Skip to content

  • Home
  • Charlotte Mason
  • Classical Conversations
  • Homeschool
  • My Father’s World
    • Kindergarten MFW
    • Adventures MFW
    • Exploring Countries and Cultures MFW
  • Dr J’s Corner
  • Homegrown Preschool
  • Rhythm
  • Nature
  • Shop
  • About

Exploring Countries and Cultures MFW

MFW ECC: Getting Ready!

MFW ECC: Intro Week 1

MFW ECC: Intro Week 2

MFW ECC: United States Part 1

MFW ECC: United States Part 2

MFW ECC: Mexico

MFW ECC: Canada

MFW ECC Brazil

MFW ECC: Norway 

MFW ECC: France

MFW ECC: Germany

MFW ECC: Kenya

MFW ECC: Middle East

MFW ECC: India

MFW ECC: China

MFW ECC: Japan

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

@Farmhouse_Schoolhouse

Packing our bags for Tennessee!!! We are heading out for the #wildandfreeconf and a family vacation 🎉🎉 (But first: laundry, packing, arranging animal care, finding all the socks that love to hide right before we go out of town, etc etc) I know everyone likes to post what they are packing/wearing but I don't think you guys need to see my blue jeans and Tshirts so I thought I'd share what one of my children packed in response to the request, "Pack a bag with a snack and entertainment for the road trip please!" Kiddo grabbed his favorite lunchbox from @planetbox and filled it with sushi, strawberries, carrots, hummus and a piece of chocolate. He insisted "If I have to sit in the back with the fartiest brother besides me for 12 hours then I need sushi and chocolate." 😂😂 One less lunch to pack and it's by far the sturdiest and easiest container to clean so Mama is not complaining! Other must haves? In his words: "crochet work for my hands, a wooden sword in case of bears, pocket knife for whittling, spool of twine for trapping robbers, magnifying glass for spying, bandana for sweating, bird book for being right, crayons for recording when I'm right, my favorite shell, ice cream money for deliciousness and Ember Falls by Samuel Democracy Smith because it's the best." This kid! 😍😍😍😍😍😍 also, I don't think SD Smith's middle name is Democracy, my kids just have a running pool of guesses and Democracy somehow made it to the top of the list. 😂🙌🏼 Who else is making their way to Tennessee this week? 🎉🎉 I'm down for the count today. We made it through one hour of morning time before I threw in the towel. Before I knew it the boys were fully costumed and running amuck-- foraging from the pantry, watching movies and having sword fights outside. After a few hours of this they all came into my room and asked if they could do some nature journaling. "We don't need to go on a walk or anything, well just look at pictures from the walks we took in North Carolina. We just want to draw and do some nature research." I think I may have to start printing out nature walk photos to put into an album for those sick days when they want to journal! 🙌🏼🌿📷📓✏️ The world of 4 year olds is far too precarious these days. This year I have been the guardian of this precious one's "four-ness." I have said NO to the world's loud insistence to move fast, conform, force, push, break and industrialize. I have said NO to all this so I can constantly whisper a gentle but mighty YES to him as often as I can. Yes, we can look at all the rocks on this path. Yes, you can play in the mud. Yes, you can nap in my lap as I read aloud to you. Yes, you can climb that tree with your brothers. Yes, you can learn how to put away the dishes. Yes, we can get through this hard day together. Yes, this is a gentle childhood. Yes, this is you. YOU! Not a number or a statistic or something to control. This is created, creative you. I do not regret a single slow walk or page read or tear dried or mess made. I am so glad I heard the news, that four is four and not seven. I am so thankful someone told me to lead the way gently. I am so thankful you were four to the fullest. The brotherhood of boyhood builds a mighty bond. You know what I love most about Dyslexia? All the beautiful unique gifts that come with it. My eldest and I had many years of tears and frustration trying to understand how to handle it all. We finally hit a wall and crashed hard. I stopped throwing methods and books at him. We tried to break him of the "analysis paralysis" that had him frozen in fear. We moved towards JOY in reading and going at his pace. We burned the damn sticker chart. It's been two years since we made that call. Yesterday he wrote a letter to his pen pal about his hurricane Irma experience. "We were in the car for 16 hours, it was a lonp bay." He paused and stared at the sentence. He looked away, then looked again. "Is this right?" I pointed to the two words. "Ah! Gotcha little sneaksters!" Later in the afternoon I heard his voice, patient, kind, firm. He was teaching his little brother how to write his letters and sound them out (something I hadn't planned on teaching him till age 6). His baby brother watched him with shining eyes and great excitement. He sat and listened for 45 minutes. I had tears in my eyes as I watched him gently coach his little brother. His gift for teaching shines so brilliantly. It's amazing to see him wanting to teach a subject that wrought such difficulty and frustration in his own life. He often says "Dyslexia doesn't make me wounded, it makes me a warrior." He doesn't let the weak areas define him, because they don't. I love that he sees Dyslexia as a superpower and not a hindrance. That attitude might be one of the greatest gifts homeschooling ever gave us. We still have occasional tears and frustration but for the most part, we know how to put Dyslexia in its place, we know it doesn't define him, we know it's the root of some incredible gifts and we give him time with those gifts so he can shine. I like how he explains it to his friends: "it's not a disease you cure, it's a challenge with an advantage." Candles, tea, tears, stories, songs and thanksgiving have comforted and soothed us today. By mid-afternoon the boys were asking for schoolwork, they needed some normal back in their lives. These boys were stretched thin this week. I thought our week long evacuation ended when we pulled into our driveway at 4am, but this day has been marked by tears and difficult conversations as we worked through things. The truth is we are all shell shocked. A hard topic of conversation this morning revolved around the blessing of our intact home when others in FL, TX and the islands lost so much. We are all heavy hearted for them. This morning we ventured out to the grocery store hoping to find a little bit of food. We came home with plenty to last the next few days. This was a gift we don't take lightly as reports come in of water and food shortages on the islands, or of Texans struggling to have their basic needs met. We were so touched by the hundreds of messages we received this week. Thank you for caring. Thank you for praying. Thank you for the offers of shelter, monetary assistance and replacement of school items. We are thankful to be in a position to say that we do not need any assistance, but we do ask that you point that beautiful generosity towards Texas, the Islands, and other hard hit places in Florida, where they would make such a difference! We are overwhelmed by your kindness. Thank you.

Follow us on Facebook!

Follow us on Facebook!

Currently using Student Intensive A!

Advent adventures art beautiful feet books bible birds booklist boys classical conversations Exploring Countries & Cultures Friday Exam geography giveaway homeschool inventors kindergarten Language Arts Morning Time motherhood my fathers world nature walk pin it! maps pioneers poetry rhythm sensory needs the homegrown preschooler training Uncategorized wild and free

Fresh on the Farm

  • Classical Conversations Cycle 3 Week 3 Evacuation Tea Party September 23, 2017
  • Classical Conversations Cycle 3 Week 2: Pilgrims (j/k Explorers) September 4, 2017
  • Back to (Home)School! September 2, 2017
  • Classical Conversations Cycle 3 Week 1: Tell Me About Columbus. August 24, 2017
  • Classical Conversations Cycle 3: Before Week 1. August 14, 2017

Enter your email for direct updates from Farmhouse Schoolhouse!

Join 850 other followers

Farmhouse Favorites

  • A Charlotte Mason Approach to Classical Conversations Cycle 3
  • Classical Conversations Cycle 3 Week 3 Evacuation Tea Party
  • How We Blend it All Together
  • Charlotte Mason
  • Back to (Home)School!
  • Classical Conversations Cycle 3 Week 2: Pilgrims (j/k Explorers)
  • A Year of Planning Skillfully: Learning Spaces and Sensory Bins for my Homegrown Preschooler.
  • My Father's World
  • Classical Conversations
  • About

Farm Flurries

advent adventures all about reading american revolution Art Art Appreciation Audubon beautiful feet books benjamin franklin birds blessing hour booklist books boys childhood Classical colonists columbus constellations exploring countries and cultures frontier geography george washington giveaway homeschool education homeschool in the woods inventors jamestown kindergarten montessori Morning Time my fathers world nature walk pilgrims Pin it! Maps play reading review rhythm science sensory play The Homegrown Preschooler vikings wild and free

Follow us!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
Blog at WordPress.com.
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
%d bloggers like this: