Archive for April, 2010
Help! I’m Considering Homeschool
I’m thinking about homeschooling. My husband and family keep talking me out of it. I never considered the possibility before, but since putting my daughter in preschool she’s become angry. I don’t even know how to begin homeschooling. Your views would be helpful. ~J.K. in FL
Dear J.K.,
First of all, I want to encourage you. Homeschooling isn’t as scary as it sounds. So many messages in our culture come against the idea, but, especially in the early years, homeschooling is pretty simple. I didn’t say it’s easy, but it is simple.
Your child needs to learn to read.
Because homeschooling is very centered on family, I would not try to do it if my husband wasn’t in unity. Is he open to trying it? What are his concerns? As you explore this option, continue praying and communicating about it.
Another thing to consider is your state’s homeschooling laws. It looks like you have more restrictions than I do in Idaho. However, you don’t have to start any formal education until your child is 6. You may have a year before state requirements come into effect, and by then you will have found support.
Honestly, I think homeschooling during the beginning years is more crucial than later. It is a time of laying foundations.
While our children are young, we need to teach them, not their peers. Then when they are older and capable of discerning good from evil, they have a foundation to stand on.
I hope this helps. You have already been teaching your child. And no matter where she attends school, you are still her most important teacher.
Peace to you,
Renae
What would you have said?
The Faith It Takes to Homeschool
For the first time, I wasn’t overwhelmed by the plethora of choices at the homeschool convention. A few art supplies were gathered as gifts to take home to my children, but no curriculum grabbed me. Our shelves at home contained more than enough.
After six years of homeschooling, I felt settled. I finally realized there was no perfect curriculum. I understood there was no system to replace character.
The view from my new vista looked so promising. My faith was stronger than in those first faltering days of kindergarten crying. My children were learning and growing. Homeschool was working.
Then a new season crashed in on us. A season of selling our house and moving across the country….
To finish this article, please click over to Heart of the Matter Online and let me know how you conquer the fear of homeschooling.
A Child’s Geography
Searching for geography curriculum has been a fruitless pursuit for me, so I dabbled in creating my own. We discussed earth being our home, looked at maps, and located places on the globe from our history and literature studies. That was enough, but I wanted to go more in depth.
When I was introduced to A Child’s Geography, Explore His Earth by Ann Voskamp, I thought, “Maybe this is it!”
To read the rest of this review, please visit Curriculum Choice.
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Finding Wisdom in Trails of Trash
I hear the thud as the shed door crashes to the ground. The thick, handmade door fell off the hinges months ago. I prop it up, but the wind frequently knocks it down. I want to tear the whole thing down. Take everything out and start all over.
Boxes spill out books and clothes, paintings and pottery, craft supplies and toys. We’re living without it in the house. Can’t we live without it in the shed, too?
I close my mind’s eye to the exposed mess. I’ll shove the door upright later. Right now I’m reading while the happy chatter of children floats outside the window. Little heads bob past. I hear the scooter rolling on the concrete porch floor. The sound lulls me to sleep.
Moments later, I am shaken awake with an announcement of something cool. A little friend holds a rusty, drill-like hunk of metal in my face. I usher her back outside and instantly see why the scooter was going back and forth.
Has the shed been completely emptied?
Suitcases, stuffed animals, felt scraps and two bags of walnuts are strewn about. A smiling queen sits in a doll’s chair overlooking the mess. The rusty hunk of metal is now a walnut crusher. The birds will have a treat.
I feel asleep weighted down by a full belly. I feel the weight of this stuff, too. I thought we purged so well before the move, but I’m realizing we can do just fine with even less. Perhaps, even better with less. I’m tired of prying my fingers off paper, cloth, and sentimentals. I want to be free, unencumbered by spilling boxes and irrational attachments.
I am not ungrateful. I realize the stuff is a blessing, but am I prepared to deal with it? Can my character grasp hold of the truly significant and let go of the rest?
I sense the weight is not merely the physical things I’ve wrapped around my subconscious.
A trail of my own trash follows me: laziness, anger, pride.
Those horrible things cannot be packed in a box and shoved in the corner where they can be knocked over. They must be burned out of my being as a daily sacrifice.
I start carting the junk shop back into the shed realizing that I, too, am exposed. No wonder I hate that falling door so much. It is a reflection of my own mask. It is so easy to ignore the turmoil in my own heart in the busyness of motherhood and homeschool.
The moment I took to read on the couch is a rare thing. It is hard to let go of the guilt of sitting still. Things are out of place, but they always will be. There will always be boxes in a shed to sort. I can’t throw everything away and start all over. And would I really want to?
Some of the boxes contain tokens of memories. Some of them hold promises for the future.
No, it’s not the stuff that truly weighs me down. It’s my failures and my expectations. Who says sheds need to be clean? Who says I have to be busy every moment?
Maybe wisdom can teach me to do the most important things like loving God and my neighbor by using the gifts packed within me. If I spend more time with the boxes in my heart, I have a feeling the weight will slip away.
For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good–not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne. (Mathew 11:30. Amplified Bible)
A Dance for Today- A Passover Story
We gaze at the ornately decorated tables and pause with wonder at the symbols of remembrance that will be explained throughout the evening. My children grumble about their hunger. I am hungry for what is to come.
I’ve done this before. Choked down the horseradish. Ate the salty herbs. Splashed juice onto my plate. Proclaimed praise to the Lord God of the universe.
The anticipation builds as we pour and pour again. The table is finally spread and we feast with friends. Then the dancing continues.
My little girls giggle with glee as their dance teacher takes their hand. Other women join the train flowing through the tables. A few men gather at the back to kick in unity. My son arm in arm with his father expressing the joy of redemption.
Yes, the joy! How often do I forget the list of chores and accomplishments to just celebrate?
Oh, that each day would be a celebration! I walk in grace. I live in peace. Glory! Hallelujah!
It is easy to see the darkness. It is easy to lose hope, but God conquered the grave. And when he arose this world changed. Love infiltrated the human heart. Individuals awoke to liberty, free to release fear and bitterness.
Yes, I remember the stabs of bondage, but after mourning comes rejoicing.
Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before him and because of that every day brings hope. (Hebrews 12: 1-3) Do I walk in that hope? Do I pause to laugh with my children? Do I celebrate today?
This morning the answer is yes. I awake and choose to continue dancing.
