Wangari Maathai dies

She was so inspirational, and will be missed.

UU Middle Schoolers

A fun weekend at Camp with 70 or so UU Middle Schoolers was how I passed the last few days. I only had two boys from my church that I was chaperoning, but I pitched in and led a drama workshop, coordinated the talent/no talent show, and helped wherever I could. I was pretty tired by the end of the weekend, but it was fun! Middle school is such an interesting stage, with the kids changing so fast, the big differences between kids, and the awkward energy that isn't always sure of itself. These were great kids, and I enjoyed my time with them very much.

Homeschool Field Trips

Now that I've got the kids homeschooling again, I know I need to network with other homeschooling families to provide the "social network" that will be healthy for me and them. (Although the church is a great community for me, I'm trying to play it safe with the "don't put all your eggs in one basket" principle).

So I found a "Meetup" group that is for homeschoolers in two counties, one of which is mine, and has A LOT of members. This group is also very active, with multiple events each week that you could RSVP to and a diverse membership interested in lots of different things. I'm very hopeful that this will be a great way to meet other homeschool families, although the spread out geography is a downside.

Today was our first group field trip, and it was good. The group was too big to really jump in and "get to know" anyone, but just eyeballing folks and making snap judgments about them told me that this is a pretty diverse group and that while they may not all be "my people", I'm not going to feel like a freak in the group, either.

We met for a school group tour at a local farm and cider mill. It was lovely fun for the kids.

Our next event will be a "Math Salon". I really am hopeful about this group!

First Day of School

We were ready to start the school year this morning. We had the spiffy new school room.

There were some workbooks.

There was a boardgame.

There was "recess" at a local park.

And there was time spent helping me with a project at church (finishing up a work-in-progress from Sunday), and a few hours working independently in one of the church classrooms while I did office hours.

A pretty good first day!

I've unpacked my camera again!

What greeted me when I got home from Romania.

The pottery I brought home with me.

I got my little puppy fixed right after I was home. No puppies from this puppy!

There was a lot of this sort of thing - boxes everywhere!

And it's gradually been unpacked and organized this week.

I love so many things about this new house.

We made one change to something we didn't love - we demolished the built-in shelves in this closet off the living room and we opened it up into a little "red velvet theater box" for our TV. We are thinking red theater curtains that closed over it would be cool too.

And it's starting to really feel like home. I love this house!

Recommitment

Renewing Our Commitment to Religious Education

Minister: One of the primary roles of this community

is to insure the religious education of our children.

While we do not believe in indoctrinating our children,

we have a responsibility as a community

to help them develop their grounding as religious people

that their hearts might be receptive to both life’s wonders and tragedies.

We also have a responsibility to insure they understand the values

and convictions we hold as a religious people

and perhaps even more importantly,

to insure they know and feel they have a religious home here –

a community that will accept them as the people they are.

This responsibility does not fall simply to our Director of Religious Education

or those who choose to teach in our religious education program.

It's a responsibility we share as a community.

DRE: The Unitarian religious educator, Sophia Lyon Fahs,

once wrote the following words:

All that quickens sympathetic imagining,

that awakens sensitivity to other’s

feelings,

all that enriches and enlarges under-

standing of the world;

all that strengthens courage,

that adds to the love of living;

all that leads to developing skills

needed for democratic participations –

all these put together are the curriculum

through which children learn.

Those words, written so many years ago,

still convey the spirit of liberal religious education.

To that spirit, and to the dedication of all

who participate in keeping it alive in our religious education program,

we shall now give recognition.

Minister: Will the teachers in our children’s program please rise.

Teachers of young people, you stand here in the presence of this congregation.

In doing so you declare your intention to fulfill your responsibilities

as you are given the capacity.

Mindful of this challenge that is yours, let us meditate on what this means.

DRE: We seek at this time to identify ourselves with the source of all life and light.

May we be aware at all times of the high privilege

of sharing this adventure of mind and spirit with young people.

May we be conscious of the uniqueness and sanctity of every human being.

Grant us, week by week, the insight, cheerfulness, patience and energy

we need to make our relationships meaningful.

Help us with our young friends, to grow in wisdom, in faith,

in generous thinking and useful living.

Thus we dedicate ourselves to the teaching of living religion.

Minister: I ask the teachers to remain standing,

and will the young people of the congregation please rise.

You stand with the women and men

who have volunteered to share with you

the search for religious meaning in life.

In doing so you declare your intentions

to assume your responsibilities in this adventure.

Let us meditate on what this means.

DRE: We pause to think seriously of what it means to be good participants

in our own religious education.

It means bringing our best to our time together on Sunday mornings.

May we remember always that we are part of a group

seeking to know one another better.

Let us be faithful in attendance, courteous in our behavior,

cooperative in all our activities,

and may we seek to apply what we learn here to our daily living.

Minister: Please remain standing, and will the congregation please rise.

Members of the congregation,

you stand with those who have taken upon themselves

the dedicated task of teaching religion to our young people,

and you stand with the young people themselves.

They will need your help along the way.

Let us meditate on what this means,

speaking with me the words printed in your order of service.

(This part is printed in the order of service)

Renewing Our Commitment to our children’s religious education

Congregation: We seek in this time to be identified with our

children and their teachers:

May we be invested at all times in our children’s development.

May we be actively interested in our children’s program.

May we come to know the teachers and to help them as we are able.

May we come to know our children as persons in their own right.

May we work with our young people at home, helping them to think

about and make use of what they learn here.

In our daily living let us be better examples and to cultivate in each of our lives

those values we consider important for them.

Saturday Book Post

I'm still here, slowly unpacking and trying to get organized again after the massive upheaval of moving. But I'm so many weeks behind on a book post that I think I should jot down a bit of what we've been reading and listening to in this last bit of summer.

I took Blacklisted from the PTA and the Song of Ice and Fire series with me on my trip, and got to borrow my husband's kindle (so nice!). I didn't like Blacklisted, mainly because it's one of those books where you either can relate to and like the author or you won't like it. If she could be one of your circle of friends, dishing it out about the reality of parenting from your point of view, then you'll probably find it funny and fun to read. But I don't think I would be one of her friends - I would probably be one of the overly earnest and crunchy/natural moms that she makes fun of - so I stopped reading the book.

A Song of Ice and Fire is a big sweeping fantasy series, with dragons and demons and magic, but the fantasy is matched with political intrigue and tragic generational and familial conflicts, and generously splashed with blood and violence, much of it sexual violence (although not described in detail but just referred to factually). It's really not for kids. I like the series very much, but it's almost too "real" to be the escapist fun summer read I thought I was picking out.

Meanwhile, the kids listened to Eragon and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh on audio CD during their summer road trip. Carbon liked Eragon a lot, but Hypatia wasn't really ready for it yet. The Rats of Nimh is just a wonderful book, and both children enjoyed it very much. It's so much better than the movie.

Hypatia has discovered her brother's old Magic Treehouse CD's, and is listening to them at night while she falls asleep. "Jack and Annie" delights her just as it did Carbon at that age, and just as he did she retains little nuggets of information from the stories - they are effective for that age whether or not they are good fiction stories. We're also reading her the Old Mother West Wind stories right now.

Carbon is now the proud owner of a boxed set of the Warriors series, and we are reading number 4. He still loves those wild cats!

Now, to get back to work on all this unpacking, organizing, and getting ready for the start of regular RE at church tomorrow ...