December??!!

I can't believe tomorrow is December! Where did the year go? Things have been so busy here.

This year I have been working full time and homeschooling...it has been exhausting and time consuming, hence I have been scarce online, but it has also been rewarding. Although I am not here during the early morning and early afternoon, our older girls have really stepped up. Everyone gets their school work done and I have popped home once and a while. I always find a quiet home with studious children working away on their subjects. We have scaled way back on some things, but have still remained true to our Classical education...and it is paying off.

Erika who has fought her way through Augustine's Confessions and a few books of the Bible--which has been tortuous, but also very educational--is writing a paper on "Sin and Moral Relativism." Quite a task, but her consultant, who is a published writer is very excited. She is getting gritty with persuasive writing, which is integral to the rhetoric stage. She has made amazing strides in her understanding of complex subjects. It may seem odd for an Odinist to study such a subject, but she has communicated just how glad she is an Odinist and how crazy Christianity is to her. It really has given her the opportunity to undertake a detached study of a subject that has torn our Folk apart spiritually. At any rate, it has sparked some great conversations.

Gunnar who has been devouring books as of late, has really jumped both feet into History. Again, really delving into the Medieval era and how christianity impacted our people and destroyed our cultural and spiritual foundation. He has been reading up on some modern history. He is really taking off with Math too. Since this is probably my last year educating him at home since he is trying to get into a Math and Science Magnet High School offered here in Vancouver, we have been really hitting the math books hard and he has really risen to the challenge.

Hakon has really taken off too. He has been really been developing his love of building and creating. He loves to build something out of virtually nothing. It is great. Also, I pushed him in his math and he has, like his brother, risen to the challenge.

Thora has not homeschooled any classes this year. She has decided to take all her classes at Clark. She is doing some amazingly beautiful art. She has been perusing schools...did you know that UCLA is the 7th ranked school for art in the country! I thought that was cool since it isn't an art school. She has really been working to find an art focused college that has a strong foreign language department. She has 3 years of French and 2 college semesters. She loves it. Right now she is taking Spanish since they didn't have the next class in their foreign language series available. She is quite proficient. Anyway, she is on the hunt for a college that has everything for her in one spot...lol.

Astrid has become quite an adult. She is finishing up her AA in pursuit of a degree in either language or history. Both she loves, but she is still up in the air. She is getting ready to get her own apartment. How fast they grow up. She is so responsible and adult-like. I am very proud of her. :)

My baby girls are growing with both having a birthday. Freydis is now 5....5!!!!! I can't believe it. A kindergartner...she has been writing more and more. I am thinking of starting "The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading" or whatever the name is :D. She knows her ABCs and has been working on the sounds, but very casually.

Sigrun..my big three year old...3! She is a doll face that is our snuggle bug. Nothing particularly educational except she is pretty good at her ABCs and loves Muzzy :).

Well that is an update on our educational adventure. Our family goal is to get out of debt and me home by September when I will only have the girls and Hakon at home. We have been winning in our finances, so it is only a matter of time till we are free.

Hail!
FFF
Hyndla