Breakdown or Blessing?

Life is busy for us.  I, the mom, now work.  I used to stay at home serving only MY FAMILY.  MY husband, MY kids; that was all I had to concern myself with. (Our kids are now 13, 16, 18 and 20) We are also involved with an organization that works with youth 2 nights a week, another new endeavor. Sometimes it seems like there isn't a spare moment to even think.  Life has changed!  As you can imagine, this has rearranged how I approach home schooling.  There is a lot of stop and go and not a lot of smoothness, one day flowing nicely into the next.  This has really put many hurdles in my path, I've needed the grace of God in ways I've never needed before.  This is always good though. 

When I plan my home school year, I always over plan.  I set the bar so high, with so many expectations and things to get done, books to make it through.  I've always had this "disease".  I set myself up for a sort of "failure".  In the end, I find that it's really not a failure at all.  The fact is, I succumb to the pressure that comes with rules set by others.  Some of them are necessary, some of them are foolish and unreasonable.  My homeschool year many times only resembles that plan of action I submit at the beginning of each year.  This is all ok, trust me.  They always make more progress than I "planned".  God is a much better planner.

Are you wondering what's up with the title?  Well, we've had a lot of BREAKDOWNS and I'm seeing them as a home school BLESSING, maybe even a PROVISION.  Totally NOT in the lesson plan, but priceless!  Valuable hands on learning!

This is a clutch

this is a rear end

I think Sam is in here waiting for the action on this job.

Bryan is in a tractor here, new for him.

This isn't a breakdown, but a jobsite that dad needed help with.  So Andy is in the ditch putting pipe together.

This is a ring and pinion, which goes in the rear differential.  Did you know that?

Here it is up close, you can see that this in not normal.

Here is another shot of the rear differential, or rear end, or rear "diff".

Andy says in the last 6 months they have put in :

• 3 clutches
• 2 head gaskets
• 2 transmissions
• 2 rear ends
• 2 sets of ball joints
• 1 turbo
• 2 alternaters
• 1 voltage regulator
• 1 water pump  
• trouble shooting battery problems

I don't think this even begins to cover the great hands on learning that has come up with all these breakdowns and business work!  It's been great.  This is shop class on steroids! 

These boys are going to know how to fix anything!



THE END

Serious educational endeavor!

I picked these up years ago at a library book sale. The kids were much younger and I put them away in the cupboard. The titles kind of scared me, actually! The Federalists Papers sounded good and worth listening too....."contains many of the ideas that made the American Revolution a remarkable political experiment. It has been called the third most important document in American history - third only to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution itself." I was a little intimidated by some of the others. But they were 50 cents, on cassette tape. I love cassette tapes. So I scooped up the whole stack! There are three series here: Giants of Political Thought, Great Economic Thinkers, and The U.S. Constitution. I am seeing them as points of view and schools of thought. You might call it a worldview. So, I'm thinking this is Mrs. B's High School civics/government course. What do you think? A written synopsis for each title? Yeah, that should seal the deal. All for $7.50. This homeschool mom knows what's going on next years paperwork.......it makes me want to see if these are the complete set. hmmmm. I think I'm homeschooling myself when I dig into things like this. Maybe it will be family education time. We'll listen....we'll judge.....we'll form an opinion. That's a well balanced education, seeing all sides. So sometime we'll let you know what was up with that Karl Marx guy and just what was his problem with capitalism. By the way, do you know who said, "knowledge is power"? whew! Should I even dig into these this year? I don't know. These were published by Carmichael & Carmichael, Inc. They were produced by KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTS. I just found out the whole economic thinkers set of 26 is $194.00. (So I don't have the whole set, darn.) Did I save some money or what? Buying just one book at a time was even a great deal more! Now, I have not listened to any of these yet, so I don't yet know if I can recommend them. I am pleased to say that I am ready for next year's High School Social Studies.