I have been playing hooky from the internet for the past week or so because I have immersed myself in learning how to teach something new to my kids this year. Homeschooling is so great, because I'm not confined to what the "state" wants me to teach - in Texas, there are no laws governing homeschooling as of yet, so I am free to teach the material I want the way I want to. I do check the State of Texas requirements by grade, but I have found that my daughter is actually way above many of the required elements, so I don't sweat it too much.

I have made it a priority this year that we are going to ENJOY the learning process. Instead of looking at it as something I "have to do"...I'm trying each day to look at it as something I "get to do". It's a privilege that I am able to stay home and teach my kids from a Biblical standpoint - I get to read Scripture to them every morning, I get to take them to the park in the middle of the day, I get to take them shopping when no one is in the stores, I get to decide the things that I want them to learn and when I want them to learn them, I get to teach World History and Science from a Christian's point of view!!! Do you know what that means, people? It means I don't have to have a teacher (whether they believe it or not) telling my child that we "evolved" from some "primordial soup". Thank. You. God.

I also have a confession. I've always wanted to learn how to read, write and speak a foreign language. So...this year, I've taken on the joyous task of "teaching" my daughter a course called "English From the Roots Up". It was designed by a schoolteacher who wanted her kids to know the etymology (that's history) of words in our English language. She thought it would be cool to introduce it when they were in early elementary school, since then the children would then be able to to get used to the Latin and Greek root words and their English derivatives over the course of many years -- playing with them, trying them out in hundreds of situations, becoming comfortable with them, making them their own - and all before they even get to high school, let alone college. It's supposed to give kids an incredible advantage over other kids who take crash courses in vocabulary just before sitting for the SAT's.

Our word for today was "photos", which in Greek means "light". For instance, "photograph" is a combination of "photos" (light) and "graph" (write, draw) - so when you combine the two, you get "a picture drawn by light". (Thought you would appreciate that one, Katie - since you are such an incredible photographer - I love your site!)

Anway...can you tell I'm diggin' (that's Texas slang for "I really, really, really like it") school this year?