The New Hobbit Hole

[2Jedismom]

You would not BELIEVE all the things my kids learn about just in the backyard! The other day, we talked about mushroom spores! They have observed the entire life cycle of a black Swallowtail butterfly, from seeing the butterfly lay the eggs 6 inches from their face, to seeing the baby caterpillars to seeing the chrysalis and then the emerging butterfly.

I take the responsiblity very seriously..(can you tell?) and look for every opportunity to teach them. The curriculum I chose helps me know what to expound on when I get the opportunity and covers any gaps. But it's not all they do. It's more of a guide.

As they get older, they will naturally need to aquire the skills to be able to provide for their future families. This will require more and more discipline at studies and preparing for college. Can I help them with this? Can I do it? DARN TOOTIN'!

[2Jedismom]

I gotta go...hubby's home.

[HairOfTheDog]

I know you will do it. And I would be the same way with my kids, if I had them. I enjoy sharing the joy of discovering things in the outdoors, and my appreciation for my horses. I particularly enjoy days like yesterday, when I could share the experience of my little farm with the three girls from the city who came out with my friend. They got to see and touch and experience everything here that they have never seen, meet my horse, and learn to communicate with him with respect and kindness.

When we were done riding, I sent them down the path through my woods alone to find the "Witch's circle" and explore it for themselves.

(hehehe) Before you guys freak out, I am not a witch (I hope you know that!)... but there is a very cool little secret clearing in my woods that has intrigued me since I moved in here. When I moved in here, the place was a mess and overgrown, all except this nicely groomed path out to a nicely maintained grassy clearing in the middle of my woods... There is a cool wooden chair in the middle of it, and a fire pit. I named it the witch's circle, and like to create intrigue in the minds of visitors who try to figure out what the former residents did out there.

[HairOfTheDog]

You could come back to the old hometown you know... The city is such a mean place!

[Penny1]

Very, very tempting, but I've just committed to doing something up here that I can't get out of. Stupid thing to do, but it's too late to back out now.... Otherwise, I would be seriously considering it, believe me!

[HairOfTheDog]

I've just committed to doing something up here that I can't get out of

This doesn't have anything to do with a tent, and the Cinerama parking lot does it?

[Penny1]

Hehe...nope...not this time. ;)

[HairOfTheDog]

Oh. Too Bad... That would have been the only reason to stay in Seattle that makes any sense!

[Overtaxed]

Who would have thought that that whistle in the "Concerning Hobbits" would lead to this?

LOL! I think I'm coming down with Ebo Walker syndrome.

[JenB]

Good evening! Hair, 2JM should ping you to a few of the homeschool threads so you can see why we homeschool. There's a really yucky thread on the main page that's been going on all day that's an illustration of just one more reason why we homeschool...

[HairOfTheDog]

I am browsing around the news, haven't run across it yet...

[JenB]

This one - it's rather disturbing, so beware...

[HairOfTheDog]

And actually, I know exactly each individual family might decide to homeschool. I know there are freaky things going on once in a while, but do keep in mind that they are freaky. Not only are they not the norm in most communities, but they could be a catalyst for change as much as they are a reason to bug out. My worry is that the right is abandoning the schools to the left instead of fixing it, leaving the community as a whole worse off. Typically social trends are big pendelum swings... But what is going to bring it back toward center for our swing if the right isn't pulling anymore?

[HairOfTheDog]

Ugh - do I have to read it?

[JenB]

Don't have to - I just wanted to demonstrate yet another reason why some of us "opt out" of the gubmint school culture.

[Corin Stormhands]

You guys are just leaving the precious for the taking?

[JenB]

No... I was not going to take it unfairly, though!

[JenB]

Because I am no sneak, not like you...

[JenB]

Want it?

[JenB]

I want it!