Every year since 2008, for two weeks (during the week just before starting and the first week of home-educating) I have the above picture as my desktop background on my computer. Alice Gunther wrote the prayer (as quoted in her book, Haystack Full of Needles, a must-read for ALL homeschool moms) and it’s such an inspirational prayer for me and mine (and the background image to which I placed this prayer is the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains that are just an hour or so away)!

Yes, it’s just about that time: I’ll spend this week polishing-up plans for the year (“traditional” schools call this “teacher work days”) and getting the kids re-oriented to a more regular morning, daytime, and evening schedule. We’ll organize our school books and our rooms … get any supplies I might have forgotten (yes, I am getting to that age) … and, generally working on getting back into the groove (especially after spending the last three weeks steeped in OKLAHOMA tech-week and performances .. late nights and late morning starts).

The book I’ll be using this week to orient my mind and soul to leading my children on the path of learning will be the amazing book written by Chantal R. Howard: The School of the Family. I’ve pre-read the book once and will now spend each morning reading a couple of chapters, making notes and writing journal-reflections, and using this inspiring book to help remind me exactly why I homeschool: to help my children eventually become soldiers for God and saints in heaven!

Here’s a snippet from this book:

This is what is meant by the school of the family. It is not a school of perfection or a school of guilt, but a school of constant conversion, that has the power to transform the world though its witness of love. It is a school of great hope for society. It is the front line in the renaissance of character that is necessary to turn around our culture.

This week, we’ll be starting up a few activities … planning and organizing … sending our 3rd-year college student back to school … and generally working toward the big kick-off of our home-learning adventure for 2011-2012. Won’t you join us on our journey?

ETA: If you are interested in getting a copy of The School of the Family (Amazon seems to be out) … Chantal Howard has a website where you can buy the book directly or you can get a copy from Aquinas and More.