Principled Discovery is shutting down.  I, however, will continue to blog under a new title at a new domain.  If you have enjoyed my postings here, please update your links and your feed readers so that you can join me at my new home on the web:  Roscommon Acres.  The content will be similar to what I’ve been posting here, but a little more personal.  Roscommon Acres is, after all, my home.  Or will be once we’re finished moving.  Most of the content from this blog has already been moved over there, and I’ve started writing again.  There’s even already a nifty about page if you would like to know a little more about my vision for our family and the blog.

The long version:

When a blog sits neglected for long stretches as this one has, it probably comes of little surprise when the author finally shuts it down.  Over the past year, a number of things have kept me from regular blogging:  having a baby, a hospitalization, a lengthy recovery, trying to sell our home, purchasing a home.  And sometimes, even when I had the time to write, my heart just wasn’t in it.  My mind was in a thousand other places.  But it gave me a lot of time to think about this blog and what I wanted from it.

It also gave me time to think about the time I spend on it and what else I could do with that time.

And then I realized I was going about this thinking all wrong.  I was asking all the wrong questions so the answers were not particularly useful.  There is something very tangible I have always gotten from blogging, but it was also always a sort of substitute for what I really wanted.  Rather than asking myself what I wanted from this blog, I needed to be asking myself what I wanted from myself.

Where do I want to be five years from now?  What goals do I have as a mom, as a homeschooler, as a writer?  How does blogging fit in with that?  Will it help?  Will it hinder?

And suddenly, rather than a storm cloud looming on the horizon with the thought of changing or closing down this blog, I began to get excited with all the possibilities.

And I found that blogging does have a place in those goals, just not quite the same place it had before my forced hiatus from serious blogging.

If you’re curious what those goals are, well, you’ll just have to follow me over at my new home.

Hectic, yes.  And blog issues weren’t the half of it.

It appears that for a brief time, my poor blog was hacked and redirected to one of those unmentionable sites.  My apologies to any of you who stopped by to check on me and found that.  Ick.  The rest of you, well, I’m going to have to wonder about seeing as my subscriber numbers actually increased during that whole mess.

The problem is fixed, at least temporarily, but also requires this blog being taken down for awhile.  Hopefully it won’t last too long, because I am beginning to rather miss my blog amongst everything which has been blocking me from it!

Note: You can still submit through the Blogcarnival submission form.

The easiest way to do so is via this link.

“No horses?”  I inquire with a glance in the rear view mirror.  She is busy sketching out her ideas in the journal she made.

“Oh, yes.  Of course there will be horses.”

I smile to see her so enthusiastic about writing.  It goes in phases with her.  I’d prefer she concentrate a little on finishing up her e-zine she is way overdue on, but I don’t really have time to help her with it right now, anyway.

“Mom, do you think my story is too much like Redwall?”

A story about all sorts of woodland creatures, living in an abbey with a squirrel for a hero?  The subtle color change in the name of the abbey likely would not shield her from copyright laws.  But I don’t want to dampen her enthusiasm, either.

“That depends, sweetheart.  If you tried to sell it or publish it in anyway, yes, it is too similar.  But writing just for you?  It is just fine.  Just make it your own stories about the little creatures.”

She looked up from her book, a little confused.

“Think of it like an artist.  People who want to be artists spend a lot of time copying great pieces of art.  They find a great master to study under and try to learn all his or her techniques so that they may become masters themselves.  Once they have learned to copy, they begin to create their own work and their own masterpieces.  It is not wrong to learn by copying.  The best way to become a good writer is to read and listen to good writing and your own style will develop out of that.”

She seemed satisfied and went back to her work.  We finally got to the house, and while I spent the afternoon painting trim work in the front room, she spent it lost in her tale of little woodland creatures in an abbey with a blue wall.  I’m still not sure how she is working in the horses, but she finally seems to be grasping the importance of the setting and how to use the introduction to draw a reader in.

some walls to build:

And some safety issues to sort out:

I have been busy.  Painting.

Oh, and making plans to build a chicken coop.

It seems a little out of order, especially at one in the morning when the children are all sleeping on the floor while I paint, but there does seem to be a limit to what I can do with five children on my own.  Once the estimates come back for the work we are hiring out, I think things should be moving along quickly.  But right now, I feel a bit like I’m very busy accomplishing nothing.

But I don’t have any time to reflect on that.  I have some major packing to do.

There will be no plays, nor poems, nor essays, nor even word searches.

There will only be turkey, and lots of it.

And for that break I am truly thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

• One is two years younger than she. One is three years older. The other three are her age.
• All five are Christian. Only three attend our church.
• Three are homeschooled. Two attend public school.
• One lives down the street. Four live thirty minutes or more away.
• One is Hispanic. One has enough Native American in her that you can tell. The other three are white.

And this in an area that is 91.4% white.

And I wonder, for all the concern about how homeschooled children will learn to appreciate diversity when raised in the bubble we have supposedly manufactured for them, how many children truly select friends who are so diverse?

We note how many opportunities homeschooled children have to play with others. We note that children do not learn to value others by sitting quietly next to them. We note that the playground is little more than a miniature stage for all our social ills.

We don’t like to talk so much about the challenges of giving our children the opportunity to develop friendships. Real, close, lasting friendships as opposed to numerous polite interactions with other children in an ever-rotating cycle of activities. Maybe that is because it isn’t a problem for many, but a number of homeschoolers I have talked to have sympathized readily with the need to be intentional in this area.

As I passed out scones, I thought that maybe that isn’t all bad. In school, you are surrounded by children. You have the option of forming bonds with others like you and building distinct barriers to keep those who are different away. With scarcity, however, comes a willingness to set aside superficial barriers such as race, income, location, etc., in favor of fulfilling the social needs every human being has.

When your class is 90% white, you notice the one Hispanic girl. Outside of that context, however, when you just want someone to play with, you are much more likely to notice that she is nice.

homeschool homeschooling home education socialization