Apple picking. You can't do it at very many orchards anymore. Now I know why. We're why. Apple baseball, apple basketball, apple golf, apple Frisbee, apple explosion... those rotting apples under the trees didn't stand a chance. It got me to thinking about the element of fun inherent in destruction. It's why kids like to knock …
Author: GriffithsKL
Excellent, Not Perfect
My greatest challenge: teaching my children. I began more than ten years ago with the crushing pack of my children's education pressing down on my shoulders, and it has become a burden light and wonderful to carry. There are some days when the weight again seems unbearable and any mistake whispers the lie: "You're …
Come Home With Your Shield Or On It
The first week back to homeschool. One week down, 31 more to go. Week increments don't sound so bad. Like marathons... just 26 miles. Week 1. The bad news is that we had tears every day. The good news: they weren't mine. I'm reading The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, in which …
Running. Literal Running. As Opposed to the Usual Figurative Running.
Running the zoo race today, my first 5K. My goal is to keep up with Gabriel. This has me thinking of the goals and benchmarks we set up for ourselves. It is good to have extrinsic motivators. I like to use them for academic purposes too. Things like spelling bees or speech events-- any platform will serve …
Continue reading Running. Literal Running. As Opposed to the Usual Figurative Running.
Knowledge is Power
My children enjoy making "forts" to sleep in or read on, whatever. It's becoming clear to me that my children hate to use items in the manner for which they were intended. Whether it's playground equipment, stairs, dowel rods, couches, beds (that's a big one), they would rather create a new use for it because …
Spring Soccer Tsunami
One hand full of rest is better than two fists full of labor and striving after wind. – Ecclesiastes 4:6 Right about now the outdoor soccer tsunami officially crests over our calendar, and we become helpless little crustaceans, tossed every which way by the soccer tide until it subsides again in June. “You can do anything …
A Proverb a Day
In February and other short months I get a break from that perfect woman, the Proverbs 31 woman who likes to taunt me with her godly perfection. You know what bothers me about her? She wakes up while it’s still dark outside, and she doesn’t even live in Alaska. Is that a requirement for excellence? …
Thoughts On The Painful Examination We Endure When Critiquing Our Own Parental Decisions “We are just God’s instruments. It’s all up to Him.” My friend Nancy sent that to me today. I count myself richly blessed by the friendship of Nancy and her husband, who often encourage me, challenge me, and have literally “been there …
The Prince and the Pupil
Were I a sailboat I'd presently be foundering on the homeschool doldrums. By chance I also happen to be reading The Prince by Machiavelli, a sort of rule book for tyrants. Machiavelli writes, "Men ought either to be well-treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot." So is it …
Stairs That Avail Much
Do you get stir crazy in winter? We do. But thankfully we have these super spiral stairs that double as a jungle gym. My kids find alternate uses for just about any apparatus* around, including the walls, couches, mattresses, even the dog. They stave off the winter blues by finding creative ways to enjoy/destroy whatever is …
KL Griffiths 