All About the Name
by A+ Homeschooling
.jpg)
I always thought it would be satisfying to
have a name for our homeschool, sort of a permanent thing,
or official, so to speak. A few years ago, the children and
I discussed this while reading The Swiss Family Robinson.
(the edition edited by William H. G. Kingston)
Father Robinson inspired us in chapter 5. He had proposed
naming the various locations on the island saying to his
family, “For it will become more and more troublesome to
explain what we mean unless we do so. Besides which we shall
feel much more at home if we can talk as do people in
inhabited countries.” So the Robinsons decided on various
names for their places of visitation.
“We could make names for the places around our house," I
suggested to the children.
“Yes, let’s do!” they all agreed.
First we thought of “The Storehouses” which named the
grain storage bins behind our house, then we had a dilemma
about what to name the barn. We couldn’t find anything more
imaginative than what we already called it, “The Quonset”,
so left it alone. There followed a succession of various
ideas for other places on the farm; Great Blue Heron River
for the larger ditch (since we’ve seen a blue heron there),
etc.
“What about Minnow Creek for the closest ditch?” Serenity
suggested.
“Yes, because we’ve seen minnows in it! Then we could
call our farm ‘Minnow Creek Farm’, " the other children
added enthusiastically.
“That’s good, but we should ask Daddy about it before we
start making any signs,” I cautioned as I anticipated what
would happen next. I then remembered that I had always
wanted to have a name for our home school. “We could name
our school ‘Minnow Creek School‘!” I suggested, adding in
the next breath, “On second thought, maybe not, it sounds
too fishy.”
That was a few years ago and we've moved across the
country, so it seems that it was better not to have that
name. In the past few months we've acquired some acreage,
put some cows on it and hope to be moving there soon. We
have tried and tried to come up with a name for the farm,
but I've tried to learn not to push things that just don't
seem quite right, so the farm doesn't have an official name
YET.
But...when we bought the cattle, we had to
have a brand. My husband came up with the idea and
instantly, I liked it. He said, "It should be A+, for Amy,
plus everybody else." The children agreed and I smiled. It
had happened. The Name, but not in my time or by my idea.
But it was good. And it means lots of things, not just named
after me, but a quest of doing everything heartily (A+) as
to the Lord. (Colossians 3:23) We haven't officially named
our homeschool yet, but it is a theme for me now.
So, timing is everything. While we would
like to be in a larger home (with more room for ongoing
projects, etc.) living out in the country, or have a 2nd
grader more excited about reading, or (fill-in-the-blank),
I'm reminded again that things don't always happen right
when I think is best no matter how hard I want to push for
it, but in the right time as God sees best.
Copyright 2003 by Amy Ringger
Update: Summer of 2004. We sold our home in town
and moved into a small cabin on a farm, so we're living in
the country again, but in a small place with its own
challenges. We're hoping to get into large quarters
soon while enjoying the time we have now.
Update Winter 2004.
Due to a number of
reasons, we had decided a couple of months ago to postpone
building on our land, but to look for a house closer to my
husband's work but still accessible to our farm.
We didn’t think it would take very long to find a place, (it
took longer than we thought), but the light is at the end of
the tunnel. We expect to move in a few weeks.
I never thought I would be glad to live in a subdivision,
but as my husband and I agreed, God has a way of bringing us
to look at things in a different light through experiences
we go through. Yes, I will be glad to be in this new house
even though it is different than what we imagined we wanted.
Update Spring 2006
Our animal science projects:
One of our three new cows
Rosie, due to have kids soon.
Update: Spring of 2008
We are moved out to our farm again. Our house in
town is listed on the market now for sale and when it sells
we hope to add more room at the farm.
Here are our farm projects.
More news later...
Our church:
Apostolic Christian Church
If you are interested in knowing about our church, you
may find information on the following website
click here
