Share Four Somethings March 2021

It’s the last week of March, which means it’s time for another round of Share Four Somethings. I’m not sure where March went, to be honest, but spring has arrived in the Mid-South, and we’ve been enjoying both drenching rainstorms and days of sunshine and breezes. When I lived in the Midwest, autumn was my favorite season, but here, it is definitely spring. For me, spring also means homeschool planning for next year, which in turn leads me to more than one of my Four Somethings for this month. So let’s go.

Something Loved

I spent last weekend in St. Louis at the Great Homeschool Convention. It’s really a conference with two-and-a-half days of classes or sessions on homeschooling topics from homeschooling with babies in the mix to getting your high schooler ready to graduate. It was a bit smaller this year (thanks, virus), but I got to spend some quality time with some of my favorite homeschool mentors, who have become friends: Sarah Mackenzie of Read-Aloud Revival, Pam Barnhill of Your Morning Basket, and Colleen Kessler of Raising Lifelong Learners. I also had an accidental coffee chat with one of my favorite speakers, Andrew Pudewa of the Institute for Excellence in Writing, and Martin Cothran of The Imaginative Conservative. Martin’s class on Western Civilization was one of my favorites of the weekend. My other favorite was a class with Adelaide Olguin of talkbox.mom, the fantastic speaking-centered foreign language curriculum we just started using. As a homeschooling mom, I find I need regular inspiration to keep me excited and energized. Kids are constantly changing as they grow, which means our homeschools are also constantly changing, and we have to tweak and adjust our homeschool routines and curricula from time to time. I always benefit from an influx of ideas. (Which, incidentally, is why I started The Relatable Homeschoolers podcast with a group of fellow homeschool moms–to share our ideas with other homeschool moms who also need that kind of regular influx. You can catch Season 2 now wherever you get your podcasts.)

Something Read

Also in the homeschooling vein, I just finished up Homeschool Bravely by Jamie Erickson of The Unlikely Homeschool. I wasn’t expecting much, to be frank. I don’t feel like I need help when it comes to being brave as a homeschooling mom. I’ve never been afraid of homeschooling. I generally think it’s the best thing to happen to modern education, and my personality tends to lean more toward natural conviction than self-doubt once I’ve made a choice. And people who know me, knowing this, tend not to bother trying to challenge me on the efficacy of homeschooling. I’m no shrinking violet, and I can list my 2,365 reasons for homeschooling without faltering. If provoked, I can do it with vitriol. But this book actually reminded me that we all times when we need to be shored up, and that God is there to do that for us. When we’re worried about our kids, tired from slogging through long days, and math isn’t going well, to just keep on is brave. I loved this message from Jamie, and it’s now on my list of books to recommend to other homeschoolers, especially new ones.

Something Treasured

Because homeschoolers also take breaks, my homeschooling sister and her brood of five kids, ages 13 to 2, came for a visit earlier this month. We hadn’t seen each other in person in two years (again, thanks, virus), but she and her family weathered the contagion in December, so we felt good about a visit. We hit the zoo, the history and science museum, the planetarium, and the nature center. We cooked and laughed and jumped on the trampoline. My oldest nephew and I resumed our tradition of many games of Yahtzee. There were endless rounds of hide-and-seek with flashlights after nightfall. It was a week we will treasure in memory for a long time.

Something Ahead

I had a tough time thinking of something ahead. We don’t have anything planned (once again, thanks, virus). There’s a lot we don’t know right now. As I was pondering this lack of things to look forward to, though, it occurred to me that E and I are approaching our ten-year anniversary this summer. It’s been twelve years since we met (thanks, internet), and when I think back to the years leading up to that meeting, I am amazed all over again to be a decade into the marriage–and the life–I dreamed of. God is so, so good.

I’ll see you in April for another round of Share Four Somethings! And I’d love to hear YOUR Four Somethings, too. Leave a comment, or find me on Facebook or Instagram and tell me all your March goodness!