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The Resource Bug is Biting – Part 3

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AFTER the CONVENTION:
1. If you’ve held off your purchases and not bought at the convention, PRAY (and research more if needed) until you feel sure, then ORDER. If you were unable to see something at the convention, but you still feel it may be best, order it. Don’t choose what you feel is going to be second best just because you haven’t seen what you really wanted to try. Most companies have return policies, on curriculum type things anyhow, and it is better to look and pay a return fee if it isn’t going to work, than to keep trying other things, and always wondering if this other would have been better.

2. Realize that mistakes WILL be made! It is part of learning and growing – and learning and growing involve COSTS. Don’t throw out an *apparent* mistake at the first sign of difficulty. Pray about how (if) it can be adapted to fit your goals/methods, or if it is indeed what God wants but is going to require you to STRETCH and GROW. Give it some time, and really try to utilize it, especially if it fits into your “guidelines”.

3. If you truly make a mistake, repent, spend more time – prayer and research – finding the replacement. Sell the old on a curriclum swap e-list or local used book fair. Chalk it up to experience. But be careful not to get in the rut of always jumping from one thing to another, and never truly implementing ANYTHING, always jumping to the newer, better resource, in looking for THE answer. If this is happening, go back to the beginning and spend more time Renewing Your Mind and getting God’s direction.

4. Also realize that as you grow, the *PERFECT RESOURCE* that is perfect this year, may not be *PERFECT* NEXT YEAR or 5 years from now. You will be growing and continually renewing and adapting. Start where you’re at and grow from there. Sell, give or throw away, whatever no longer fits into your philosophy and goals and move on. But try to purchase things you won’t “outgrow”, like the Real Resources/ Living Books things the guidelines below suggest.
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As I said above, Renewing our Mind to God’s purposes and plans for our family’s education is the primary factor in determining what resources will work for us. Having a well developed personal Philosophy of Education – which is just another way of saying, knowing how God wants you to teach your children – will keep you from making mistakes more than anything else. We have developed a set of guidelines that help us stay within our philosophy. There are so many tempting things out there that sound SOOOOO GOOD, we can easily get distracted and buy things that don’t “fit” our family.

We try to follow each of these resource qualifications for every learning resource purchase, although #3 and #4 don’t always apply, #1, 2, and 5 are musts! We use almost all Real Resources – Living Books (great literature) as well as Skills Resources for teaching “how to” (whether that be math, sewing, phonics, cooking, writing, car repair, etc.) Only resources that fit these guidelines are worth spending our hard earned, many times hard-to-come-by, dollars on. Other things – such as an occasional “fluff” or extra resource/book “just for fun” must come out of extra money (a rare thing) or from the library. I really don’t like spending money on something that isn’t worth keeping in our own family library. They aren’t worth the money or space they take up, let alone the time wasted on them. We do all really need to be watchful that we Redeem that Time that the Lord has given us, and not waste it on vanity.

Here’s the qualifications I think through when deciding what resources to buy. They are a part (the *5th* principle) of the “8 Principles of L.E.D.” (which you can receive on tape from us). They should be applicable for anyone following a Lifestyle Education through Discipleship.
5 Qualifications for L.E.D. Resources:

1. Relational & Relative – (individualized vs. canned) It must be something that speaks into OUR lives, not just the “latest, greatest everyone is raving about it” resource. Does it further the goals God has given us for OUR family’s education? (not just what someone else says we should be learning.) Is it based on premises we believe in? (Biblical worldview.) Does it follow the way WE believe teaching and learning are best accomplished? (not textbooks/
workbooks.) Does it promote adaptation to individual circumstances? (or is it written to be used in a lock-step way – daily, scripted lessons, etc.?) Does it fit OUR LIFESTYLE?

2. Multi-level – Is it something that can be used by many different ages? (or is it “grade leveled”?) Most Living Books fit into this. A timeless, living book can be enjoyed by EVERYONE in the family, but even Skills Resources should cover all aspects of the topic, not just 1st grade, 2nd grade. We don’t use grade levels in our family’s education and don’t like resources that are written as such. Some resources may contain only “Introductory” level information, etc. but this isn’t the same as “grade level” resources.

3. Multi-disciplinary – Is it something that crosses the “subject” lines? (or does it only cover one “subject”?) Many Real Resources are TOPICAL, they only cover one topic, but that doesn’t mean they only cover one “school SUBJECT”. Obviously all “Living Books” fit into this category. Even resources like dictionaries and such will be used in all of learning. Most non-textbook resources don’t have to be pegged into a “subject” hole. But, just as obvious, things like a Math book will only cover Math.

4. Multi-sensory – Does it teach through more than one sense? If it’s a Skill-learning Resource or teaching guide, does it give ideas for presenting material in more than one way, to reach learners of various types?

5. Re-usable – Will it be able to be re-used by others, as well as the original student? (or will it be consumed and
thrown away when done with?) Real resources are ones that will be used over and over and are worth saving and using again. Even better yet, they will promote the student producing something worth saving. Recently, I heard a quote, from ages gone by, that any book worth reading once is worth reading 3 times. And, that we need to read them (or listen, if it’s a tape – in these modern times) at least 3 times before we really “get” it. I really believe it. I don’t think a resource is a good one, if it’s something I’m going to turn around and get rid of as soon as we’ve “gone
through it”. It should be worth saving for future reading and reference.

 

The Resource Bug is Biting – Part 2

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Conventions Shopping Tips
Here are my tips for buying resources at a Convention.

BEFORE the Convention:
1. THROUGH PRAYER – make a list of the TYPES of things you think you’ll need. i.e. “History resources covering _____ time periods. A hands on way to teach math, covering all levels. A mom’s “how-to” guide for teaching _____ in a relaxed way. A few interesting read-alouds on ______. A drawing program for _____. …..” This will help keep you from looking at things that you don’t need this year/ yet. If you’ve already got somewhat of a plan down, through prayer, AND have talked to your children about some interests they’d like to pursue, you’ll know things like ” there’s no use looking at _____ this year, because I KNOW that isn’t the direction we’re going and we won’t get to it. It will sit on the shelf and I’ll feel guilty for spending the money and for not using it.”

2. Get as many catalogs and visit as many websites as you can, so you will have an idea of what you particularly want to check out. Make a list under those “types of things” needed, of possible resources to fulfill that need. There will be plenty of other things at the convention that you haven’t heard of before to choose from, that you may also want to look at, but this pre-looking will at least narrow it down some. You will have, through the catalogs and websites, eliminated many choices. You can walk right past those booths with no condemnation or questioning for ignoring them.

AT the convention:
1. Go only to those booths that have your predetermined resource possibilities. WOULDN’T it be great if we could stop there? NO, DON’T DO THIS! There will be other good things to check out. But DO go to those pre-determined booths FIRST – and do some more eliminating.

2. DON’T buy anything on your first round. Make it a “skimming” tour. Make note of any other resources (or booths) that fit into your “types of things needed” that you’d like to further check out.

3. If something looks REALLY interesting, TALK to the vendor about it. Go to WORKSHOPS by that vendor that cover that resource (if possible) or at least give you an idea of that vendor’s philosophy (it determines the philosophy behind the books that vendor carries). This is more true of the smaller specialized vendors than those that carry a little of everything (who usually don’t do workshops, and may not even know much about their books. In fact they may just be a local “hired hand” to help “ring up” customers. Small vendors and especially those that have authored the resources are USUALLY the most helpful.

4. Buy ONLY when you have God’s Peace about a resource. If you still aren’t sure as the convention nears completion, DON’T rush or be pressured into buying ANYTHING. It will well be worth any extra you have to pay in shipping to get the right thing. Spend the time you need praying about it and getting God’s direction and peace. Don’t let a vendor (or others there) talk you into something that doesn’t fit your “litmus test” (see our guidelines below) unless you really sense God leading in that new direction. Perhaps it IS HIM giving clearer revelation, but PERHAPS it’s an expensive (in money AND TIME) rabbit trail.

5. This is personal opinion – as in what *I* do, and therefore carries emotional sentiment and may not fit as “good advise” :- ) IF you have been hs-ing a long time and you know the direction you’re going, and you already have all your basic resources – buy what you find that will fill-in for the future, even if you may not use it THIS year. I really don’t NEED anything for “THIS YEAR” anymore, but I do know what I plan for the future AND I ENJOY filling in and buying when I find a resource that is just right for what I know is upcoming, when it is something I really feel God’s Peace about.

There have been years that I haven’t been able to go to convention OR order any resources and I have been grateful for God’s advance promptings that have led me to purchase ahead and provide for future (at the time, but now current) needs. It’s a good feeling when Mark says, “Sorry I don’t see how we can squeeze anything out right now,” and I can reply, “We’re OK. We already have all we need for now.” This is especially true because we use “Real Resources” such as timeless Living Books.

We may not be studying Early America this year, BUT I know it’s coming up and I know we want to read Charles Coffin’s “Sweet Land of Liberty” and William Bradford’s “Plymouth Plantation” when we get there. I know they are living resources that won’t be not applicable/ out of our philosophy when I get there. OR, perhaps we are collecting G.A. Henty books, or those character classics reprinted by “Lamplighter”, we have the ones we’re going to read this year, but I find others to add to our collection. These are timeless resources that I’d like to have, just to have in our library and read ANYTIME!, not just the year we “study” their topic. If I find them at the convention, and I have the money to buy them, after getting anything I need for this year, I get them.

This could get me on a whole other rabbit trail of building a good and timeless library. I want to have books on our shelves that tempt our kids to “read ahead”, meaning they see these books as being valuable to our family, and are intrigued to just pull them off and start reading at anytime, not just because they were “assigned”. That is part of creating a Love for Learning. And, I will save the rest of this rabbit trail for the Environment of Excellence article in our forthcoming “Lifesytle Curriculum” book.

6. Another good question to add for us book junkies that are deviating from “this year’s needs” list is: Do I already have something that teaches/covers this in a way that is do-able for us? Does this NEW resource do that much BETTER of a job, and fit our QUALIFICATIONS that much better, that I am willing to REPLACE the other one? It’s easy for me to duplicate things, because there’s MORE than ONE good thing out there. BUT since we already have a library of thousands of books, we don’t need to keep adding, just for the sake of adding. A verse that “speaks” to me is “Of the making of books, there is no end.” from Ecclesiastes. AND I DON’T NEED TO OWN *ALL* OF THEM!!!!!

Continued in Part 3

 

The Resource Bug is Biting

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This is the time of year when Home Education Conventions, Conferences, Retreats, Seminars, Workshops and Curriculum Fairs begin. Everyone is beginning to focus on what we “need” for “next year”. Even if you believe, as we do, that learning is a lifestyle that continues year-round, if you have any state requirements for academics, those probably “come due” at the beginning of the government (so-called, public) school year, and it is time to start planning and ordering.

Making choices as to what resources to buy isn’t near as limited as it was when we began teaching our children at home 15 years ago, and only knew of the traditional curriculum/ subjects viewpoint we had grown up with. As those choices expand yearly – DAILY! – it can get easy to be tossed about by every wind of new and great things out there that EVERYBODY’S using.

Although Home Education Conventions/Curriculum Fairs are REALLY TEMPTING places, and CAN BE VERY OVERWHELMING, I DON’T believe we should stay away from them. They are where we can best get the information we need to make right resource choices, as well as help deepen our philosophy of education. In fact, I think every mom (and dad too, if possible) needs to go EVERY YEAR to some type of hs mom’s (parent’s) retreat, convention, etc. for her (their) own renewal and refreshment. We all need encouragement and support. Sometimes we can seem so isolated in our own world of home educating. We need to get out and see the “big picture” just for a better perspective. God has given us such great mentors to help us along, we need to utilize the resources He’s provided for us. No homeschool home is an island. Don’t try to make yours one.

IF you already have a solid “philosophy”, the specialized retreats/conferences can be the best place for you to go, for it encourages you in YOUR way. But general conventions are good too, as they open the doors for greater thought, and different perspectives. I’d love to encourage you all to attend/ host an L.E.D. seminar, but our baby’s due next week, so we aren’t planning on doing any this year. :- ( I love to do them and miss them greatly when I’m not able, but this list will have to suffice for this year for those of you who aren’t local. I do still plan to do some things locally this year. But there are many things L.E.D. can glean from other philosophies. If you’ve attended our workshop or listened to the tape “Introduction to Lifestyle Education through Discipleship”, you know how our philosophy compares with some of those others. Your own personal philosophy may glean more or less from each of the others. If your philosophy is quite similar to Charlotte Mason’s then a CM Conference would be great for you to go to. If you are more enthralled by the Principal Approach, go there. If Sally Clarkson’s “Wholehearted Child”, or Cindy Rushton’s “Easy Way” really interests you, go to one of their mom’s retreats. Many of us don’t have that many options near us, and a general “state convention” is our only choice. Perhaps, we have the blessing of at least MORE THAN ONE to choose from. For these, search out the vendors and workshops that are closest to YOUR “philosophy” and pick and choose that convention – or those workshops and booths at your only choice.

If you are new to looking at education through any perspective other than the world’s view that we grew up with, DO – DO -DO, AT LEAST go through (or at least begin) your season of Renewing Your Mind BEFORE going to a Convention. The more we have developed our personal Philosophy of Education (found God’s direction for our family’s education) – the easier it becomes to make those choices in a place where endless resources are calling “Buy Me!” When we sit at the Lord’s feet and get His direction for our family we will find that many things “out there” just don’t fit US. This makes them much easier to pass up when they (and all your friends) are calling “NEW, GREAT, THE BEST, WOW, JUST WHAT YOU NEED!” It is SOOOO TRUE that we should NOT BUY until AFTER we’ve gotten direction from the Lord.

IF you don’t take (have) time before the convention to Renew Your Mind, and you’re only “looking into this”, determine to NOT BUY at the convention. Just soak up information, that will help you make your decision later. But I warn you, it may be confusing. There are many conflicting voices out there calling for our attention. If you’ve read our website and this L.E.D. e-list’s posts, and you know that your philosophy is akin to ours, I recommend that you order our “Introduction to Lifestyle Education through Discipleship” workshop audio and syllabus to see how L.E.D. compares to other philosophies so you will know which ones may be compatible with your thoughts, and not just add contrary confusing advise.

See part 2

 

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.

 

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.

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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.

 

The Latest Rage in Children’s Culture

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OK, hopefully not in OUR children’s society! But with the movie just released, and predicted to be a blockbuster, this is definitely the hot topic again – like it was when the books were introduced. And our children will probably face it if they have any contact with the world.

As an LED subject, it has to do with leading and instructing them in righteousness. Knowing why we stand up for what we believe, and don’t just do all the things the world thinks are really cool – even if the graphics are smashing, the story telling captivating, and it’s “just entertainment”.

I think Steve’s message (link below), handles it quite well and Scripturally.
http://elijahlist.com/words/display_word.html?ID=1006

 

Early Learning

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Probably one of the top 10 misunderstandings of the “Better Late than Early” philosophy is that if you aren’t “doing school” (ie. traditional academics) with your young children then you aren’t teaching them anything. We all know that nothing is further from the truth.

One aspect that we highly focus on during these years (anywhere from toddler to preteen) is character development. One excellent tool we can use as part of our “character curriculum” that also covers “doing school” is the reading aloud of biographies of those of great Christian character. We have and use several resources for this.

One of our favorites for the younger crowd is the 3 book series of _Hero Tales_. In these books are short stories from the lives of several “famous” Christians – 3 stories per person. These are by Dave and Neta Jackson, the authors of the Trailblazers series – which are also excellent stories of missionaries’ lives, though told through a fictional story. For the little bit older children (and adults :-), the new _Then and Now_ series of Christian biographies by Janet and Geoff Benge is excellent. Although these are all “Christian” series, probably our favorite of the full length biographies for children is the Mott Media’s _Sower series_ ; as they have the most info about the Christian character of the person.

The stories in _Hero Tales_ are short enough that you can finish them in one setting with little ones. After reading and narrating a story, we discuss what godly character was in the life of the person and how we can be like them. This is just one tool we can to help our children develop godly charater in their lives.

If you are interested in any of the above books, you can order them through Me and My House ministries – by using our partners links in our sidebar.