My Big Life Change!

Picture taken by Abby Austin of 1000 Miles on my own two feet.



MY GOALS FOR LIFE!

To transform my life, with God's help of course, one step at a time.

1. Get healthy & honor God with my body

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter


2.Become at least 50% sustainable with emphasis on doing our part to take care of God's planet.


3. Live life as an adventure, experiencing new places, things & people.
18 out of 150 bucket list goals accomplished


4. Become debt free & build security for my family, so we can then bless others financially also.

5. Continue to grow closer to God, building My family's faith & sharing the Gospel with those we meet, by using the talents and gifts God has provided us.

6.Continue to make money by creating and sharing my thoughts and beliefs through artistic expression: all the while hoping that my art will impact others. "Holly Kennedy

: All I know is, if you don't figure out this something, you'll just stay ordinary, and it doesn't matter if it's a work of art, or a taco, or a pair of socks! Just create something... new, and there it is, and it's you, out in the world, outside of you, and you can look at it, or hear it, or read it, or feel it... and you know a little more about... you. A little bit more than anyone else does... Does that make any sense at all?" Quote from PS I LOVE YOU

Friday, March 11, 2011

Home school

So I have been on a quest lately to write down all of the books and movies and things that I want Joslyn to read, watch and do in home school. I have to say that I am felling very inspired about this. I love making list. I enjoy making a grocery list more than going to the grocery store. But when my list is made, and I get everything on that list, and I get home, and put up the groceries, then get to delete the list; Life is grand. My hope is that my list will include everything that she needs to learn and somehow year by year we accomplish and fulfill everything on that list and more, then when she is graduated and is the smartest most brilliant beautifully well-rounded person in the world; I can cross of the list and retire peacefully to blissfuldom. OK! I know WAKE UP Teresa!!!!!

Obviously life doesn't work that way. But a list I am making. And my true goal is that by the time that it is time for her to be home schooled; that I will have come up with a efficient and reasonably fun way for her to learn and  enjoy the schooling process. My list is just a jumping off point. I do have some great friends that are home schoolers and I hope to utilize their knowledge. I also want her to learn so much more than she will in school. Yes math, English, history and science are important, but so is sewing, art, cooking, finances, gardening, PE and music. Schools can't do it all and the way that the economy is going, music, home economics, balancing a checkbook, and art are on their way out. Home EC was an important class in our parents generation and in my generation it was an elective. Now most schools don't have it as an option. Money for classes such as music and art are dwindling and the education system is having to decide on whether or not to keep them. Resume writing should be an important class, so should balancing a checkbook; but most students don't know how to do either when they graduate. No wonder our economy is declining, we aren't teaching our children how to get jobs or raise children, two things they might need to know how to do, but by golly they will know geometry and history. Now, please believe me. I don't hate public school. I love it and there are so many things that are advantages of public schools. I am not downing people who use it. I just can't see how it will work for Joslyn. I don't remember half of what I learned in school. I want her to learn so much and retain it. Most of the classes that I went to weren't designed for hands-on learners. I couldn't learn history well, because it was mostly visual learning. memorizing and reciting dates and events. There was one teacher in high school and one teacher in college that taught history fun and in a way that I could learn it. My biggest challenge will be to learn how Joslyn learns and teach her that way. I believe that you can have a good balance.
I am most excited about science. There are so many ways you can learn science by smelling, touching, seeing, hearing and feeling. I plan on taking her to farms and have her learn gardening by people who actually can get more to grow than weeds (me). Learn about the animals from people who are around them. Build rockets and blast off volcanos. Grow crystals and put as much under a microscope as we can. Have a telescope and actually find constellations instead of reading about them.
Music is dear to my heart. I loved choir in school and was good at singing. But I never retained the knowledge of Reading music. So when I got into college, I had trouble keeping up with my talent because I spent hours playing the notes on a piano to practice. I survived mostly by being good at hearing the songs and remembering them. But that wasn't all I needed to know. Learning music and scales will be more important to me at first with Joslyn then we can go on to finding talent.
Cooking, is something that I think that every student should know how to do. Because of my background I was cooking for my family at a young age. But no one taught me about vegetables and fish and  how to cook these things. I could make hot dogs and hamburger helper.  I want Joslyn to be able to cook for herself and her friends in college and not just rely on fast food, because she doesn't know any better. Teaching kids to cook gives them the chance to be healthy. If they rely on only stuff that others cook for them, they have no choice but to become what they eat. But if they learn which foods are good for them and how to cook them to make them tasty they have the ability to choose healthy vs fattening. Teaching kids the properties of salt and when to add it instead of handing them a plate of salted french fries, gives them the opportunity to choose. It's not wrong to eat these things. I feed Joslyn hot dogs and french fries, but I want her to have the choices I didn't as a kid to pick fresh fruit over ice cream. I want her to love food even healthy food. I am trying to learn this now so that I can teach her.

I could go on and on about the stuff I want her to learn but these are just a few of the things on my list.

3 comments:

  1. I know what you mean about reading music. I played cello for a few years and learned how to read bass clef. Couldn't today. I played viola for even more years and learned how to read alto clef. Probably couldn't today. Taught myself piano and violin and kinda how to read treble clef, but still couldn't today. I certainly wish I could and I don't know when I lost that memory. :(

    My mom says, when I was a child, I would eat so much fruit and salad and I would choose water to drink. As I grew older, that changed (mostly after diabetes). I started to prefer soda (diet) and cookies and potato chips. I'm struggling now to get back to wanting fruits and healthier things. So teach Joslyn early how to make those good choices. :)

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  2. You are completely right! Resume classes, financial understanding, being able to sew a button, expression through art--all of this is being lost in public schools, but it is still so crucial to be a part of curriculum. It is important to know where we are coming from (history) and to know math (a universal language), but it's also important to sew a button. Your plans sound marvelous, especially teaching Joslyn in a way that will cater to her learning style. I'm proud of you, and can't wait to hear how you both do (in a few years)!

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  3. Thanks Ladies I guess the over all theme I want her to learn is that learning is never done. I want to learn so much so that I can teach her. And I want her to crave knowledge. The more we can learn about the more we can relate. If it is enough just to know what we know now and not want to learn/experience more, then what is there to live for?

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