Designing a home-centered life: learning, exploring, and creating with our five littles
Our trip to Arches National Park had a rough beginning and a bumpy, but happy ending. We jumped out of our car in the first parking lot to walk a trail with all the littles when the wind suddenly kicked up so badly and just didn't quit. Sand was in our eyes and mouths, and stinging our skin as the wind whipped us repeatedly. After a brief … [Read more...]
Y'all, I just want you to know that even though our pictures are beautiful, they aren't going to even come close to showing how beautiful Bryce Canyon is in real life. If I could go back again tomorrow, I totally would. It is definitely one of my all-time favorite spots we've visited. Besides being gorgeous, it was just a great family day for … [Read more...]
We're on the final stretch of our Classical Conversations year. One of my guys is aiming for memory master status, but still needs to fine-tune some of the memory work. We're relying on what's tried and true by practicing using these simple methods for memorizing: 1. Making flash cards. He handmade flashcards today for John 1 in … [Read more...]
Today, I’m excited to start what I hope will be a new series of periodic posts with my oldest son, Kyle Watson. Kyle is 9 years old and very interested in animals. He reads about them daily and regularly asks to look online for more information about animals. We thought maybe there are other children asking the same questions as him, but not … [Read more...]
I love the conversations classically homeschooling our family has afforded. Because our core subjects are on the same topics, we are able to have conversations where everyone can join in. Today I was reading out loud to them, An Island Story, a child's history of England originally published before 1923. It's one of my littles' favorite … [Read more...]
I realized I wrote my post about our visit to the Grand Canyon National Park from the North Rim, but neglected to mention some of our fun little pit stops on the way there. And really the pit stops are sometimes what make the trip so interesting. :) Am I right? We stopped near Lake Powell, drove through Kaibib National Forest, and ate lunch at … [Read more...]
These pictures are extra special to my heart, because they're from my sweet pastor's family. My pastor and his eldest daughter left early-early in the morning for a short trip and were so thoughtful to bring the Flat Littles along for the trip. Here are some snapshots they grabbed on their journey. The one above is in front of crop fields in … [Read more...]
Growing up, the mom from this family and her sister were those cool, nice, older girls at school who I looked up to. They were smart and interesting, they loved God and loved people. At the time, I didn't realize how important it was to have peer role models like that. Now, here we are, many years later, and we're all homeschooling. So … [Read more...]
We are slow eaters in my family, which I'm not saying is necessarily a bad thing. But it can be inconvenient at times. Since it can get expensive and less than healthy to eat fast food on the regular, I've created a little system of packing homemade meals on the go. My favorite travel tool for such meals? The mason jar! It's not just a trend, it's … [Read more...]
Because we're homeschoolers, I'm happy to let our physical education tend to the less formal. In the warmer months, it often simply amounts to spending lots of time outside - in our own backyard, at parks, and on playgrounds. But, in the winter, finding the right space for getting physical and staying active is a little trickier. While … [Read more...]