Saturday, March 31, 2012

A Little Bit of Rambling

I've been so busy making Easter baskets, that I haven't been posting about Charlotte Mason stuff, but you know that I will jump back on that very soon. Instead, there are a few things that I want to get off of my chest, and my personal blog is a good place to do it.

One of my biggest pet peeves is seeing adults that I know for a fact to have been high school dropouts, teen moms, and just trouble makers in general, turn around and act like they know something about education and how kids today ought to live. Really???? I'm not talking about the ones that are trying to help and encourage kids to not make the same mistakes they made. I'm talking about the ones that act like they are better than everybody else, because they, themselves.....have done......absolutely NOTHING! These same people will also pooh pooh you when they see you trying to help somebody, because you can't possibly know as much about living in this world as they do. Do they think that everybody that knows them has forgotten about their history? Whatever. I just keep thanking God that he gives me one day at a time with the Four Princesses, because it's a challenge that I happily accepted. Also, I give thanks that I can rest in the fact that I finished high school, got as many college credits and other types of training as possible before the eagerness to make money took over, and I didn't get pregnant while I was still in high school. Education was and has always been important to me. I have a definite opinion about standardized testing, because I have taken and passed those tests. I have an opinion about classroom structure, because I have taken many classes in many classrooms. I have an opinion about how children should be raised, because I remember what it was like to be a little child, and a teenager, besides the fact that I have children currently in every stage of childhood. It doesn't take a degree in child development to know that everyone can learn, even if his or her learning style doesn't fit the mold of what the powers that be think is right. One of my flaws is that I offer unsolicited advice. When I see a child struggling, especially if it's another kingdom's princess, I want to help. God has given me some gifts that I want badly to use, and then I usually end up having to remind myself that if Jesus was so poorly appreciated, why should I expect to be treated any better? The fact of the matter is that some families only send their children to public school to get them out of their hair. This is not the majority, I'm sure, because they stick out like a sore thumb. They see their children struggling, but they don't care. As long as the teachers can keep them out of the house for 8 hours a day, then they are satisfied. When the children get old enough to drop out because they are either pregnant or just don't care anymore, it's of no consequence to the parents. After all, they are old enough now to entertain themselves, so the school has outlived its usefulness. They aren't worried about the children having futures, because the taxpayers will take care of them. Why should they train for a career at any age, when they will never be made to stand on their own two feet? I will be more careful about offering to help where I am not needed. I need to learn that. My blog is hopefully a blessing to those that choose to follow it, and that's where I need to keep my thoughts. My first homeschool graduate chose to take her college courses online, through a correspondence course. She decided on her own, that she would prefer to do things this way, because it costs many thousands less, and she can more easily have a job while she studies. I talked to her many times about this, and told her that if she wants to go to a college or university in person, that we could work hard to make it happen. She did not change her mind, yet has been very successful with her decision. An adult, much like the type mentioned above, scoffed at her and said, "THAT's not real college. You need to go to a REAL college." In true Princess fashion, she said, "Oh....well.....where did YOU go to college?" Also, this person's children area true testimony to the fact that the institution of school is a great, tax funded babysitter. Yeee Haw! A fellow homeschool friend and blogger posted today about how people have criticized her choices to homeschool, because her children have been misbehaving at home. We all know that public schooled children would NEVER misbehave at home. What planet do we live on? The idea that homeschooled children never misbehave is equally as absurd. Here, in my house, we had a huge issue about Princess Tarja destroying the property of her sister Princesses. Don't you know that PreK in the homeschool has caused this behavior? By all means, we should send her to school so that she can splatter graffiti on government property and enjoy getting into some REAL trouble in the artificial world!.

Love Always,
Laurel

Monday, March 12, 2012

Abbey's Nature Notebook

One of the fun things about Charlotte Mason is the nature notebook. Children should keep a notebook of animals, plants, rocks etc. that they find while spending time out doors, taking nature walks, or doing anything else that gets them outside. In Charlotte Mason's time, there were no such things as blogs, but I thought that it would be fun for Abbey to be able to share her studies with the world, via her very own blog. One great place to start her nature notebook was by giving details about her very own pet, Molly.

Monday, March 5, 2012

A Royal Hand to Hold

The Four Princesses: Melody, Abbey, Tarja, and Baby Ivana.

Friday, March 2, 2012

36 Birthday Blessings

I turned 36 years old today, or is it 25? I always say that it's my 25th birthday, just for fun. To celebrate my birthday on my blog, I decided to count 36 of my blessings and share them with all of you in no particular order.

1. King Augustine (my husband)
2. Princess Melody
3. Princess Abbey
4. Princess Tarja
5. Princess Ivana
6. Books
7. Getting my nails done
8. working from home
9. homeschooling
10.hot showers
11. android phones
12. streaming video on both televisions
13. two televisions
14. my laptop
15. online education
16. lots of good friends
17. those family members that act more like friends than family
18. art
19. music
20. Saturday and Sunday morning rides around the neighborhood.
21. Having three vehicles when we used to have none.
22. my knee length hair.
23. finally having a baby that got my hazel eyes.
24. wifi
25. dollar stores
26. happy, upbeat music
27. wii
28. low carb diets
29. better blood sugar control
30. coupons
31. etsy
32. Spring time
33. Text messaging
34. glittery makeup
35. black liquid eyeliner
36. blogs