In General

So here it is, the big news I've hinting at and teasing about for the last couple weeks. If you haven't already heard, today is the launch of 3 new blogs at Simple Living Media (founded by Tsh Oxenreider, Simple Mom maven). One of those blogs is Simple Homeschool of which yours truly is a contributing writer. My first not-self-published regular writing gig.

Late last fall I got an e-mail from Tsh inviting me to join as a contributor to the Simple Living Media (SLM) blog network. Later in the day I got a follow up e-mail from Jamie Martin (aka Steady Mom), asking me more specifically to consider being a writer for Simple Homeschool (SH), of which Jamie is the editor. To say I was thrilled that morning is a bit of an understatement.

I mean the Tsh of Simple Mom fame asking little ol' me to contribute to her hugely successful blog, writing about something I love to talk about!! How could I possibly say no?

I guess I could of said no if writing there wasn't in-line with my personal or professional goals. But luckily for me (that would been a hard gig to turn down) writing for Simple Homeschool definitely fits in with our family's goals, my personal mission and overall professional interests. Wow, how did I get so lucky?

Keeping my mouth shut during these past two months while having all this behind the scenes access has not been easy. It's so much fun to feel a part of something bigger than my personal blog. That my thoughts on homeschooling and life, my passion for educational freedom and simple family living can be shared with a greater audience. Yeeshh... it's enough to make a girl do the happy dance. Which I did when I got those invitation e-mails, just ask the kiddos.

So, Tsh (who no doubt will not be reading this) and Jamie (who might be reading this, though she's busy these days with a book and editorial launches) a million thanks for asking me to be a part of the team. I am way beyond excited about where SLM will go in helping families live more simply while growing myself as a homeschooler, writer and photographer.

There are 2 other blogs being launched today also, Simple Bites and Simple Organic for which I can't speak much about having not checked them out myself. But if they are anything like the calibre of Simple Mom and what we've got planned at Simple Homeschool (this is one organized show I tell you) they should be worth checking out.

My first post at SH is coming up this week and I'll direct you over there when it publishes. After that I'm posting there once a month. But it looks like there's some good giveaways going on at all five of the Simple blogs this week. I wonder if I'm allowed to enter?? Should be a fun time.

Hope to see you over there.

PS. Thanks for sharing in my excitement. And I apologize for the lack of photos on this post. Writing this took longer than I anticipated today and I ran out of time to look for an appropriate photo in my files, I haven't taken any exciting learning photos lately.

Right around now is the time of winter when our days at home together seem more claustrophobic than cozy. I know you all know what I'm talking about.

I like that I've worked this homemaking gig long enough to recognize what this season brings and to make adjustments instead of sticking to the schedule with a (barely) grin-and-bear it mentality. In years past February would kind of sneak up on me. January would be a great month of post holiday cleaning, organization and home making projects and I'd expect February to follow suit. But February never did as I expected. My enthusiasm for what worked in January would wane as the days dragged to March.

It's the same with homeschooling. We start fresh in January after almost a month off for crafting and celebrating - Thanksgiving, birthdays and Christmas. I'm usually jazzed about something new in our weekly learning routine and think this energy will carry me right on through till Spring. Silly me.

What I've learned is that sticking to my schedule doesn't carry me through the doldrums of February but mixing it up a bit does.

morning planning session: I love these

In anticipation of this we're planning a few things to help us enjoy and appreciate this month, not just get through it.

• Winter backpacking & camping

Last year was the first time we did this and we loved it! You can read more about that experience here and here.

• Field trips

I don't usually organize or do too much of these but I have a couple in the works for February and one for March. Places we want to visit? The local museum which we've never been to and a fiber farm to see animals, buy rovings and make something soft and felted.

• Lunch at the library

Our library has a new cafe. Others have come and gone, maybe this one will stick around. We don't eat out for lunch hardly ever but February calls for a little treat for one of our weekly library visits.

• 2 walks per week with the kids

This one is a bit harder for me to do since I am actually giving up some writing time and shifting other commitments to make it happen. But my body needs this! This is the time of year I notice the absence of gardening and summer activity. I'm active every weekend with my family but I need more exercise during the week, both for physical and mental health. I think we'll all be happier with this extra exertion.

(The beautiful mosaic artwork in this post is by Carrie Bracker. The kids and I ohhed and ahhed over her work on a trip we made this week to our favorite glass art gallery.)

I have a few other ideas floating around my noggin but nothing in the schedule yet. So they may or may not happen. And I just remembered my folks are visiting after going winter camping with us so that will mix it up a bit also.

What about you? Do you have anything different planned for February?

It's been 2 months since I've done a sweet stuff post because Christmas threw me off my usual once a month routine. But I've been setting aside a bunch of links that I plan to share this month and next.

Because I'm in a homeschool frame of mind these days I decided to limit my link love to homeschool related stuff for this month.

• I so enjoyed reading Kate's real life story on following her children's lead in little teachers.
• Hillary from infintelearners wrote this great post on children using real tools at Steady Mom. I have wanted to write forever on the importance of this with examples of the scary things we let our kids use.
• The always lovely Lisa at 5 Orange Potatoes wrote about creating land art (art in the natural world). Her post reminded me of the great movie Rivers & Tides, about Andy Goldsworthy's work. A must see.
• Although I wouldn't call this unschooling (in which case I'm an unschooler and I don't think I am), I appreciate what Jena has to say about intentional unschooling. Ever wonder how an interest led learner is going to learn "everything they need to know"? This post helps answer that question from a mama whose been there and done that with 2 already graduated and one in public high school.
• You gotta be home to homeschool. A long one, but a good one. An excellent blog post brought to my attention by Kika (a regular commenter here at FIMBY).
• After attempting to teach Celine spelling as a separate subject (yeah right, that didn't last long!) I'm happy to put spelling in it's place. This quote of Karen Andreola's as shared at Handmade Homeschool pretty much sums it up as far as spelling goes in our home.
• My husband sent these last two links my way. Firstly, this is an amazing (but long) speech entitled Schoooling: The Hidden Agenda. If you can get past the dense text and lack of decent formatting this is very worth your time to read. I always knew my kiddos didn't need to know "all that stuff".
• This is more scary than sweet, US grants homeschooling German family political asylum. Damien, ever on top of the news, sent me this story just today. To think it's prohibited to homeschool your children in some countries. Thank God and all those early homeschooling pioneers for the freedoms we have here.

That's a wrap. Stay tuned for the winner of the Vegan Cuisine DVD and next week I'll draw the winner for the Steady Days Giveaway. Can't believe how many comments I'm getting on that. Wowzers.