Kortney Garrison

Homeschooling With Ease

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so you want to write 300 blog posts…

12 July 2014 by Kortney

july 09 151well, i made it!  i hit my goal of writing 300 blog posts before my birthday…and then i stopped posting.  not really, but almost!  it just happened to be a very busy week: VBS every afternoon and three (!) classes running concurrently for me.  add in summer temperatures that are getting warmer every day, and my mornings have been quite full.  but i wanted to write a bit about what i learned this year.

  • give yourself margin.  my goal was to write 300 posts in a year, not to write every day.  i had a day off every week plus some sick days built in.  that made it feel a lot more spacious and a lot less like work.
  • write a series.  i wrote two–one about keeping advent and one about celebrating the 50 days of Easter.  a series offers focus for the writing.  it also relieves the tedium of always reporting what’s happening in our days because there’s not all that much variation: we went to the library!  we took a walk!  read this neat article!  and when you’ve got the long year still in front of you, it feels so good to map out a few days or weeks of writing and maybe even write a few posts early and schedule them to appear on the appointed day.  there’s nothing like waking up and already having a post up!
  • participate online.  of course there are the few sites you always visit, but what about throwing your net a little wider?  this year i joined twitter.  i know!  but it’s become a great way for me to find new people outside my normal homeschool mama blog universe.  i also went deeper.  also for the first time this year i participated in a MOOC.  again, it’s something good to write about, something a little outside my normal byways to think about.  i wasn’t taking the classes to improve my blogging, but all the writing and thinking spilled over and made this place richer.
  • write for 31 days.   i also linked my Advent series with The Nester’s 31 Days series.  serious bump in traffic there!  i don’t know how many of you are still reading all these months later, but i’m happy to have you!  the series gives you a smaller canvas to work on and helps build momentum.  it’s really my #1 piece of advice.  the convergence of ModPo and 31 Days last October made it easy for me to write nearly every day.
  • lower your standards.  William Stafford says that when you’re writing and you get stuck, you should lower your standards and keep going.  what passes as a blog post certainly got a bit looser this year!  i started posting more pictures, more quotes.  and every week i had two mini-series–one called Sabbath Rest, a simple image and quote from the lectionary for that day, and one featuring a quote from the archives of the homeschooling magazine called Growing Without Schooling.  these posts were restorative to me.  i got to spend time reading, pondering, looking.  i hope they were of use to you too!

so those are my five bullet points of advice.  go forth and write!  i can’t wait to see what *you* make!

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wonders

7 July 2014 by Kortney

IMG_2075on Saturday AP took the oldest and the youngest to the farmers’ market to pick up our CSA share.  that left Nicolas and me alone to finish up lunch prep (salmon cakes with smoked salmon from Nana and Papa Sam!).  then we headed out to the back yard.

we ended up sitting on the edge of the deck talking about numbers–specifically 40, that big number that i’ll be turning in a couple weeks.  we did a little math, but mostly we just talked in the shade of the great horse chestnut tree.  then we came inside, and he crushed all the graham crackers for our pie crust.  we finished melting the butter and pressing the crumbs into the pie plate.  about this time the others returned home and the house filled up with all the busy sounds of five people living together.

Nicolas is the middle child.  he is quiet and speaks deliberately.  he is content and ready for just about anything.  he also happens to be surrounded by children who are louder and more dramatic than he is!  this means that in our day to day life, his voice often gets drowned out.

it was just wonderful to spend time with Nico, one on one.  it’s something that Julie Bravewriter (as we call her at our house!)  recommends.  we’ve gone out to coffee together before, but this was so much richer because we were in our own comfortable space and had work to do in common.  i overheard him tell his sister how much he liked his mama-time!  when he was born, we called him Nicolas the Wonderworker.  i want to make sure there is space + time for this boy full of wonders.

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sabbath rest

6 July 2014 by Kortney

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Let us give thanks to the Lord for his mercy and the wonders he does for his children. For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. Psalm 107.8-9

Out of the mouths of infants and children, O Lord, your majesty is praised above the heavens.  Psalm 8.2

At this time the disciples came to Jesus and said, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

So he called a little child to him whom he set among them.

Then he said, In truth I tell you, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  And so, the one who makes himself as little as this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  Matthew 18.1-4

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poems + prayers

5 July 2014 by Kortney

IMG_1998:: can you see Jojo’s tiny footprints in the newly turned soil? ::

this week i came across a most wonderful midsummer adventure–a poetry writing MOOC made by the folks at the Iowa Writers Workshop.  i found the course a few days late and have been catching up this week.  it’s been an extra treat to run across ModPo people in the forums and get a chance to read their poems.  each week there are two videos by established poets sharing a bit of their process or other ideas, then an assignment to write a poem using the poet’s ideas and prompts.  the videos alone are worth your time if you crave good words and the chance to listen to people deeply involved in the lifetime process of confronting the page.

i also listened to the introductory recording from a Gerard Manley Hopkins retreat produced by Pray-As-You-Go.  i love the idea of employing lectio divina on something other than scripture.  when i hear people doing close readings of poems, i think that’s what theology should be–a deep wrestling with all the places of consonance and assonance in the text.  this retreat is theologians using poetry.  i am certainly going to keep on listening.

finally, i saw the title of a book, haven’t actually laid eyes on the book itself!  it’s called Praying in Color.  basically doodling or zentangling while praying.  i am very interested in this practice as coloring has become such a powerful way for us to reflect and meditate.  it’s coming via interlibrary loan!

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