This is what I want

 I am reading this book right now, "The Well Trained Mind", and I'm finally ready.  I'm ready to get my kids thinking differently.  They need to start digging a little deeper, to get their brains working a little more in ways I know that they can.  I love this way of thinking, I always have.  I just haven't always known how to implement it.  But, can we do it?  I am starting to feel like we can.  I have finally felt like we have reached that point.  I want my children to love books, and I want to love books too.  I do not have a well trained mind, so it has been hard to get my mind to that point.

I have gotten this book twice from the library and skimmed through it, but this time I have really been soaking all of it in.  The part that I have really taken to heart is the 3 things that need to happen that really help a child to focus on literature and language, lots of reading, lots of listening, and no TV.  I have known this, really, I have, but it didn't hit me until I read it here.  Can my kids do this?  They don't like to read very much (or do they?  they think they don't), listening to stories is pretty low ( they do like that sometimes), but the biggest problem is that the TV is on way too much.  So, I've started making these simple changes.  I have made sure the TV is off as much as possible (almost none at all).  It's amazing what has happened in just this week of having a lot less screen time!  And, they are asking to read more, especially the little boys.  We are making it a point to go to the library at least once a week.  They have been getting books, and getting interested in the stories.  Aaron is listening to Daddy read a book called "The Castle in the Attic" before bed.  Aric has a stack of his favorites that he has been wanting me to read each night.  I'm seeing an amazing transformation, and I am thinking we are on our way to great things in our homeschool if we can make these changes to a more classical education.