Chaines -Shee-nay

Have you met our adorable little sweetheart Chaines. ?
She is the most gorgeous little girl.
We love her to bits and are delighted that we found her.
Do you wanna hear her story.....
I had been looking for a Puppy for a few weeks and came across a family close by who were selling Golden Retriever puppies.
Brid was at Ballet, Dermot was Mowing. I couldn't resist. I stopped Dermot mowing and said 'lets go see this pup."
With a slight hesitation he got himself organised. We arrived at the breeders house to find the most adorable 4 week old pups. 8 in total. 4 boys/ 4 girls.

4 weeks old

I had my heart set on one in particular, but Dermot wasn't convinced. I put a little ribbon around the little one that appealed to me.
Lets say by the time we picked up Brid from Ballet, he was convinced and were choosing names.
I took responsibility of researching everything we would need for her.
Now a name was pretty important and we had many. We short listed about 5. Brids a dancer and loves doing Chaines'. So why not use this name. So her name is  pronounced Shee-nay.
So the day came and we collected her from Her owners and she said goodbye to her Mum- Chelsie,  Dad- Charlie and brothers and sisters. She was the first one to be collected. Several puppies were being flown interstate. The owner gave us a blanket with her parents scent on it, We had a little toy that we got her parents and siblings to play with, its still her favourite toy to date. She only has it for her bedtime. You can just see it in the photo with Brid on the way home.

7 weeks old, on our way home

She was so cute, but quite distressed when she realised she was alone without her pack. She needed to adjust to her new pack.
When she first came to live with us, she would bury herself under all the blankets and under her bed because she was used to being slept on, stepped over and stepped on by her Brothers and Sisters.
We had several bad nights sleep with her howling. we settled her down and she has adapted to our family really well. She comes driving with us in the car when I drop Brid to Ballet or if I need pet supplies, for either her or Bailey- our cat.
She lives inside but loves the yard to run in.
 I have a dear Friend Bev, who helped a lot with her when she first came home. We talked frequently and still do. She is a Dog handler in the UK.
She loves her bones and gnaws for hours. Dried bones are the best for her, less messy and smelly.
We began training her as soon as we got her home. She responded really quickly. You might think this a little fast but she needed to know our commands and we needed to know her signals.

about to jump in

She still does naughty things- Dermot says there not naughty, she is just untrained. !!! She absolutely loves the pool. She jumps in whenever We let her.
So much more to say, More to follow I am sure.

Newcastle Foreshore

Chaines and Brid,  now 5 and half months old

So there you have our new little addition....

What a journey......reflecting

I have been reflecting lately, on our homeschool and the choices over the last few years.
We have used various tools and attempted several homeschool styles.
Early on when we had 3 at home, and we were very new to homeschooling, Dermot & I chose ACE. a  ready made Christian complete curriculum. It was OK and helped me over the steep learning curve we were on at the time.
I found many holes in it for us. The one I felt that most affected our teens learning  was its read a passage and  tick the boxes. They were not extended and it quickly turned into get the work done. Where was their love of learning? So different to what we were seeing with Brid.
I quickly found other curricula for them and it wasn't long before we just had Brid to concern ourselves with.
After buying mountains of workbooks for Brid- mind you they were excellent resources, we started using Mater Amabilis. I loved the afternoons just reading to Brid, the drawings that she drew as we read each book. The lapbooks we found and the love and enthusiasm we discovered, even more than before, for our Faith.
This is how we learnt for some years.
We were quite fluid and open to new ideas, curricula, books etc
As Brid got older, she wanted to spend more of her time on one focus area,  so I tailored her subjects to accommodate this, for example, History for a week, or Science for a week. I called it a subject a week. She immersed herself completely in that topic. This was after her mornings maths, faith reader, and English.
It developed into 2 subjects, particularly if they were rather light in there work load.
Brid began saying, "It would be fun to do this or do that", so after much consideration and feeling peace in my heart we had a season of unschooling, not radically, but let the books go. I just strews as I had always done. (I didn't actualy know it had a name until.....)
It was a very peaceful time mostly, I just needed to let go and Trust. Brid did various unit studies on  several Saints, we explored our surroundings more, went on wonderful excursions and just had fun together.
It was also the time that she was seriously considering her pathway in life.
This was also a wonderful time of letting me see how Brid likes to learn. As she has gotten older and able to articulate herself more, she expressed to me, that she likes to thoroughly learn a particular area. Much like myself I suppose.
So with this information, we leapt into our current phase. ........
High school really hasn't been any different. Admittedly, I stressed myself out, and Brid when she officially started ''highschool", until I realised it was just a progression.
So currently we are working through the subjects she needs to. At present she is completing IEW Grammar - a sentence ot two to correct in spelling and grammar, Maths, And Apologia Physical Science. She is a week or 2 away from completing them all for the year. After this she will read various history living books on the lounge or outside in the fresh air. Then most days its off to Ballet rehearsals.

All along our studies Brid has been very involved in choosing her books and curricula. She would look with me and we would decide together. Very rarely did I find a program that I didn't use. I have been quite frugal in my purchases, but I am pleased it our resources we chose along the way.
We are drawing our homeschooling to a close over the next few years and its been a wonderful time in our lifes. I wouldn't have changed it for the world.
My only regret is that I didn't find it earlier. I really hated sending my other children off to school, but It was not revealed to me by God until His perfect timimg.
We have loosly mapped out the next few years. I never thought we would ger here...But boy its been a journey..Maybe you may like to share yours...

So proud

As you are aware we have been away in Europe.. We had been gearing up to this for some time. Every time we came across a Saint or a new city we would put it on our list of areas to visit.
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised when our sweet Brid started sharing different snip its of information with us on each place we visited.
It wasn't just the population is this or something boringly similar, but interesting little bits of trivia. My highlight was when we were  in Pompeii  telling her Dad all about what happened and when we were at the Lourve, she came bursting up to me "Mum its the Paintings from "Art through Faith and the Seton Press books". Interacting quite confidently with The tour Guide to the not so well known Scarvi Tour- underneath the Vatican.
It is such a thrill to give Brid the books, internet sites and watch her absorb all that knowledge and reall it. This trip has only deepened her understanding and knowledge of our world.
Sorry to boast everyone,

The Louvre precint area

               BUT I am quite a proud Mummy. Isn't homeschooling great. No pressure she delved and learnt herself without exams or tests or deadlines

a current affair

Last Sunday evening, after everyone had left after Fathers' day celebrations we fell into the lounge chairs, turned the TV on and watched 60 mins. We view it with great care. Brid has always been quite sensitive to many areas of the media.
The last report was discussing the anniversary of 9-11.
I watched her as we viewed this report. She really had no idea about what 9-11 was all about.
So afterwards, the questions were asked.
I could have easily just said we will discuss this in the morning, but I resisted.
It was the right time and place right now. The TV was switched off.
The Kingfisher Encyclopedia was taken from the shelf by Brid. She read aloud what was written about this world changing event.
We talked about various aspects, she knew the geography, We discussed the ins and outs of this current affair.
It was a wonderful opportunity that couldn't have been orchestrated any better.
She was ready to listen with more mature ears and understand the complicated issues surrounding this horrific event. She may not understand totally, but hey!, nor do I, and thats OK.

We have been travelling around a lot in history at the moment and I am pleased we have been, because it made it easier to explain and pin various issues for her.
Was this just an opportunity or a Classic strewing?

Literature and Young Ladies......and more

We are  in process of sourcing books for Literature for young ladies- I stumbled across these again, not so long ago.
When I originally saw this list on Serendipity, I started dreaming. Oh, that would be good to do, but how would we. We have so much more to do. It just didn't fit into my box. But now, it does.
God has slowed us / me down, he has refocused me.
I secretly dreaded the high school years , so much more intense. So much pressure on me as an educator to get every box ticked.
Then the pressure cooker popped- or exploded. Or maybe it was a revelation from God. Slow down Leanne. Stop comparing; let her do it at her pace. That is how it has been for sometime now, its comforting for me.
So back to our reading list.
I showed Brid the list and her enthusiasm was amazing. She perused the list, put her own list together of books she wanted to read. It was a solid list. Realistic and thoughtful.
When I restudied the list, it included many books I desired Brid to read in her high school years.  We will work at Brid’s pace.

We have placed the books we already have in a basket. This is our reading basket.
There are already a few other books from her medieval and religion books in the basket. Each book was picked together, from various sources, including this one and this one.  oh and this.They all fit beautifully together.
Such richness to all the content.  
So what have I learnt?
Let go and let God. He was working it all out anyway. Where was my trust in him.

A day in our unusual week

It’s a bit of an unusual week this week, because it’s so wet.  

I have been spending the week reading a new homeschooling book. “A little way of Homeschooling.   It’s been quite inspirational for me to see like minded homeschoolers. The revelation that came to me, was we do have a homeschooling style. Yeah!!
Long gone are our work books and structured curriculum.  Brid still likes to have her desk organised for her work..
Our days still have routine because that’s the way we like it. 
Ok its 8am and the Christian radio news is just been turned on- or not.
Brid has fed the cats and is dressed.
We are opening blinds and waking up the house, putting washing on.
It’s close to 8.30 by the time we all have finished breakfast together, just in time for piano practice and my computer/ironing / cleaning time. Dermot is in the office and is beginning his work day.
We gather for prayer around 9am, as Dermot & I have our very important coffee date with  Our Lord.  Brid decides between, her religion reader or improving her handwriting with a verse from the Gospels.
Maths is Brids only fixed subject. We have always done this together, but of late I have tried to back off and just be around in case I am needed.
It’s now morning tea time, for Brid- although its really just break time- and around about this time Bailey, our cat, likes to come back inside, so we make a big fuss over him.
It’s cold, so we stop any pursuits and make a tee-pee in our fireplace and light it. Brid can now light the fire by herself. We usually gather up our wood for the day at this time as well.
We moved to this home close on 2 years ago, it is 40 mins out of the city, so we don’t go in to the ‘city’ very often. We have adjusted to being in our home and our little community now.  We have quite a big homeschool community, in our area, so we can tailor our outings to our needs.
Brid says what shall we do next, and at the moment we have a couple of topics we are looking at. So that’s where we go next.
This is the time of the day, we have a milo made on warmed milk.  Yummy.
Brid is reading a novel. The Yearling at the moment. Several discussions have flowed from this book. We look at the time 2 o’clock. Is it lunch time already? Left over homemade Pizza together.  
After lunch Brid retires to a project she is getting her teeth into. She is re creating a time in medieval history on  a program on the computer. This then led us to looking at Horrible histories DVDs and there website.  A print out of her work was necessary, for Brid, to show Dad when he came home.
Brid then decided she wanted to share her horrible histories discoveries on her blog.  
At the end of a busy day there is none better than sitting and watching a movie. I am knitting trying to inspire Brid to knit too. Somehow it’s just not her thing.  Our calm peaceful late afternoon was disturbed when I noticed we were out of milk. So we made a list and off to the local shop to purchase a few necessary goodies, including our milk..
Usually we would all eat together, but I told you it’s an unusual week. Dermot has an afterhour’s job in the city, so Brid & I eat dinner later. We pray for Gods Guidance and protection on this wild rainy night for Daddy.
So when did school start and finish, it’s sort of been a bit grey for some time now.