In celebration of Museum Day, The Smithsonian Magazine has a coupon for 2 free passes to tons of participating museums. The passes allow you and a guest free general admission on Saturday, September 27th. Here is the link: Museum Day Admission Card
Click on find a venue, then click on your state on the map and it pulls up a list of participating museums. I am glad it is on a Saturday so hubby can go - he and I can get in free and only have to pay admission for our boys.
Stop by Weblink Wednesday by socalval for more great freebies and links
Enjoy!
WIN a 1 year subscription to The Old Schoolhouse Digital Magazine!
I have blogged about my favorite homeschool curriculum, my favorite homeschool resource, and now I would like to share about my favorite homeschool magazine: The Old Schoolhouse magazine.
I have subscribed to a few other homeschool magazines in our homeschool journey, but The Old Schoolhouse is by far my favorite. It is diverse, thourough, insightful, encouraging, and professionally produced.
They have articles from homeschool moms just like us to well known homschool supporters like Ruth Beechick. The content is rich and plentiful - everyone is sure to find an abundance of information and resources that are applicable to their own homeschool setting no matter what their teaching style or philosophy.
Another unique feature about The Old Schoolhouse is that they offer it in a digital version! At first I was skeptical but after looking through it, I was sold.
I have been trying to simplify and declutter anyway and this is a perfect way to do that and still have what I need at my finger tips. The digital version looks exactly like the printed version of the magazine. The pages flip on the screen as if I am flipping them in my hand.
Here are some features I like about having a digital version:
- You can download it to your computer - you don't need to be online to access it
- The contents are searchable (unlike the hard copy!) so if you are trying to quickly get your hands on that article about college scholarships - no problem
- If a company or website on the page interests you, click on it and their web page pulls right up (I love this feature because I am notorious for jotting down sites I want to visit as I come across them but then I will lose the slips of paper or forget all about it!)
- It is cheaper than the print version ($16.95)
- The settings are easy. To zoom in on a page you just click on it. You can also adjust the settings to view a 1 or 2 page spread
- I can't "lose" this version like others that I couldn't find when I needed them!
- You can even email articles to your friends!
I have been thinking of how to celebrate my 100th blog post and when I found the digital version of The Old Schoolhouse I knew it would be the perfect giveaway! So, leave a comment below and a winner will be picked randomly in one week on Sept 9th.
We are only into our 2nd week of school and this momentum might not last but I am trying to figure out how to reward my boys (or decide if I even SHOULD reward them) for completing their school work early.
It started with one of my middle boys last week - he was done with everything by Tuesday. He said he wanted a long weekend . Honestly, I was very proud of him. He has struggled with school in the past but really taken off this past year or two. I wanted to reward him in a small way so I bought him one of his favorite treats - a pack of juicy fruit gum.
The other boys were completing some of their work early too - not because they are perfect little children - don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to brag about them - they were motivated because they just want to get it done! Now that their brother got special recognition and a treat, they are ALL motivated to finish early! They younger ones for the treats and the older ones for the praise and days off. They will all be done with all of their assignments today (Wednesday) except for our senior and his math - math always bogs him down. I have been quizzing and discussing topics with them to ensure they are retaining what they learn and not just speed reading and so far so good. Each one has been able to discuss their history and literature subject matter and pass spelling and math quizzes.
So that leads me to my question. Do any of you reward your children for completing their school work quickly? This is sort of funny to think about because hubby and I were just steaming over a recent news report that some DC schools will start paying students to do well in school!
I want to encourage them to do well, and reward them for going above and beyond but on the other hand I don't want to bribe them (and I don't just want to give them candy either). I would love to hear what you all think about the subject!
We began our school year this past week and had a blast - at least "I" did! Two of my boys even finished their work early so they could have a long weekend - don't know if that momentum will last! We said goodbye to our study of modern history and are looking forward to digging deep into the ancients. Goodbye to The Great Gatsby, World War II, Animal Farm, the great depression, All Quiet on the Western Front, the 70's, Lord of the Flies, modern economics, and 1984!
(these are some of the books we read this past year - I thought it would be good to stack the ones I could get my hands on and see what we accomplished)
I am itching to begin our walk through Biblical history and to study Egypt, Greece, Rome, and ancient science and art. This past week we studied creation through the flood, using books such as The Bible of course, Usborne's Ancient World, Streams of Civilization, Adam and His Kin, The Great Dinosaur Mystery and the Bible, and The Story of Science. Our Biblical studies led to some interesting discussions on topics like - "were T-Rexs on the ark?" and "Why did God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden if He already KNEW they would eat from it?" What a good discussion on free will that was!
The boys also learned about plate tectonics. I made a puzzle for my youngest boys by laminating and cutting up a map of the tectonic plates for them to piece together. I also made a Pangea puzzle by cutting out the continents for them to fit together to form what the Pangea land mass might have looked like before the flood.
Our Tapestry of Grace co-op also met for our first week. We meet every Friday. Our boys really enjoy these classes and the time with their friends. Here is what the boys did in their co-op classes this week: PROJECTS:
My three youngest boys all did the same project - they are mummifying cornish hens. The entire process will take several weeks but they began by cleaning the cavity and putting the hen in a mixture of salt and baking soda. Each week at co-op they will complete another step in the process until their little mummies are done. After working on their hens they all went outside and measured the length and width of Noah's ark. That was an amazing thing to see! LAPBOOKS: Only the lower grammer kids are putting together lapbooks and my youngest is in this class. He put together pages on creation. JEOPARDY: My youngest is in a jeopardy class with his lower grammar buddies and my middle two dialectic boys are in a seperate jeopardy class. The jeopardy questions are based on what they have learned that week. They love this game because it is competitive and they earn treats when they get to a certain amount of points. LITERATURE: My two middle dialectic boys have a class where they discuss the literature selection that they read that week. RHETORIC: The rhetoric (high school) students only have two classes that last longer than the younger students' classes. They come together for the first half of co-op to discuss the history portion of what they learned that week and then use the second hour to discuss the literature they read. After all the classes the kids have play time outside while us moms visit and clean up.
I am very thankful for this co-op. I could spend at least 6 weeks studying Mesopotamia alone so being in a group where we HAVE to keep moving is really helpful to me! I just love homeschooling!
My favorite curriculum, Tapestry of Grace, has won several Excellence Awards! These awards were published in the Spring, so I am a little behind the times but I am thrilled that more and more moms are hearing about this wonderful curriculum!
What I like most about the excellence awards is that the winners are selected by moms just like you and me who actually use and are blessed by these resources. Votes are tallied by The Old Schoolhouse Magazine - click here to vote for your favorites!
Tapestry of Grace won in several categories this year:
BEST UNIT STUDY
1st place BEST CLASSICAL RESOURCES
1st place BEST OVERALL HOMESCHOOL COMPANY
2nd place BEST RESOURCE BOOK
3rd place FAVORITE BIBLE CURRICULUM
3rd place FAVORITE HISTORY CURRICULUM
2nd place FAVORITE GEOGRAPHY CURRICULUM
2nd place FAVORITE LITERATURE CURRICULUM
2nd place FAVORITE WRITING CURRICULUM
2nd place
They also won 2nd place in the FRIENDLIEST and MOST UNIQUE categories.
Now that is a lot of awards! I am thrilled to see this little known resource getting this much praise. I only wish I had found Tapestry of Grace sooner! If you would like to find out more about this multi-level, multi-subject curriculum for ages K to mom order a free information packet below. It includes a sample cd.
I found this neat survey on the Heart of the Matter website. In honor of fathers day, they surveyed homeschool dads and asked a variety of questions about homeschooling and marriage. Some of the answers are really funny, but my favorite question was:
12. What would their typical school day look like if they took over for the day? Phone calls, school, errands, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and chores.
Wake up.
Eat cereal or waffles.
Sit down and they would do their schoolwork. They would ask questions that I have no idea what the answers are. Then I'd say let's move on to the next subject.
Lunch would be macaroni and cheese or Cici's Pizza.
We'd come home and be too full to finish school. So we'd take a nap.
That's about it.
Field trip!!
We would take a sick day and play video games all day.
Cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I would not answer the phone. We would read books, and watch educational videos all day.
Don't you just love their honesty! Cooking is not very popular. I read the answers to my boys and my oldest said he thinks that my hubby's homeschool day would look different: "He would have no idea what we were supposed to do but he would say - you guys need to get your school done." When hubby gets home I am going to see what his answer is!
If you want to read the entire survey, click here: Heart of the Matter
I want to share with you all an awesome resource for homeschool moms - The Homeschool Minute. It is a weekly newsletter put out by The Old Schoolhouse Magazine folks and every issue is jam packed with great information and encouragement. The articles that are included are short - which I like - because I tend to skip and email newsletter if it is too long. They usually have a contest and a homeschool freebies section. Each newsletter is centered around a theme with articles and links reinforcing the theme.
I have subscribed to a lot of email newsletters, but in my opinion, this is one of the best. Short and sweet - just the way I like it!
I have to speak tomorrow at an AARP meeting and I can't believe I am so nervous! I have spoken in public many times but it was usually pertaining to homeschooling or foster care/adoption. I wasn't really nervous speaking about those topics because I feel like I "live" them and can speak easily from experience and from the heart - but tomorrow is a little different.
We had a group of AARP folks come to the home where I work for their day of service. They brought cookies and visited with the elderly who live there. They liked what they saw and toured our facility and private cottages. They loved it so much that they wanted someone to come and share with their entire group about our facility. And my boss thought I would be the perfect person to do it (what is he thinking!!!!!!!)
I feel that our philosophy is truly unique but I am afraid of representing something that is not my own - my own idea - my own business - you know what I mean?
But,
because I thought they never really would contact us again - but they did
and
because my boss was planning on going with me - but at the last minute can't
I know that the Lord wants me to do it. So, I am resting in His peace, and counting on His direction. I am praying that I convey the message He wants me to send about our facility that truly operates to honor Him through honoring the elderly.
It sure makes me thankful though, for all the public speaking opportunities, speech, and debate classes my boys have had through our local homeschooling community! No matter what they do in life they will need to be able to speak in public. My boys aren't great at it, and neither am I, but I know that practice makes better. So, I'm going to look at tomorrow as more practice.
Kid's bedrooms are another good room for extra learning to take place. Here are some ways we have incorporated learning into their bedrooms:
- of course, the obvious: hanging posters up! We have hung posters on topics such as WWII aircraft, planets, animals, etc.
- hang wall mounted magazine holders beside each bed next to the pillows to hold books and magazines that you want them to read. Ours are often filled with art books, sketch pads, chapter books I want them to read but don't necessarily want to assign, zoo book magazines, or ranger ricks. We find the boys use these more than their stand alone book shelves.
- create a reading corner: we used dust jackets off of books (you can usually get them at your library if you don't have enough of your own) to decorate the reading area. We put in a comfortable chair and a magazine rack/table to hold books.
- use the ceiling: this works especially well if you have bunk beds. I hang pictures and charts that the boys will be able to read as they are laying in bed.
- next to the boys cd/tape player we put a basket with books on audio, cd stories like those of Jim Weiss and Classical Kids stories, and cds of music they wouldn't necessarily just listen to on their own (like learn with Vivaldi)
- create a science corner: we have a small computer desk in one corner and that is where the boys have a microscope (just a cheap kids one that they can't harm!), magnifying glass, prism and other tools they can just experiment with safely
These are just a few of the things that we have done to try to make their rooms a place to think and not just play. Please post a comment to share your bedroom learning ideas, I want to hear what you all are doing as well! Part 1 - Schooling in every room of the house - the BATHROOM
I wanted to share more on the subject of strewing and thought my older posts "Schooling in every room of the house" would fit in well with this topic. Here is the first post in the series: Schooling in every room of the house Part 1: the BATHROOM! As homeschoolers we are famous for using every nook and cranny in our homes to our advantage in schooling our kids. I love to learn in unexpected or overlooked places. I am going to start this series of blog entries with ideas for learning in the most overlooked room in the house: the bathroom I think the bathroom is one of the BEST places to sneak in learning! It is a room that my boys seem to spend lots of time in - especially when I tell them it is time to clean their room (you all know what I mean!).
Here are some of the ways I squeeze learning into the bathrooms:
1.) I put a small basket on the floor and a file organizer on the back of the toilet and stuff them with books that my boys don't realize are "educational" (like When is a Pig a Hog?, 5 Minute Mysteries, Big Book of Questions and Answers, More Than Meets the Eye, Brain Surgery for Beginners, Art Fraud Detective, the Murderous Maths books, Kids Discover magazines, etc.) Mostly things that they normally would not just pick up to read. I can't tell you how many times they have come to me after a visit to that room and say "Hey, guess what, listen to this!". I try to put books in there in the subject areas that I feel we need to spend extra time on such as science, logic, art, or language.
I switch the books out every once in a while and sneak in ones that pertain to what we are learning.
Here is a picture of one of the file organizers in my bathroom:
2.) I also use the walls on the bathroom to hang posters, charts, and things I want them to memorize. Here are some examples:
- When we were studying Shakespeare I plastered the bathroom (yes, the one our guests use) with Shakespeare quotes. They were sayings that we use every day and never realize we are quoting Shakespeare such as "Eaten out of house and home" - my life story!
- When we are studying an artist I tape their work up on the bathroom wall to be admired while "lounging". Sometimes I use those cheap Dover $1.00 art postcard packs - while studying Picasso I taped his famous painting post cards up on the bathroom wall in chronological order.
- I have a chart of the books of the bible hanging in there for us to work on memorizing.
- I hang pictures of the solar system, skeletons, the alphabet in sign language - anything! The possibilities are endless.
So, when you get time, go look in your bathroom and see it with fresh eyes. You can learn a lot in there!
I have always been a fan of strewing.I’m not sure where I ever learned about it.Honestly, I'm sure many, many homes, including ours, used the art of strewing long before it was ever considered an “educational method” or a “system”.But simply put strewing is strategically placing books and other items in places where unsuspecting children will find them in hopes that they will pick them up and read or use them. One of the things that I like to strew in my home is newspaper articles.My boys would rather eat the newspaper than read it as an assignment.Yes, I could “make” them read it each week - and as soon as they have graduated they will probably be thankful that they never have to read the paper again.That’s how boring they think the paper is! I certainly want them to know how to navigate their way around a newspaper but more importantly, I want them to understand that reading the newspaper can be a very enjoyable experience!So, when I notice an article that I think might be interesting to them, I leave it where I know it will be found in hopes they will actually read it.I am hoping that if this happens enough times during their school years, that when they are older and on their own they might actually WANT to read the paper every once in a while because their memories of reading it as a child were not forced or assigned, but discovered and enjoyed.
Here is a example of how I help them “discover” the newspaper in our home: The Washington Post Magazine recently had a whole issue on education.It had some interesting articles that I wanted the older boys to read and I knew one of them in particular would catch their eye.It was an article about students at a particular college who hold a humans vs. zombies nerf fight on campus every year.The contests can last for days or even weeks – all while classes are being held and studying is being done (hmmm, not sure about that one!). But in light of recent school shootings (including in our state at Virginia Tech) not everyone is thrilled with the game being held on campus.Some think that guys with guns (even play ones that are bright yellow, blue, and orange) walking around shooting each other is just not a good idea. I thought this would lead to a good discussion so one night I left the magazine open on the kitchen table.Sure enough, Ryan began reading it while eating his breakfast the next morning.He began to tell Joseph about it and Joseph bugged and bugged Ryan for the magazine so he could read it too.I didn’t want to “push” a conversation on them and make my planting and strewing tactics obvious, so I just let them enjoy reading it and discuss it amongst themselves to see what would come of it.Later that afternoon, Ryan came to me asking if I had read the article.After he talked about how fun this game (and this college) sounded and relaying the exciting details of the story he asked me what I thought about the controversy.Joseph of course heard us talking about this and joined the conversation too.It turned into a great discussion about guns, freedoms, responsibility to others, all kinds of things.Many opinions flew and that was exactly my goal.I listened to their opinions and then shared my thoughts.It gave me an opportunity to see what direction their thinking was going on this topic and why.
Joseph has been carrying this magazine around sharing it with all his friends – mostly because they think it is such a cool idea.For me, as a parent, it opened a door to a discussion that might not have been as enjoyable if it was just an “assigned” topic to study. So, every Sunday I scour the paper looking for interesting articles to strew.I have two articles waiting in the wings to strew as soon as I finish reading them myself.They are: “Truth: Can you handle it?, Better yet: Do you know it when you see it?” (an article on the fact that there is a lot of information at our fingertips but it might not all be accurate) and “Somebody’s got to do the job.But just what is it?” (an article on what the President of the United States actually does all day). Newspaper articles are perfect for strewing.Don’t be afraid to strew articles written for adults (as long as they don’t have objectionable content of course).My initial reaction is always: they won’t understand this or that wouldn’t be interesting to them – but both of those are wrong.We don’t need to dumb it down.Our older children are more than capable of discussing these current events and ideas. Usually, they even find them very interesting. My boys don’t always start a discussion on the articles they have read.But, If I KNOW they have already read it I may try to start a conversation myself by picking up the article and saying something out loud like “huh, this sounds interesting”. They almost always respond.
Here are some newspaper strewing tips I have learned along the way:
- Make sure the article you want them to read is on the front page or open and fold the paper so that the article is on the front.
- Leave them where your kids read most: kitchen table, bathroom magazine rack, living room coffee table, etc. (my boys like to read while eating breakfast and lunch so I leave a lot of articles out on the table)
- Pre-read it yourself so you will be ready for a discussion when and if your kids are.
I strew other things in lots of other places and ways but I think this is long enough.Maybe I will add more in another post.
I have had several friends ask me about the curriculum I use - Tapestry of Grace - lately. It is that time of year when we are all re-evaluating our homeschools and looking ahead to next year so I thought I would share the reasons why I chose this curriculum and why it works for my family.
First of all, let me start with a brief description of Tapestry (TOG):
Tapestry of Grace (TOG) is a unit study curriculum that covers most of the major subject areas for students in grades K through 12. Some features that make it especially appealing are Christian worldview studies incorporated throughout the curriculum, a chronological approach to history as the basic organizing theme, and a classical education approach based on the grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric stages of learning. Subject areas covered include history, English (writing and literature), fine arts, some science, geography, church history including missions (more extensively covered than I recall seeing in most other curricula), Bible, and history of fine arts and sciences (reflecting a classical approach). You will need to use other resources for phonics, English grammar, math, foreign languages, and high school lab sciences. (From Cathy Duffy's 100 top picks)
We have homeschooled from the beginning and our boys are now 8, 12, 13, & 17. I have used just about every curriculum under the sun in my quest for the one that works for our family. NO curriculum will be right for everyone but if you have several children in wide age ranges then Tapestry might be beneficial to your family. I will mention a few curriculums in this post - not to say they are not good curriculums - but they just did not work for our family and I will share with you why.
When I began homeschooling, I set up "school" in my home - after all, it is "HOME SCHOOLING" right! We said our pledge to the flag, had little desks, the whole nine yards. Complete with our Abeka textbooks/workbooks. One for each subject. This went on for a while but I ended up realizing that this was pretty boring! I was becoming a slave to these workbooks and while my boys were doing the work, they just were not enjoying it. I did not want them to end up hating school! I felt like I was just duplicating a classroom at home. I wanted them to learn how to learn - and not just finish workbooks.
So, I tried a literature based curriculum - Sonlight - because of the rich literature and read alouds that we could do as a family. Sonlight was like a breath of fresh air! We had so much fun with the great books that we read aloud or independently - we learned so much and really enjoyed it. But, having 4 different children it became quite expensive and a lot of work for me. One child would be studying ancient China while another would be studying the American Revolution at the same time! Sorry to be blunt but that was just stupid - what was I thinking!
So then I tried unit studies - KONOS - at least we would all be studying the same things right? That was true but it ended up being a LOT of work for me as far as research. Also, the jumping around in history drove me nuts. It just didn't make sense to me. Another down side was that the majority of the history was US history or major ancient history themes (egypt, knights, etc.) A lot of connections were lost in this method.
A lot of other curriculums were tried in between the examples above and all have their pros and cons, but I am so thankful that the Lord led me to Tapestry. It has everything I was looking for: a curriculum that studies history chronologically, is from a christian worldview, has the family studying together, and uses living books and classics. It even has lots of extra activities we can add in if we want to - such as ideas for projects, vocabulary, church history, timeline, and so much more. And all the information and ideas I need to teach each week are all in one easy to use format.
I find that my boys learn so much more with this method of
- interesting books
- chronological history, and
- family learning
so much better than dry text books! When the whole family is learning together, my boys have that added support and motivation which is much more conducive to learning than just duplicating a typical class room - with typical school books.
Tapestry does have it's cons - it's size alone can seem overwhelming. The author of Tapestry Marcia Sommerville (wife of HSLDA lawyer Scott Sommerville and mother of 6) explains that Tapestry is like a buffet where you pick and choose what you will use each week - just like a food buffet - you don't try everything! Also, there is what they call the 4 week fog. It really takes a while to get the hang of how this curriculum is best used. I recommend that you get the free sample weeks that Tapestry offers. Here are the links: Go To Egypt Sail To The New World I would also recommend that you get the free Explore Tapestry Packet. It has more information in addition to a sample CD. You can get it here: Explore Tapestry Packet
Take your time and slowly look through the material. Then spend time asking questions of current Tapestry users, and peruse the Tapestry forums. I found that most Tapestry users are happy to talk about this curriculum, to share ideas and resources and answer any questions you may have. I am not trying to say Tapestry is "the" best curriculum for everyone, or fits for everyone's homeschool, but for us, with Tapestry of Grace, I really feel like we are finally learning together - not just doing school!
The more I dwell on the story that I shared in Answering 'when am I ever going to us this stuff?", the more I am amazed that everything we do in our little home schools is all about God. Whatever we are learning (or not learning) the Lord will use to glorify His name. The math, the science, the art, the language, all of it.
While we try to help our children see His plan and purpose for studying these subjects, it is thrilling to know that God already knows how they will use that knowledge and those tools to bring glory to His kingdom! Isn't that so exciting! Do you believe that every child - every child - is walking this earth because God has a specific purpose for their lives? He put my children and yours exactly where He wants them.
God gave us these children and placed them in this exact family already knowing our weaknesses and our circumstances. (KNOWING that certainly there must be moms out there that are much better at homeschooling than we are - right )
God put Betsie & Corrie Ten Boom in their family because He knew that He was going to impress upon their father the need to teach his children the Bible in German, and that 40 years later those girls would have a chance to share the hope and peace of Jesus Christ with others amidst unspeakable human horror with people who spoke only German.
Was the Ten Boom family perfect? I am sure that they were far from it. While they were full of love for one another, humor, and a love of the Lord, they might have been really bad at math! They might have never studied Homer or knew about King Tut. But God knew what they would need.
Am I saying that we can then just teach them the Bible and forget all the rest? Absolutely not! Only God knows their future and knows what knowledge and tools they will need to fulfill His purpose. Your whiz at science might one day help further creationism, your grammar guy may reach those who don't know Christ through his writing, your social butterfly may lead people to the Lord with their love for others. You never know how God will use what you are teaching today.
Some days I feel wholly inadequate to teach my children and the thought of failure strikes fear in my heart. But God is not surprised by our feelings of inadequacy, our percieved gaps in our children's education, our busy-ness, or our lack of "expertise" in certain subjects.
God is not surprised by any of it.
If we truly are striving to bring our children up "in the training and admonition of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4) then the Lord will forgive our weaknesses, He will open our eyes to blind spots, He will convict us of wasted time and foolish pursuits, He will provide needed resources, and He will strengthen our efforts.
That is who God is - and isn't it amazing!
I have heard this question in my home on more than a few occasions. In my Grammar with guys post I shared my struggles with trying to convey why learning grammar is important. But I want to share with you an inspiring story I found that might be helpful in this area. I work part time at a home for the elderly and one of the activities we like to do is read aloud. Right now, we are reading "In My Father's House" by Corrie Ten Boom. When I read this portion of chapter 6, I could not help but think of my children's question "when are we ever going to use this?" . . .
Bible Study Was a Game With the dishes cleared off and kitchen duties accomplished, the oval table could be turned into a place for games. We didn't play cards (for that was considered a form of gambling), but we had a lasting enjoyment in the type of games which taught us something.
Different languages were introduced as a game, not as a forced study. When I was in the fourth grade, we began to learn French. As I remember, I loved the melodious sounds of this beautiful language, but it was and remained a difficult language for me. The next year I started English, which was easier but I wondered as I struggled with all the different English meanings for words if I would ever go to England or America and have an opportunity to use the language.
Father wanted me to learn English well, and he gave me a little Sunday-school booklet in English which was called "There's No Place Like Home." I read it over and over again.
The greatest fun in language-learning came during our Bible study. The entire family would take part, each one of us having a Bible in a different language. Willem usually had the original in Hebrew and Greek; I would have the English; Mother the Dutch; Nollie the French; and Betsie or Father, German. It was a special and joyous time for us.
Father would begin by asking what John 3:16 was in English. I would answer from my English Bible, Mother from her Dutch Bible, and Betsie would reply in German (and so on).
When I was so young, it didn't seem possible that Betsie would ever have a chance to use a Bible verse in German. We didn't know Germans then! However, God uses such seemingly insignificant ways to prepare us for the plan He has for our lives.
These girls could have never known the events that would take place some 40 years later. Before being taken away to their concentration camp, one of Corrie's relatives managed to smuggle a small Dutch Bible to her. In the evenings in their barrack room, Corrie and Betsie would read that little Dutch Bible. The women who shared the barracks with them were from many countries including Poland, France, Germany, and Russia. Corrie and Betsie translated their Dutch Bible into German. Then someone else translated the German into Polish, and so on. Just like her family used to do around their dinner table all those years ago.
Reading in a different language was difficult and frustrating for the girls when they were young. But sitting in that barrack, under those terrible conditions, sharing the message of God's love that brought all of them comfort, I am sure Corrie and Betsie were so thankful that God had stirred their father to make them learn to read their Bible in German. He obviously made learning fun, and somehing the whole family did together.
I am so thankful that I found this story. There are many day to day tasks that we do that seem meaningless. But God in his sovereignty will lead us to stick with those things that will later help us fulfill His plan and purpose for our lives. And yes, that probably even includes those sometimes unpleasant tasks like learning a language and grammar!
Here is one more snipped from The Elijah Company resource guide that I couldn't resist sharing with you. It is from the article "Identity Directed Home Schooling" . . .
Frustrating a child
When a child becomes resistant, resentful, or obnoxious, and we parents are tempted to label them as rebellious and disrespectful, we should ask ourselves, “What’s really going on here? Is there something God has placed in this child that we are not respecting and encouraging? Is he struggling with a sense of destiny that leads him in a different direction than the direction we are trying to make him go? Is his way of being a person different from our way?”
At this point, three types of trust are critical. First, we must trust God—trust that He knows what He is doing, trust that He has put this “seed” of identity and destiny in our child, trust that He is capable of bringing that seed to fruition, and trust that He will “clue us in” about who our child really is and whether what we are dealing with is identity-related or is truly rebellion.
Second, we must trust ourselves—trust that all of our effort to be good parents and give our children a nurturing, Christian upbringing will ultimately be rewarded, even though we made plenty of mistakes.
Third, we must trust our child, and this is the hardest kind of trust to have. It is also very humbling, because this kind of trust requires us to relax our parent roles where we are “large and in charge” and become more like older brothers or sisters in Christ to our sons and daughters. We must trust that all the good and godly input we gave over the years actually lodged in our child’s heart, and is really in there, even though we can’t see any evidence of it.
We must also trust that our child has a deep enough relationship with the Lord to actually hear from God and respond to Him, even though that response may be expressed in foolish or immature ways. When we start trusting our children’s relationships with the Lord, we allow them to have more and more say in who they are and what they want to do with their time, and we begin respecting their individuality.
By the way, I forgot to mention in my Favorite Homeschooling Resource post that the authors of this resource guide have compiled their most popular articles into a book called "I Carved The Angel In The Marble".
I highly recommend it! In my humble opinion, it is one of the best homeschooling books out there. I will post more about this book later.
Dee
I want to share with you all my all time favorite homeschool resource. It's not a popular homeschool book, or a helpful homeschool workshop audio recording - it is a catalog. Actually, it is rightly called a resource guide.
I still have mine from the year 2003 and is weathered, torn, and tea stained.
I am not one who tends to keep lots of catalogs but this one is different.
This resource guide is from The Elijah Company. It is stuffed with articles that I believe ALL homeschoolers - newbies and seasoned veterans - can benefit from reading. Unfortunately, The Elijah Company no longer sells items from their resource guide but it is still available for purchase and is well worth it's $1.00 price tag!
Let me tell you a little bit about what it includes:
The resource guide includes many articles about different topics on homeschooling and then recommends resources about or for that topic.
Some articles included are:
- Why homeschool your children
- Identity directed homeschooling
- Exploring teaching approaches
- Creating a learning environment
- Determining your child's real needs
- Choosing teaching materials
- Language arts
- Teaching math in the home
- Science: creating a sense of wonder
- World history: imparting perspective
- High school years
You will not be dissapointed in their content and insight!
I purchased 10 of these resource guides (about $15 with shipping). I donated three to our homeschool support group library and kept two for my own personal library. I give the rest to friends or moms I meet who seem to need a little inspiration. I also like to give them to moms who are new to homeschooling who would appreciate help with forming a vision, focus and direction for their new homeschool journey. I have already given my supply away and plan to order more.
I will give you just a little sample: Common teaching approaches
All home schooling materials fall into two main categories: traditional textbook curricula and non-textbook curricula. (Most of us already know lots about the traditional textbook method and it's strengths and weaknesses so to save time and space I ommited that part from this sample) Non-Textbook Approaches
Although there are a number of excellent textbook and worktext programs available, many home educators object to the fact that textbooks are teacher-directed, chalkboard-oriented, and seldom take into account different teaching approaches or the different ways children receive and process information.
John Gatto says, “Real books educate. School books school.” With textbooks, parents may feel they are “bringing the classroom home” instead of educating their children in a way that is uniquely home-based. These parents have found alternative teaching approaches that allow them to tailor their home schooling to their family’s particular needs. Here are the six most common non-textbook teaching approaches: - The Classical Approach is derived from successful courses of study throughout history and recently revived through the writings of Dorothy Sayers.
- The Principle Approach is based on the premise that our nation is a unique and vital link in the westward chain of Christianity.
- The Living Books and Life Experiences Approach of Charlotte Mason treats children as persons, not as containers to be filled with information.
- The Unit Study Approach integrates several subject areas around a common theme.
- Unschooling assumes that children are natural learners and gives them resources to do so.
- The Eclectic Approach takes a cafeteria-style view of home schooling and chooses suitable teaching materials from all different approaches.
They continue to break down each approach and I will include one sample here:
The Unit Study Approach
A Unit Study takes a theme or topic (a unit of study) and delves into it deeply over a period of time, integrating language arts, science, social studies, math, and fine arts as they apply. Instead of studying eight or ten separate, unrelated subjects, all subjects are blended together and studied around a common theme or project.
For example, a unit study on birds could include reading and writing about birds and about famous ornithologists (language arts), studying the parts, functions, and life cycles of birds and perhaps even the aerodynamics of flight (science and math), determining the migration paths, habitats, and ecological/sociological impact of birds (social studies), sketching familiar birds (art), building bird houses or feeders ("hands on" activities) and so forth.
Several fine prepared unit study curricula are available, but it is easy to prepare your own unit studies around areas of interest. History is the logical core curriculum to build ongoing unit studies around. History provides a framework for all the other subjects because it follows a progression and covers every other subject (except possibly math), like art, music, science, literature, etc.
Here are some questions to ask yourself before trying unit studies with your children:
1. Am I a creative person?
2. Do I like trying to make everything interesting and fun?
3. Do my children have a variety of interests and learning styles?
4. Can I live with the fact that there may be “gaps” in my children’s education?
5. Do I have the time and energy to be the driving, creative force behind the development of units Strengths of the Unit Study Approach:
- All ages can learn together
- Children can delve as deeply or as lightly into a subject as they like
- The family’s interests can be pursued
- Students get the whole picture
- Curiosity and independent thinking are generated
- Intense study of one topic is the more natural way to learn
- Knowledge is interrelated so is learned easily and remembered longer
- Unit studies are fairly easy to create Weaknesses of the Unit Study Approach:
- It is easy to leave educational “gaps”
- Hard to assess the level of learning occurring
- Record keeping may be difficult
- Prepared unit study curricula are expensive
- Do-it-yourself unit studies require planning
- Too many activity-oriented unit studies may cause burn-out of teacher and student
- Subjects that are hard to integrate into the unit may be neglected
I am sure you can see how this resource guide would be helpful to someone new to homeschooling! Many of the articles like Determining Your Child's Real Needs or Identity Directed Homeschooling are helpful to newbies as well as homeschoolers with many years under their belts.
I re-read the articles every year. Either in the summer, or when I am suffering from winter burn out. I am always re-charged and inspired! Here is the link to purchase your own resource guide (it is the seventh item down) Don't forget to order extras for your support group, friends, co-ops, or new moms you meet! The shipping fee is the same whether you order 1 or 20.
Blessings, Dee
There are several versions of this story floating around the internet and I just love the analogy so I thought I would share it.
The School for Animals
An old story tells of the creation of a school for the animals. To make it easier to administer the curriculum, all the animals took all the subjects: flying, swimming, climbing, and running. Among the students were a duck, a flying squirrel, a fox, and an elephant. These four were highly motivated, and wanted to get good grades, so they all tried very hard.
The duck did fantastically well in swimming and flying, but he lagged behind his classmates in climbing and running, so focused special attention on those two subjects. However, his feet became so sore from trying to run and his wings were so bedraggled from trying to climb that by the end of the year he not only failed both those subjects, but made C’s in swimming and flying, which had once been his two best subjects.
At the beginning of the school year, the squirrel was first in his class in climbing and running and was second only to the duck at flying. But as the months wore on, he missed so much school from catching pneumonia in his swimming class that he failed everything.
To make matters even worse, because the squirrel constantly squirmed and chattered in class, and had difficulty paying attention, he was diagnosed with a learning disorder. The squirrel eventually was placed in remedial classes and had to be medicated in order to continue with his school work.
The fox was a natural in his running class and scored well in climbing and swimming, but became so frustrated at his inability to get good grades in flying that he began assaulting his classmates. He even tried to eat the duck. His behavior was so disruptive he was expelled from school. He fell in with a rough crowd and eventually wound up in a center for animal delinquents.
My boys and I are learning about Daylight Saving Time since it is that time again. I have found some interisting information and thought I would share it with you all. Happy Learning! Dee
The History of Daylight Saving Time 1784 - Benjamin Franklin is thought to have come up with the idea for daylight-saving time during his sojourn as an American delegate in Paris in 1784, in an essay, "An Economical Project." He said that Parisians could save thousands of francs a years by waking up earlier during the summer because it would prevent them from having to buy so many candles to light the evening hours. 1883 - The U.S. railroad industry established official time zones with a set standard time within each zone. (Congress eventually came on board, signing the railroad time zone system into law in 1918.) 1918 - The U.S. first adopts daylight-saving time, in the same act that created standard time zones, in an effort to save energy during World War I. It wasn't popular, and, as a result, was repealed the following year. 1942 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt instituted "war-time," a year-round daylight-saving time to save energy during World War II. After the year-round shift ended in 1945, many states adopted their own summer time changes. 1966 - Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, which standardized the start and end dates for daylight saving time but allowed individual states to remain on standard time if their legislatures allowed it. The act came in response from the transportation industry, which demanded consistency across time zones. The U.S. Department of Transportation now oversees time changes in the United States. 1986 - The Federal law is amended to start daylight-saving time on the first Sunday in April, beginning in 1987. The ending date of daylight-saving time was never changed, and remained the last Sunday in October through 2006. 2005 - On August 8, President Bush signs the Energy Policy Act of 2005 into law. Part of the act will extend daylight-saving time starting in 2007, from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November. 2007 - Daylight-saving time begins on Sunday, March 11 and ends on Sunday, November 4.
Sources: CNN.com and CNN Library
Interesting tid-bits: Amtrak - To keep to their published timetables, trains cannot leave a station before the scheduled time. So, when the clocks fall back one hour in October, all Amtrak trains in the U.S. that are running on time stop at 2:00 a.m. and wait one hour before resuming. Overnight passengers are often surprised to find their train at a dead stop and their travel time an hour longer than expected. At the spring Daylight Saving Time change, trains instantaneously become an hour behind schedule at 2:00 a.m., but they just keep going and do their best to make up the time. Following the 1973 oil embargo, the U.S. Congress extended Daylight Saving Time to 8 months, rather than the normal six months. During that time, the U.S. Department of Transportation found that observing Daylight Saving Time in March and April saved the equivalent in energy of 10,000 barrels of oil each day - a total of 600,000 barrels in each of those two years. Minneapolis-St. Paul - The Minnesota cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul once didn’t have twin perspectives with regard to the clock. These two large cities are adjacent at some points and separated only by the Mississippi River at others, and are considered a single metropolitan area. In 1965, St. Paul decided to begin its Daylight Saving Time period early to conform to most of the nation, while Minneapolis felt it should follow Minnesota's state law, which stipulated a later start date. After intense inter-city negotiations and quarreling, the cities could not agree, and so the one-hour time difference went into effect, bringing a period of great time turmoil to the cities and surrounding areas. Indiana - Indiana has long been a hotbed of Daylight Saving Time controversy. Historically, the state’s two western corners, which fall in the Central Time Zone, observed DST, while the remainder of the state, in the Eastern Time zone, followed year-round Standard Time. An additional complication was that five southeastern counties near Cincinnati and Louisville unofficially observed DST to keep in sync with those cities. In April 2005, Indiana legislators passed a law that implemented Daylight Saving Time statewide beginning on April 2, 2006.
What is daylight-saving time? Daylight-saving time is a system established to reduce electricity usage by extending daylight hours (clocks are set ahead one hour). This year, daylight-saving time begins at 2am on Sunday, March 11, 2007. Daylight-saving time ends at 2am on Sunday, November 4, 2007.
In the past, daylight-saving time began in April and ended in October. However, an energy bill signed by President George W. Bush on August 8, 2005 extended daylight-saving time as part of a long-term solution to the nation's energy problems. The new law extended daylight-saving time by four weeks - beginning three weeks earlier and ending one week later.
Also under the new laws, the entire state of Indiana now observes daylight-saving time. Prior to the new laws, only certain areas of the state observed the time changes. Exceptions in the United States In the United States, Hawaii and most of Arizona do not follow daylight-saving time. And, the U.S. territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and American Samoa also do not observe daylight-saving time.
As my oldest son edges closer and closer to the end of his high school education, I find myself reflecting on our past homeschooling years more frequently.The triumphs and failures of our home education journey are not unlike the pits and peaks of the remarkable Grand Canyon - which I see every day as the background on my computer screen.For me, the canyon is a wonderful reminder of the road we undertook years ago and, Lord willing, will travel for many school years to come.
I see myself at the ridge of the Grand Canyon, looking over the vast, beautiful landscape.The view is full of glory, hope, and promise for tomorrow.But at the same time I can’t help but marvel at the visual record it provides of many yesterdays.
Time itself can be seen in its creases, its curves, and its layers.At the top of this plateau I begin my journey of remembering.As most homeschoolers do, I started out on the homeschool road full of anticipation, so excited about the road ahead, bounding with energy, and packed with supplies . . . .
My first step on my quest was to find the right trail.There were so many to choose from.Classical, traditional, delight directed.I finally settle on what feels most comfortable and soon my strong start is winding me down a path deeper into the canyon.The terrain is often bumpy, and dry, but routine and normalcy settle in making the chosen path at least seem safe.
I find myself at times at the bottom of one of the canyon’s deep crevasses.Lacking light, my sight becomes very limited.The shadows of the surrounding peaks prevent me from seeing things as they really are.The high, rough walls make my available paths hardly noticeable.
I have been here many times before.Sometimes frustration has led me here.Sometimes it is weariness or confusion.I have spent many days in these crevasses crying out to God – asking for His direction, His vision, and His strength to pull myself out of this pit.I always manage – through prayer and guidance – to find my way through the canyon.
Coming to a clearing, I am suddenly able to see for miles, and the layers in the rock of the canyon are clearly visible.This leg in my journey is extremely thrilling!Whenever I am afforded a view like this I cannot help but stop to marvel at the numerous colorful layers and the tales that they tell.
I notice first the enormous grey layers which represent our every day run of the mill school days.There are many of these thick layers. They are reflective of us accomplishing the basic three Rs, chipping away at huge chunks of normal old school work.There doesn’t seem to be much excitement or movement in these layers, but yet they convey a solid record of accomplishment.
The dark brown layers which catch my eye next are the thinnest.These were the times that our homeschool was not at its best.Educational roadblocks, spiritual challenges, attitude adjustments (mine and the kids!) - are all represented in these layers, and the entire depth of the canyon is peppered with them.Those challenging layers brought us much frustration.But, they also helped us grow and eventually became a firm foundation that allowed a more fertile layer to grow over top.
My favorite layers are those that are a deep rusty red.They stand out more conspicuously than any of the other layers because of their beauty and unique color.These are the layers that shout out our glory days.They loudly attest to the most fruitful times in our homeschooling travels.Times when we were on fire with excitement over what we were learning.Celebrated shouts of “I get it!”, and “This is so much fun!” were ringing out.Rich classes, projects, and field trips full of wonder and learning were a regular occurrence.Snuggling on the couch with an enthralling book was commonplace.Thrilling adventures together – tot to teen - were a reminder of the fact that homeschooling is a family endeavor.
These layers are the ones that I linger at most, and as much as I want to only reflect on those most joyous times, ALL the layers were needed to create such a beautiful canyon.
During my time of reflection, I come to realize that if it weren’t for those deep crevasses, the unique layers that were laid down slowly throughout the years would not be visible at all.All of this beauty and wonder would be hidden under flat earth!Those ordinary, everyday highs and lows of my homeschool journey have created an astonishingly beautiful landscape!
As I wind my way back up to the top of the canyon, I am once again greeted by a gorgeous view stretching for miles. Looking across the horizon, I feel renewed again, even exhilarated at the thought of the years yet to come.I am sure I will again be in many crevasses, and see many ordinary days, but it is these rare glimpses at the entire landscape that make this journey a very worth while and fulfilling one.
This issue has been in my home and on my heart lately. I have had too many conversations about laziness, and being motivated with some of my boys.
I have noticed, however, that what I thought was laziness was really just fear. Fear of failure. Their "laziness" was primarily in topics that they naturally do not excell at. It makes sense really - none of us want to do what we know we aren't good at or don't fully understand. You couldn't make me do a chapter of calculus for $100! I hate to do higher math so it would take a lot to motivate me - a lot more than a hundred dollars!
So, I am trying to figure out how I can motivate them in those topics which they just aren't naturally good at. Then I listened to Andrew Pudewa's talk entitled "Teaching Boys and Other Children Who Would Rather Build Forts All Day". I have listened to this a few times before but this time I must have really been listening because he addressed this topic of laziness and how he believes there are no lazy children. Here is a very small excerpt:
3 truths of motivating children children like to do what they CAN do
children WANT to do what they THINK they can do
children hate to do what they cannot or think they cannot do The reason they don’t want to do it is because they think they can’t - or they can’t
So he offers this advice: "If you can structure your environment so that 80 percent of the time your kids are doing what they can do – just getting better at that
and 20 percent of the time having them do what they THINK they can do – and giving them enough help to succeed
and 0 percent of the time having them do what they think they can’t do (or can’t do) you would have a 100 percent all the time motivated child."
He says he does not believe in lazy children."If you removed electricity from their life you’d never have a lazy child because they’re naturally very industrious." (This is certainly true!)
He does believe that you get the appearance of a lazy child when they use it as a defense mechanism against having to do something they believe they cannot do well, or cannot do at all.They will argue, or tantrum, or lazy their way out of it.
We are a homeschooling family raising 4 boys in Virginia. This blog is mostly about anything relevant to raising boys or homeschooling in general - but every once in a while I can't help but add some nonsense from our daily life.
. Honestly, I was very proud of him. He has struggled with school in the past but really taken off this past year or two. I wanted to reward him in a small way so I bought him one of his favorite treats - a pack of juicy fruit gum.
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