Mongoose Mayhem

Well, so much for that two blogs a week! I must have jinxed myself :)

We've had a lot happening with Scouts, soccer, bellydance and our other enrichment activities. Today we started our 6 week Friday co-op with other homeschooling families. It's such a great activity but it's also stressful since all of us have to teach classes too. I'm doing Nutrition for the 9-12 year olds. My class went well despite the Murphy's Law of getting things together. All my food pyramids were bright red. Maybe the printer was angry? LOL All I know was the .pdfs on the FDA website were colorful and interesting. But they came out of my printer various shades of red. I gave up at the point and just used them anyway! The kids thought it was funny. Jimmy and Mike had a good day and enjoyed their classes so that's what matters most.

At home, one of our favorite activities is to sit down together and read a "classic". I've been picking books that have a boy experiencing various challenges or life moments. Over the summer we read one about a primitive island boy who leaves his community to confront the sea - which took his mother's life, and almost his, many years previous. He was fearful of the sea and felt his father was ashamed of him, considering they were fisherman. Of course, he overcomes his fears and shocks everyone by returning strong and confident months later.

Then we read The Day No Pigs Would Die. That one was really good too. Another time and way of life. But very sad ending as the boy's prized pig has to be slaughtered and the father dies. The boy, only 13, has to step in and fill his shoes.

We also read a book about a teen who survives a plane crash in the Canadian outback. He is rescued but later decides he preferred the solitude of the outback and returns - with plans to visit a native trapper friend. He comes upon an injured dog and sets off to find the dog's people. On the journey to solve the mystery, he discovers his trapper friend, the wife, and the grandmother, have been killed by a renegade bear. When the "mounties" say they can't do much, the boy hunts down the bear (with the dog's help) and kills it to avenge their deaths.

When we got home today, I finished our last two chapters of our current book, Where The Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. I warned that the ending was traumatic. Jimmy is very sensitive to that sort of thing - the series he is reading right now had him very angry at the end of the first book. The main character was killed and he was ready to ditch the whole set because it was so upsetting. I encouraged him to continue, "they won't do that to you again in the same story" (I hope not!!!), and he is now almost done with the 4th book. I think he read book 2 and 3 last week. That the fastest he has ever gotten through a series.

Anyway, we piled in the recliner and began. And then we got the box of tissues. And cried. And blew our noses. And cried some more. The last two chapters were heart wrenching. We were all puffy faced and stuffed up by the time I finished the last page. Then we sat quietly, remembering the characters' journeys and absorbing the story's messages.

But this is the sort of thing that I love about homeschooling. I don't know where we'd find the time for these moments if we were the typical public school family. But today, the boys and I were graced by sharing the ending of a memorable story of trust, faith, friendship, determination, love, loss, change and healing. All good things for boys to learn and appreciate as they grow into young men.