It is my pleasure to announce...

It is my pleasure to announce...that I am now a proud member of the Mosaic Review team. 
Mosaic Reviews is about so much more than homeschooling. As it says on their site, it is about everything you use or need in life, not just stuff specific to homeschoolers.
Since our life has changed, yet again, I find this to be a great fit for our family. At its very definition, "Mosaic" fits our family. 
Mosaic (def)- a combination of diverse elements forming a more or less coherent whole.
So now, a little "update" on us and what we have going on.
We have added two new family members, though they are just here for a season. We have Ms. A who is 2 years old, and Baby D who is 5 months. They are our foster children, and we are loving this crazy wild adventure of loving them through a rough spot in their life. 
I am still homeschooling Troy full time, and loving every minute of it. I also do some pre-schooling with Ms. A, and she does quite well.
As for the teens, well, they chose a local school with an intense focus on academics and career training as their path of education for high school. As much as this distressed me, my husband has wisdom in knowing that allowing them their choice may pay off in their performance. He was right. They are excelling in their studies. Michaela is pursuing academic & sporting achievements, while Tucker is working on the welding trade. He has already competed and was part of a team that won Grand Champion on a smoker they welded. Wyatt is part of the varsity soccer team, and has enlisted in the Army. He ships out in July, before he even turns 18. I have also seen them grow individually in their walk with Christ since they have started attending school away from home. I am grateful for their loving Christian teachers, counselors, and principals. 
You can check out Mosaic Reviews here: http://mosaicreviews.com/

An update on our family and schooling...

Homeschool is a journey.

It is what we believe in.

When our teens appealed to us to attend a school outside of home, we prayerfully considered it.

And, in the end, made the decision to try a different sort of school this year.

This school is a advanced pace high school with many electives and community involvement requirements. The teens are excelling there, and at this point we are okay with them being there.

We still "after-school"them. Which means, we require work outside of school and work on things that the school does not work on (such as Apologetics).

We are absolutely still full-time homeschooling Mr. Troy. 

He is doing so well to overcome his challenges and is finally reading AND writing.

This is amazing seeing as though we found out that he was legally blind just a year ago.

Also, he has always had developmental delays, and his motor skills are still quite lagging.

He works so hard every day and I am amazed at his progress! 

As for news as a family, we have certified to be foster parents! 

We have not gotten any placements yet, but they say it will be soon.

We will have two, under the age of two. 

FUN FUN!

I'm Baaaaaaccckkkk!

I had taken a break from blogging, while prayerfully examining what the scripture 1 Timothy 2:11-14 was saying when it said women are to "be quiet". 

I feel I have found a balance where I can share thoughts and scripture, without "preaching".

I will go back to my eclectic blogging style, blogging about my family, my homeschooling, my schooling outside of the home, the products we use, the places we go, and our many adventures.

 (lol, adventures? maybe not.) 

Our School Year Plans, 2012-2013

Making curriculum choices is not an easy task.

Especially for someone who is a curriculum junkie, like me.

There are so many GREAT choices out there.

We are an eclectic homeschooling family,

but tend to lean to the classical/Charlotte Mason styles. 

So, without further adieu, here are the final decisions for each child: 

First Grade for T-Roy:

Math:

Jones Geniuses Early Level 

Life of fred: Apples

Handwriting:

A Reason for Handwriting, Level A

Reading:

Rocket Phonics Levels 1 & 2

Bible, Language Arts, Science, History 

(and everything else that a unit study includes):

Konos Volume 1

Character Building Traits

Spanish:

Rosetta Stone

Tenth grade for Tucker:

Math:

Jones Geniuses Levels 5 & 6

Handwriting:

Write Now (Getty Dubay)

(Tucker has never developed legible handwriting, due to his learning disabilities. 

We are going to address this now and correct it to an extent.)

Bible, Language Arts, Grammar, Science, History, 

Speech, Drama, Geography, Latin, and various others:

Konos History of the World II:

Medieval World

Spanish:

Rosetta Stone

Electives:

(will be tracked via a time log, and 1/2 credit given after 75 hours of work in each subject. 

After 150 hours, they will gain 1 full credit.)

Automotive Technology

Life Skills

Computer Technology

Keyboarding

Agriculture

Volunteering:

Fort Worth Zoo Volunteen

Various Community Service

Ninth Grade for Michaela:

Math:

Jones Geniuses Levels 5 & 6

Bible, Language Arts, Grammar, Science, History, 

Speech, Drama, Geography, Latin, and various others:

(She will be doing this all at the honors level for college prep)

Konos History of the World II:

Medieval World

Spanish:

Rosetta Stone

Electives:

(will be tracked via a time log, and 1/2 credit given after 75 hours of work in each subject. 

After 150 hours, they will gain 1 full credit.)

Agriculture

Home-Ec

Computer Technology

Keyboarding

College Test Prep

Volunteering:

Fort Worth Zoo Volunteen

Various Community Service

Facebook Disclaimer

I wrote this status on FB and my friend made it into a graphic. 

Thanks Joanna!

Blogging re-examined...

Should I be blogging, really?

I love reading blogs that convict me, teach me, encourage me. 

I love to write. 

I love to share my heart, my experiences, and my opinions.

 I love the Lord and I love to share what he has done and is doing in my life. 

I started my blog in order to do all of these things. 

I wanted to share with others, and I love the comments I get here and when I share on Facebook. 

I am not a regular blogger. 

I just blog when I have the extra time, or something to say about it. 

I have a long list of blog posts I want to write.

However, lately I have been thinking.

I spend too much time with my technology as it is. 

I recently read this blog post over at Hands Free Mama. 

It really stepped on my toes. 

You should read it. Really. 

Then, as I was weighing out my time spent with technology, I realized that I have stepped over a line. 

Not a line in technology, a Biblical line.

1 Timothy 2:11-14 tells us:

11 A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. 

12 But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. 

13 For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. 

14 And it was not Adam who was deceived...

 I have not been quiet. Quiet, in this sense, means orderly. 

It means that I have been speaking out on matters in a manner that is not meant for me (as a woman) to speak out on in a public venue.

A blog is *very* public.

I have not followed the proper order of what God has laid out. 

So, I will be more mindful of what I say, and how I say it. 

I will continue to do my Bible studies with other women, because it is private from men. 

I will *not* continue to blog in an attempt to uplift and encourage my sister's in Christ. 

I feel I could be messing up the divine order of things. 

I want to be a Titus 2 woman, and I want to learn from Titus 2 women. 

Until I am sure of the proper way to go about this in a technological age, I will refrain. 

I will blog when I have something to share, but my primary focus will be sharing with my family.

I will not be blogging frequently.

Thank you for supporting me, encouraging me, and your thoughtful comments. 

Homeschool Planning, the high-school version...

I have been very busily researching and planning our homeschooling for the next year. Well, not just next year but for the high-schoolers, I have been planning out their full high school years so that they have the credits they need to do what they plan to do for college.

You may say "but Heather, you have a girl. I thought you said in your "Escaping Feminism" post that girls should not go off to college, and that the formal higher learning isn't absolutely necessary?".  Yes, I did say something like that, but this does not mean I don't think it is a bonus for anyone to have a high level of education. *MY* children will all have a good education. I do not believe that daughters (or sons, for that  matter) should be running off to University without being well prepared to stand up to the things that come with that decision. I would prefer my daughter stay home for her higher education. At some point, she may make that decision. However, her plan at this point is to go off to Texas A&M to get a degree in Political Science/Pre-Law, and then continue on to the University of Alabama to get her Juris Doctorate. Since these are her wishes, and her goals, it is my job to adequately prepare her for them. My oldest, he is going directly into the military (which I am not happy about, but, then again...I can't make the decisions for them). My second oldest is planning to attend a trade school, which we already have all of the requirements for. This has allowed me to tailor his high school education plan to those requirements and prepare him well for that.

High school planning is sure a lot more intensive than planning for the lower levels, that is for certain. Gone is the freedom to jump around to different curriculums. Now is when we need steadfast and concrete progress. That is not to say that if something is absolutely not working, that we won't switch, it is just saying that we all have to make a more concentrated effort to make what we use work. After all, in college they won't be able to just "switch" if it isn't exactly to their liking.

What did I do to make these plans? Well, first off, I looked at the requirements for admission to the choice school of higher education. For Katie, it meant that she has to follow the advance track credit system for the state of Texas. I went and printed those courses out. Then, I went to the education code and printed out all of the rules in re: to those courses, along with suitable substitutes. After that, I began writing out their plans. For her, it means no less than 26 credit hours. However, she will likely supersede those by a few (more like 32). For Tuck, he only has to have 22, but, he will also have more.  I have everything scheduled in except all of their electives.

I am so excited about these years with them...we have so much to do, but I know the effort will pay off BIG TIME!

(This post is being linked to the "Back to School Monday" Homeschool Link Up. Click on the link below to go visit the other posts in this link-up party.)