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Angie Mc
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Wishing you all a blessed Thanksgiving Holiday in the U.S!
Quick! Share your thankfulness that you emphasize Living Books as you design or adapt curriculum to meet your family needs (from our homepage.)
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I am thankful for the many books, especially picture books, that enrich our living and learning.
I am thankful that I am accountable to only God, my dh, and my children for their education. I LOVE the autonomy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am thankful for our gorgeous weather and ability to explore God's natural world.
Ooooooooo I could go on but I need to get cooking so here's one more...
I am thankful for "Living Movies"! We learn so much and enjoy each other's company while watching good movies together.
Love,
__________________
Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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MaryM
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I am thankful for a library system that allows me the ease of facilitating a living books/hands on style of education - many of you have heard my check out habits, which currently stand at 260+ books.  
I am thankful for an education style that gives us flexibility in subjects and the ability to work to the specific strengths, challenges, and interests of my children.
I am thankful for opportunities to get out and learn in the real world - especially our travels around the country and adventures locally.
I'm thankful to have found such a great group of women who share my excitement for a living education lifestyle.
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Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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SeaStar
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I am thankful that my children have a true love of books, especially living books.
I am thankful that we can learn in our pj's if the mood strikes.
I am thankful we have the gift of *time* each day- time to explore and linger, time to enjoy and make the most.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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Mimip
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MaryM wrote:
I am thankful for a library system that allows me the ease of facilitating a living books/hands on style of education - many of you have heard my check out habits, which currently stand at 260+ books.
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I'm with Mary, thank you Lord for the Library and the wonderful living books that I am constantly able to use to educate my children.
I'm thankful for the many women that share their plans with me so that those living books enrich our live even more.
Happy Thanksgiving Ladies!
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In Christ,
Mimi
Wife of 16 years to Tom, Mom of DD'00, DD'02, '04(in heaven) DS'05, DS'08 and DS '12
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Paula in MN
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I'm thankful for a husband who encourages me to homeschool my children, while he willingly works to support his wife's book-buying habit.
I'm thankful for the library that stocks the books I need, the friends and relatives who donate books, and the ladies on this forum who recommend them!
Like Angie said, I'm thankful that we are accountable only to God.
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 Paula
A Catholic Harvest
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ALmom
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I am thankful for all that I learn from my children and how learning isn't just something that happens in a set time or is compartmentalized - but happens all the time as we interact in a variety of ways.
I am thankful in how God speaks to me through my children's lessons. Invariably we go over something in the catechism for one child, and find a new area to work on (sometimes just me - sometimes it is a family thing) or we read a story and discuss something in the characters and whamo it hits me that this is just what I need to work on/reflect on or ponder.
I am thankful for the stretching - for the appreciation I have gained for different temperments and different ways of learning - and how even these less comfortable things for me, grow me.
I am so grateful that I am the one who gets to see the children's excitement at some new discovery - right when the moment is most intense and special.
Janet
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Angie Mc
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Thanks, ladies! and I agree  .
Here's a few more...
I'm thankful that so much of what we do informally contributes to my teens' positive entry into the adult world...being able to talk freely with adults, knowing about a broad range of subjects......sharing their expertice with adults (they love that!)
I'm thankful to watch it all unfold in a unique way for each of my children as they pull what is best for themselves from our environment.
I'm thankful that our relationships come before arbitrary academic standards.
I'd love to hear more!
Love,
__________________
Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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Erin
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I am thankful that my children are being nurtured in a print rich environment.
I am thankful that we are surrounded by wonderfully rich, wholesome literature.
I am thankful that my children are sharing all of their growing experiences together.
I am thankful that I have the freedom to adjust our learning to the individual needs of each child.
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Erin
Faith Filled Days
Seven Little Australians
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TxTrish
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Ditto much of what is said above.
And, I am grateful that I am there for all the AHAH! moments.
When they finally took off in their reading.
When they stopped crying about math and started saying, it's just a puzzle to be solved.
And, so many more.
I am grateful that my children will start their adult lives knowing what they believe and having learned and practiced living it with supervision in tough situations. I am grateful that they always want to know more. That even my oldest children sometimes come in for read aloud during quite times in the afternoons.
I am grateful that my children have wide and varied interests. That they want to learn. They ask for books, and that we learn new things together all the time.
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+JMJ+
Gabrielle20, Deavon18, Elizabeth12, Mary10, Greg8
and a grandson!
My Blog
"Duty before everything, even something holy"
St.Padre Pio
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Mackfam
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I've been thinking about this thread. What else can I be thankful for that hasn't already been offered?
Living learning is a lifestyle. I suppose what I'm so grateful for is that our days are rich and full even when they are relaxed and simple. This apparent contradiction can be because of the rich literature offered. One beautiful, richly illustrated living book, read gently and quietly, inspires wonder in all. Wonder invites exploration, conversation and learning. Exploration invites observation. Further up and deeper in.
I'm grateful that in its simplicity, it offers much. Anytime I begin to wonder if I *need* something else, the answer many times lies in coming back to those living books and ideas again in creative ways - spelling words from dictations, penmanship from copywork, organization of thoughts from narrations, projects and experiments from picture books and nature walks. I'm reminded how much education can be accomplished with less. Ideas of simplicity are freeing and liberating to me. I become overwhelmed and burdened when I try to force something, but find it very natural to organize, plan, and direct a living education because it all flows one from the other - it's all connected.
I'm grateful for the wholeness of this lifestyle - there is no disjointed segue between history and art and science, they all tend to blend beautifully together allowing for a depth of study that conveys significance and meaning.
I'm grateful that this lifestyle of living learning takes place in authentic ways in my home - whether we are baking, coloring, sorting, suffering, reading, discussing a novel, or offering a work of mercy.
I'm grateful that this particular lifestyle of learning fosters connections and relationships - with God, with other people, with ideas and thoughts.
I'm grateful that the authors within the rich literature offered have the loudest voices in my home. Their ideas come alive here. These authors inspire ideas and projects and conversations, all of which serve to foster family as community. Ideas become family projects. These turn into opportunities for learning, growth, living.
I'm grateful for the skills that seem to develop naturally and influences I witness as a result of a steady and rich intake of living literature. Skills like critical thinking, analysis, writing, communication, vocabulary, an eye for beauty, manners and behavioral influences, and probably so many more. Living books feed and nurture a child. We get very few paychecks in this job, but one of them is witnessing the unfolding of an idea on paper or in discussion and catching glimpses of the nurseries of these thoughts from various authors and living books. Paycheck!
I'm most grateful that these boards are here that allow a place for discussion for living out this lifestyle of learning, and particularly discussion of these ideas within a Catholic context. I have learned so much here. Ideas here have challenged me to grow and expand, and have fed my imagination. This is what drew me here to begin with. This is home for me! 
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Mackfam
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Mackfam wrote:
| I've been thinking about this thread. What else can I be thankful for that hasn't already been offered? |
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Did you doubt for one second that I wouldn't somehow find the words?
I'm thankful (and slightly embarrassed ) that there's no word limit here!
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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SuzanneG
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Mackfam wrote:
Mackfam wrote:
| I've been thinking about this thread. What else can I be thankful for that hasn't already been offered? |
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Did you doubt for one second that I wouldn't somehow find the words? |
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Not for one teeny-weeny second!!!!!!
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Suzanne in ID
Wife to Pete
Mom of 7 (Girls - 14, 12, 11, 9, 7 and Boys - 4, 1)
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SuzanneG
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Mackfam wrote:
I'm grateful that in its simplicity, it offers much. Anytime I begin to wonder if I *need* something else, the answer many times lies in coming back to those living books and ideas again in creative ways - spelling words from dictations, penmanship from copywork, organization of thoughts from narrations, projects and experiments from picture books and nature walks. I'm reminded how much education can be accomplished with less. Ideas of simplicity are freeing and liberating to me. I become overwhelmed and burdened when I try to force something, but find it very natural to organize, plan, and direct a living education because it all flows one from the other - it's all connected.
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I LOVE THIS! I was thinking along these lines when this thread started. That this LIVING, REAL LEARNING has offered such a rich and simple way of educating at home.
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Suzanne in ID
Wife to Pete
Mom of 7 (Girls - 14, 12, 11, 9, 7 and Boys - 4, 1)
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guitarnan
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I am thankful that the Good Lord uses my abiding interest in literature and history to help my children discover His amazing world and His role in our creation, civilization and salvation.
I am also thankful for my homeschool co-op, which is filled with devout families who share my commitment to faith-centered learning, grounded in real experiences, living literature and the basic truths of our Holy Faith.
I am thankful for my children, who have learned to cope with the craziness of military life and who will never, ever be "inside the box" thinkers. We chucked that box long ago, and they happily bend parameters to find ways to present their ideas/goals/needs/wants. Some day they will realize how unique this approach really is!
I am thankful for Internet message boards, because I began my homeschooling journey thousands of miles from home and bookstores and libraries, and message boards helped me retain my Catholic focus and find the resources and materials I needed. Eventually I was led here...and found the online home I needed, regardless of my physical address. I also believe that this forum and all of you prayer warriors helped convince my parents' friends that homeschoolers are faith-filled, caring, loving and devout people. Your prayers have changed lives far beyond the homeschooling world...trust me on this. I truly believe that your prayers on behalf of my family's friends will bear fruit over the next two decades, leading to two or three more generations of 4Real Learning.
I am most thankful for my husband, who saw that homeschooling really was our only option if we wanted to retain our sanity and convinced me to set aside my standard negative first reaction and take a second and third and fourth look at this alternative. He opened the door and the Good Lord did the rest, big time. My husband has been our support, mainstay, cheerleader and advocate well before I got to Day One.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Giving Thanks for Living Learning
