For Liza Q
Studium Discere Tutorials offers classes in Latin, Logic, Rhetoric, and World History taught by Peter Roise, a graduate of New Saint Andrews College, who has an extensive knowledge of world history and a knack for teaching his students to see God's providence in history. Last year my oldest began taking his two year World History class (year 1 syllabus here), and is continuing with WH2 this year (syllabus here). Mr. Roise begins the class with Genesis 1:1 and weaves world history in with Scripture, to show students when the events in the Bible occured and how they fit in with what was going elsewhere in the world. In the process some pretty interesting information is brought to light, like the fact that King Ahab was recorded in contemporary documents as a wealthy and powerful king, and was highly respected and considered to be Israel's greatest ruler... by the pagan kings around him. (Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart.) The students read a lot of primary source material, outlining each book as they read it, and they turn in two term papers per year. This class has worked out well for us since my daughter needed more challenging material and more structure than I can provide at this time.

Tomorrow is Michaelmas or, more properly, The Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels, and since we always have our feasts on the night before, tonight we'll be having a special thanksgiving meal using many of the ideas that Liza mentioned in a comment this summer.

Facts on Michaelmas from the Internet.

1. Harvest Festival, around the Fall Equinox. Autumn is our favorite season around here so I'm up for adding a holiday.
2. End of blackberry season (this was pretty funny, with Satan falling in the brambles!!) Maybe we'll have some Polaner All-Fruit Blackberry.
3. Goose. Is that like duck? I don't like duck. Can I substitute a roast chicken??
4. Storehouses filled. We could stock up at BJs.
5. St. George is involved somehow. Sounds like a good time to read the Hodges/Hyman book - my little ones have never seen it.
6. Celtic, as far as I can tell. I have a great CD of Scottish Music (The Battlefield Band) that we can listen to.

So, a new holiday, chez Q. We can do a big shopping in the morning, eat PBJ (blackberry, not grape) for lunch, listen to the CD while we are putting away all our shopping stuff, read St. George (and other fairy tales with lovely illustrations), read about Satan's fall (not sure about the brambles, though...) and have a Feast with Mock-Goose, harvesty vegetables (carrots/turnips?), a BIG loaf of bread (another tradition I saw) and some kind of harvesty dessert - Apple Crisp with Ice Cream sounds good.

If we do it, I'll let you know how it goes!

I'm planning on serving spaghetti squash with meat and tomato sauce, sauteed zucchini and yellow squash with onions, homemade bread with blackberry jam, and apple crisp and ice cream for dessert. Tomorrow we'll listen to Celtic music and read St. George and the Dragon. Thanks, Liza, for all the ideas! Before you posted that, I knew nothing at all of the traditions associated with this feast.

When I was growing up we always started school around the 20th of August, but when I started homeschooling my own children the first day of school was the day after Labor Day, which seemed like a nice "traditional" time to start school. (You can see I'm big on tradition!) But then three years ago, when we learned that there was such a thing as a Church calendar and Church year, we began to rethink the way we order our lives - should it be according to the state year or the church year? Well, when you word the question that way, there's only one obvious answer, so we've been gradually reorienting ourselves to the Church year, starting by having more focused family devotions and Scripture readings during Holy Week, then adding the Christmas season (we were already celebrating Advent). So this summer when I was planning out the coming shcool year, I decided to find a Church holy day to mark the beginning of the school year. I admit I was pretty haphazard in the effort. My method was simply to look at the church calendar and pick a convenient day in September, which happens to have two holy days - Holy Cross, on the 14th and Michaelmas, on the 29th. In my brief research, I learned that the colleges in England traditionally began the year at Michaelmas, so from now on the 30th of September will be the official first day of school for us.

Now it's story time with my little ones - we're reading through The Chronicles of Narnia, so I'll sign off with an appropriate Psalm. God's blessings on you all!

Psalm 91
1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.