(And All My) Work Be Praise

  Merry Christmas, one and all! Here’s what’s happening in the Gould household:          Levi , 15, is the quintessential super-scheduled high-achieving sophomore. His activities have expanded to include piano lessons, youth group, karate (plus working at the studio), math league, jazz band (new this month!), and volunteering at a local nursing home. He participates in worship team (singing or piano) about once a month, faithfully cleans the kitchen every night, and casually deflects all hero-worship from his younger siblings. Though NASA has been his end game for years, this summer’s accidental introduction to particle physics has him rethinking his life goals. Favorite 2024 memory: an excursion to Century City in Los Angeles for the “best soft pretzel ever” Favorite 2024 books: Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series Owen , 14, is now within half an inch of his mother’s height. This year he joined Levi at math league, besides continuing art lessons and...

Over the years, I've heard homeschool moms talk about doing so many activities that they can't find time to do school . This year, for the first time, I totally get it. This will officially be known as the Year of the Extracurricular. I'm going to be in the car as much as I'm in the kitchen this year, and we've already started talking about needing to make some decisions next  year. In addition, the youngest three and I will be attending a co-op twice a month, where they'll have two classes each. I also need to mention that while writing this I read my curriculum post from last year and had a good chuckle. So many things on that list got changed or ignored completely. I expect the same this year: in fact, I'm trusting that as we go along, God will make it clear which things aren't all that important and can slide off the plan without a backward glance! But I'm not one to start the year without a plan, and so without further ado: Levi: 10th grade Math...