Little Homeschool Blessings: Of 2013: A Year in Review

What a year we've had! Full of fun, learning, and surprises. Our word for 2013 was JOY. I actively committed my heart to seeking JOY and made an effort to make my attitude JOYFUL. JOY in my home, in our homeschool, in my marriage, in my kitchen, in my classes, in the garden, in all places. But even more importantly,I sought JOY in sorrow, in sickness, in anger, in frustration, in irritation, in all things. We had many JOYFUL MOMENTS.

We spent the year with new traditions and celebrations. In the winter, we made homemade Christmas gifts, ornaments, Mary’s Star Trip, homemade valentines, and groggers, we set up our seasonal winter table, sang the 12 Days of Christmas song and each day we opened heart pockets with a wax stick surprise in each, sang and read the story of on Jesus’ birth and had popovers.

On the first day of spring. we set up our nature table. There were lots of surprises for Easter: natural egg dyeing, corsages, resurrection cookies, and the most beautiful eggs salad. For Ascension, we flew kites, played parachutes, watched a winged visitor, did some sky watching. And made tissue paper flowers for Pentecost.

During the summer, we did our bucket list: camping, VBS, Children's Garden, Waterfall, Creeking, Hiking, Gardening, Arboretum, Sunset, Swimming, Fireflies, Evenings on the Deck, Star Gazing, Sidewalk Chalk, Fourth of July fireworks, art projects, experiments, Father's Day picnic, and hot dogs over the fire with s'mores or fry pies.

On the Autumnal Equinox, we set up our nature table. For Michaelmas, we read revelations 12: 7-9 and flew kites. And for Thanksgiving, we had the traditional feast AND our annual cornucopia of thanks.

We learned about Gyspy Rover, impressionist arts, birds, Latin, ice cream, plastics, Queen Anne's Lace, Spanish, oak trees, hymns, lady bugs, post-impressionist artists, weather, mold, vikings, William the Conqueror, missionaries, cuttlefish, Haydn, bees, opera, Bach, Cattails, Debussy, Scarborough Fair, and goldenrod.

We made were busy with projects...form art, robotics, chalk pastels, painting, circuits, dissections, experiments, portrait drawing, art techniques: depth, overlapping, shape, line, rhythm, form, shading, balance, line, silhouette, outline, negative space, and value, quilting, pointillism, doll clothes, clay, fairy garden, play house remodeling, reused materials, microscopes, scientific method, condensation, quilling, bones, and air pressure.