Sunshine

I love this picture even though there isn't a single thing in focus! This is my oldest (by 2 minutes) daughter "Sunshine" who marches to the beat of her own drum. This can be frustrating for parenting and educating! She continually challenges me to bear the Fruits of the Spirit...

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5 NIV courtesy of Biblegateway.com)

Most of the time I fall down at patience, gentleness and self control. This child of my heart that I love heart and soul drives me to exasperation at times! Today was one of those days. We were on a field trip to the Marshall Gold Discovery Park and I was trying to get a picture of all three for our Christmas card. The girl would. not. look. at. the. camera. PERIOD!

She was in her own world. I lost my self control and thought I was going to explode, but when I relaxed, I looked up and saw this. Sunshine lives every moment of her life! Sigh... point taken.

Exasperations aside, I can't imagine life without Sunshine!

We had a really fun field trip - more pictures to follow!

Kids Who Are Different

Kids Who Are Different

Here's to the kids who are different,
The kids who don't always get A's,
The kids who have ears twice the size of their peers,
And noses that go on for days...
Here's to the kids who are different,
The kids they call crazy or dumb,
The kids who don't fit, with the guts and the grit,
Who dance to a different drum...
Here's to the kids who are different,
The kids with the mischievous streak,
For when they have grown, as history's shown,
It's their difference that makes them unique.
--Digby Wolfe

I saw this posted at Smooth Stones Academy and just had to share. Probably one of the most difficult things for me in home schooling is that my children are not "prim and proper", they don't do things "by the book" and it's not because they are bad, naughty, stupid or dumb. They are unique individuals, each with different learning styles and challenges and much more energy than this old Mama can sometimes handle.

I thank God for my years of experience in pediatrics working with families with ADHD and learning disabilities and for my Husband who is a special education teacher for mild to moderate learning disabilities. These experiences have helped us to relax and not stress that our children are "different". Whenever we are stressed, it comes from the outside, not from within. The people who thing my children should be just like theirs, drive me crazy! The blessing in homeschool is that I am there to see my children blossom and the spark of creativity light in their eyes. They don't have to be shoved into a "box" or punished for disrupting a room of 30 children. I try my best not to break their spirit while maintaining discipline and trying to ward of chaos.

For my children, I have HOPE. They may be different than the other children in the world. But that's fine with me! :o)

Who Was Good King Wenscelas?

If you would like to find out there is an offer of a FREE ebook at Knowledge Quest. This is an exercpt of their book What Really Happened In The Middle Ages. And if you would like to win that you can hop on over to their blog to find out how!

Welcome To Pathfinder Academy

Welcome friends and family and any visitors who have made it to our little home school on the web! We're still under construction, but there's more to come soon!