Trade Day & Home Education

Saturdays have just been so wonderful lately, and today was no exception!

Eventhough Huntsville is not a small town, it has a charming town square around the perimeter of the county courthouse (it makes me think of the town square in John Grisham's A Time to Kill). A fancy jazz restaurant, an old-time hardware store, and trendy bars catering to successful singles are scattered among the law offices on the square. The city has lots of fun events throughout the year in this buzzing area of downtown. Today we went to Old Fashioned Trade Day on the Square, which is like a big yard sale. Lots of antiques, live music, lemonade and funnel cakes sold from a street cart, and even an train for kids to ride while parents shop all make Trade Day a fun place to spend some time on a breezy Saturday morning. We weren't planning on spending any money (here it comes), but I fell in love with this adorable little wooden rocking chair. Yes, it's in our living room now, all ready for Mary when she can sit on her own. I put a little quilt over the back of it - perfect! And we really did get a bargain at only $12! After Trade Day, we went to Wal-Mart to do our weekly grocery shopping. Along with our shredded cheese, apples, and other goodies, we picked up a Baby Einstein Activity Center (which we call a "jumper"). This was a planned purchase, we're really not spontaneous shoppers (minus the rocking chair, of course). We did a lot of research before buying this thing. Our decision was between the Fisher Price Jumperoo (which Mary has played in at her friend's house) and the Baby Einstein one. Baby Einstein won out because it has bars on the ends where we can attach more toys to make it seem new when she starts to get bored with it. And it plays classical music, which we're really big on right now. To finish out our great Saturday, we invited Stephen's parents over to celebrate Grandparents' Day, which is tomorrow in case you didn't know (it's not a very publicized holiday). I cooked chicken packets, burnt the Texas Toast, and Ruth brought a delicious salad. I served a homemade apple tart for dessert (yum!). After dinner we tried to get Mary to play in her new jumper, but she wasn't in the mood. Maybe tomorrow...

About home education...

There are many different methods/approaches to use to educate a child in the home (if you're totally against homeschooling, you need to read the book Dumbing Us Down and then talk to me). Traditional, Charlotte Mason, Principle, Classical, and a few more methods are out there. I recently checked out a book from the library about teaching Classical education at home, just to see what this method was all about. The Well-Trained Mind is a great book on the subject (very comprehensive), but I don't know if it's the right approach for us (I seem to like bits and pieces from various methods, but we're not drawn to one specific one yet). Stephen and I feel very blessed that God has given us this conviction so early to educate Mary at home; we have plenty of time to research, pray, and discern what God wants us do in the way of teaching methods and resources. Anyway, just wanted to share with you where we are in the process of home education.

Have a happy Grandparents' Day!