Thursday, September 13, 2012

Our School Room

Last year, our first homeschooling year, we didn't have a school room or designated area for schooling. We just did the readings on couches and did math and handwriting on kitchen table. Daniel did have a computer desk as his desk, but he mainly used it for displaying his "treasure". It worked O.K., but having to find books and supplies that were scattered all over the house was neither fun nor efficient.

This summer I finally got my dear husband,  who does not like change at all, to agree on re-arranging some furniture to create a school room. It's nothing grand, and I am still not organized, but it is much better than what we had last year.

The limited wall space is reserved for one IKEA bookshelf and two 10-drawer carts (my students' work-boxes). The big desk in the middle was bought used years ago but had been kept in our master bedroom for piling up miscellaneous stuff. Now it's put to good use. I got the small desk from the office furniture sale in my previous working place four years ago. It was stored in the garage till now. Oh I love all these working surface!

Our old black couch does not look so good in the room, but it's a convenient place for snuggling with good books.


See that basket that sits between the couch and the bookshelf? It holds our library books very nicely.



These two shelves hold Daniel's school books. Top shelf is for history and literature and the lower shelf for math and science.

Pictured above are the two shelves for James' school books.


A proud new first grader and his new math book. 



Working on a puzzle.


 Daniel likes to lay flat on the couch to do his school work, most of which requires minimal handwriting. So writing properly is not a big concern in this position.

Our school room is well lit with natural light thanks to the many windows. Many windows also mean limited wall space, so our maps, timeline, and poster are not in the school room but on the walls of our hall way or outside a bedroom.



Wednesday, September 12, 2012

First Day of School

We started our new school year (2012-2013) on Labor Day because the principal (dad) said "Why not?".

I made Daniel dress up in his Hawaiian shirt, which he took off right after picture taking. James picked out his own outfit which was Daniel's old school uniform. He loves them and feels proud to be a first grader!

Teacher and Her Students (ratio 1:2)

Our 4th Grader


Our 1st Grader
The Whole Class



Summer Fun

Can you believe it that summer is almost over? We didn't go on any family vacation, but did have some fun time on a few outings.

I'm really bad at the task of timely uploading digital photos to PC. At least it's still summer...

 Day trip to Lake Tahoe. Our family of four and Guibo's nephew who was visiting us from UC Berkeley.



Trip to Six Flags. I was left behind, voluntarily, to have my praying and planning time for the new school year.

By the bank of American River. 

Random moments. 




Monday, September 3, 2012

Quote of the Week: There is no neutral ground...

I have been pondering the following questions lately:
"Do school subjects such as history and social study have anything to do with God?
What about math, science and economics?
What about art and music?"
when this quote from C.S. Lewis got my attention and confirmed my view.

“There is no neutral ground in the universe; every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counter-claimed by Satan."
C.S. Lewis

That reminded me of a Chinese proverb, "普天之下,莫非王土,率土之滨,莫非王臣。"  Here is my paraphrase translation. No land under the sun does not belong to the King; no people living in the land does not submit to the King.

In the September issue of AFA JournalKirk Cameron was quoted in his interview:
"Sometimes as a Christian, I have had a dualistic way of looking at the world. My heart, my marriage and my family may reflect something of heaven. but I would often think that business, science or media was always going to reflect hell because those things belonged to Satan. I don't think that way anymore."

With school starting (today!) and all the extracurricular activities quickly filling up the calendar, I don't have time for more reflection. Let me end with this Bible verse. It is so beautifully and truthfully said, isn't it?

"Lord You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."
Revelation 4:11