00.000+02:00

This history book is a highly recommended part of the Ambleside Online curriculum. It even has resounding kudos from Charlotte Mason herself. I don't like it.

I was given this book a few years before I came to know about CM and AO. I didn't get past the first chapter before I decided not to read it to my girls. I decided that this year I would give it another look and even managed to read much further than last time, but I still don't want to use it as part of my family's curriculum.

I'm sorry; I know there are so many of you out there that never deviate from AO and I am not judging, nor do I mean to offend. But from the very beginning, Mr. Van Loon supports the theory of evolution. Chapter 25, titled "Joshua of Nazareth" was the worst. The foundation of our faith is that Yeshua is Messiah, the Son of the true Living God who, out of love for mankind and in obedience to the Father, allowed himself to be born in human form, taught the good news of God's grace and mercy while performing miracles, offered himself as the ultimate blood sacrifice to pay for our sins once and for all and conquered death through His witnessed resurrection. There is no mention of ANY of this in Chapter 25.

This book is written with a secular point of view, adhering to the idea that the Egyptians began civilization and the Greeks perfected it. How can one reconcile this with the Old Covenant (Testament) and the Biblical point of view? I can't do it.

I'm not trying to tell anyone what to do. I'm just trying to explain why this will not be a part of our curriculum.

This week:

Bible: The gospel of Luke, Chapter 2
Shakespeare: "Much Ado About Nothing"
Poetry: "Batter My Heart, Three-Personed God", "The Pulley", " Virtue"
History: Story of the Greeks, chapters 3-7; Report From a Swedish Village, History of the World, Vol.4 (no set amount)
Math Review: Rounding numbers, Negative & positive numbers

Migraine Time Again

2006-05-31T16:22:00.000+02:00

This Week

Bible: Luke 1; The birth of Yochannan the Immerser (John the Baptist)
Shakespeare: "Much Ado About Nothing"
Poetry: "With How Sad Steps, O Moon, Thou Climb'st The Skies!", "Crabbed Age and Youth", "Death Be Not Proud"
History: Story of the Greeks, chapters 1-10; Report From a Swedish Village, History of the World, Vol.4 (no set amount)
Math Review: Roman numerals, binary numbers

One of the awful things about perimenopause (at least in my concern) is that because of certain health problems, I cannot count on anything to be regularly scheduled in my life. For instance, I have been working out the summer program and a chore schedule for the girls; it was all set up (with ample "warning") to be implemented on Monday (29th). So what happens? On Monday, I came down with one of my 4 day migraines. Yes, I'm still on it, but I want to put this up because it needs to be done daily.

I began with "Much Ado" because we have the Kenneth Branaugh version, which I believe is excellent and I know the girls will enjoy it after reading about the play because they know the actors: Brannaugh, Emma Thompson ("Harry Potter"); Keanu Reeves ("Matrix", "Speed"); Robert Sean Leonard ("Dead Poet's Society"); Denzel Washington ("John Q") and others.

The math review begins very easily, but will progress much further as the summer goes by. I have to make sure that they have the basics down "pat", as math is definitely not either one's best subject and the system had them so far behind. It still infuriates me that by 5th/6th grades, neither had been taught much in the way of fractions or math, and nothing of division. Don't EVEN get me started on that...

GOOD NEWS!

I received some answers on the new Swedish homeschooling forum I found. One of them says there are TWO families who homeschool in our area -- one for many years and the other for the last three. Nina (the commenter) says that they made up their own curriculum, no expensive satellite school affiliation. Maybe we'll be able to be totally eclectic after all... WOO HOO!

Sorry.

2006-05-23T14:19:00.000+02:00

I'm not being neglectful, just busy. Besides taking care of my family and unpacking a seemingly endless amount of boxes, I am planting/maintaining two garden plots and two flower beds, working on the 2006-7 school year's synopsis to send to the municipality, transferring posts from one Xanga blog so I can close it down and another so I can turn it into a photoblog, posting on our family Blogspot and tweaking this page. Wow... I got tired just reading that.

Nope. No Title.

2006-05-08T23:39:00.000+02:00

Summer reading. Gearing up for next year. Amusing.

Yesterday we went to the island of Marstrand to tour Carlstens Fortress. (I have photos I will post when our DSL kicks in sometime this week.) On the notice board was an announcement that "Taming of the Shrew" was going to be performed locally in September. How perfect that our rotation of Shakespeare this year for Ambleside begins with "Taming"! It was just a good omen of the different kind of life we'll have here. Guess what is going to be a part of our summer reading program? Of course!

I know this school year isn't over yet, but I am already getting psyched up for next year. I finally got to unpacking some of the books and loved being able to place the books about Rembrandt and Michaelangelo on the homeschool library shelves as well as more books that, IMO, the girls are ready for this year. The foreign language dilemma (which, like everything else, is a financial one) is solved: the girls will do copywork from the NIV Bible in English, while Teen Princess will copy corresponding verses using the Spanish version and Preteen Girl will copy hers using the French version.

In the "Ludicrous Dept.": We were in the Vetlanda news again today. It seems that the municipality is suing the court in Jonkoping because they feel the court did not act quickly enough in the matter of fining me (for refusing to hand our children over to public school). Either Herr Svensson (AKA "Evil Director") has gone completely bonkers or he thinks he is making an example of me to discourage other parents from taking back their parental rights over their own kids. Or maybe both?

The funniest is the part that reads (translated): "The American mother has fled Vetlanda with her two children. Their whereabouts are unknown." Everyone who knows us knows this is about us -- and they also know that I am neither scared, nor running. Neither Svensson nor the media is fooling anyone; it would take about 15 seconds online to find us. But that would be futile as they can do nothing to us anymore.

All I can do is shake my head in disbelief.