Wesley and I are reading through the Little House on the Prairie series and today we read about Pa getting surrounded by wolves on his ride home (without his gun) and then more wolf encounters later that night! We also read about how Ma got injured while they were building their house, amongst other adventures and misadventures. One thing about reading stories from those times is that you get a sense of perspective. When this series was read to me as a child, I only thought about how amazing their lives were and how much I wanted to live that way, coming back to them as an adult and reading it more from Ma's perspective really changes the landscape! What an exemplary woman she was, to brave all of Pa's hairbrained adventures and ideas with such grace...how she didn't lose her sanity is a mystery to me. More than once today I found myself almost complaining, but was stopped short with thoughts of Ma's grace and perseverance. 

 I am so grateful for the opportunity to read stories to my children and give them a home education. The connections that they make are magical, unplanned, mysterious, and wonderful and it is such a privilege to provide the materials for those connections and to get to be there when they happen! Another marvelous thing occurs: while the teacher is reading these stories to the children, her mind makes connections too, different connections. The stories that I read to Wesley are not simply forming his imagination, they are refreshing my own. Revisiting the Narnia series as well as the Little House series, both of which I read as a child, has been such a joy and a source of comfort impossible to describe. And as we advance together in home education I look forward to discovering some of the classic stories that I missed growing up, notably the ancient myths and legends along with Shakespeare. He intimidates me for sure, but we have a really good Shakespeare festival here in St. Mary's Ks (I hear, I have not yet been but I plan to go this year) and I am hoping that experiencing a play will help motivate me and the boys in our love for his stories.

I missed a day of writing yesterday (which is going to happen) but my goal is to write some everyday either here, in my journal, or to a friend. I had got in the habit of reading a LOT and writing hardly any. I would like to shift that pattern into reading some and writing every day! I think I will retain better what I am learning and hopefully sharing the process will be a blessing to someone else, too. 

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