Journaling

I have an old sea-chest that Scott and I found at an antique shop on The Cape while we were honeymooning.

It has traveled from Cape Cod (my favorite place on earth), to two NYC apartments, to a condo in Provo, and through three houses to here.  

It houses my collection of journals---they date back to when I was 8. 

There are a lot of silly pages from my early teen years---written in pink marker about boys, boys, boys. ( blah)

There is one that I wrote around age 11, after having read Anne Frank and loving that she addressed her journal Dear Kitty.  I copied her idea and wrote Dear Ella in that journal.  Not knowing at the time (or remembering when I chose the name later) that it would become the name of my own daughter.

It is full of college journals of poems and wonderings---what will I do? what will I be?  what do I want?---detailed notes on reed-making and practice sessions.   Heartbreak and new-found bliss.

Lists of plans, ramblings, beginnings of stories, tirades, and more.

Treasure, really.

A chest of treasure.

One of the things that I've done really, really well as a homeschooling mother is to make journaling part of my kids' daily learning.  

Ella has journaled every school day since she was in Kindergarten (and sporadically before that).  That's going on 7 years of full notebooks.

My boys---the same.

They are true treasures.

I haven't done everything well.  It's been a lot of trial and error in our homeschooling adventure.

But this---this one we've got down.

This is a picture of my dream.  Of Mini (our tortoise) going into the water and (she) survived.
Ethan---age 6