As it happens each month since February first, our hard work on Growing in Grace Magazine has paid off. I am so thrilled to work with such a sweet Publisher who truly walks with the Lord. She does so much in her home, at the Sarah Home for Women and on her ministries online, and I don’t think I have ever heard her complain. She always tries to display a loving and sweet attitude, and SisterLisa is truly a joy to work with!
We started Growing in Grace in January, during a particularly difficult time in our lives (after Grandma had passed away), and SisterLisa emailed me out of the blue and asked if I would be interested in collaborating with her and her daughters to create an online Christian Magazine for Bible-Believing Girls and their Moms. Knowing how well my daughters write, and how they love to write for the Lord, I agreed after considering if this was the direction God had for us. He had just released us from another writing position and we were thrilled to see what SisterLisa had in mind. After researching girls Christian magazines online, SisterLisa had found none that were particularly Christian, and knew there was a need. There are so very few print magazines out there for Christian girls that aren’t just full of pop-culture. We are not interested in that for our girls, and we wanted to share our love of the Word and desire to train our daughters up in Him with other moms and daughters.
I think we got that first issue out in a couple of weeks, and it was so good to publish it! And to see where God has brought us in just six short months is amazing to me! We have each found our places in writing, designing, advertising, publishing, editing…. the list goes on and on! Besides all of that, I get to assign the girls research articles each month as a lesson for homeschool! I mean, you can’t beat that!
I truly am proud to announce the August 2008 Issue of Growing in Grace Magazine to you! With all the planning for school and moving and coming into this final month of summer, time is really on my mind. I know it is so important for us as mothers to create and walk in Seasons of Heritage for Our Daughters as we are home with them, teaching them to live as God’s People.
Amanda is learning a lot as an eighteen-year-old about Accountability. She also shared in my heart about time and what The Consequences Are if you are not careful with it. God has also given her a heart for history too, and also for WWII, ever since she made her Great Grandfather a photo album with all of his Service photos. She was able to also research and write about The “Little Boy” Was Dropped and Honor Was Their Code, which is about the Navajo Code Talkers. We love history here, so this was a topic of discussion in our home for the past few weeks.
Jocelyn is Thinking Pink as she shares some excellent material about Good Posture. That is just a light topic for her. Her heavy article is about Boyfriends. I guess she has been listening for the past seventeen years as I told all of our relatives and joking friends that, “NO, she does not have a boyfriend and will not need one until she is looking to get married!”. Ha!
She compiled a fun article about Family-Fun with some of our GGM readers, and also wrote a beautiful article about The Miss Potter Era with our dear friend, Brielle! Be sure to check out the GIVEAWAY on this one!
Hannah worked so very hard on her article about Cowboys, Ranches and Farms. I am so very proud of all the information she gathered and put into her article. I can’t wait to get to do the study on Cowboys in our homeschool this year!
I love the site! SisterLisa is such a talented graphic designer. I thought I loved last month’s stars and stripes (which I did!), but this month is so fun and refreshing with the lemonade and the lemon twists. It is really pretty. Be sure to grab the Growing in Grace graphics for your site if you don’t already have them, and also the FREE Downloadable GGM August Desktop/Wallpaper!
So, enough of my going on about it all… go ahead… take a look at the wonderful articles that are sure to inform and inspire you. Of course, I am partial to my girls’ articles, but they are all wonderful.
Also, be sure to read A Mother’s Memo this week for details on several contests and other events. If you are a Christian Digi-Scrap Designer, see A Digi-Scrap Contest. Contest ends August 15th! Be sure to leave comments and share your thoughts with the authors! And, be sure to sign the guest book too!
It’s the first of the month again already, and you know what they means, right? Yep, everyone’s favorite girl’s magazine has been published again! Growing In Grace Magazine has just published their 4th issue that is so jammed with so many articles about the glory of motherhood! Not only are there some really terrific articles about motherhood, but also some very special events that are happening in May!
One is a scrapbooking giveaway worth over $100! Jocelyn did a spectacular article on scrapbooking and how much fun mothers and daughters can have doing it. A friend of mine, who is a Creative Memories Consultant, has donated a great prize for one of you to win! Click on the graphic for more details!
Amanda wrote a very special article. For her, this was an amazing article to be able to write. She have such a heart for our servicemen because my grandfather, her great grandfather, served and she was given the wonderful opportunity to document that for him. Please take some time and read We Salute You, and see how much we can do for our servicemen!
All of the articles are wonderful, and a favorite of mine is Sibling Lovelry, which was written by the whole GGM Writing Team. All in all… this issue is amazing and a really wonderful tribute to mothers! The site also has a new “do”. This month is a pretty pastel in honor of our pretty mothers who do and give us so much!
Please stop by! We, at GGM, desires to bring inspiration to young Christians ladies who are striving to live a virtuous life and grow in God’s grace. We really hope you will partake in this ministry, whether you simply announce it on your blog, link us with our icon/magazine cover (which changes automatically every month), or donate prizes. I hope you will stop by there and leave some comments. We always love hearing what people think of what we spent so much time to write! We thank you for your support!
All of the girls all truly do spend a whole lot of school time writing for GGM. My girls have written a total of 17 articles altogether! Even Hannah is now writing with us. What better writing and English assignments to teach than the real ones for such a wonderful magazine? I copied parts of this page from the girls' announcements. If you would like to see what articles the Dixon girls have written, click over to their blogs
Tia posted and important message today about Private Messages on HSB. Did you even know they are a feature? I remember when I found out about this feature, and I was not happy with it. To me, it is like their own email account, and at that time, none of our children had their own email account - not even our 17 year old. Now, Amanda and Jocelyn are the only ones who do have private email accounts.
In regards to Tia's post on URGENT HSB NEWS! Monitor Your Child's Private Messages!, here is what I have to say about our responsibility as parents who allow our children to blog. Please know that this is not about control or trust. This is about protection and responsibility as parents teaching and training our children to be responsible and Godly. This is not to say that our children have always posted or commented to perfection (neither have I), because they have made blunders. And some, I have allowed so that they may learn... but it was done under MY supervision. When they have posted or commented without it, there have been problems.
We cannot let our brains tell us that because we have such good and moral kids that they no longer need us to parent them. We cannot allow our culture to give us a set age at which they magically become responsible to have an email account or a blog or even drive! we know better than that in our homeschool, and we have to apply it to the rest of their learning.
My admonishment to parents in the case of reading our children's PMs it to not only read their PMs, but read their blogs, their comments from their friends, their friends' blogs, and the comments on their friends' blogs. This is a real place, the internet - the blogworld. We have to know them as well as we would know their circle of friends... only better.
Our children are relying on our discernment until God gives them more. We are to protect them from everything that is harmful, even if it isn't blatant like an inappropriate comment or post. If it isn't something we would agree with, we need to know what they are reading.
We allow our girls who are 16 and 18 much more liberality than our 14 year-old. She has no unsupervised blogging and commenting time at all and is not allowed to be on unmonitored chatboxes. Our 10 and 8 year olds have blogs here, but rarely blog. I also have complete access to every one of their blogs and their email accounts. And they know it. They want that protection. And, only our 16 and 18 year olds have email accounts. That will not change.
All posts are submitted for editing and content, because they need to also be responsible in what they blog about and the manner in which it comes across to their friends.This is all a safety for our children and for their friends. They also are not allowed to link to sites that may post material that is either unbiblical or unsavory or just plain foolishness.
We MUST be responsible as parents. Yes, I know we are busy, but we cannot let them go out on HSB any more than we can just let them go up and down the street, visiting around the neighborhood without our protection. :) Who would do that??
Oh, and by the way, our children are not allowed to receive PMs or send them without express permission. That is one of our blogging policies. Both they and I have PMed members back to let them know that. There really is no reason for our children to Private Message. There should be nothing they need to tell each other that can't be left in a comment (except for a surprise or something, but that is rare).
Parents, this is part of training our children. They must be supervised. Let's do it.
So, please go read Tia's post; it is a case of which you need to be aware of personally!
Hopefully I can get a post up of all of the positive ways blogging has affected our lives, and the effects it has had in the way we homeschool. We use blogging as a big part of our homeschool, and it can be used for so many subjects, even if it is a private blog.
What in the world have you been up to lately? Are you homeschooling on through the end of the year or taking a break? Do you plan outdoor activities? Is it warm or cold where you are?
We seem to be doing what we always do. I feel like that is what I say a lot. "We just keep homeschooling, learning as we go...." we are writing a lot, drawing and coloring a lot. Some are doing some math work in books, and we are all reading the Bible and some good books or stories. I think my children know each of the different kinds of birds that visit the birdfeeder each day, many times a day. Hannie's beloved Mr. Crooked Beak(the chicken) died this past week, so there is a life-learning experience.
There is rarely a time you will walk in our door and hear absolutely nothing. You will either hear playing with legos and riding through the room shouting "Hi-ho, Silver, away!" or maybe a "Lu-u-cy! or someone, usually Eric, singing Amazing Grace. Sometimes there is bickering and sometimes there's a scream, but be sure that learning will soon follow.
I make no excuses for the girls doing most of the cooking around here. I don't think I could keep them from cooking if I wanted to. Sometimes they do consider it a chore, but there is always one- of the four oldest- who *wants* to serve her family by cooking up something delicious. Rachel has been trying new recipes, and Hannie is proud to make a full breakfast or an entire dinner. Even Eric loves to make fried eggs for breakfast. Yummmm.
Speaking of eggs. We have eggs. There is not a day that they aren't bringing a dozen eggs in after morning barn chores. A dozen. A day. Need eggs? I have loved having our chickens, and I hope that this winter cold doesn't bring any hard lessons about life on the farm. Last year's lessons were enough to last me a good long time.
Jocelyn made goat's milk soap last month. I took the pictures. She is trying to cure it, and I am not sure she is having the best luck with it, but hopefully it will harden-up soon. She is also learning some things about her new blog, A Pondering Heart. Mr. Eric Novak is helping her out a little learning some, as it is not the same as html is. Paulie is also helping her with her template, and he is helping Amanda too. We are having him transfer all of our files to our own server as time allows. This will give the girls a chance to see how all of that works as well as coding css and such. Computer classes... it's all good.
Amanda and I are checking off her list on her transcripts and getting her final paperwork in gear to graduate. She is looking forward to learning all the Lord has for her right here(or wherever we move to) in our home until God brings her her future husband. That is not something I have brainwashed her into believing. Amanda is a very independent-thinking young lady who has to bring herself in and to conclusions about God's plan for her. This is just one of those things god has brought around in her heart. As for me, I am learning so much of how to have an almost-adult young woman who is still my child in the home, and it is a blessing and a struggle as I learn things too.
Eric, who "just learned to read at nine" is so excited he only has *this much left* in The Fellowship of the Ring. He cannot wait for Amanda to pick up The Two Towers from the library.
Hannie, well she turned 8, and she gets to draw and read and write her stories every day. That is her learning. She also does math. I think the 'subject' she likes the most - aside from cooking- is holding and watching over LucyLillie. She and Rachel have been writing and studying from Polished Cornerstones too. It is a lovely Bible study, and they are each learning a lot.
I hate to take a break at this time, not because it is so hard to 'get back into the swing of things', but rather because we will miss so much learning if we do quit for awhile. I am a teacher at heart, and I will take any circumstance I can to teach God's truths or science or history as we walk and talk with them.
The only thing I plan to do for sure is get them all out in the fresh cool crisp air and build a snowman. Or something like that. We got eight inches of snow; we might as well learn something about it!
Blessings, and enjoy those Living Learning Moments!
I have missed participating in the BFS lately. I had quite the time getting this post up, but finally. I finally got these Fall pumpkin pictures uploaded. Amanda did it for me. Thanks Amanda!
Angela said in a comment on my last post, "I see that you have allowed each of your children to become "who they are" and not tried to fit them into any type of "homeschooling" mold. At least that's my perspective from cyberland. "
I asked Jocelyn if she felt that was true (hoping she thought it was), and she agreed that we do. And why not? I so want our children to be who God created them to be. I only hope that I can get out of the way and let Him do what He has for them, all the while being there, teaching and encouraging them on. I hope you enjoy this and get a little peek into why we homeschool and why it is so fun!
So... a Pumpkin Party...
We had a very nice time setting up a pumpkin and some Fall-ish decor and sitting down to sketch it. These are the outcomes of the hour or so we sat down to sketch what we each saw. If you would like to see more detail, look at ourHomeschool Projects Album.Your pw is friend.
Amanda, who is really rather good at drawing, but hates to do it because she doesn't think she is, held Little LucyLillie while the rest of us drew. She wants to do a photo/graphix project instead, so it's all good. LucyLillie held out for about a half an hour, then she decided we were all being too quiet, I guess, so she took a little nap.
Eric sat right up to the table to start with. He really does love to draw... even though he hid his sketches so I couldn't upload them, and I didn't realize it until... well, I was already done.
After a few minutes, he decided to join us on the couch to get a better view . Doesn't he look so serious? He really is very good, and I am going to get those on here.
Isaac and Jocelyn each grabbed a little desk to sit in and started sketching. She is quite a meticulous artist, but at least she has learned she doesn't need complete silence. Which, I might add, is a rarity in this home and makes the occasions of complete silence all the more noticeable. But, really, I have found that silence does not equal peace. We find peace in our chaos loudness a lot in our home. It really is a matter of perspective.
Speaking of perspective, I pulled the table to the center of the room, so we could sit around it. This also gives us each different view to sketch.
We sat and sketched for some time. Here, Jocelyn is still in the same place, but as time wore on, she moved the desk around and actually drew a conglomeration of several different angles of the centerpiece.
Rachel's view was different the rest of ours. She was on the end and could only see part of the back pumpkin. The one in front really had that weird side on it. I thought it was interesting to look at the gourds like that, because my sketch was from "the front" and you can see the length. On hers you can only see the top.
Rachel has been drawing the most beautiful pictures lately of birds and flowers.
She has a beautiful eye for sketching nature.
Jocelyn used to be the 'artistic star' of the family, but now all of our children not only enjoy sketching, drawing and coloring, but are very good at it. We got them private lessons from a friend when Amanda was 12, Jocelyn was 10, Rachel was 9, and Eric was 5. There was little art instruction, and a lot of clay molding. I think Jocelyn gained a confidence in her drawing ability and Amanda felt like she was standing in her shadow, so Amanda did not want to take lessons and it was then just Jocelyn and Rachel, and Eric went occasionally. So, Jocelyn and Rachel learned better to express themselves through their drawing because of their confidence and time they were allowed to put into it.
Now, her 2nd (or 3rd, I can't remember how many times she started over). She said she had to start over (and over, apparently!), because she has lost her artistic ability. I think there is no way one can lose their artistic ability. I also think everyone has artistic ability. Yes, some are stronger than others, but just because one has not been taught how to put their artistry on paper does not mean they do not have it. God is a creative God. He is a God who loves and created beauty that we are usually to busy to even notice.
I do not think He created us in His image, only to leave that creative ability to design beautiful things out. I, as a child, had a parent who encouraged that ability in me. I was given a book that had beautiful pencil-drawn sketches and instruction and encouraged to put it on paper. My brother and sister were not. I look at having 6 children who can put a pencil to paper, and I see that each of them, in their own rights, have an ability and an eye for art and beauty in design. I do not think it is their genes, other than the fact that God created their genes.
Hannie is our forgotten flower. She does such a lovely job. She is going to be 8 next month, and she is already really good at expressing herself in her drawings. She even undertook the tedious task of drawing every little single mum. I am not at all surprised by her drawing, but it did take me by surprise, her attention to detail: the lines in the pumpkins, the individual mums, the leaves. She even wrote her name in cursive on top of her paper!
Isaac drew 2 pumpkins, and then Caleb scribbled colored on them. Isaac was none too happy, but, you know, it ended up that it was ok with him. If you look at the bottom sketch, it is a leaf. This leaf had a bunch of white spots on it, so that is what Isaac zoned in on - the white spots.
He drew a bunch of circles all over it, and I had to ask him what they were, so he showed me the leaf.
Isn't that interesting? That he would separate each object and then he drew the pumpkins whole, but not the acorn squash. He also drew several of the leaves that were spread out on the table.
Here is his acorn squash. It's funny that he drew each of the pumpkins and the gourds separately. You can see that he only drew what he could see of the acorn squash.
I hope you enjoyed this experience as much as we did, and I hope you will gather some live things together and gather all of your children around for a sweet time of fellowship, sketching God's creation...
blessings! -Jacque
Please sign my linky and link your direct BFS #7 post, if you did one, so I can see how you celebrated your Pumpkin Party!
I just heard Jocelyn ask Hannah if she wanted to start dinner. Makes me proud.
Hannah is 7 1/2. She is in the kitchen, cooking the chicken in the iron skillet right now. She also peels the carrots and potatoes when that is on the menu, and today, she cut up all of the Brandywine and Roma tomatoes and put them into freezer bags for when we process and can them.
Part of her kitchen duties are to wash and dry the dishes and put away what she can reach. She vacuums, of course, and cleans off countertops and picks up the floors.
I am not giving you all of this to boast or to say that she is always the perfect little helper. Right now she is the perfect little helper... this afternoon - not so much. We have just had so many Moms and young girls amaze at the fact that the girls cook and clean and sew and milk goats, etc. I know that there are many who do such household tasks, but, still people are amazed.
Truthfully, Jocelyn was amazed when she played softball a couple years back, and none of the girls knew how to cook! I can't imagine cooking and cleaning like a maid for children who will grow up and expect others to do for them, instead of taking the time to do for and be proud of themselves. To feel a sense of accomplishment in a job well worth doing.
I will tell you, though, it is never to early to start. We have Caleb and Isaac help too, and they are 4 and 2. They can help. They can pick things up and put things away for themselves and their siblings. It is fun at their ages, if I don't make it a drudgery to them. They will also learn that they can pick up and put way for others, not just their own things.
We have always done things like this with the Littles, because we have oodles of pictures with them dusting, vacuuming... just helping Mommy. As our older children got older, the Littles sometimes got a little lost in it all, but we still included them in the cleaning. I mean, what do you do when you are cleaning? Put them in front of a video? NOT.
You definitely don't want to start that habit. Then, your children will get to be the age you think they should help, and they will think they should be in front of the tv or video games or computer... You do NOT want that mess!!
The later you start, the more of a battle it will be. If you start a bit late - or a lot late... ENDURE THE BATTLE! It really will be worth it in the end. Apologize for not teaching them a good work ethic and good habits, and tell them just how important it is today as a part of your family and for the future, as they have their own family.
ok... gotta go... Jocelyn just came in here with Hannah... Hannah's crying, and Jocelyn said, "I'm working them too hard!". Hannah had been cutting up an onion!
;)
blessings! -Jacque
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
I was on IM with a friend a few weeks ago, and we were talking about what we had been doing lately... we started talking about blogging, and I said I had written a post on HWTB. I had to chuckle at her response:
"What's that? Home With The Babies?".
I chuckled OUT-LOUD for quite some time. While I could see why she said that, it was still quite humorous to me. And it was about 3 in the am.
I explained to her that I meant Home Where They Belong, TOSPUBLISHER's blog, but I thought, yes, Home With The Babes... Soon I would be homeschooling with the Babes. Soon we would be tackling unit studies and craft times, textbooks and workbooks.... With children ranging from Amanda, 17 to Lucy, 5 months, we homeschool from high school to infant, and it is quite a task sometimes.
It used to totally stress me out. And that was when I only had 5 children! I thought I had to have a project for each child, fitted to their own age - and "grade", all the while juggling a toddler-specific fun time. Ahhh... un-huh. Not anymore. The freedom of homeschooling is freedom to live. Our children are constant learners, and learn best as we all do - through real-life experiences and trial and error. You know, the old - "How many times did Thomas Edison make the light bulb wrong before the 1 time he made it right?" Trial and Error, real-life learning.
While we use workbooks and text books for Math and some for English, our children learn more math in application by cooking and shopping and measuring and building than they do by sitting at a desk doing worksheets. They learn good verbal English skills by speaking them and hearing them spoken. They learn good spelling and writing skills by reading well-written classic books and seeing their work corrected. Not to lessen the importance of children writing things out or practicing in textbooks, but if the application is lost, then will they have to suffice living out of a manual for the rest of their lives? Yikes, I hope not!
Homeschooling them in application makes it an experience to be remembered, and one that can be shared with younger, watching siblings while the older children do the activity.
We will be doing Spanish this year with Amanda and Jocelyn. As Amanda and I were planning for this year, I told her that we were going to practice Spanish in front of the Littles, and if they join in, great; if not, they will learn some things by hearing them. Of course, can you imagine us sitting there, amidst 5 or 6 other children, speaking to each other in another language, repeating foreign words that just sound, well, funny? It will be hard to keep them away, I'm sure. They will want to know what we are saying, and what it means. Then, they will want to try it themselves. I think, before long, we will *all* be learning Spanish, what do you think?
We make Mexican food from scratch all the time here, but can you imagine how much fun we would have if we all joined in and made sopaipillas or even some fried ice cream? I don't think I could draw the line there between the high schoolers and the Littles. Eric, the 10 year-old and Hannah, the 7 year-old have been my tortilla-makers the last few times. I think they would have a blast 'frying ice cream'.
So, homeschooling High Schoolers with the Babes. It's going to be fun. If the Littles get bored, well, we'll count Legos. Or I'll sit them down with a blank sheet of paper and some markers, and we will all have a sketch-time... Whatever they do, they will be a *part* of the learning, not apart *from* the learning.
Now, back to canning those tomatoes. Which, I might add, were prepared mostly by Rachel, our 13yo, and her little brother, Isaac, who is 4. I did have to wrestle Caleb, the 2yo, a few times though... He wanted to help wa-a-a-y too much with squishing cleaning them!!
Hello! I am so happy to be a part of the HWTB team. For those of you who don't know me, I have been a homeschooling momma for 14 years. Matt and I are coming up on our 19th wedding anniversary, and we have 8 children, ages 17 down to 4 months. We live on a small farm raising goats and chickens, trying to keep our garden weeded (that one we aren't so accomplished at), all while teaching our children. We drive a great big white van and always get waves from the Amish in the area whenever we go to town. I have been blogging here at HSB for about a year and a half and HSB2 for about a year. I feel very blessed to know so many wonderful homeschool moms I met through my blog, some even in real life.
When I was asked if I wanted to write for HWTB, my first inclination was to say, "Wow! Yes, of course!" Then, before I even answered back, I had a lot of different emotions. I mean, sure, I write for my own blogs, but this... this is HWTB. Did I want to? Sure did. Did I think I could do it? Well, sorta'. Was I looking forward to having everyone read what I write on *this* blog?.... um, well, I think so. Slowly my confidence waned, so I hurried and said yes, before I sank any deeper into my own lack of confidence.
As I stressed, er, thought about what to write for my first entry here at Home Where They Belong, I thought about how I felt when asked if I'd like to write here. I think I said something like, "Yeah, I come across as confident, don't I?" and, I thought, "I've got you fooled there!". So, I started to parallel that feeling of discouragement or lack of confidence to how I sometimes feel as a homeschool mom. To how lacking we all feel sometimes as homeschool moms.
I sure was confident after getting home from my first-ever homeschool convention and ordering my Teacher/Student Full Curriculum Package so many years ago. Then, when I got it, I wondered if I really could pull it off being as disorganized as I am. Or when we moved the last - um, 8 times? Or every time I had a baby, and I wasn't quite sure I could get it all done and devote my time to being pregnant/breastfeeding and toddlers and homeschool. Or, ok, I'll admit it: yesterday.
There have been many times in my life that I felt this way over the past 14 years of homeschooling. I think anymore, I just say, "Yeah sure, we're fine. We're homeschoolers."
"Yes, building that wall in the barn is homeschooling. And, yes, baking that cake (even though it fell apart); it's homeschooling."
"Look at all the science and math research we have done", or
"I don't *have* to do every little thing in that lesson or workbook; we are doing fine." I just keep plugging along, knowing that no matter how I feel, we are doing what is best for our children.
As we gear up for a new school year, plan our curriculum, purchase it, get into the teaching mode... there will be many emotions that run through us. Right now, we are probably all rearin' to go. Nothin' will stop us. We have a plan, and we are set to do it this year. Or maybe you are still looking at curriculum, not sure what to do about this subject or that (like me). And then again, maybe you don't sweat it in the planning. I have found since I started reading homeschool blogs, that this confidence usually lasts 'til about Thanksgiving. I was talking to a blogger-friend last year right around December, and I was surprised to hear her say that she needed some motivation to 'get back into the swing of things'. I never really thought about homeschool burn-out before then. Sure, I've been discouraged, I've changed curriculum mid-stream, but I guess life goes by so quickly here, I never felt like it was burnout, just that I needed to run and catch on.
I am so happy and thankful for the freedom homeschooling gives me to Mother our children. As I wrap this up, I hear 6ds4 freaking out in the other room about something, and I have been interrupted more times than I can count. On the flipside of all this, I have a sleeping Baby on my lap, children who are cleaning up and getting dinner around, and multiple opportunities to catch on and teach through every moment presented. In all of this chaos and self-doubt, you will find me right where I am supposed to be: praising the Lord that I can homeschool our children, asking Him for His confidence and His plan for our days. Whether we are building a chicken house, planting the garden or reading a medieval history book, you will find my confidence steady as a rock in the fact that we truly have our children Home Where They Belong.
Happy you are writing for HWTB. You have some great ideas, opinions and I know many moms will be encouraged by your articles!!
Since I know you, I just want to say, you are very confident. You know what you are supposed to do and you do it. I am so proud to have you as my mama.
You are doing a great job raising us, and homeschooling us.
Know that we are all very blessed to have you as our mom!!
Love,
Amanda
Aug. 11, 2007 - Untitled Comment Posted by quietcajun
Jacque,
You are more than qualified for the task of writing on this blog!!!
I do know what you mean though... after I commited to write the Tip of the Day for the month of August I had a bit of a "panic attack", but God has been giving me the words! :)
Aug. 11, 2007 - Rings so True! Posted by devdoordeborah
Excellent post and so true! We all deal with lack of confidence, which is really a great place to be. Because that is where we can put our full confidence in God that He will bless our efforts of obedience to walk this path and He will mutiply those efforts in the shaping of our children's hearts. Great writing and great reminder! Thank you so much.
Deborah Wuehler
senioreditor@thehomeschoolmagazine.com www.homeschoolblogger.com/devdoordeborah
Aug. 11, 2007 - Untitled Comment Posted by DarthYxpu
Wow, that is awesome Mrs. D (AM2 and all the rest...).
:D
Things do get crazy sometimes but we (and I think I can speak for all of us homeschoolers) can't express to you guys (homeschool mom) how much we appreciate the sacrifice to do the biblical thing, homeschooling us.
Deuteronomy 6:5,7
5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
That looks like all day.
Not much time for going to public school, huh?
Aug. 11, 2007 - Enjoyed reading your entry. :O) Posted by tn3jcarter
I think most of us struggle with doubt sometimes, but hopefully through it all we just learn more and more that God is the one really doing the work. We are just blessed to be the vessels and have to stay available!
Aug. 11, 2007 - You Nailed It! Posted by Pattycake
Right here:
Whether we are building a chicken house, planting the garden or reading a medieval history book, you will find my confidence steady as a rock in the fact that we truly have our children Home Where They Belong.
And I could so relate to everything you said. Thanks for sharing.
Deb
How nice to see you blogging here, Jacque! What a great post and thank you so much for helping out here. Gena will soon have a baby on her lap too.....um, well, I guess she kind of does already, LOL, but I think it is so neat to have some wonderful ladies like you helping out and posting your wise words! Your family sounds great and homeschooling has never been better than it has been this summer for us too. Life is great! Praise God for these special families He has given us.
Hugs!
Nancy
You are very capable and qualified to post here.....probably more than most of us!!! I'm so glad you're here with us...we'll get to know each other better -- through trial and error we will support and encourage each other ;)
~julie
What an excellent post. Thanks for sharing all that God is doing in your family.
I'm so glad to see you writing here and I can't wait to read more of your thoughts!
You are a blessing!
Christy :)
Aug. 13, 2007 - Untitled Comment Posted by Buckeyeblog
What a precious entry! We began our 15th year last Monday and you expressed what we ALL go through...no matter how many years you've homeschooled. But, as there is "comfort in numbers," it's always good - especially for newbies - to hear that those of us who have been homeschooling for quite a while still have "those days"...AND...to be reminded that LIFE is school.
Looking forward to more from you.
Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><
aka Buckeyeblog
While I wouldn't say more qualified, I know God has a purpose in bringing me together with all of you. Thank you for the encouragement, though(did I sound too whiney?? LOL).
I would have to say that you are all God's answer to a homeschool mom's lack of confidence and fears... good friends and encouragers... and Dear Daughters and ... Paulie!! ;)
Blessings to each of you, and I am thrilled to be here. Looking forward to getting to know you all better!
-Jacque
When we started homeschooling, we used A Beka. So, Amanda learned phonics, and she read in grade 1. Jocelyn went to K-grade at our church, which also used A Beka, when I was on pregnancy bedrest with Eric. She also learned to read in 1st grade. At this time, Amanda and I were schooling Grade 1 at home. Rachel was 3. She liked to play outside - who doesn't?
We continued using A Beka for a few more years, but not so rigidly as we had before. Rachel did not really do workbooks when she was 6. We had just moved here to our home in September, and I was due with Hannah that December. We did minimal school (I have to laugh at that now, with the way we school). The following year, Rachel was 7 and not ready to read. She just didn't want to. (I didn't know it was because she really wasn't ready)
Fast forward to the next year. Rachel was 8. I thought, "Man, why won't she read?". She knew her phonics, but could not get the sentences without a struggle still. I went through all the frustration, knowing I could not make her read. Fortunately, I didn't 'go through the frustration' with her. I realized she wasn't ready. It wasn't that she was being rebellious; she just truly wasn't ready. So... I left it for another year. I thought, "Well, it's not like she'll be graduating and not know how to read." Did I have (well-meaning, misunderstanding) people asking just *why* she wasn't reading at age 9? Of course I did. And a couple were relatives. A few of these were the same ones who thought Eric should be reading at 5 1/2.
It didn't phase me, because I had it set in my heart that is was ok. It was ok that she wasn't reading. It was ok that they didn't know exactly what grade they were in. It was ok with me. No stress. It was ok.
The next year, Rachel, Age 9: Amanda and Jocelyn are reading The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Rachel decides she wants to read. She gets Caddie Woodlawn from the library, and she reads the entire book. She moved on and read the entire Christy series. Then, she moves on the next year to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
What others told me was a problem was NOT a problem. It was not an issue. It was only an issue if I got all upset and forced her to read and made an issue out of it.
I am not saying that children don't sometimes need help with their reading skills. What I am saying is that what we learned as a cookie-cutter, public school society is that children must all fit the same mold. As homeschoolers, we can step out of that factory-issued ideology and break the mold with our children.
That is another reason we don't use A Beka anymore. I found it no longer fit what we wanted for our children. For the most part, they have a good foundation, but the child still has to fit the perceived mold. (Of course, that's for the younger ages... I was unhappy with their Algebra.)
If you have been to Rachel's blog and read her writing, you can tell that she has not suffered due to reading at 9. That was God's design for Rachel. I am thankful He showed me that.
And Eric? He is now reading chapter books. He started reading last fall... he was 9. On the other hand, Hannah is going to be 8 in a couple of months. She started reading just about right after she saw Eric was reading. She was 6. They are now both working on The Chronicles of Narnia series. Eric is ahead, but Hannah isn't far behind. I love our children. It's great when they spur each other on to better things!
The scoop on me: Believer for 20 years; married 19 years; 8 children so far, hoping for more; live on a great hobby farm, with 7 goats, 2 dogs and 68 chickens. Oh, and 1 bathroom. That's always fun. :)
The scoop on our homeschool: Bible-first, Living Learning Moments, meaning if it happens, it's a lesson. We learn life! How long have we been homeschooling? Well, our oldest is 18. How much longer do we have to go? Well, our youngest is almost 1. We love it and wouldn't have it any other way.
Jeremiah 6:16
Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.
Adam walked in the Garden with God. He talked with him. God was his companion. Yet, that did not complete man. God's plan was different. Even as Adam walked with God, God saw a need in his new creation. God met that need with a woman.
Genesis 2:18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
Let us turn from the current 'pop-culture-christianity' society we live in and get back to the Word.
*************************
Proverbs 16:9
A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.
******************
*
The Bible *
* is NOT *
* a fiction book *
******************
Keep their hearts. If you don't have their hearts, take note and re-capture their hearts!
Don't let the seeds sown by the ideal of today's youth culture ruin the glorious plans God has for your child.
Satan wants him. Your child is a jewel in Christ's crown, and satan wants him. Train him as such.
You want him more. So does the Lord.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Our School 2007-2008: How We Learn:
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Mom
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
*Early morning coffee-time to include:
* Bible Reading
* Prayer: for Husband, children
* Planning
*Reading to Littles
*Time to snuggle
*Computer Time
*Time with older children
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Everyone
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
*Love God and Family
*Bible Reading
*Self-discipline
*Proper Manners
*Polished Cornerstones or Plants Grown Up
*Art: sketching, coloring, painting
*Cooking
*Caring for animals
*Arithmetic
*scrapbooking, notebooking
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Teaching the Littles
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
*Love God and Family
*Self-discipline
*Proper Manners
*Cooking
*Caring for animals
*Arithmetic
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Fun For Littles
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
*Playing Cards - War
*Chalk and chalk board
*modeling clay, a cutting board and a plastic knife
*Counting chocolate chips
*folding laundry - towels are easy
*paper and pencil
*helping to make cookies
*rolling out dough (playing with the flour)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Teaching the Middles
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
*Self-discipline
*Cooking and Baking
*Sewing
*Feed and Care of Goats and Chickens
*Mathematics
*Reading Literature
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ High School
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
*Daily Bible Study
*Home Economics:Hospitality and the Art of Life
*Writing Essays
*Blogging
*Writing E-books
*Making up unit studies
*Literature: Foreign and American
*Life Skills
*Algebra
*Biology
*American History and Government
*Computer Technology & Web Design
*Reading Homeschool books
*Business Skills
*Spanish
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Deuteronomy 6:1-13
1 Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:
2 That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.
3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
10 And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,
11 And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;
12 Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
13 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
SisterLisa emailed me out of the blue and asked if I would be interested in collaborating with her and her daughters to create an online Christian Magazine for Bible-Believing Girls and their Moms. Knowing how well my daughters write, and how they love to write for the Lord, I agreed after considering if this was the direction God had for us. He had just released us from another writing position and we were thrilled to see what SisterLisa had in mind. After researching girls Christian magazines online, SisterLisa had found none that were particularly Christian, and knew there was a need. There are so very few print magazines out there for Christian girls that aren’t just full of pop-culture. We are not interested in that for our girls, and we wanted to share our love of the Word and desire to train our daughters up in Him with other moms and daughters.
And to see where God has brought us in just six short months is amazing to me! We have each found our places in writing, designing, advertising, publishing, editing…. the list goes on and on! Besides all of that, I get to assign the girls research articles each month as a lesson for homeschool! I mean, you can’t beat that!
All of the articles are wonderful, and a favorite of mine is 
Now, her 2nd (or 3rd, I can't remember how many times she started over). She said she had to start over (and over, apparently!), because she has lost her artistic ability. I think there is no way one can lose their artistic ability. I also think everyone has artistic ability. Yes, some are stronger than others, but just because one has not been taught how to put their artistry on paper does not mean they do not have it. God is a creative God. He is a God who loves and created beauty that we are usually to busy to even notice. 
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