Hermitage Pictures (vacation)

Top to bottom: Magnolia in bloom. Slave cabins. The brook out in the forested part of the grounds (and #3 son). 

Home School through High School - Part 1

(I recently wrote a series of postings to a closed list on how our family manages high school using the ATI curriculum. Since most of that information is general to all home schooling, I am adapting and posting the information here on my public blog.)

Once a year, usually during the summer, I update my student's high school information. I plan what our main goals for the upcoming year should be. I gather information and make a generalized plan first. I get input from the student, and then I give it to Dh. He gives his input and then I make adjustments (if any) and we are ready for the next year. It isn't really complicated and once it is initially set up at 9th grade, I just tweak it as needed. I just grab bits of time over a couple of days to do this. This year the process was about a week in length - with most times being 15 minutes here and there - but the final write up (since this is my daughter's upcoming senior year) did take me an hour or two to finalize. This plan is the basis for our final transcript after we finish all the courses. While we have it set up for this final year - there could still be variations. As the Lord gives opportunities or takes them away, we just adjust. I do this all in pencil as we go.  

It is important to note that our main focus is the Wisdom Book (WB). Most of the rest of the content of the courses is in some way related to the WB, and often done as a result of a WB project. We add other courses as needed, and as time allows, keeping the direction aimed to our child's bent. If you let the student dialogue with you and observe their interests - it is pretty easy to know their direction by the time they are at 9th grade - and it will only be refined as the years go along. 
 
I will write further entries with the general categories I have just done for my daughter - just as a point of information, not to copy, since each student will have a differing focus for their high school career. My daughter is heavy on music, but lighter in the history and science categories. My 3rd son was very heavy in computers but very little in the way of fine arts. The content for each course is based on doors that open for us along the way. Or shut. I had great plans for some hands-on art courses - they just didn't work out for us. 
 
It is also important not to panic the first year of high school, and don't worry that there is soooo much to do. Yes there is a lot to do, but you only need to take one day at a time. 

Vacation - Rock City and The Hermitage

We just returned from a week long vacation.  The focus was four days of a homeschool convention - but we wrapped the front and back ends of the trip with stops at some fun places. At the front end we visited Rock City. Yes, we were drawn by all the roadside ads on barns and birdhouses! We enjoyed it very much. The above picture is just one of the spectacular sites. What we didn't quite understand was the picture below:

Why the need to pipe in distracting music? While it was nice music, the kids were the first ones to ask why it was needed when the birds, bugs, and water were all so wonderful and noisy on their own. The music only competed with the beauty of the natural that surrounded us. 

On the back end of our trip we visited the Hermitage (Pres. Andrew Jackson's home.) When asked what their favorite parts of that site were - we all had some variation of the beauty of the grounds. I loved the walk out through the far fields. There was a brook along the way and beautuiful wildflowers, trees, and fields. Dh liked the formal garden best - just now in spectaular bloom with lots of magnolias and roses just to name a few of the magnificant flowers. No piped in music here - just lots of robins, squirrels, noisy bugs and babbling brook. It was wonderful and so peaceful.

God does the job of creation best - and it is best when left to him. Our messes are only the noise of piped in music.

Book: How To Resolve 7 Deadly Stresses

Is. 58:8 ...thine health shall spring forth speedily...

I am currently reading a book on 7 deadly stresses and the root issues of health care. 

Anger - Cardiovascular System
Guilt - Nervous System
Lust - Endocrine System
Bitterness - Digestive System
Greed - Immune System
Fear - Respiratory System
Envy - Musculoskeletal System

And the 5 Causes of all diseases.

What we think.

What we say .

What we do .

What we eat.

What we inherit.

"Simply taking a drug to treat a symptom is saying, 'It does not matter what you think, say, do, eat, or inherit;  just take this pill, and you will feel better.' The result is often a side effect that requires another drug." (p. 14)

Also see this website for additional information.

Miracle Mist Spray

I love this product. It is one of the three main "medicines" that I use in our home. (The other two are Betadine for cuts, and Watkin's Petro Carbo for some abrasions.) I have been using the Miracle Mist for my roseacea and it is working! My skin is the clearest it has been in years. I keep two bottles out and spray every time I think about it - at least 6-8 times a day - and if I get up in the night, I spray again. If anyone has roseacea, you know how difficult it is to treat - and I just can't bring myself to go on daily antibiotics or steroid creams (the only treatments that are currently prescribed, to my knowledge.) 

We also use Miracle Mist for burns. It brings immediate relief to sunburns. And for those cooking or ironing type burns - we spray it on immediately. Then repeat the spray when it starts to hurt again. Continue to do that each time it begins to hurt (usually about 3-4 times.) Our burns never even blister - they just fade away. 

There are many other applicable uses that we have never had to personally test, thankfully, but for any type of skin issue I would try this first. They are limited to what they can advertise on their website due to government regulations - but this is a great cure for skin issues.

Oh, and it seems the label has been updated - so even though my picture doesn't match the website's - it is the same product. We placed the order for this latest shippment on Monday - it arrived at our home on Wednesday!

Why I Like ATI and Wisdom Books

From the website: 

"In the ATI program, children learn along with their parents through a unit study approach to education. This approach increases the motivation of children as they are part of a “learning team,” rather than studying on their own." ... "Through the ATI approach to higher education, young people learn to solve youth and family problems and discover the purpose that God has for their lives." 

The entire Wisdom Book #4 is available for viewing here. 

So why do "I" like using ATI and the Wisdom Books? Because it does exactly what it said it would do - we were given the tools to solve family problems and help our children discover their individual life purposes. This is no step by step manual to put on and all your problems fall away - but through the skills we learned - and applied - we have seen the Lord alive in our home in ways that we thought were for times past, or for other, more "spiritual" people. It is a way of life - not a curriculum, but it has been worth the effort for the sake of our family. The biggest changes had to come first in my husband and myself, or we were just teaching hypocrisy - "Do as I say and not as I do." That end result would be worse than where we started. But as we were humbled and broken (and the process continues...), then we have seen the promised results in our children, not because a program worked - but because the Lord now had the freedom to work - and that has made all the difference. 

Oh, and it has sound academics too.

See the USA....by FedEx.

Conclusion: The package did finally get here. I ended up keeping it, though it was useless to me for the coat for which it was intended. It is nice fabric and I will use it for other projects. I just did not want to have to deal with the company on any further level (even for a refund), so I decided to simply cut my losses at this point - keep the fabric - and just never order from them again.

Update: the package has now made it to Orlando (3 days to fly from Atlanta to Orlando?) But the expected delivery date is now pushed back to May 23... 

May 18, 2009 2:43 PMDeparted FedEx locationATLANTA, GA
May 18, 2009 3:02 PM
Arrived at FedEx location
ATLANTA, GA
May 16, 2009 12:26 AM
Departed FedEx location
DALLAS, TX
May 15, 2009 10:16 PM
Arrived at FedEx location
DALLAS, TX
May 13, 2009 7:06 PM
Departed FedEx location
ATLANTA, GA
May 13, 2009 3:47 PM
Arrived at FedEx location
ATLANTA, GA
May 13, 2009 2:33 AM
Departed FedEx location
EARTH CITY, MO
May 13, 2009 12:08 AM
Arrived at FedEx location
EARTH CITY, MO
May 12, 2009 4:51 PM
Shipment information sent to FedEx

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Ship date May 12, 2009

Estimated delivery May 22, 2009

Well, since this needs to be made into a coat to be worn on May 23 - I think we have a problem, Houston (oops, that would be Dallas!) So we took a jaunt into town (an hour away) and bought alternate fabric. It is coming out of the wash now and will be cut out tomorrow - that still gives me four days to get it cut and sewn. I have had worse deadlines - now if the rest of life would just hold still so I can get caught up - LOL. 

So whats up with that side trip to Dallas anyway? - up to that point it was going well and on time scheduled to be delivered to me today!!!  I am glad we can't see with the eyes of God - I am sure I don't really want to know the answer to that - it will work out fine this way and I am sure it is much better this way.