And even more interruptions...

We returned from our family reunion (which was incredible, by the way -more on that later...) and I had to take my laptop into the computer store to get some things fixed before the warranty expired. They said it would be 3-5 days. Of course, a week later, they said they were waiting for the parts to come in. Then the parts came in, and a cable was missing from the order. So, 9 days later, I got my laptop back.

Life went on as usual, I just couldn't blog about it. :) It was a little scary - and frustrating - realizing how much of my life is housed on my hard drive, and how dependent I am - even in the classroom - on the internet! So many times we will be discussing a topic and I'll pull up a picture, or a video or song online to go along with the lesson.

One day, we read Matthew 1:1-17, which details the genealogy of Jesus Christ. I gave each of the kids a 4 generation Family Tree chart to fill out and realized that my genealogy software was on my hard drive. I started pulling files out of my genealogy filing cabinet and saw that I have neglected my paper files since I started adding my research to my software program. There were many blanks left "to be filled in later".

Yesterday, we talked about Desert Ecosystems and there was a section on sand storms. I rejoiced to have my old friend sitting on the corner of my desk, so I could easily go to Youtube and find a clip from the movie Hidalgo, demonstrating a sand storm.

While I have a great respect for Charlotte Mason and her teaching methods that were popularized 100 years ago, and there is nothing like holding a textbook in your hand from 1911 and watching your little ones' eyes light up as you read from it, I also have an extreme appreciation for modern technology and how we can use it to give a clearer picture of the topic at hand. (How's that for a fine example of a run-on sentence? :D)

So that said, my laptop is back and working great, so... let the blogging proceed! :)