Dom finds some relief from the intense Spanish heat.
(Photo credit: George Martell/The Pilot Media Group) May not be reproduced without permission. All rights reserved.
…. and all is once more right with the world.
Dom’s iPad allowed him to edit photo captions and write blog posts in the field.
(Photo credit: George Martell/The Pilot Media Group) May not be reproduced without permission. All rights reserved.
It’s been lovely following the adventures of the Boston pilgrims from my armchair as Dom journeyed with them to tell the story. Via the World Youth Day 2011 blog that Dom created for the Boston Archdiocese and the beautiful photos that Dom’s colleague George posted live to Flickr and even a few Skype calls, including one very spotty two minute call from the field where the pilgrims had Mass with Pope Benedict (on Saturday while they were waiting for the Pope to arrive).
We had fun playing Where’s Waldo with the crowd shots.
Can you find Dom?
(Photo credit: George Martell/The Pilot Media Group) May not be reproduced without permission. All rights reserved.
But it is so very, very nice to have him home again. The shrieking in the minivan when we spotted him at the airport was not to be believed. Oh such joy from my crew. Even Anthony seems relieved and joyful to have his world back in its proper alignment once more.
I’ve shared out some of the chocolate he brought me. (Because he knows me so well!)
This is like crack. So good!
I’m looking forward to some Spanish wine and digging into a kilo of Manchego cheese.
Mmm… the two bottles that weren’t confiscated by security.
The girls have had fun playing Pilgrim’s Progress wearing his backpack and hat. They’ve flown on planes and slept in the field and been sure to drink plenty of ice cold water so they don’t get heat stroke.
Sophie the pilgrim.
There are stories to tell and memories to share. Most of all just enjoying the gift of presence.
My prayers today for all families who are separated, especially families whose daddies are away serving to protect our country in dangerous places.
Katherine, I agree. I think many pre-school and kindergarten programs are really just elaborate ways of trying to have a classroom recreate the learning experience that happens very naturally when children spend the day with a loving, engaged mother in a family setting. Even Montessori seems to me to be using a tightly controlled environment to allow teachers to aid students through various developmental tasks that I think happen much more naturally in the home.
I really don’t think there is a single “best” book or curriculum or anything. Only you making the best of the materials you have to hand. I’m pretty sure you could give kids a perfectly fine education with a library card, some paper and some pencils if that’s all you had available to you. And if you didn’t have the paper and pencils a stick and a patch of dirt would do.
i wholeheartedly recommend the rest of the “little house” books. i read “little house in the big woods” twice as a child and the others as an adult living not far from de smet, sd.
I LOVE Bella’s paintings! Beautiful!
When I was preparing for Cecilia’s Kindergarten school year, I looked at what our county expects their children to learn in public school. I’m still not sure what “identifying and adhering to the boundaries of one’s own body in various activities” means but when I read “Hold a book and turn the pages correctly” I figured I wasn’t in over my head homeschooling Kindergarten.
I’ve slowly (too slowly probably, but I am always second guessing myself) been realizing that a lot of what school systems expect children to learn in preschool and kindergarten children will learn naturally at home provided they aren’t abandoned by their parents 24/7 to a TV. I have no formal education in Education but it seems to me like the school systems have taken a lot of things learned naturally and broken them down into the natural building blocks of learning, given them long-worded descriptions, and made them “requirements.” It also seems like they have taken the lowest possible denominator and made that the standard for all children. I mean, maybe I’m grossly ignorant, but do that many 5 year olds really not know how to hold a book and turn the pages?
Having only had 1 class in Education, I’m always unsure of which step I should take next or what text I should use or what is best but the more I’m seeing, reading and teaching, the more the regulations seem superfluous, nitty-gritty and over the top. It seems to me as long as you keep learning fun and encourage children to keep asking questions, trying new things, and learn, they leave the county standards in the dust.
On picture 3, Bella did tell me from left to right:
Sophia, Bella, Ben and then to the right, Anthony.
kinda blew me away….