CRAZY BUSY

Things are crazy busy around here these days. I've decided that throwing doctors appointments into the mix was not a good idea - but I guess there is no way around that.

We only pay for Vision insurance every other year, so this was the year for eye check ups and new contacts / glasses - I just shouldn't have waited until this fall to schedule all the appointments! Jason had one visit and Amanda and I have both had two. And just to vent - dealing with doctors and insurance is SO aggravating! The eye doctor scheduled two appointments for Amanda and I because of contact lenses - she has had them for a while and I was trying them again. He did the regular vision exam on the first visit, but said he would just wait until the 2-week recheck to do the dilation and photos. Well, come to find out, that decision changed the 2nd visit from a "recheck" to a regular office visit, which was NOT covered by insurance or a co-pay. AGH!!! Also, contact lenses require an additional "fitting" fee, also not covered by insurance. And after "trying" contact lenses again for a few days, I am throwing in the towel and have decided to just stick with glasses. My eyes burn and tear terribly with the contacts, and although there are some different things I can try, it is all just too much work!!!!! I need EASY. Glasses are annoying in that they get smudged and bumped and slide down my nose and I just don't look good in them - but at least all I have to do is pick them up and stick them on my face and I can see. No messing with solutions and saline and when you can/ can't wear them...

I have to go this afternoon and buy Amanda specially fitted basketball shoes ( high end New Balance ) so tomorrow the Orthotics doctor can fit them with inserts - hopefully to alleviate the pain she has in her left foot. She is still going to physical therapy twice a week to strengthen her left foot and leg- she actually enjoys that and hopefully it is doing some good. She has 2-hour basketball practices twice a week, with a LOT of running.

Mark went to see his regular physician last week just to get a prescription renewed, and mentioned how tired he his all the time. Really, for at least 10 years he has been exhausted! He gets up in the morning and says, "I'm tired", and plops on the couch or the bed after work and takes a nap almost every day. And he probably gets 7-8 hours of sleep at night, sometimes more! He doesn't yawn or literally fall asleep during the day ( except for naps ), but he just has no energy, and just tells everyone that he is "old". The doctor asked a few questions, and when Mark mentioned that I sometimes wake him up in the middle of the night and tell him to breathe because he holds his breath in his sleep, the doctor set him up to go to a Sleep Lab for an evaluation. He might be experiencing sleep apnea, and the doctor said that using a special device to help his breathing at night might make a world of difference! His appointment at the Lab is in 2 weeks. He has to spend the night there, hooked up to electrodes, and be monitored all night to determine how he goes through the various stages of sleep. I tell you, Mark is very excited about the POSSIBILITY that he might not be tired all the time! He's trying not to get his hopes up too high, but we keep running into people who tell us how they or their spouse were like "new people" after only a couple of days using this machine. Wow. The "Honey Do" list of projects around the house that hasn't been dented for years is dancing in my head!! Maybe, just maybe....

Other things on my plate at the moment -

I have to go order senior plaques for the Volleyball Awards Banquet in 2 weeks, and Amanda/I have to print certificates for all the players and get team pictures printed and framed for the coaches.

Create a Book Class is going well, I am spending several hours a week trimming paper and getting materials ready... we made the book jackets in class yesterday and will construct the book covers and the skeleton pages next week.

We start Unit 2 of Tapestry of Grace, Year 2 this week. Unfortunately, I am barely skimming through the material with Jason right now, which makes me very unhappy. Too much running to appointments and practices, and it is just eating up my days! I'm still working on "fixing" this problem, and would appreciate any and all prayers in this regard. For Rhetoric ( high school ) Co-op, we are spending the next 10 weeks studying Shakespeare, and reading 3 of this plays - I am trying to prepare fun, interesting material for that. We are also writing a 10-page research paper, and I have to pull together the details for that, so I can give enough instruction in 1 hour per week for 6 weeks. Then we move on to playwriting to finish the unit.

We are hosting another Fear Not Party on Oct. 31, and I have a long To-Do list for that - starting with cleaning my house and yard! Jason begged me to do this party again after our first one 2 years ago. I decorate the house and yard with fall decorations and white lights, the kids dress up as a hero of some kind - no spooky or scary costumes -, we play lots of games that have a biblical theme to remind the kids that God is greater than our fears and provides for all our needs; we have candy and yummy food like caramel apples and popcorn and pumpkin bread and cut out sugar cookies and hot cider; the kids bring carved pumpkins to display - again, no scary designs - and we have a bonfire in the backyard, and a friend will share a devotion or story about why we don't celebrate Halloween the way the world does. God sent the Light to conquer the Darkness - we should not dwell on our fears, but focus on the One who casts out fear.

Sarah and Eric were both just home for Fall Break, but I only got to see them very briefly. Unfortunately, their break coincided with the Volleyball Tournament, so we were gone for 2 of the 4 days they were home. But they are both doing well and keeping very busy with their studies. Busy is a theme here, I think.

Haven't heard from Alex in 2 weeks because of Army training exercises, but hopefully we'll get a call at the end of this week. Keep him in your prayers as he and his unit prepare for deployment in February.

Okay, that's the update for now. Got to go and DO some of those things on my very long list....

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Homeschool Volleyball

Another volleyball season has come to an end. The NCHEAC State Homeschool Volleyball Tournament was held this past weekend at Wake Forest University, with middle school, JV, and Varsity teams from Fayetteville, Wake Co. ( our Eagles!), Orange Co., Greensboro, Forsyth Co., Asheville, and Cabarrus Co. Mark was assistant to the Tournament Director, so we arrived at the gym at noon on Friday and were there to clean up and put things away at the very end on Sat. evening! There were some very intense and exciting games throughout the weekend, and the final championship games for both JV and Varsity ended up with Fayetteville competing against Lighthouse (Wake Co.). These were very evenly matched teams, and the level of play was high. Our girls won both games to bring home two state championship trophies! Amanda played extremely well all weekend for our Lighthouse JV team, and was recognized with a certificate as an All-Tournament Team award winner at the Awards Ceremony.

Jason was color-guard for National Anthem before the Varsity Championship game!

Colonial Living Week at Alamance Battlefield

Every October, historic Alamance Battlefield, in Burlington, NC, holds a living history event called "Colonial Living Week". I have taken my kids several times over the years. As a matter of fact, I believe this was the very first field trip that Alex, Sarah, Eric, and toddler Amanda went on with Lighthouse, our homeschool support group, when we first formed back in 1996, and it is where I met my friend, Faye, and her children, Russ & JoJo. Well, this time Faye and I were there with Jason, Emma & Ethan, who were not even a gleam in our eyes back in 1996. Our friends Tammy & Nathan joined us this time as well, and we enjoyed a beautiful fall day watching and chatting with costumed interpreters demonstrating blacksmithing, quill writing, candle dipping, cider pressing, musket and cannon firing, and more.

Ken's Corn Maze

Last night we joined 4 other families for an evening of fun at Ken's Corn Maze in Garner, NC. For the past two years, I have sat at a picnic table and drank hot chocolate with the other moms while dads and kids traipsed through the maze. But this year, the teen girls challenged the moms to see who could go through the maze the fastest - so Tammy, Angela, and I became a team! Now I have a whole new appreciation for how confusing it can be in there! Whew! 2 1/2 miles of path cut into a 6 acre cornfield, with the cornstalks up to 8 feet high in some sections... plus it is night and the paths are shadowy and dark even with the floodlights and our poor little flashlight...

The maze is divided into 3 sections - red, blue & orange - marked by colored tape lining the paths. Each player or team ( up to 6 people ) gets a flag attached to a six-foot pole and a game card. Within the maze are twelve stations, each marked with a different letter spelling KENS CORN MAZE, and a hole punch. The objective is to find each of the twelve stations and punch the matching letters on the game card in the shortest possible time. The game card is punched with the time when you enter the maze and when you exit.

Our time was 59 minutes! Amanda, Emily, and Ellie finished in 56 minutes. Mark, Jason, Rob, Nathan, and Owen came out just behind them in 57 minues.

Blog Makeover

What do you think? I have long wanted a "pretty blog", but didn't have the time to learn HTLM nor could I rationalize paying a professional. But this template and many more are FREE from The Cutest Blog on the Block! And EASY EASY EASY to add!
I tried out a few, but this one feels warm and cozy for the colder months ahead and reminds me of hot chocolate... haha. I may do another Makeover in the spring... we'll see. Woo hoo!

I LOVE OCTOBER

OCTOBER!!!

I think this is my favorite month of the year. I love the cooler temps; the fat, orange pumpkins and striped gourds; the pots of yellow, rust, white, and maroon mums; the leaves that haven't yet but will soon start their transformation from green to gold, orange, and red. I love biting into crisp, juicy apples or spooning up a bowl of warm, spicy apple crisp. I love putting on a snuggly sweatshirt or wrapping up in a cozy fleeze or afghan. October brings the State Fair and Ken's Corn Maze and living history days. It also has the promise of Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the corner.

Struggling with Time

Whew! I am struggling with time. Our family generally tolerates a fairly high level of activity, so our children have always participated in sports and music and church activities. But this fall we seem to be rushing here and there and I am constantly feeling like I have to "catch up"! Last night as I was tucking in my 10-yr-old, even he said, " I wish we had a day when we just could do NOTHING."

I have been homeschooling a long time. I know better than this. How did we get here?

AGH

One problem is that our homeschool basketball teams just started practicing last week. Amanda plays on a team, Dad coaches another team, and Dad decided that Jason should work out with the middle school team as a developmental player this year ( goes to practices but won't play in games - he's too young ). Volleyball season still has 2 more weeks, so Amanda now has v'ball practices and games AND basketball practices. Jason is playing fall soccer for a few more weeks, so he has practice one evening a week and a game every Saturday, AND basketball on Sat. morning before his soccer game. And hubby has practice with his team on Sat. mornings right now, which will soon move to 2 evenings a week.

Another schedule killer - doctors appointments. We are all pretty healthy, but Amanda has had a persistently sore left foot for 6 months, so we made another visit to the orthopaedist a couple of weeks ago and now she is going to 30 minutes of physical therapy twice a week ( thankfully here in town!) , and today we are driving an hour to an Orthotics office to have her fitted for an insert for her shoes. Monday, the two kids had eye doctor appointments, and Amanda has to go back in 2 weeks for a contact lens check, and I go next week.

Other additions to a full schedule:

We decided that it was time for Jason to start music lessons - that is extremely important to me, and especially for this kid, who can get obsessive about sports! So we added a piano lesson once a week, which he is enjoying very much!

I signed on to teach a writing/book making class at the homeschool bookstore/resource center once a week. It brings in some needed money to help pay those bills ( 2 in college!). I enjoy it, and Jason is in my class and is getting the benefit of learning something that I might not take the time to teach him without the accountability of a class - but it takes a couple of hours out of my week to plan and prepare, plus the actual 90 minute class.

I teach Rhetoric-level ( high school, for you non-TOGgers ) literature and writing in our Year 2 TOG Co-op. Again, I enjoy it, but it is challenging and takes several hours to read the assignments and plan the 2 hour class time every week.

Amanda was in 2 classes that met once a week, in addition to the Co-op. But we decided this week to drop one, not just because of the time, but also because she was struggling with the pace of the class and the amount of work required each week. We decided that we would just do that class at home ( with DAD ) and take it a bit slower and more laid back - one of the great benefits of homeschooling !

Jason goes to a friend's house for science once a week - takes it off my plate and he loves the regular play time with his best buddy. Amanda has choir once a week - again, that is her music, and she loves it. I create our homeschool support group newsletter on the computer each month - several hours of work. I go twice a month to the bookstore to help mentor other homeschool moms. I am trying to bake bread each week, plus I cook all the meals ( occasionally I pass that off to Amanda ) and do the laundry and try to keep the place somewhat presentable and basically clean - a sore spot, but let's not go there now.

Last year I taught art here once a week, with a couple of boys for J, and then a couple of girls for A. I can't figure out where to fit that in our week right now, which is making J very unhappy.

We are struggling getting school work done. Something has got to give.

Okay, I've vented. I'm sure some of you are shaking your heads and tsk tsking.... "Just STOP", you are saying. eliminate, simplify, slow down...

I'm just not sure where or how...

But something is going to give.

Surprise!!

Friday was Eric's 19th birthday. He and Sarah both came home for the weekend, so we threw a surprise birthday party for Eric last night. And it worked! He WAS surprised. woo hoo!

His girlfriend took him out for the afternoon to go rollerskating and then back to hang out at her house and watch a movie. The ruse was that they would come back here around 6:30 for a family "birthday dinner. Instead, a bunch of his friends came at 5:30, parking on the other side of the street to make it look like the neighbors were having a party(!), and we waited for them to arrive so we could yell "SURPRISE!".

His reaction?

"So, we're not having Fajitas?" (his request for his Birthday Dinner)

Sorry Eric, we'll have Fajitas next time you're home.

"FIREPROOF" - LOVED IT! - GO SEE IT

Tonight my girls, some friends, and I went to see the movie "Fireproof", which opened in theaters nationwide today. This is another powerful movie from the makers of "Facing the Giants", this time dealing with a firefighter whose marriage is going up in flames. On the brink of divorce, he heeds the advice of his dad and embarks on a 40-day adventure called The Love Dare. The movie does a good job of showing the heartbreak of a neglected and broken relationship and the hard work it takes to restore lost trust. There is a good amount of humor, some tense moments, and a couple of times when a kleenex would have have come in handy.
The story behind the making of this movie is very inspirational as well - it was the project of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, GA, and produced almost entirely with a volunteer cast and crew.

I LOVED IT.

GO SEE IT.



www.FireprooftheMovie.com

There is a good review of the movie at Breakpoint .


FIREPROOF is showing in 3 Raleigh theaters - Wakefield 12, North Hills, and Brier Creek!

Favorite Blogs: Making Home

Making Home is one of those blogs that I find myself visiting over and over again. Jess describes her blog as "a place to discuss the hows and whys of making our homes pleasing to God". She describes herself this way:
"I'm the happy wife of a wonderful man, and delighted mommy to four kids six & under. I'm an avid reader, lifelong learner, improving family chef/baker, people & personality watcher, homeschooler, recovering feminist, and a God-seeking, authenticity-craving, husband-helpin, kid-lovin, truth-chasing, kingdom-focused woman."

She sounds like someone I'd like to know and could be friends with. :-)

A recent post of hers on marriage and sexuality stomped all over my toes, and even caused me to ...ahem... apologize to my husband. grrrr

Some Subtle Effects of the Birth-Control Culture made some great, spot-on observations, such as these:
#1 Young couples are thought irresponsible if they get pregnant right away...
#2 "Was it planned?" is no longer deemed a rude and quite personal question...
#3 Children are often seen and even referred to as an "accident"
#4 Large families are either seen as incredible or insane!

Time management, personal quiet times, parenting, mentoring, prayer,
politics, hospitality... she explores a variety of topics and doesn't avoid difficult ones, addressing each with insight and intelligence.

http://www.makinghome.blogspot.com/

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My Many Hats: Balancing Mom and Teacher

The topic of the meme this week at Heart of the Matter is "Balancing Mom and Teacher".
 

"While many homeschooling moms know that being a mother includes teaching their children daily there are those who find the 'line' between teaching their homeschooling child and being a mom fuzzy. What are some of the best tips you can offer a new homeschooling mother who is sorting out those gray areas? How do you manage the balance between the two?"

After 14 years of homeschooling, this is something I rarely think about anymore. Being a teacher is part of being a mom, just like being a cook, nurse, chauffeur, advisor, cheerleader, disciplinarian, guide, and friend. But when I first started homeschooling, I did think about this more. I remember a friend commenting more than once that she felt she would be a better "mother" if she was not homeschooling. I knew what she meant by that comment. She meant that she would spend more time doing " fun stuff " like baking cookies, going to the park, decorating the house for the holidays, planning parties, and playing board games if she didn't have to worry about "school". To her, "school" meant struggling through math lessons, drilling spelling words, and correcting workbook pages. It meant being strict and no-nonsense and tough ~ or else her children would take advantage of her tenderness and not do their work! I would probably be a better mother if I didn't have to be a good wife too! Or a friend, or a daughter, or a neighbor, or any of the other things that make up real life! We don't normally think about separating those "jobs" from our view of ourselves as a mom; neither should we separate the job of "teacher". It is just part of the package.

 

The "ideal mom" that my friend was comparing herself to was out of balance. Being a good mom is not only about making life fun and happy for our children, although it should INCLUDE those things. Balancing being a teacher AND being a mother means addressing character issues in the midst of the science lesson, or engaging the whole family in discussion at the dinner table or while riding in the car. It means recognizing when my kids aren't feeling well or are having a bad day, and lightening up, or even putting academics aside altogether. It means modeling sacrifice and service and a good attitude in my own work, in my home and outside my home too. It means celebrating a soccer goal or a finished book report with an ice cream cone, and taking a whole day to carve pumpkins and collect colored leaves, and making homemade soup and bread together for a sick friend. The books will still be there tomorrow. 

Perhaps looking at "school" in a new way is the answer. Thinking "out of the box" when it comes to academics frees me to loosen up and realize that our day does not have to be divided into "periods" or "subjects". For us, integrating education into our flow of daily life means that we learn wherever we are- sitting on the couch, lying on the bed, sitting at the kitchen table, walking in the yard.  Chores, playtime, errands, and activities are woven throughout our day. Each child has an "assignment sheet" outlining the school work that I expect to be done that week, with some things divided into daily assignments. That represents our goal for the week, but I will adjust it as we go along. The process of learning is the focus, and not checking off boxes. 

Younger children require my direct attention and involvement in their lessons, but the older they get, the more independent they are expected to be. I do not assign grades, but expect work to be done thoroughly and well, or it is redone. I feel free to shorten a lesson, or skip problems in the book, or modify a plan to suit the needs of the child or the family on any given day. Short lessons for younger children, interspersed with plenty of creative play time, makes both of us happy! Older children learn that academic work is a responsibility that gets balanced with social activites, a job, sports or other interests, volunteer work, and family responsibilities. Homeschooling has become our LIFESTYLE, and not just something we get through or stick into our day.

I don't take OFF my mom hat and put ON my teacher hat, I wear them at the same time.

Create A Book, Wk 2

Yesterday was my second Create-a-Book class. This week we talked about characters and setting. The students had come to class with story ideas this week, so I asked them to open their notebooks and write the name of their main character at the top of the page. Then I wrote these questions on the board, for them to copy and answer in their notebook:
age?
family members?
hair color / eye color?
size?
favorite color?
favorite food?
least favorite food?
favorite school subject?
least favorite school subject?
personality? ( shy, outgoing, gentle, loud )
character traits? ( honest, kind, impatient, etc)
hobbies?
favorite activities? ( sports, music, Scouts, church, etc)
other important information:

This is to get to "know" your character, even if this information is not actually going to be included in your story!

Next, we talked about 5 Ways We Get to Know a Character

1. The writer tells directly
   
2. Through the character's words
   
3. Through the character's thoughts & feelings
   
4. Through the character's actions


5. Through the response of other characters in the story
   

We looked at some examples taken from children's books. Which of these ways was the author using to describe his character?

Harry was a white dog with black spots who liked everything except...getting a bath. ( Harry the Dirty Dog ) #1

Of course no one had ever seen Mr. Hatch wearing a tie, or smelling of aftershave, or smiling. So he got a lot of attention. Mrs. Weed tripped over her dog. Mr. Dunwoody nearly fell off his ladder. And little Tina Finn spilled all the toys #5

It was a great relief to Heidi to know that the windows could be opened and that one could look out, for she still felt as if she was shut up in prison. ( Heidi) #3

To learn about Setting, we looked at some pictures ( images printed off of Google Images ) of things like a parade, a snowy backyard, a family around a campfire, a basketball game, and Disney World. We went around the room, and the kids responded to the questions : Imagine you are there. What do you see? What do you hear? What do you smell or taste? What do you feel/ touch?

Passages from Heidi , The Cricket in Times Square, and Little Town on the Prairie, had wonderful descriptions of setting, and we identified words that described the time and place, and appealed to the 5 senses.

Homework this week is to fill out a worksheet to describe the main character in their story, and also a worksheet that describes the setting using the 5 Senses.

This is How My College Boy Spent His Saturday

It is called Twisted Falls; it is somewhere in the NC mountains - within an hour of Boone....

FUN!

Create-A-Book and TOG Co-op

School is pretty much in full swing now, with several outside classes and activities kicking off this week. "A"s chemistry class, "J's science class, homeschool choir, and the short story/ create-a-book class I'm teaching all began this week. Oh, and "J"s first soccer game is this morning.

The Short Story /Create-a-Book class is something I am teaching at the local homeschool bookstore / resource center, and our first meeting went very well. I brought a box full of well-loved picture books from my shelves and we looked at them, identifying the parts of a book such as the cover, title, spine, dedication, publisher, end pages, story summary, author bio., text & illustrations.

Then we looked at a couple of homemade books that my children had created, and I read them the story of "Jason and Grayson and the Missing Baseball Hat", written by my lovely and talented oldest daughter.

Afterwards, we brainstormed story ideas by listing the alphabet down one side of a piece of paper and writing down things we enjoyed or thought were interesting for each letter.


A - Astronauts, Antarctica, Alligators


B - Ballet, Basketball, Band,


C - Christmas, Cookies, China


D - Dinosaurs, Dessert, Dreams


E - Elephants, Ethiopia


etc.

As a class, we created a Jumble Story. On the whiteboard I wrote these Categories: Character, Place, Time, and Problem. The kids in the class then suggested things to put under each category - for instance, 1. Sparkle, the Dragon; 2. Precious, the Princess; 3. Connor, the race car driver... 1. in a castle; 2. at the beach... 1. in 1475; 2. in the winter; 3. today ; 1. a stolen artifact; 2. can't find his shoes; 3. best friend told a lie.......... Once our categories were filled in, I chose someone to roll a die, and the number that came up was the number we chose for Character; someone else rolled and that number was the Place, and so on. So now we had Sparkle the Dragon, in a castle, in the morning, and a stolen artifact. Paired with a partner, the kids then had 15 minutes to write a story with a beginning, middle, and and end, using those 4 elements. They really seemed to get into this and produced some pretty funny stories.


We talked about character, setting, & plot, and the fact that every story has a beginning, middle, and end. And now they have to come back next week with their own story idea, and we'll get started!



There are 16 kids in the class, ranging from age 8 to 14. We are spending the first 4 weeks learning about and writing their short stories, and then we'll move into the development and construction of a one-of-a-kind, heirloom hard-cover book! I did this project many years ago with my 3 older children, and then about 5 years ago as a class in our homeschool co-op. The project is from Valerie Bendt's Creating Books With Children. "J" is in this class with me, and I'll post more about his progress in creating a story and a book as we go along.

Yesterday was TOG Co-op day. I have a lot more prep work this year, teaching high school level literature and writing to a group of seven 14-15 yr. olds. The kids are super - I love them all - but the material is very challenging, and I am having to read their literature assignments as well as the teacher background notes and discussion script each week, and also prepare some writing instruction materials. whew! We are following the "cutting plan" laid out in the TOG Yr 2 Loom, which trims the literature assignments to make them more manageable for younger high school students. This past week we finished reading Beowulf ( from the Norton Anthology of English Lit.! ) and discussed the story and the elements of theme, worldview, characters, and "experiment in living". Next week we begin tackling Chaucer's Canterbury Tales!

I'm pretty happy with the effort the kids are putting in so far, but I'm going to need to be a cheerleader to keep them motivated through the tough work ahead. I can tell there is a lack of confidence there. This is a BIG step up from what any of them were doing last year for literature, when they were all in the Dialectic level of TOG, reading stories like The Golden Goblet, Wonders and Miracles, and Eagle of the Ninth.


Writing so far is a review of the writing process, and forming strong sentences and paragraphs, but in a couple of weeks they'll be tackling their first Literary Analysis paper, and then a 10-page research paper.


This is WAY above the kind of work I did in high school, but I am excited that my children have a high bar to work for and get to tackle such challenging material. I'm sorry that I didn't have it when my older ones were still homeschooling. They did fine and succeeded very well in college, but my goodness... after TOG, college work should be a breeze for these last two!


Last but not least, here is Jason with the Viking longboat that he made this week.
( tissue box, bamboo skewers, Crayola Model Magic, copy paper )

Extra Activities: Help or Hindrance?

Since this is the beginning of a new school year, I figured I'd start back with the Friday meme for Heart of the Matter. This week's topic is : Extra Activities, Helping or Hindering?

This is now our 14th year of homeschooling, and three children have left the nest, leaving just the youngest two still at home. "A" is in 10th grade and "J" is in 5th. We have always had a full schedule of outside activities, and this year is no different. "A" plays on a homeschool volleyball team, sings in a homeschool choir, and is in a chemistry class that meets one morning a week. When volleyball season ends, she will most likely play on the homeschool basketball team, unless her feet continue to give her trouble, and will also serve as scorekeeper for the varsity boys basketball team which her dad coaches.
"J" plays rec league soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter, and baseball in the spring. He just started piano lessons for the first time this fall, and one afternoon a week he goes to a friend's house for a science class. This fall he is also taking a once-a-week class on writing and bookmaking that I am teaching at the local homeschool bookstore / resource center.
In addition to those things, our family belongs to a Tapestry of Grace Co-op that meets for 5 hours every Friday. My husband is director of our local homeschool sports program and also coaches basketball. I am active in our homeschool support group as the newsletter editor, email loop moderator, and coordinator of Saturday morning discussion groups.

Although some of these activities, like choir or piano, are focused on an individual, other things, like sports, are activities we participate in as a family, in one way or another. The outside classes help provide academic accountability and fill a social need. We enjoy our level of activity for the most part, although the very rare occasion when a winter snow flurry shuts down all activity here in NC is a welcome respite for that day or two or three.

These activities enhance our family life, giving my children a wealth of experiences and opportunities to develop skills and talents that will provide enjoyment and possibly avenues for ministry in later years. The choice to participate in extra activities is a personal one that each family should weigh carefully. For some families, outside activities are disruptive. But for us, well-chosen outside activities are a blessing and a wonderful family-bonding experience.

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