School & Summer

This fall Jack will attend a program (1 day a week) that will focus it's activities on one particular time period. This year the students will focus on the Medieval period, so this summer we're enjoying a little catch-me-up on Ancient History. We've been using Victor Journey through The Bible to guide our Bible study, and are utilizing fun books like The Magic Tree House (Pompeii) to stimulate our mental time-line's so he's got a handle on 'what came first' & a little bit of the why. It has become extremely interesting to me to consider that Ancient people had a perspective highly influenced by the Flood rather than the appearance & life of Christ. Consider how that would change one's outlook on God.

He has also been participating in Tae Kwon Do training, with a group of other homeschool kids. And I would have to say this has been a great thing for us. I have met several other moms & Jack has begun to learn a skill, in a healthy group setting. The instructors of the school take their influence in the program very seriously. This is a martial arts school afterall. They are not 'buddies' they are called by their surnames. (Mrs.& Mr.) The tenets of the program include character elements I can stand by, and hope that he will embody. Courtesy is the first level, which is a great foundation for teaching a potentially dangerous skill. In conjunction with this new element of our activities, we found ourselves going to see the new movie 'Karate Kid', with Jayden Smith & Jackie Chan. (Wow... haven't seen a 'rocky' style movie in a while that I allowed myself to get totally sucked into!) It's rating is there for a reason. There are themes that young children will not be able to digest, and the martial arts is what it is. The bullying factor has in its arsenal potentially fatal moves. But, the message is positive. The good guy just doesn't win, but he doesn't quit, he conquers his fear, he chooses to embrace the art learning from a teacher that teaches self-control, not the control & dominance of others.

It's not a perfect movie, there is a scene including an adult allowing themselves to wallow in pain while intoxicated, to be pulled out of the moment by a young child. Really? The child stumbled into it(he wasn't supposed to train that day), but it was a really tough scene to explain. I didn't shy away from this, but its a tough one to explain while you're waiting for the championship match(in a quiet theatre). In my opinion it is a very telling unintentional commentary on our society. Our kids are called on to handle so much more than they should. Even if its their own parents caving into going to see a movie way over their head, just so they can see the 'Karate Kid'. Guilty as charged.

So we've seen the Karate Kid. And what to do now. Just like approaching the idols in Canaan, we'll talk about beliefs that influence the country of China, & read some fables & folk tales.

We read Lon Po Po, the chinese version of the story of Little Red Riding Hood.

We also read the The Funny Little Woman (Japanene) who wound up meeting with the Spirits after she followed rice dumpling down a cavern in her floor. Yeah, you heard me. It reminded me of the book One Grain of Rice, a mathematical folktale, with a precious moral of generosity.

But this is ancient history. Realizing there were other cultures besides the Children of Israel, and their lives were meaningful & full of culture & influence is important especially considering the activities like Tae Kwon Do which lean heavily upon them.

One added blessing of being a part of the TKD school, is the summer camps offered. One of the homeschool Mom's who has children enrolled has added an additional feature to the camps by reading a series called The Five Ancestors written by Jeff Stone. These feature different characters & a unique moral dilemma. On top of the related skills activities about the culture related to the book will be included. Jack will be participating in the week of The Crane. I can't wait!

We are working on some outside activities although our hopes are still to build our homestead with chickens & maybe even horses. Things that will probably keep us at home more than we are now. But just having moved, we need to connect with the outside & meet people. Build our infrastructure. So that's what we'll do for now. The garden grows, the baby birds keep us busy(regularly falling out of their nest), and until we get back from Florida visiting Poppa, we'll wait on the chickens. Till then, I'm headed to our local Farmer's Market to get some summer produce.