December in Kula, Maui. Riding upcountry for Sandra’s 7th birthday.

“Be right back, life in session” —has been the status of my digital presence. I thought I would be fully capable of writing an update every week of this new year. Too ambitious.

We hiked out of December 2023 with a trek through grazing cattle up the Waihe`e ridge trail on the West Maui Mountains, celebrated the birthday of our 7-year-old riding up in Kula, Maui on horseback, flew home to spend New Year's Eve in our abode with new friends under a lit sky of fireworks igniting above our heads; then stepped into January 2024 holding fast to annual family traditions of feasting and gathering with relatives in Pupukea. Somehow between January and April— among the beach days, hiking trails, and family visiting from the mainland— the girls kept up with their math and reading, and we finished Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and Kenneth Grahame’s classic novel “The Wind in the Willows.” My older girls joined literary clubs with friends on the Northshore, completed an 8-week ceramic class, and showcased their pieces at an Art Gala hosted by the visionary homeschool parents at a local church in Waialua. Evie breezed through all her literature for CC, attended the CC Protocol, and teamed up with her good friend/classmate, who proudly won the Challenge II debate at the end of the semester! I look back on all our accomplishments together in the 8-months of our school year, walked through valleys and climbed over mountains to get to where we are now, and I am reminded of this quote by Charlotte Mason:

“Our aim in Education is to give a Full Life.––We begin to see what we want. Children make large demands upon us. We owe it to them to initiate an immense number of interests. Thou hast set my feet in a large room; should be the glad cry of every intelligent soul. Life should be all living, and not merely a tedious passing of time; not all doing or all feeling or all thinking––the strain would be too great––but, all living; that is to say, we should be in touch wherever we go, whatever we hear, whatever we see, with some manner of vital interest. We cannot give the children these interests; we prefer that they should never say they have learned botany or conchology, geology or astronomy. The question is not,––how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education––but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him?”

-Charlotte Mason, (Vol. 3, p. 170-171)

Waihe`e Ridge Trail, an intermediate-advanced trail in the West Maui Mountains, makes it to top three on my favorite hikes list on the Valley Isle.

Sandra picked the largest, tallest, and most stubborn horse, Jimmy, to ride on her 7th birthday!

Once more: “The question is not,––how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education––but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him?”

These questions are profound, and a great self-reminder as a teacher, even as a mother. Early on this journey I struggled and took unsolicited advice and critical opinions about my children being homeschooled so personally, that so easily was I derailed and discouraged. Articles that put home educators in a negative spotlight comparing us to the rest of society in academic institutions, used to offend me, but I no longer feel the need to defend my calling and home life; maybe its because I just turned 39 and at this age of experience the above quote rings increasingly truer to me as the years go by and I witness my children discovering their passions and pursuing them.

My husband grew up in Kula, Maui, where his mother still lives.
One of my favorite places on earth is the Lavender Farm and meadow overlooking the island.

She was not afraid to trot around the stable on Jimmy.

Closing in on the end of May, I watched my niece graduate high school with Honors in Las Vegas in a stunning white cap and gown and stylish platform glossy black Doc Martens. I am a proud auntie of two brilliant nieces. I wish I possessed even half the discipline and ambition they possessed when I was that young! I can only imagine the success that awaits ahead of them and the mark they will impress on this world as they navigate the road with independence. They have already made an impact on my life alone.

When I began this blog, I had the vision to share about all the curriculum and books we were using; this would be a well of information for classical educators to pull from, but it has been challenging to keep to this content standard. Over the past year, I have been debating if I will change the name of this blog, and at this point, I feel my spirit beckoning in that direction for transformation. There would be a shift toward more personal journals than what it supposedly is— an informative academic blog.

Soon, my eldest will turn 15, and our summer break will begin on the 1st of June! In these summer months, my focus and desire is to refine my sewing skills and expand my garden. With that said, I am eager to turn over a new leaf! 

x Jena

october Family reads:

Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot

In the Northern Hemisphere, deciduous trees, shrubs, and vines shed their not-so-evergreen leaves to a spectrum of flaming reds, fiery oranges, and striking yellows as the transition out of summer is orchestrated by the stunning autumn equinox. The tradition of foraging the canyons for fall foliage, pine cones, and holly berries with my daughters will be a lovely memory living in California! In the tropics, we don’t feel a dramatic seasonal shift. Yet, I still welcome all the autumn/winter crafts and warmer hues to spruce up our home. Suppose I can find an off-the-beaten-path around our town dotted with pines and rainbow eucalyptus trees; I’ll be able to gather eucalyptus branches to fill my vessels with the invigorating scent that will indeed stimulate our senses indoors and continue our foraging traditions!

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09/29 — Playful Pioneers II, September gathering. Northshore, O’ahu.

Our home becomes an atelier of handmade clothing and goods within the months preceding December. In the last week of September, I dusted off my sewing machine after a year-long hiatus after moving overseas to make Indian costumes for our first Playful Pioneers II gathering with our homeschool co-op at my friend Corinne’s charming home. Costumes are often sewn with fabric scraps and anything we can pull out of our closets or thrift from second-hand shops to hack at. Unless we need specific materials, I’ll run to the store—which I did for a couple yards of brown faux suede this time. It always takes just one sitting at the machine to bring me back to the art of slow design. At the pioneer party, the girls and their new friend, Hana, were dressed as Indians, while the rest of the children dressed as darling colonial girls. They all took turns around the table to share something they’d been learning and feasted on a delicious spread of recipes each family made from the Playful Pioneer cookbook. At the end of it all, they decoupaged pumpkins with fall-themed napkins and pressed flowers. 

This really deserves its own blog post!

It’s hard to believe that we are coming up on one year—November 4th— of living in Hawai’i! Our potager (kitchen garden) is filling out with perennial herbs that were started from tiny seedlings— sage, lavender, rosemary, oregano, mint, lemon balm, basil, and thyme— keeping the bed full of life as the summer annuals push through. The garlic chives are flowering pops of white scapes, the plumeria tree is in late bloom, white strawberry blossoms have appeared, and the kale and rainbow chard might be good for picking soon. All the late summer/fall vegetable seeds germinated quickly; the next task is amending the soil where they will be transplanted. 

This fall, I’ve extended the flower garden to the side of our house, which receives even less sunlight than our garden beds. Ema’s colorful Impatiens have grown three times bigger after a few weeks planted in the ground. Again, we are combating gastropods, which arrived with the rain last week. Spencer goes out in the evening with a flashlight to kill off the population while Leia and I follow behind, sprinkling crushed eggshells around each plant. A white wintery wonderland of Diatomaceous Earth also covers the garden beds from insects, having a feast at my dahlias and kale. I plan to coil more copper rods— an ancient agricultural technique called “electroculture,” I learned from my friend Naomi!

09/15 — Nature study with our Charlotte Mason nature group at the Wahiawã Botanical Garden.

On the third week of October, we were on a break with our Classical Conversations co-op, which gave us time to catch our breath, especially with my Challenge student. On our CC day, we went on a late morning 2.5-mile hike along the Waimano Ridge trail. My hopes were high that we would end with a cool dip in the stream after taking the upper route through the caves in 97-degree weather— thankfully, the trail is mostly shaded. We were shocked to see the stream completely dry! So we sat on the rocks, ate snacks, and rested before we trekked back to our car. I’m glad to say we’ve hiked many trails on this island over this past year, some with our homeschool community and some with our family! 

I will elaborate more on what we have been studying in CC and with our Playful Pioneers II curriculum in the following posts! We’ve been reading about East Coast states individually—each of us creating a two-page spread of a state we’ve chosen. It was a spontaneous idea that began with a large stack of unused scrapbook paper in my mom’s closet. By the end of the year, we will bind it together with string to make our United States road map family notebook! We are slowly reading through “Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain alongside this significant effort. This classic tale’s language can be vulgar, so sometimes I skip the dialogue or paraphrase what is happening. I replaced a couple of the books on the Playful Pioneers reading list only because the recommended books were not at our local library—probably because other homeschoolers on the North Shore are borrowing the same books! Eventually, we will read “The Cabin Faced West” and “Why Don’t You Get a Horse, Sam Adams?” by Jean Fritz, or I may pick up “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and go on a binge-read of Twain’s classics. Evie is reading “Through Gates of Splendor” by Elisabeth Elliot and dedicating many hours to work on her debate strands for CC. More on that later! 

Have a beautiful harvest season!

x jena 

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Five weeks ago, we stepped foot onto a new Classical Conversations (CC) community in my sweet hometown. Attending once-a-week seminar days with other homeschool families as we did in San Diego feels like we're moving forward— and with the curriculum and schedule nearly identical at every campus, we haven't skipped a beat! Evie is in Challenge B, and Sandie and Ema are in Foundations with their tutors. Making the transition from state to state has been surprisingly smooth, a welcomed blessing, and even more so when connected to a Co-Op of like-minded families.

on the table —

Math takes the front seat at 9 a.m. with one lesson a day out of Saxon workbooks (Math 1, Algebra 1/2), and then on to formal reading lessons out of McGuffy's Readers, journaling with illustrations, and, when the time permits, I read literature out loud— currently reading The Chronicles of Narnia! In Foundations, we are studying the Medieval to Modern day eras (Cycle 2), memorizing Genesis 1:1-27 (KJV) through song and hand motions, learning skills from six of the great artists of the Baroque and Romantic periods, studying the geography of Europe and Asia, and learning about Isaac Newton’s Laws of Motion and Thermodynamics. We loosely spend 30 minutes a day reviewing our CC memory work, and I supplement with using books relevant to Cycle 2. And the list above does not include Challenge B curriculum, nor the entire feast on our table!

“Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, ‘Do it again;’ and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult monotony.”

— G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

Twice a week, my twin sister drives from the east side of the island for her littles to join our homeschool from morning til afternoon. Her daughter, Jules (5), will be in kindergarten next year, and her son, Brave (3), is in preschool like Leia. Although it is a challenge to keep any busybody at the table, I am an advocate for play in the early stages. I try to creatively include hands-on activities to capture their imaginations (and short attention spans). Pouring into them in this way really adds up over time.

Our home life is becoming more structured and predictable than the two months after we arrived. Homeschooling, work, and family have become a pleasant weekly routine- and no words could express how grateful I am for the privilege of educating my children. We have not added much busyness outside of this, except church on Sundays and occasional time with friends.

Lastly, on a separate note, I am thrilled to say that I was able to start our spring garden over this rainy weekend, just in time for an entire week of showers! More to come…

x jena

“We learn through three avenues... repetition, duration, and intensity”

— Leigh A. Bortins, Classical Conversations Founder

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Foundations curriculum we use for all CC memory work for Cycle I, II, and III

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“The deeper our troubles the louder our thanks to God.”

— Charles Spurgeon

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Our summertime began on the first of July, following our official last day of school when our daily rhythm also ceased. We didn’t throw a pizza party, no certificates, no last day of school portraits, just one final assignment then closed the books to a sigh of relief. This year has been especially difficult for us to navigate as a family due to grieving circumstances; but respite from anxieties and healing from loss, I testify, can be gently walked through while growing a garden.

The days of this month seem to march along after a Fourth of tide pools during sunset, homemade vanilla cake, and watching fireworks illuminate the night sky across the bay as we celebrated America’s Independence from the hillsides of La Jolla. Commitments are being penciled into our fall calendar as I excitedly prepare our feast for the following year— sifting through curriculum that breathes familiarity and inspiration. A parent orientation scheduled next Thursday will likely sneak up on me, along with a road trip we’ve been hoping to take to celebrate our tenth anniversary; and while the days seem to fly, I have much intention to sow personal habits into my weekly repertoire before July escapes!

Less is more, even when choosing what we are dedicating our energy and time to. The girls have been keeping a weekly journal of their observations in the garden, finding their independence in the kitchen and leisure in outdoor activities. They’ve taken quite an obsession for Legos—both building and drawing. The older ones have resumed guitar and ukulele lessons with a family friend, and the younger ones -my wildflowers- are just being their vibrant and lively selves all around the clock with their infections laughter and silliness. My husband installed an arched trellis out of cattle fence and t-bars for the cucumbers, watermelon, and squash to climb, and together we tilled another garden bed in the ground to grow more vegetables and cut flowers. As for me, I’ve made it a goal to pursue this blog as my part-time creative gig and so far it’s bringing me a lot of joy and inspiration to even write this.

“As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds are dead”

— james (hebrews 2:26)

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Leaning into this season looks a lot like carving more time with my family, displaying faith in action and serving one another in tangible ways that show evidence of love. It’s a hard season, but I’ve been assured… we’ll get through.

x jena