Here again, and a lovely discovery

• Well, it has been a while again. I seem to blog in spurts, but someday I will work it into my regular routine. So, here's what we are up to right now. I am in the middle of a 6 month inventory (for more on that, read Leadership Education, the phases of learning, by Oliver and Rachel DeMille, or I will also try to post about it sometime later), working on an experiment in cooking with basics and being more frugal, job hunting and trying to pare down our belongings in case we have to move, and working on our goals for the new year. I always naturally seem to need to do an inventory this time of year, since coming back from Christmas break always feels like moving through tar unless we come into it with some new ideas and some clearing out of the Christmas clutter. We also do an inventory before the beginning of every school year, usually in July.
  
  As I have been gathering ideas for the rest of this school year, and evaluating the needs of my children and myself, I found a wonderful idea on a fellow homeschooler's blog (thanks, Mom, for showing it to me!). It is called the Rule of Six. You can read the article here: http://melissawiley.typepad.com/liltinghouse/2006/10/my-rule-of-six.html
  Basically, the idea is that there are six main things to strive to make a part of every day in homeschool and in life. Here are the six:
  • Good books
  • Imaginative play
• Meaningful work
  • Encounters with beauty (through art, music, and the natural world—including nature walks)
  • Ideas to ponder and discuss
  • Prayer

I am excited about this Rule of Six because I believe that, if we were to do something in each of these areas every day, we would have accomplished something meaningful and great indeed. All of the subjects that are part of a good education would fall under these headings in some way, and it would focus my efforts on the experience we are having together, rather than checking off a list. I am still working on my plan for the rest of this year, but I am excited to include the rule of 6 as an overarching guide in the plans that I make. I also liked the idea Ms. Wiley suggests of asking your children and yourself about those six things at the end of the day:

What good books did we read today?

What did we play today?

Where did we meet beauty today?

Did we do meaningful and quality work today?

What new ideas did we discover today?

Did we have a prayerful heart today?

I think these ideas will help refresh me and bring more joy into homeschool for me as well as my children.