Four months later... sheesh!
When I disappear for awhile, it's safe to say that stuff is happening. Sometimes that stuff takes up all my attention and patience, and blogging has to take a back burner. This was one of those times.
We're still homeschooling though, in the midst of a whirlwind of trials. When everything else is going haywire, homeschooling is the one constant. I think we might be getting pretty good at it.
Where did I leave off four months ago? Oh yes, February, and my broken nose! That was a crazy time. It's healed now. Thanks so much for all the well wishes. You all know how to a make a mama smile through the pain.
At the tail end of the broken nose ordeal, all hell broke loose. Events happened. I don't know that I can say more than that at this time, though I'm sure to touch on it in the future. Needless to say, said events catapulted Moonshine into the thick, murky waters of the nine-year-change. Nurturing Moonshine through this change has been an entirely different experience than what we had with Sunburst. Much harder. Much more volatile. More tears than I can possibly count, and with good reason. It's hard to wake up and realize that the world isn't as nice as you thought.
She's good now. We're through the thick of it, at least. Other life changes are simmering, big ones, so I'm sure we'll see more fun times ahead as she finds her equilibrium. Thank goodness we're homeschooling!
Perhaps one of the greatest attributes of Waldorf homeschooling is being able to greet each individual child's stages of growth with curriculum. Not at a random moment within a given school year because their age dictates it, but exactly when they'll benefit from it the most. And that's what we've been doing this spring-- Old Testament stories. Nothing says wake up and smell the nine-year-change like the banishment from the garden of Eden, the death of Abel, and so on.
Meanwhile, Sunburst has been living and breathing everything Rome. The brutality and betrayal within Roman history has made for an interesting counterpoint as Sunburst watches her little sister move through such a strong undercurrent. I didn't expect that, and I certainly didn't plan for it. But the timing was perfect! There are much greater lessons to be learned from history than just dates and facts.
We've done other things here and there, as well. Kitty Bill is playing t-ball and loving it! Moonshine is enjoying cursive handwriting and housebuilding, and as always, math. Sunburst thinks her geology/mineralogy block is the best thing yet-- and that also comes at just the right time, because we're facing another huge upheaval.
Our job here in Switzerland is ending early. We learned about the possibility this spring, and it has been looming and growing ever closer until the possibility has become a certainty.
Einstein's boss has been offered a prestigious position, the top of his field, at a fat cat research facility in Berlin. He has invited Einstein to come along. It's a lucrative job, a huge career move... and yet, it's Germany... where homeschooling is illegal. I'm not at liberties to say much more than this, but I know that other homeschoolers can understand how the mere idea wrenches our hearts. And thus, Einstein has been actively pursuing other options for us.
He has been away more often than he has been home, and that has been a strain on all of us. He has been flying all over the world interviewing for jobs, attending meetings, conferences, writing books... Finding a job in this economy is tough. Finding a good job, a perfect job, a job that pays enough to keep the kids out of school where they belong... that's even tougher. But we think we've found one. Unfortunately, it's not back home. This tears the kids up, but there are no positions to be had in the US right now.
Hopefully we'll have definitive news by the end of this week, just in time for summer holidays to kick in. Between you and me, I'm looking forward to a few days of respite from all the stress and worries of reality.
Oh, and special thanks to those of you who have been emailing me, prodding me, to get back up on my blogging horse. I appreciate your kind words, and I'll do my best to stay astride. Hopefully I'll be back in the next few days to share some visuals.
Thanks for sticking with me.
When I disappear for awhile, it's safe to say that stuff is happening. Sometimes that stuff takes up all my attention and patience, and blogging has to take a back burner. This was one of those times.
We're still homeschooling though, in the midst of a whirlwind of trials. When everything else is going haywire, homeschooling is the one constant. I think we might be getting pretty good at it.
Where did I leave off four months ago? Oh yes, February, and my broken nose! That was a crazy time. It's healed now. Thanks so much for all the well wishes. You all know how to a make a mama smile through the pain.
At the tail end of the broken nose ordeal, all hell broke loose. Events happened. I don't know that I can say more than that at this time, though I'm sure to touch on it in the future. Needless to say, said events catapulted Moonshine into the thick, murky waters of the nine-year-change. Nurturing Moonshine through this change has been an entirely different experience than what we had with Sunburst. Much harder. Much more volatile. More tears than I can possibly count, and with good reason. It's hard to wake up and realize that the world isn't as nice as you thought.
She's good now. We're through the thick of it, at least. Other life changes are simmering, big ones, so I'm sure we'll see more fun times ahead as she finds her equilibrium. Thank goodness we're homeschooling!
Perhaps one of the greatest attributes of Waldorf homeschooling is being able to greet each individual child's stages of growth with curriculum. Not at a random moment within a given school year because their age dictates it, but exactly when they'll benefit from it the most. And that's what we've been doing this spring-- Old Testament stories. Nothing says wake up and smell the nine-year-change like the banishment from the garden of Eden, the death of Abel, and so on.
Meanwhile, Sunburst has been living and breathing everything Rome. The brutality and betrayal within Roman history has made for an interesting counterpoint as Sunburst watches her little sister move through such a strong undercurrent. I didn't expect that, and I certainly didn't plan for it. But the timing was perfect! There are much greater lessons to be learned from history than just dates and facts.
We've done other things here and there, as well. Kitty Bill is playing t-ball and loving it! Moonshine is enjoying cursive handwriting and housebuilding, and as always, math. Sunburst thinks her geology/mineralogy block is the best thing yet-- and that also comes at just the right time, because we're facing another huge upheaval.
Our job here in Switzerland is ending early. We learned about the possibility this spring, and it has been looming and growing ever closer until the possibility has become a certainty.
Einstein's boss has been offered a prestigious position, the top of his field, at a fat cat research facility in Berlin. He has invited Einstein to come along. It's a lucrative job, a huge career move... and yet, it's Germany... where homeschooling is illegal. I'm not at liberties to say much more than this, but I know that other homeschoolers can understand how the mere idea wrenches our hearts. And thus, Einstein has been actively pursuing other options for us.
He has been away more often than he has been home, and that has been a strain on all of us. He has been flying all over the world interviewing for jobs, attending meetings, conferences, writing books... Finding a job in this economy is tough. Finding a good job, a perfect job, a job that pays enough to keep the kids out of school where they belong... that's even tougher. But we think we've found one. Unfortunately, it's not back home. This tears the kids up, but there are no positions to be had in the US right now.
Hopefully we'll have definitive news by the end of this week, just in time for summer holidays to kick in. Between you and me, I'm looking forward to a few days of respite from all the stress and worries of reality.
Oh, and special thanks to those of you who have been emailing me, prodding me, to get back up on my blogging horse. I appreciate your kind words, and I'll do my best to stay astride. Hopefully I'll be back in the next few days to share some visuals.
Thanks for sticking with me.
