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

I remember visiting the home of a college friend back in Chicago. Her mother welcomed me into their lovely hundred year old home and as we sat in the living room she pointed out a few pieces of furniture that had been handed down through the generations. Almost everything in their home had a story everyone knew. I couldn't imagine having so much tangible family history at my fingertips. My family fled Cuba in the 1960s and Political refugees tend not to have family heirlooms. We grew up thankful to be free, thankful to have each other, thankful to share meals and stories over and over again. My heirlooms have always fit in my heart. Stories, recipes, memories in abundance, all of them precious and beautiful to me. Yet sometimes I find myself wishing I had a tangible piece of history I could touch. Today my parents and I took my children to the beach. The beach our family has been visiting since the 60s. I remember swimming in the waves as a little girl and looking up at the lighthouse, imagining a keeper living inside that loved to play chess and eat ham sandwiches with cold lemonade on his breaks. My sister and I worked out his entire life story, and the lighthouse had her own character traits. We always waved goodbye to her whenever we left and she watched us come and go for years. She faithfully stood guard over me while I made sand castles with my Abuelo, learned to swim with my Dad, ate a hundred picnic lunches, hunted for shells and crabs with my Abuela, learned to snorkel with my Tio, came home for visits with grateful friends from the Midwest, went for a walk with my fiancée, baptized my four children, taught those children to swim and played in the waves with them. She has silently witnessed it all. I watched my boy play beside the lighthouse today. I gazed up at her and realized she is an heirloom too. She won't ever fit in my living room, but she somehow manages to fit perfectly in my heart, illuminating all those memories and stories and recipes I treasure. How glad I am to have her there. Finally finished up the last EOY photo. I love this tradition. I love witnessing their interests and passions ripen over the years. My voracious reader selected a wide range of favorites from this year. I love that he included books he read apart from our studies and books we used for study. He loved them all. 😭😭 His top 5 reads this year which he insists cannot be put into order: 1)The Green Ember by SD Smith 2) The Children's Homer by Padraic Colum 3) Five Children and It by E Nesbit 4) all the Calvin & Hobbes he could find. 5) The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien. Protecting those summer days full of nothing that add up to so much something. 🙌🏼 One new feature in our fall schedule is a time slot with the words "Relationship Building" written in. "Team Cream" in our family cookie is not always at peace with one another. These two middle brothers argue more than any other brother combination. This year while I help my eldest and youngest with their respective therapies, these two are working on their relationship through the use of games, projects, outdoor work---as long as they are together and learning how to communicate effectively. We are reading Peacemaking for Families by Ken Sande (scripture based conflict resolution) and helping them learn how to argue well and disagree respectfully. Providing them with lots of tools is my main goal. Relationship Building time gives them the space to exercise what they are learning without other personalities hovering around them. They are slowly turning a corner in their relationship timeline and it's encouraging to see! The word for our upcoming school year is PEACE. We are meditating on verses that center around PEACE and doing all we can to promote peace within our walls. This was important enough to knock a subject off the shelf in order to make time to cultivate this important character trait. I am thinking about responsibility and freedom today. We are in a season of expansion around here, everyone is growing into new stages seemingly all at once. Not just growing in terms of height but in personality and tastes. Even what they choose to do during their free time has slowly shifted! Today they wanted to work with new classroom materials (thanks @treasuresfromjennifer !) I sat close by and watched as they interacted together and I realized just how much they have matured and grown this year. This has me evaluating and reevaluating many areas of our life, specifically responsibilities within the home. I love teaching my children how to care for themselves, their environment and their family. But I never want to burden them with so many tasks that they have no time to enjoy what remains of their childhood. This balance is delicate and of critical importance. The responsibilities I give them are carefully chosen with a specific purpose in mind. Some are given to bless them with greater independence and freedom. Some are given to incline their hearts towards lovingly serving others. Some are given to encourage them in their ability to contribute meaningfully to the life of the family. The words we give to relay the what and why of these responsibilities are carefully chosen too---this work is done to bless our family so we can have freedom in the evenings to have fun together. I write out my lists and pray over it, question it over and over, test to see if they have formed the right habits required for this new work, then I prepare them for the changes that are coming. "In one month we get to start our new habits...," "only two more weeks until you get to learn how to...," "in just a few days we will finally start..." I don't like sudden changes and avoid them whenever I can. Easing children into new schedules helps us all transition with more grace. Hopefully, it makes it a gift rather than a burden. Evening time.

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

  • Review of Simply Charlotte Mason’s New Study Edition of Charlotte Mason’s Original Home Schooling Series July 5, 2017
  • Essentials Preparation & Approach July 1, 2017
  • Ancient History Year 4: Weeks 9-12 June 28, 2017
  • A Charlotte Mason Approach to Classical Conversations Cycle 3 May 29, 2017
  • Year 4 Ancient History Wks 5-8 May 26, 2017

Enter your email for direct updates from Farmhouse Schoolhouse!

Join 733 other followers

Farmhouse Favorites

  • A Charlotte Mason Approach to Classical Conversations Cycle 3
  • My Father's World
  • Charlotte Mason
  • Homeschool
  • Exploring Countries and Cultures MFW
  • How We Blend it All Together
  • Classical Conversations
  • Homegrown Preschooler
  • MFW: Exploring Countries & Cultures--Getting Ready!
  • Kindergarten MFW

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

Amazon Store

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: