Yearly Archives: 2002

Reasoning or Right Thinking

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This kind of goes along with the Biblical Worldview article that I sent recently. I went to a Homeschool Convention this weekend and to a workshop by one of the speakers. It was on Real/Right Thinking (Reasoning). His primary point was that Real Thinking comes through the 3 Rs – and primarily spoke on Reading and ‘Riting. Reading EXCELLENT literature and learning to write properly. He talked a lot about writing essay type journaling. He focused on the forgotten art of Meditation (as described in Joshua 1:8 – as I closed with in the Worldview article). And also brought out that Pro. 9:10 literally says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy is *discernment* (understanding). That’s what we are really talking about in “reasoning”, having good understanding or discernment, as I mentioned in quoting Heb. 5:14. We exercise our senses by *meditating* on His Word and His ways, to gain knowledge of what is Holy.

He talked much about NOT learning about the world through the world’s ways and that we are to be innocent concerning evil, yet not naive. (We are to know that evil is out there and how to discern it, but not details about it.) How to choose EXCELLENT literature – it always portrays evil as evil, never downplays or disregards it, and never gives gory details – just as God portrays it in the Bible. He pointed out (as I have in another article) that satan is the one who wanted Adam and Eve to have knowledge of good AND evil; that was never God’s intent. He only wanted them to partake of the Tree of Life. I.e. God doesn’t believe that “real life” consists of having “knowledge of good and evil.”

As I’m sure you can tell, I really enjoyed this workshop. It so fit in with L.E.D. It seems, that according to this speaker anyhow, we are on the right track for teaching our children “thinking skills” through developing a Biblical Worldview, and reading Excellent, Living Literature and learning to write well.

His recommendation for those wanting a “formal” logic course is “Logic” by Issac Watts (the hymn writer from centuries ago). He said it is the only one that he’s found truly based on the Biblical Worldview, and he (the speaker, Vic Storkle) has written a study guide to go with it. Watt’s also has a second book, and Storkle a second study guide to go with it, for even deeper study. Another person’s review that I have read on Watt’s “Logic” feels it is more philosophy than logic and is best used as an adult’s study of the history of logic. Having never studied the book, I can’t say – but for those wanting to pursue a formal logic course for their highschool students (or themselves), I’d recommend checking it out.

 

Developing a Biblical Worldview

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The teaching of “thinking skills” has become big in education in the past few years. Although we believe God wants our children (and US!) to learn to think correctly, in fact Romans 12:1-2 tells us that our way of thinking HAS to be CHANGED, as usual I think “school” (the mentality, whether in a government or Christian institution, or at home) has gone about this all wrong. There is a place for Formal Logic and Reasoning to be learned by some – mature teens and adults, but generally, I don’t believe children need to be taught “thinking skills” as a separate class subject.

It’s not that we don’t think it’s important, but rather we believe learning to reason properly is a part of LEARNING in ALL subjects, actually all aspects of Life. It is through the application of gaining Wisdom, in ALL of Life. It isn’t a separate, fragmented class to take, just as “Christian Education” isn’t tacking a Bible class onto your academic curriculum list. It is impermeating, and basing ALL that you learn, with and ON God’s Word. “Wisdom is the principal thing,” for wisdom is thinking God’s thoughts, and there is no higher Logic.

We really don’t focus on “thinking skills” as such, but rather developing a Biblical Worldview, which is just another way of saying “thinking God’s thoughts”. It’s having the same view of an aspect of Life that God Himself has of it. We think this is the most important thing we teach, and our goal in training and teaching our children – beyond loving and knowing Jesus personally, of which this is a part.

I think we’re doing a great job in “giving” our children a Biblical World, through reading that imparts the Scriptural view of things, and our own modeling of “Biblical thinking”. It truly is something WE must develop in our own lives first. Most of us have been thoroughly indoctrinated by our own education and just living in society with a humanist, even Marxist, and definitely unbiblical way of thinking. Many, perhaps MOST, of today’s Christians – even Evangelical Christians – have not renewed their minds and been transformed out of this mindset. We allow this mindset to not only remain in us, but it’s ever increasingly anti-scriptural view to set our children’s way of thinking, too.

That’s why, in several of the last few posts, in talking about “where do we begin?”, I’ve stressed that the parent’s reeducation must be the foundation. Although these articles have focused on transforming our view of EDUCATION, our renewing can’t stop there. Our way of thinking must be transformed in ALL areas – not just education. God has a view and His Word has the answer for EVERY area of life. As Marshall Foster, of the Mayflower Institute says, our goal is not to just raise kids who aren’t pregnant and on drugs by age 18. It’s to raise World Changers, for the glory of God. To do this we must have a transformed, Biblical Worldview AND impart that into our children.

4 simple steps taken from Marshall Foster give us the guidelines to this:

1. Teach the mighty deeds of God – that is History as His Story, the workings of God throughout the ages. Read Psalm 78. Verses 4-7 say: “We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. … which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children; that the generation to come might know them, the children who would be born, that they may arise and declare them to their children, that they may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments; …”

2. Read original biographies. These are the true original stories of people’s lives and how God worked in them, including the futility of those without faith in God; not a dumbed-down, politically correct, revisionists view of someone’s life. Read Hebrews 11. 1 Cor. 10:11 says: “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.”

3. “Bad company corrupts good morals.” 1 Cor. 15:33 According to the Word, your children will turn out like who they spend much time with, and other’s bad morals will rub off much faster than your child’s good morals will rub off on them. This includes real people of course, but also TV, computer or video games, and even reading books that have a non-biblical view. Pro. 13:20 “He who walks with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” I could go on and on here, but would undoubtedly get off on a rabbit trail that I will cover more thoroughly in another post. Hint: It has to do with Wisdom and Fearing God, the whole basis of a Biblical Worldview.

4. Make life and home a joyful revolution. Home is the center for God’s dynasty and the basic tool for God’s kingdom to be built. You are the center focus of this. Make your home the center of YOUR and YOUR FAMILY’S LIFE. Make it a joyful place to be. Model Biblical “gender” roles. Develop an atmosphere – provide a good library, historically 60% theology, 40% history. Build culture yourself – paraphrasing Dr. Spurgeon, “Set yourself on fire and your kids will come to watch you burn.” As I said, MODEL IT! God has a purpose and plan, not just for YOUR life, but for your DYNASTY – those you disciple. Deut. 6:3-7 says: “YOU fear the Lord your God, keep all His statutes and His commandments… be careful to observe it,…these words shall be in YOUR HEART. You shall teach them diligently to your children ….” Pro. 22:6 says: “train up a child” – this is a word picture of passing on YOUR tastes and culture to your children. Make sure they are GOD’S! – the way they SHOULD go. There is far more said to our husbands than us moms on this, but Pro. 14:1 says: “The wise woman builds her house…” And Pro. 31:26: “She opens her mouth with wisdom, …”

As I said, by modeling this and giving our children great reading based on a Biblical Worldview, they will *HAVE* a Biblical Worldview. But will they be able to REASON from this worldview? I believe THAT training takes a little more than just reading and having modeled to him. Hebrews 5:14 says: “Solid food belongs to those who are mature, that is those who by reason of use (practice) have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” To do this, we must (and must teach our children to) not just read, but also study and “exercise their senses”. Their reasoning skills aren’t developed just by hearing, but also by practicing. This is accomplished through the 6 Processes of Learning:

1. Receive – taking in information.

2. Record/ Recite – record that information through quoting and through their own words, “parroting back” through Copywork, Recitation, Oral or Written Narration.

3. Ruminate – “to chew on”, think about the new info, relate it to what we already know.

4. Reason/ Relate – to actually process the information and make judgement on it. We MUST have the foundation of Wisdom through God’s Word in order to do this. The 4R method used in the Principle Approach, through Researching what the Word has to say on a topic, “exercises our senses to discern,” causing Wisdom to be gained. God “has given to us ALL things that pertaining to Life and godliness…” 2 Peter 1:3

5. Respond – this is the step of deciding what to do with the information. Toss it totally if it doesn’t line up with Biblical Truth. Keep the “baby” but throw out the “bathwater”, if there is some Truth buried in man’s faulty understanding. Embrace it and make it our own – if it totally lines up with Biblical Truth.

6. Release – communicate the results of the above process, sharing what we’re learned – through discussion, essays, teaching others, etc.

We must TRAIN our children how to walk through this Process of Learning, but it is done through whatever learning they are doing, not through separate “classes” on it.

So, while there is a place for learning Formal Logic and Reasoning “techniques”, I am far more concerned with my children developing a strong Biblical Worldview through ALL that they learn, to not only live their own lives by, but to also be able to present, through God-given Wisdom, from His Word and His Grace (supernatural empowering), His Truth to all who may “ask for a reason for the hope that is in them.”

Proverbs 4:7: “Wisdom is the PRINCIPAL thing, therefore get Wisdom and with all your getting get understanding.” Proverbs 9:10: “The FEAR OF THE LORD is the beginning of Wisdom..” And Wisdom is having a Biblical Worldview. Joshua 1:8 “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” That is probably the key to what we all want for our children (and our own lives), that they/we would be prosperous and successful in God’s eyes, and that comes from developing a Biblical Worldview, by knowing God’s thoughts and thinking like Him.

 

The Balance of Routine

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Did I promise an article on Routine? Well, let’s see if I can get it done today.

Some people are very structure oriented, some very variety oriented. The problem is that it is very doubtful that EVERYONE in your family is the same one. We must work at finding the right balance of Routine for our FAMILIES not just for OURSELVES. Yes, God gives us our specific family members to balance us. We all have seen the extremes of “schedule obsession” and “too flighty to finish anything”, and none of us want to be like those people. Even if WE are those people, we don’t want to be. And our families certainly don’t want us to be.

How do we find this balance? Let me suggest a middle of the road approach to “Routine” that can be adjusted slightly one way or the other to best suit your family. Although I’m giving this in a step-by-step format, I realize, and I hope YOU do too, that Real Life and Relationships do not operate by formulas.

Step 1) Start by making your list of priorities. This is NOT a lengthy, impossible “to do” list, NOR is it your “life goals” list. This is a list of basic priorities that are important to your family. Perhaps customizing the “7 Disciplines of L.E.D.” will give you an idea to start with. You can see the 7 Disciplines online – http://www.angelfire.com/ne/meandmyhouse/led-7disciplines.html – and more details are given on the “8 Principles of Lifestyle Education” tape. These are specific to our *educational* priorities, obviously other things are priority too; clean clothes, picked up house, healthy meals, husband/wife time, etc. but, in this article we are talking about our education routine, AND, as you’ll see in our example below, we have included most of those other priorities – husband/wife time is not included during the “school-day routine, household chores are.

Step 2) Set a few “checkpoints” during the day. I find that mealtimes make the most effective checkpoints. One reason is that they can be slightly flexible if necessary (unless you have someone that comes home for a certain lunch hour). Other checkpoints can be based on set appointments; i.e. someone has to leave the home at a set time. Perhaps you want to have Family Worship before Dad goes to work.

Step 3) Set up your basic daily Routine upon these priorities. Do them in order of priority, filling in other details as needed. This is the ORDER they are done in, not TIME that they are done. This is Routine, not Schedule. That way if interruptions come, or you have to drop everything for an emergency, you still know that the most important things got accomplished. There is a saying called the Tyrrany of the Urgent; that the important often gets crowded out by the urgent. If we begin and order our day by the most important things, this is less likely to happen.

Let me give you an example, based upon the 7 Disciplines.

Checkpoint #1 – Breakfast at 9:00 – personal devotions and grooming done before. I don’t care what time you get up, just have these things done before 9.

After breakfast – Family Worship (includes Disciplines 1 – 3) then
Daily Chores

Perhaps you want to add another checkpoint – at 10:30 – everyone back to the table for Table Time:
Character Study
Copywork/Handwriting
Free Writing
Life and Learning Skills (any help and training you need to give them, from math concepts to cleaning the toilet)

Checkpoint – Lunch at 12:30 – after lunch:
Family Read Aloud
Weekly Chores
Active work – Learning Experience and Discovery
Individual Reading and Assignments/ Notebook work

After all the above is completed is Free Time, whenever that time comes. Since the afternoon, after lunch and Family Reading, is basically “individual” time, Free Time will come at a different time for each person.

Our next checkpoint would be – Supper – 6:00 – with “Blitz” completed before then (however long before then that you need). Blitz is a quick pick up of house and putting away of all projects.

Perhaps they/ you finished early, before a checkpoint time, go on to the next thing (or if the next thing is a family thing, and not everyone is done and ready, they go on to the next *individual* thing.) If they/ you don’t finish by a checkpoint time, or you get called away from home for a while, pick up where you left off when you get back. If an individual doesn’t finish in time, they finish up before they can have Free Time. If it’s an issue of nobody got done because of an emergency or appointment, perhaps rather than picking up where you left off, you will choose to go straight to Free Time, knowing that what you did do was the most important.

Utilizing a basic Routine like this gives you more Freedom than a clock-based schedule, yet allows you to accomplish more – AND the things that are most important to your family, better – than “flying by the seat of your pants”. And that’s what Lifestyle Education is all about “Freedom and Simplicity™”.

 

Freedom & Simplicity™ in High School RecordKeeping

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A List-Mom asked about simplifying High School record keeping for transcript-building, and our products for such. Below is my reply.

Let me explain our Freedom and Simplicity™ recordkeeping – some of it available as “forms” now, other parts to be included in the Lifestyle Curriculum – Or Excellence without Textbooks book (that I will finish in “publishable form” sometime, when LIFE – i.e. being a wife, mom, homemaker, Bible study teacher/writer, home school teacher, …… :- ) – allows me a bit more time. In the meantime I just try to answer questions as they come, individually – locally and email, through our website, and email list.

Anyhow, what we do (and notes as to what is available NOW) – with a focus on high-school recordkeeping, moving from daily records, to long-term planning – is:

Daily Log – This is a journal form, and my preference is for my children to keep it on a daily basis. They write a paragraph of what they did that day. I want this to be in a journal (diary-type) form, not just a list. (They don’t always get it done.) : -(  Of course, you could use it any way YOU please. There is a block on the page for each day of the week. (Forms are in either of the Redeeming the Time planners – or we have some discontinued books – a year’s worth of forms, comb-bound – that we are including FREE with any order over $50, or for $5 with smaller order, while supplies last).

Tracking Sheet – This is my most helpful, at a glance form. It lets me see very quickly, just exactly what they’ve been doing. More explanation and a sample form (Word attachment) are in a recent l.e.d. email list post.

As the youth study and learn, they are creating Notebooks – their own personal “living study” of the topic. It will remain their personal reference on the topic, and can be used in the future as their own review or to teach others. These Notebooks though are not particularly for MY use in record-keeping – except in assessing how thoroughly they have covered the topic and put their information together – I use these more to assess such “classes” as Compostition, since these Notebooks contain their compositions and we don’t give further “Compostion” assignments.

Topical Journal – As they “complete” a topic (“class” if you must), they fill out a Topical Journal of it. A simplified overview. It includes a Bibliography of the resources they used (and a check list of whether they took notes/wrote a summary/discussed with parents), a Projects page (giving description, self-evaluation, and parent evaluation). They write a page of Highlights – interesting things they learned, and a Summary page – what they learned, their thoughts about it, etc. – somewhat of a short “term paper” – though not as formal. This is what I use for most of my “assessment”, in assigning a “grade” and “credits” to a Course/Topic. (Forms available – with permission to copy for the purchaser’s own children – for $3.00.)

Most of the other “high-school” documentation we do is through our High School Planning and Record Notebook – what “Lifestyle Curriculum ,,,” will cover. In a nutshell, what it contains is:

High School Graduation Requirements – how many credits in what courses and topics

Documentation Guidelines – how and where they are to document each area, any requirements for forms to use or things to include in specific notebooks.

Course Record – The forms I use to actually compile a transcript. One per course (with a note of how many credits required), divided into the Topics within that course and the basic requirements and credits for each class, the grade received. We also note “date finished” for each Topic/requirement, if appropriate. Things like “Learn the Bible in 24 Hours” (1 requirement for Bible Survey) have a definite ending date. Things like “Descriptive, Narrative, and Biographical Composition” don’t.

Topic Assessment Criteria sheet – (for appropriate Courses – such as History, Science, Health, Practical Arts) – tells what their grade will be based upon. I have a general one, for the above courses that require Topical Journals, but a few more specific ones for other courses – such as Math, PE – listing what is required to get an A, B, or C.

Learning Maps and/or Topic Record sheets – one for each Topic (division of a Course) – ex. our Bible Course (requires 4+ credits) is divided into the following topics – Bible Survery (1 credit), Bible Doctrine (1 credit), Biblical Principles, Christian Living, and Ministry (1 3/4+ credit), Personal Bible Studies (1/4+ credit.) Each of these Topics (for each course, not just Bible) has it’s own Topic Record sheet headed with the Name of the Topic, and the date the Topical Journal is done. Below that is a list of “assignments” completed, their beginning and ending dates and a place for me to initial. The first few lines (or one or *none*) list any of MY required “assignments” – if there are any books or other resources (this could be ‘other resources’ like, “talk to Grandpa about practical investing”) on the topic that I REQUIRE (noted with an ‘R’) or that I consider excellent, though not required (noted with an ‘O’ – optional). The rest of the page is filled with blank lines for them to fill in resources and projects that THEY come up with and do. These sheets were designed and in use long before I began using the Tracking Sheets, and may now be somewhat redundant. But since these sheets aren’t necessarily turned in every week, I designed the Tracking Sheets to keep me more “up to date” on their progress, and Learning Maps more as planning sheets, to give direction.

My Redeeming the Time planner has several other Education Planning and Documenting forms in addition to all the homemaking forms.

Resources written by Me and My House available here.

High School Bible Course

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I’m asked often, but rarely share publicly OUR curriculum, as we believe that is such a personal family thing. We really believe each family needs to seek God for specific direction for what to do – not what “pre-published curriculum” to use, but for God to write through them THEIR OWN PERSONAL FAMILY CURRICULUM. I have debated within myself for years as to how much to share. The questions keep coming, more and more frequent. (Please order our “Introduction to Lifestyle Education through Discipleship” and “8 Principles of Lifestyle Education” tapes to know what we REALLY want to share with you, the foundation, philosophy and principles to build your own family’s education and curriculum upon.)

I don’t want any family’s home-education (other than ours) to be dependent on whether I get a complete curriculum “published”, but I am seeing the benefit other families could gain from me sharing outlines of what we do. So many moms have said, “I really don’t want to *copy* your curriculum verbatum in our home, but I’d just like to see what yours looks like to give me an idea of where to start.”

So….. with that in mind, I share with you a basic outline for our Bible Course (taken from our Bible Course Learning Map).

1. Bible Survey
pre-requisite: Read through the entire Bible and
Keep a journal of your devotions (a notebook form we have – “SpiritualJourney”, or something of their own covering similar info).
Our primary resource list: Learn the Bible in 24 Hours, What the Bible is All About, opt. Hayford’s Bible Handbook

2. Bible Doctrine
primary resource: Bible Studies for a Firm Foundation, book list for each topic studied

3. Biblical Principles (Christian Living, Male/Female roles, Ministry)
way too many resources to list, but included are: Basic Life Principles, Advanced Life Principles, Life Notebook and an extensive book list of possibilities.

4. Personal Bible Studies
various types of studies and using Bible reference books – expositional, inductive, word, topical, contextual – also includes Scripture memory
primary resources: How to Study the Bible, How to Study Your Bible, Bible reference books

These Topics (especially Doctrine and Principles) include journals and essays. The Survey includes book summaries and timelines. The Personal Studies are followed in various ways. I give this basic “requirements” and book lists (which aren’t always written, but “on the shelves”) and they take it from there, each completing it in different ways. We have used God’s Priceless Woman before, but I’ve come across many other resources since then, so don’t know if I’ll keep it as “required” or let them pick and choose. I also like to encourage deeper devotional reading (thought provoking) books.

 

Tracking Sheets

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In the Home Ec post I mentioned a Tracking Sheet I use. It is nothing fancy, nothing spectacular, but it is a way for your older children to track what they are actually doing. It is a simplified form of our Daily Log (which is more of a Journal, than a “form” – my *PREFERRED* method for their day to day tracking).

For us daily *assignment* sheets have not worked well. They require a whole lot of work and planning on my part, and become frustrating and obsolete when we get off-track or “behind”. It works much better to know where we’re headed and how we plan to get there and then just start. I do have “finish date” goals – that are sometimes met, sometimes not, so we just continue until we’re done, or if it’s not something progressive and interest is waning, we lay it aside until another Season (or maybe never) and go on to something else.

The youth fill out a Tracking Sheet for each course area, each week – such as: Bible, Math, Family Living/ Home Ed, Topical Study (Unit), (and any others they are working on). They list the course/ topic, the beginning date (and ending date, when they get there). This and their name are in a header at the top of the page. Then weekly they list what they accomplished – reading (what they *read*, or other resources), project (what they *did* with it), report (brief summary of what they *learned*). This is strictly a *list* – not their full documentation (Topical Journal) – for me to see what progress they are making. This is divided into 6 “weeks” on our chart, listing “week of”, Reading, Project, Report for each of the 6 sections.

Tracking Sheets can be a simple way to see at a glance what your older, more independent studiers are doing.

 

Part 2 – Times of Refreshing

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This post will continue to address some of the questions one of our List Moms asked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Times of Refreshing – Part 2

In Part 1 of this article I gave some ideas for coming to a place of Peace
and Rest in God’s presence before attempting to do anything else. One of
LM’s main questions was what to do with her children all day as she is going
through this Season of Renewing and finding God’s direction that leads to
lasting peace and implementation.

Lord of the Sabbath – Redeemer
I’m a great believer in the Sabbath. Not the Pharisaical legalism of what
can and can’t be done on the Seventh day, but rather the Spirit behind the
Law; the benefit and redemption that comes from spending time resting in the Lord; how we accomplish more in 6 days, than working all 7, by spending the 7th in His Rest; how we accomplish more in 24 hours by giving the first hour or two to seeking Him. He is truly our Redeemer, not only of our souls, but also of our time.

How does this apply to what to do with our children all day? Basically
because I believe God redeems that time that we spend resting in and seeking Him. What are your children doing all day *now,* while you’re “spinning your wheels”? Are you spending all your time working with them but accomplishing nothing? Are they sitting in front of the TV or playing
computer games? Or, more than likely, somewhere inbetween?

I doubt that while you spend time seeking God for His Peace and direction
for them, they will do any *worse* than they’re doing now. AND your time
will not be wasted. Although, you may have been wasting your time while
they were doing these things before, you aren’t anymore. Your time is in
the Redeemer’s hands. And He will now make up lost time for you after you
find His true direction.

It’s like when you don’t have time to stop and ask directions. You spend a
lot of time driving up and down streets that get you nowhere, and probably
end up arriving late. But when you stop and take time to ask directions and
carefully listen, for however long it takes, rather than dashing out
half-way through, although it leaves you less time to get where you’re
going, you don’t need as much time, because you know how to get there – and you may even get there ahead of schedule.

So, you could just let your children keep doing what they’re doing. But
let’s see if we can come up with some creative ways of helping them be more
productive, especially if they’ve been destroying your house, fighting with
their siblings, or vegging out on electronics all day.

1) If you have children age 3 and under, they probably can’t do any *better*
without some help with them.

2) Ages (aprox.) 4-7 or 8 should be able to spend their time
constructively – OK, at least not DE-structively. I don’t *expect* *ANY*
academic work from this age group, so the key is just finding them anything
non-destructive to do – until you can train them to be constructive.

I think household chores are ideal for this age group, that has so much
energy. They are usually eager to help do “big people” work. This is not
the time (during your Season of Renewal) to teach them heavy-duty cleaning, nor to expect perfection out of them. And, yes they will need direction from someone for each task. You can’t just give them a list and say, “Do this today.” But, you or someone else can say, “Empty the trash cans in
each room into the big one in the kitchen, then report back to me when
you’re done,” then give them another task.

This age group can, unsupervised, do things like: put away their own things,
pick up their room, sort clean laundry by who it belongs to, fold towels,
socks, underwear, and probably their own clothes, (but not MINE :- ), put
clothes from the washer into the dryer and start it, (toward the older end
of this) start clothes in the washer that are already sorted. They can set
and clear dishes from the table, collect “stray” dishes from around the
house, and perhaps put away clean dishes. They can sweep or wipe up small areas/ messes. They can feed and water pets. They can dust furniture, if you don’t have a lot of breakables. And there are so many more as they get
to the older end, and if you’ve already been training them.

They can also listen to a Bible story on tape and pray for their own Quiet
Time/ Devotions. They can draw and color pictures, and put together
puzzles. They can play quietly in a designated place – like your playroom,
or backyard, if it’s safe. And, if they are used to electronics time, you
can “reward” them for doing the above, with a *short* amount of time for an
educational but fun computer game, or Christian video.

3) Ages 8-12 or 13 can do all of the above plus much harder chores. If they
are reading on their own, most are at some point in this age range, they
should be reading the Word and praying in their private time with God. I
still don’t pursue *formal* academics with this age. But some quiet “Table
Time” projects they can work on by themselves are: Copywork – from the Bible and/or good literature; Reading – series like Trailblazers or Christian
Heros Then and Now, or The Light and the Glory and Sea to Shining Sea for
children, or classic children’s literature – Charlotte’s Web, Little House
on the Prairie series, etc. Further Math, Spelling, and Grammar skills
will have to wait until you can spend more concentrated teaching time, and
perhaps have further direction on how to best teach these. But these are
skills that can be learned in a fairly short time when the student is ready
and mom is at peace.

What about children that are more activity-oriented than bookworms, whose
quiet reading and copywork time has quickly reached its limit? And, even
the bookworm needs some activity. Shooting hoops, roller blading, and bike
riding are all activities this age group can do on their own, if you live in
a safe place. In addition, your children can work on creative projects of
interest to themselves. What are they interested in doing creatively – as
producers, not consumers? Take them to the library. Buy them a few
supplies. And let them go at it, on their own (which means the project
cannot be dangerous, or require further skill training first). Do they like
to build or make things? Cook or sew? Write? Scrapbook? Garden? Play an
instrument? Do they love the computer? Let them design and produce
something, not just play. This is their chance to do something they’re
interested in, not just what you direct them to do – although obviously,
their choices must be within boundaries you set.

4) Ages 13 or so and on up, can continue all the things listed for ages
8 -12 on a higher level. They should be able to research and self-learn new
skills, as well as supervise and direct younger siblings. They can oversee
basic household needs, fix meals, do all daily household chores. They can
(learn how to) seek and find God, and enter His presence in their Devotional
time. They can do Copywork, Writing, Reading, Documenting/ Notebooking,
Science experiments, and perhaps learn further math skills on their own.

What about you?
In this Season of seeking God for direction and gaining peace, you may spend a day or two completely locked away by yourself, but realistically, on most of your days, and probably not even *every*day, this time will only be an hour or two. The rest of your day will be devoted to caring for your
children and going about your daily duties, walking in the Peace you’ve
found in Him. Don’t step out of His presence and out of His Peace when you
step out of your quiet, private place. Stay in His Peace and the atmosphere
will begin to rub off on your children.

Set no expectations for “school” at this time, other than them spending time
on the above mentioned ideas – whichever of them will work without stress in your family. Spend time just enjoying being with your children, accomplishing whatever you do and no more. Not working on anything that stresses either of you, just enjoying each other, perhaps not accomplishing anything more than minimum maintenance on the housework.

Sound too idealistic? Perhaps it is, but this is the atmosphere and goal
you are looking for. Do some things together that will promote Relationship
and Peace, perhaps some outings, perhaps some projects at home, perhaps
reading to them. Try to work in some individual time for each child.

Begin the day with your children, after you’ve had your private time with
the Lord, with Family Worship. This doesn’t have to be a highly structured
or long time. It is a time where your children are learning that worshiping
and seeking God are top priority for your family, not just individually but
also as a family, not just on Sunday but everyday. This time can be as
simple as putting a Praise and Worship CD on as breakfast is being fixed and everyone’s gathering together and while you’re eating. Just filling the
atmosphere with Praise to God really helps set the tone of the home.
Consider leaving it going softly all day. Perhaps you want to all stand and
sing together after you finish eating. We’ve done this as training for
church worship service, when our children were younger. Then read the Word and Pray together.

Then spend some time with your children, as mentioned above, and do what’s required in your home. Then perhaps you can get them all involved in their quiet, private projects and you can steal away to spend more time with the Lord, in prayer or the Word, or even seeking Him through other resources.

If you have not read much on home education philosophy and you need this
info, I can recommend several resources compatible with L.E.D.’s philosophy, as well as our own materials. If you’re already “hearing too many voices” – you’ve read so much, you’re confused – it’s probably best that you just sit at Jesus’ feet, perhaps reading books about drawing nearer to Him (which is *THE* place to start even you if need to read the home ed philosophy and principles books too.) I firmly believe that the Holy Spirit is our teacher, and we are to, as individual families, follow Him in His direction
for *our family*. But I also believe that others have blazed the way after
Him that can be Mentors for us – as Paul said, “you follow me as I follow
Christ.” We can learn much from Godly pioneers, although we still have to
go back and seek the Lord for *exactly* how he wants us to implement
specific principles into our family.

Don’t look at your children’s needs during this time as “interruptions”, but
as opportunities to build relationship with them. They still need you, and
you are still responsible for them, even as you seek the Lord. He made you
a mother, and He has given you the grace necessary for a mother. He
understands your needs, and your children’s and will see you both through.
Just DON’T LOSE HIS PEACE in the midst of everyday life. You’ve heard it
from me before and will continue to hear it, RELATIONSHIP IS EVERYTHING!!!!

As your day winds down, spend some time putting projects away, putting the
house in order, and preparing to serve your husband. Homeschool isn’t
everything, RELATIONSHIP IS!!!

In the future, I will present more on Routine – ordering your day, after your Season of Renewal. You may be able to add more things than what I’ve presented here and still keep things running peaceful and smoothly, but this is a good place to start.

 

Homeschool Home Ec

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Homemaking seems to be a subject that is either forgotten as valid credits, or “school-ized” into a boring “subject, by many home educators. We need to learn how to avoid both extremes. I think the key is in 2 simple sheets of documentation. Mom producing a Learning Map/Course of Study (list of objectives with check off boxes) for the student, and Youth producing a Tracking Sheet (of completed tasks/projects). As a teaching Mom, I have a set of objectives that my husband and I want our children to learn. We don’t believe in a child-centered learning that ONLY follows their own self-induced interests. There are many interesting and valuable things for them to learn, that they may not know about yet, nor realize that they’d enjoy or need.

I also find that my Youth really like to know what is expected of them and what it takes to complete something. They don’t like just being told to “work on what you want/ or the subject I give you and report back what you learn/ or chart the hours it took you.” They like to know that “these are the necessary components of this topic, here are some resources that I’ve found valuable in learning about this topic, now take them, add what you find, figure out how to best apply it in your life, and then let me know what you discover, AND I’ll be right here to give any assistance you need.” Some topics have a lot more “necessary components” than others, some are more “free”.

In Homemaking there are many components that I feel are necessary for our children to learn. Our girls will one day be keepers of their own homes. It is necessary before they marry that they know how to properly manage all the aspects of the home. These aren’t the things that are learned in a semester of “book learning”. These are skills that are acquired, through training and practice throughout their Youth years.

The areas that we have divided Homemaking into are: Food Preparation, Shopping, and Storage; Sewing, Wardrobe, and Clothing Care; Home Management – Organizing and Cleaning; Repair and Maintenance; Decorating, Refurbishing, and Remodeling; and Hospitality and Ministry. In addition, some of our “Health” topics dovetail with our Homemaking topics and are really a part of proper homemaking; Nutrition and Exercise, Health and Dis-ease Care, Safety and First Aid, Human Development, and Personal Appearance Care. Other Practical Arts/ Life Skills (that count as “credits” elsewhere, are also a part of Homemaking, such as Home Finances. For each of these topics I have a Course of Study (list of objectives) designed as a Learning Map for my children to follow as they walk through their formal study, Youth years. Most of the time we don’t set aside a specific season for each topic. We just allow Life to direct. Although, at those times that Life dictates, I do set aside specific times for training specific skills.

Each week our Youth are asked to complete a Tracking Sheet for Family Living/Homemaking (in addition to other Tracking Sheets) that lists the week’s dates, any reading or other resources/training they used, what projects they worked on, and a summary of what they did/learned. They have Tracking Sheets for every area of Learning, and are to list ANY and ALL activities, reading, or other tasks they have done on the appropriate Tracking Sheet. (In addition to the Tracking Sheets, Topical Journals (Notebooks) are kept of those Topics that require further documentation.) These Tracking Sheets can then be cross-referenced to their Learning Maps for each topic to check off any objectives completed. As Learning Maps are completely “checked off”, they become records of Credits Earned, without specifically setting aside a Season for each Topic.

Some practical examples. We began this year with me needing a season of sewing. I took the opportunity, that Life directed, to teach some specific skills to my daughters, and they each completed a couple of projects. They now have the skills needed to go on with further objectives without much more specific training. From there we turned to many household projects that needed done. Our 16 year old, Ashli, helped her dad install a dishwasher (including plumbing and wiring). (He’d just had shoulder surgery, so she did most of it, at his direction.) Not a specific objective that I had listed, but definite Repair and Maintenance skills. She then helped me prime and paint a room, (I’m 6 1/2 months pregnant, so again, she did most of it, with training from me and my husband,) put up a wallpaper border, and hung pictures and decorations; Decorating/ Refurbishing skills. She has also, in the last 6 weeks, learned further Clothing Care skills, and Food Preparation skills (although these Topics are basically considered “complete” by now). All without taking a “course” in any of the above.

Although we believe that some Topics are best studied in a Season of concentration of them, Homemaking is not usually one of those areas. What I believed would be a longer Season of sewing, with many projects done and skills learned, turned into short training sessions (for the girls) and a couple of needed items completed. I really wanted to get more done, not for Ashli’s “credits” but for our real Life needs. But it turned out that other Life projects took precedence once we completed the necessities in the sewing area. BTW, I learned MUCH during that time through very concentrated learning. I’ve been wanting to learn to design patterns from scratch for some years, and worked on that, to design the things I needed, for the time that the girls worked on their projects.

I don’t know where we will go next in the area of Homemaking. We have so many projects since we are remodeling our home. Perhaps more in that area, or perhaps another Life directed area. You never know when a need for further Hospitality training will rise. As Ashli nears the end of her formal mom-directed training stage of her life, we will make a point to see that all remaining areas of objectives are covered. Sometimes that takes mom and dad re-evaluating whether the still uncompleted areas are really necessary or not. If they are, it may require a specific Season set aside for training in them. It’s all a part of giving our children a Living, rather than static, education.