Teach Them Diligently

Evangelism...In the Home

2012-02-15T17:15:00.000-06:00

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

(Mark 16:15)

Have you ever thought about the fact that a mother who is teaching her children at home, doing the very best she can to train them up in the way they should go, is actually being evangelistic? This was pointed out to me by a dear Christian friend. I should have already been thinking this way, but Satan can warp our minds at times through the influence of this world. I had recently been wondering if I was really DOING enough. Should I somehow prioritize my life in a different way and not focus so much on my home? After studying this more, these are my thoughts....

We know that we are commanded to go into all the world and teach, but do we in our busy, chaotic lives sometimes forget how the great commission also applies to those living in our own houses? Right now you could say that I have 2 on-going Bible studies set up. There are two precious souls who are watching me daily, listening to my instruction, and learning from my examples (good or bad). The way that I conduct my life, present the Word of God to them, and use my time is so very important. The influence I have over these two eternal souls is amazing and at the same time terrifying. My job has eternal consequences, not only for myself but also for those most dear to my heart.

We only have a small window of opportunity to teach our children because they will not always be children. They will too soon be out on their own, living in the world, and making their own decisions. Plus, if mothers do not do this job...who will? We can't be fooled by what the world defines as important, successful, or productive. Christian mothers who work hard at home teaching their children, honoring and supporting their husbands, and filling their multifaceted roles of wife and mother are important, successful, productive, and well pleasing to God. For these reasons, I have decided to keep my focus on my home, my children, my husband, and my God-given responsibilities to them at this time in my life. It is enough...

Comments about this topic are welcomed!

Free Audio Books

2012-02-15T12:23:00.000-06:00

This site has a large selection of audio books that are in the public domain. They are available in several different formats to download. It also looks much easier to navigate than Librivox.

Here is the link: BOOKS SHOULD BE FREE. COM

Sister's Video

2012-02-15T11:22:00.000-06:00

Brother's Videos

2012-02-14T18:20:00.000-06:00

This is a video of Brother delivering his very first sermon. He used Power Point too!

This one is Brother practicing on his drum set with Dad. They are a great team!

Nature Study Help

2012-02-05T16:22:00.001-06:00

Nature is something that most children have a natural desire to investigate and learn more about. Animals, insects, trees, leaves, flowers, sand, and water are some of the things which can spark excitement and wonder in the mind of children (and adults too). It is quite normal at our house to have several different "specimens" on display in our school room. The kids love to go out and catch frogs, snails, slugs, praying mantises, crickets, grasshoppers, snakes, spiders, and ladybugs. Right now we have wildflower seedlings growing in a tray, a large snail in container, and a butterfly cage full of ladybugs. This first hand experience with nature is encouraged at our house because it helps the children build a foundation for later, more complex scientific studies.

While we enjoy studying nature, sometimes we have nature study brain block....We run out of ideas and need a little inspiration. I have recently found these sites very helpful and I wanted to share them with you!

General Information
Nature Study--CM Style: unbelievably great resource with info galore!
Handbook of Nature Study: ideas, links, nature challenges, and lots more!
Take a Child Outside: wonderful ideas for activities to do with children outside!

Online Field Guides
Birds
Mammals
Trees
Wildflowers
Insects

Supplementary Nature Stories
Burgess Animal Book
Parables From Nature

Thought Breeds Thought

2012-02-04T18:20:00.000-06:00

"The Children of Martial Caillebotte"
(Renoir,1895)

I have recently witnessed another one of Charlotte Mason's ideas come to life in one of my children. As I watched this all unfold this weekend this quote popped in my mind...

"Thought, we know, breeds thought; it is as vital thought touches our minds that our ideas are vitalized, and out of our ideas comes our conduct of life....The direct and immediate impact of great minds upon his own mind is necessary to the education of a child. Most of us can get into touch with original minds chiefly through books..."(Charlotte Mason Vol 6, pg. 304)

The above quote explains how books that are full of living ideas can have a great influence upon the minds of their readers. This direct influence is necessary for education and inspiration. Sister has been enthusiastically reading a series of historical fiction that has apparently given life to her ideas (as Miss Mason observed would happen). Here's what has transpired over the last few days at our house.

Sister checked out one of The Royal Diaries from our local library. She began reading it during her free time and giving me detailed and excited narrations...voluntarily! She loved this book. She thought it was brilliant. She thought that it was so interesting that the author was able to write about a real person but add in some fun fiction too.

Next, I caught her on YouTube watching a video that was entitled, "How to Write a Book in 28 Days". She then explained to me that she really wanted to write a book and that she knew exactly how to do it since she watched the YouTube video that made it so simple! She said, "I just research, then write, and then get someone to proof read it." I did not really believe that she would go through with it, but she proved me wrong.

She talked continually about her project. She was truly excited about this. The next day, she started looking through our Usborne Book of World History trying to find a queen to study. She could not find anything in the book so she asked if she could get on Wikipedia.com to search for information about queens. I helped her get logged in and she did some research. A little while later she explained to me that she had written out some questions that she needed answers to before she could write her book. She needed to know what the weather was like in France, if this lady had any siblings, who her parents were, and if she had any pets. These things, she informed me, would help her make up some of the fictional parts of her book. (She's one smart cookie!) After she had answered all her questions, she printed several pages of information and I found her in her room like this....

She has researched, read, highlighted, and begun writing her own book of historical fiction about Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of France, and it all began with one living book."Thought...breeds thought"

2011-12 School Year: Week 22 in Rewind

2012-02-03T14:07:00.001-06:00

....we went to the library and took advantage of the free admission day at our local museum (The Pink Palace)
....we watched online videos of Phil the groundhog, beavers, and studied about rodents using the Handbook of Nature Study blog
....they (notice I did not say "we") caught slugs, snails, and ladybugs, painted colored dots on them to identify and name them all, read in library books about how to care for them, and made them all their own little houses
....we studied about King Saul, the end of the Trojan War, and Odysseus and the Cyclops
....we tried making a piece of art in the cubist style like Picasso
....we read poems by Robert Louis Stevenson and a biography about him
....we read about Vivaldi from Lives of the Musicians and listened to the Four Seasons online
....we studied Mark chapters 8-10 for Bible bowl and both children did really well on the Mark 8 quiz on The Bible Domain
....Sister: made sock puppets, learned to outline, mastered expanded notation in math, and excitedly began reading The Royal Diaries: Catherine the Great Journey, Russia
....Brother: practiced playing his drums, finished reading The Trojan Horse, learned to diagram sentences that are questions, and discovered a new series of books he loves (Who Were...biographies).

Here are a few pics of our week:

Before cutting...

Before...

Cutting...

Enjoying cutting a little too much....

Now a Picasso!

Picasso #2 (she did not like cutting the pretty picture as much as Brother did)

The home of the ladybugs who are infamous for their races on the front porch!

Book Basket Time

2012-01-31T21:31:00.002-06:00

I love the library. I love the organization, the smell, the peaceful, quiet atmosphere. I can remember as a young child visiting the library in our small hometown and being in awe of all the many shelves full of books. I also remember our annual trips to the area college library (which was ENORMOUS) when I was in middle and high school. I don't know why, but libraries and bookstores are just one of those things in life that I simply love.

I began taking our children to the library very early in their lives. Story time was a weekly outing when they were toddlers. Then when they got older and began learning to read we started checking out lots of books. We are now weekly library visitors and both of our children have inherited my love for browsing the shelves in both libraries and bookstores.We are so blessed to be in an area where our library is packed with great children's books and an awesome Goodwill Bookstore is only a few miles away!

When we go to the library I allow the children to get as many books as they want on whatever subject interests them. At one point in time I had to be very strict about what they were allowed to check out, but now they have a good idea of how to pick out the good stuff. Sometimes I still have to help them pick through some of the garbage in the library and find the really good books. I point them to biographies, non-fiction books, and some fiction. I also pick out some things that go along with whatever we might be studying in science, history, or the arts. We always get a lot of books, and I am thankful that our library does not set a limit on how many we can check out at one time.

The children usually begin reading in the car on the way home and continue their excitement at home looking through all of their new finds. They then put their new books in a basket in the school room to be explored at their leisure or during book basket time. Book basket time is a time set aside everyday for one child to read from their library books while I have one-on-one time with the other child. This idea has worked really well for us for several years, so I thought I would share it!

To give you an idea of how varied our book basket topics are, here is list of what's in our Book Basket right now:

Bug Zoo by Nick Baker
Monkeys by Marc Zabludoff
Orangutans by Patricia A. Fankmartin
Zoobooks: Wild Dogs
The Complete Guide of Watercolor: A DK Book
Black Ships Before Troy by Rosemary Stucliff
Greek Mythology by Donna Jo Napoli
Draw Your Own Cartoons by Don Mayne
Cam Jansen by David A. Adler
Nancy Drew: The Invisible Intruder by Caroline King
Who Were the Beatles? by Geoff Edgars
National Geographic: Dogs and Wild Dogs
Jim Henson by Kathleen Krull
Painting by Sue Stocks
Growing Up in Ancient Greece by Chris Chelpi
Picasso by Ernest Raboff
Robert Lewis Stevenson: Young Storyteller by Francene Sabin
Lives of the Musicians by Kathleen Krull

2011-12 School Year: Week 21 in Rewind

2012-01-30T09:59:00.000-06:00

Well, this summary is a little late and will be short, but we have been very busy! We spent the first half of our week working on our normal school subjects, going on a field trip to the Imax Theater (see HERE), and preparing for our congregation's annual lectureship. It was a great week! My family learned so much about the book of 1 Corinthians. You can go to this site to get more information about our lectureship and hear past lectures in MP3 format for free!

Standing In The Gap Lectureship

Nesbit Church of Christ

My Thoughts On Charlotte Mason

2012-01-29T16:45:00.000-06:00

Anyone who has been reading my blog for the last few years has often read posts sprinkled with the teachings of Charlotte Mason. I have been slowly learning more and more about this fascinating lady and how she taught children. Up until very recently, I had only read things written by modern day Charlotte Mason followers that explained her methods in modern English. Here are a few of the great sites that helped me get a taste of this teaching method:

Simply Charlotte Mason
Ambleside Online
Charlotte Mason Help
Queen's Homeschool
Charlotte Mason Research & Supply

While these sites were invaluable to help me get a basic understanding of this method of education, I wanted to hear it all first hand from Miss Mason herself. So, I purchased the Original Homeschooling Series by Charlotte Mason for my E-reader and have begun reading this series.

I have found things in her writings with which I agree and am greatly encouraged by, but there are also ideas and beliefs that I do not agree with and will not follow. There are also things that some Charlotte Mason followers do and use that I, personally, cannot agree with or use. Since I have talked about this method of education on my blog in so many posts, I felt that I should share my honest opinion so that I do not lead others to believe that I agree with everything that Miss Mason believed.

Some of the things that I have learned and agree with are:
:: A mother being fully capable of teaching her children
:: The emphasis on Biblical knowledge
:: Using a varied curriculum of the greatest works and materials available
:: Using living books
:: Nature study
:: Habit training
:: Teaching history in chronological order
:: Using narration and dictation as tools in learning
:: Developing an appreciation of the arts
:: Utilizing a method rather than feeling bound by a system

Some of the things that I do not agree with or cannot follow are:
:: Theistic evolution. (I believe in the 6 literal days of creation as it is written in the book of Genesis.)
:: Direct operation of the Holy Spirit. (I believe that the Holy Spirit works through the Word of God today and not in any miraculous way.)
:: The use of old literature for teaching science. (I believe that since science is a field in which new discoveries are being made all the time that using an antiquated text is not going to help prepare my children for today's world.)
:: Grammar, Spelling, and Composition (There is quite a large variety of opinions among today's Charlotte Mason followers about how and when to teach these skills. First of all, I believe that these are skills that must be taught and practiced in order for a student to become proficient in all three. I am not a confident student of grammar, spelling, or composition so I feel the need to have a curriculum that teaches these skills rather than trying to rely on my own knowledge to teach my children.)

I do love and utilize many things from this method of education for my children. I believe that there are many great things to glean from Miss Mason's experience with teaching. However, I wanted to be sure that my beliefs and opinions on certain topics were made clear to others who may be influenced by my blog.

Online Help

2012-01-21T22:04:00.000-06:00

If you are interested in learning more about using the Charlotte Mason method to educate your children, I highly recommend these sites:

Ambleside Online
Simply Charlotte Mason
Charlotte Mason Help

2011-12 School Year: Week 20 in Rewind

2012-01-21T20:12:00.002-06:00

Well...this week I have learned more than the children, in my opinion. I am still learning more and more about the Charlotte Mason method. I went to Ambleside Online because I was curious about how Charlotte Mason handled testing. This website has the actual questions that were on exams written for Charlotte Mason's students. I was quite surprised by the pointed questions and what she required the kids to know when I began reading her exams.

Based on the questions I read, I believe that her students HAD to have been expected to work at remembering things. They must have had specific goals to accomplish and lessons that were reviewed often. For example: I do not believe that a child can just read a living book about flowers or take one leisurely nature walk and then be able to "Describe, with drawings, the flowers you would expect to find in a hedge or in a hayfield." They must have worked at learning to recognize these flowers.

For some reason I had the idea that repetition and review were not exactly acceptable in a Charlotte Mason curriculum plan. However, based on the exam examples, review would have had to take place in some form. I believe that in order for someone to put thoughts in their long term memory they would need review and repetition of those thoughts. I don't mean drill them to the point that they detest learning, but effort must be put forth in order to remember important things. Right?

Then another thought occurred to me...the Simply Charlotte Mason scripture memory system is one example of learning with review and repetition that we use! It's not "drill and kill", but it is repetition in order to learn. Should this same idea not be applied to some of our other subjects? Hmmm....

I had at one time thought that when teaching history, science, and the arts to elementary aged children I should think of it all as just a basic introduction with no pressure to remember important facts. However, now I feel that if we do not at least review and point out some important facts to remember (or memorize) that I am wasting time and not requiring enough effort from my children. After studying a concept, event, or idea, I think that the child should come away with something concrete to hold on to!

My sweet husband helped me by suggesting that I pick out a few important points from major events in history, major topics in science, and the artists, composers, and poets that we study. These facts will serve as foundation building ideas that the children can hold on to for future reference. For example, when we study Joshua the main point to remember is that he led the children of Israel into the Promised Land. When we study mammals the children should recognize the 7 characteristics of mammals. When studying an artist or composer the children can memorize where they were from, when they were born, and be able to recognize their works. You get the idea!

So here's how our review will work.

We've made cards for each topic on colored note cards.

Green cards list the parts of speech and their definitions.

Orange cards are science facts.

White cards are history events and characters.

Pink cards are for artists, composers, and poets.

I keep them in a little note card file box (just like the one we use for our Scripture memory system).As we learn about new things we will add some ideas and facts to the box. They can be reviewed orally, made into quizzes, games can be played with the cards, and they can be used to form exam questions later on in the year. This way we will have some concrete facts about our studies to remember and review.

Please keep in mind that I am still working on how to implement the methods of Charlotte Mason in our home school. This way of reviewing may or may not mesh with her philosophy, and I may learn a different and better way to help the kids retain their lessons. However, until then...we will work on remembering things that stand out as we study together.

One might ask...."Why would you go to all that trouble? Why not just buy a boxed curriculum that has all the questions, quizzes, tests, and review information done for you?"

::Because I have not found a good curriculum in a box that is not either tediously mind numbing or so vague and watered down that the children retain nothing!

::Because I want to be involved with what my children are learning and be able to share real books with them.

::Because I want to be able to pick and choose the best of what's out there for my children not what some stranger may have put together for them.

::Because I want to offer them a feast of ideas and encourage them to enjoy learning while at the same time teaching them that they must be diligent workers and serious about their education.

::Because I want balance and this is the only way I see to achieve that goal right now.

Thou Hast Set My Feet in a Large Room!

2012-01-17T22:29:00.000-06:00

We all do it...I just did it today. All homeschooling mothers tend to question and second guess themselves, their curriculum, and their method of choice. I know this is true because I have read enough online discussions to prove it! What tends to happen is this....We read all the posts on the popular home school forums, look at other curriculum sites, listen to our friends and their opinions and then panic sets in when what we have chosen to use (which is working perfectly for us, btw) is not what "everybody else is using". Ahhh! This post is a reminder to myself why I chose and LOVE the Charlotte Mason method of educating my children. I hope it helps someone else too.

This quote is from School Education which is volume three of Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschooling Series. It is one of many quotes that helps me stay on track when I'm having a panic attack because my children have not memorized every president from George Washington to Barack Obama...for example.

Our aim in Education is to give a Full Life.––"We begin to see what we want. Children make large demands upon us. We owe it to them to initiate an immense number of interests. Thou hast set my feet in a large room; should be the glad cry of every intelligent soul. Life should be all living, and not merely a tedious passing of time; not all doing or all feeling or all thinking––the strain would be too great––but, all living; that is to say, we should be in touch wherever we go, whatever we hear, whatever we see, with some manner of vital interest. We cannot give the children these interests; we prefer that they should never say they have learned botany or conchology, geology or astronomy. The question is not,––how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education––but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him? I know you may bring a horse to the water, but you cannot make him drink. What I complain of is that we do not bring our horse to the water. We give him miserable little text-books, mere compendiums of facts, which he is to learn off and say and produce at an examination; or we give him various knowledge in the form of warm diluents, prepared by his teacher with perhaps some grains of living thought to the gallon. And all the time we have books, books teeming with ideas fresh from the minds of thinkers upon every subject to which we can wish to introduce children." (Charlotte Mason, Vol. 3,emphasis mine, AJH)

In simple terms....Miss Mason is saying that it's not so important that children are stuffed with facts that are meaningless to them, but that they learn HOW to learn anything that they care to know!....AND that they should not be so pushed and stressed by the drilling of "miserable little text-books" which make life a "tedious passing of time" to the point that they do not CARE to learn anymore. I'm sure you've heard the Chinese proverb: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." It's the same idea. If they care to know they will be lifetime learners.

The best way that I have found to encourage my children to care is to expose them to greatness. Or as Charlotte Mason put it, "We spread an abundant and delicate feast in the programmes and each small guest assimilates what he can."(Vol. 6, pg. 183) Drench them in God's Word using the beautiful language of the King James Bible. They CAN understand it...don't be fooled. (Our youngest child would speak what he calls "Bible language" for us using words like thus, thee, thou, and thy in his sentences at an early age just for fun.) Read classic literature to your children. Listen to beautiful music together. Expose them to great artists and poets. Make them aware of all the beauty in God's creation. Point things out to them. Slow down, sit down, and share! It is really easy to do and it will help your children see that "large room" in which we want to "set their feet".

This way of teaching also helps those of us who have totally flipped out and cried (yes..I'm speaking of myself again) over what if I "forget to teach them something" or don't follow everything in the teacher's manual and GASP...leave something out! First of all there is NO WAY that ANYONE could ever teach a child EVERYTHING! Seriously! In a public school setting, do all the teachers teach every child EVERYTHING they need to know about ANYTHING? No. However, if I can reach the goal I have set and teach my child that there are so many wonderful things in this world to learn and how to go about learning those wonderful things on his/her own, that child can learn ANYTHING about EVERYTHING for a lifetime.

This method of education has not only made my children excited to learn more about many different subjects, but it has given me a completely different attitude toward the furtherance of my own education! As a child I hated school...I truly did! (Just ask my parents.) I made good grades, but I never dreamed of learning anything for the enjoyment of it! Home schooling with the Charlotte Mason method has sparked a fire in me that has lead to an enjoyment of learning for the first time. I can truly say that not only do I want to set my children's feet in that "large room", but I want to be in it with them! Our goal is a "Full Life".

2011-12 School Year: Week 19 in Rewind

2012-01-14T11:33:00.000-06:00

It's been a busy and good week.We had play dates with friends, Bible bowl, and a little snow. As far as book work...here's a summary of what we did and a few pictures too!

We memorized James 1:22, read about Micah to finish up Judges, and began reading I Samuel. We also began listening to and reading Mark 8-10 to prepare for the next Bible bowl. Sister completed two lessons in A Virtuous Girl (check my curriculum page for details). She studied about Mary & Martha and hospitality. Brother completed two lessons in God's Armor: Suited for Life. He studied Elijah and King Ahab.

We started reading about the Trojan War. Brother is reading The Trojan Horse by Emily Little and Sister is reading A Wonder Book by Nathaniel Hawthorne. We progressed with math, penmanship, science, Latin, spelling, and typing.

The kids have been reading about insects lately so Sister decided to find a live specimen to observe.

There is a cricket in there....his name is Tye.

They both decided to make their own comic books. Brother is not quite finished with his, but Sister completed her "Book 1".

Brother's desk as he worked on his book.

Sister's finished book.

Since we have been studying Picasso this term, I had the kids color these pages while I read aloud to them from My Side of the Mountain (That's our literature choice right now that has NOTHING to do with Picasso, but it worked out anyway).

The most exciting thing that we accomplished this week was a break through for Brother and his written narrations. I don't know why I had not thought to do this before. Brother loves to use clip art and write his own sermons on his laptop when Dad is working on his computer. On Friday, it was Brother's turn to write about what we had read about the beginning of the Trojan War and he resisted....until I told him to try using his computer to type it out. This is what he did...by himself...without ANY resistance...AT ALL!

Keep in mind that the grammar will be corrected later when we edit it together. Right now it is just a big deal for him to get these things down in words. He was so proud of himself, and I am very relieved to find a way to help him with writing.

Habit Training and Chores

2012-01-13T12:20:00.001-06:00

"The mother who takes pains to endow her children with good habits secures for herself smooth and easy days; while she who lets their habits take care of themselves has a weary life of endless friction with the children". (Charlotte Mason)

I had mentioned our chore charts in a previous post and promised to give an explanation of how we use them. This post will be my attempt at describing our system....if you want to call it that.

First, I used this site to make my own chore charts for my children. Even though they were made for preschool children they work well for us because my kids are very visually motivated. Sometimes they need to actually see something to "get it".

Here is a link : Chore Charts

We've been using these for several months and I still have to remind them everyday about chores.Needless to say....these chores have not yet become habits. Habit training is so hard, but I know that it will be worth it if we keep it up! Learning about habit training has also made me aware of the fact that I still need help with my own habits, but who doesn't? Right? Anyway, when I think about how I may be influencing my children it is scary sometimes. Perseverance is the key.

I'll give you an idea of what we do, but keep in mind that it does not always get done like I would like for it to be done...

On a normal school day we get up, eat breakfast, and the kids go to the fridge to check out their chore charts. I started with simple things like: get dressed, clean bedroom, feed pets, brush teeth (I'm not sure how old they have to be before I do not have to remind them to brush their teeth...I am seriously beginning to wonder.)

I do a few things while they get their morning chores done and then we start lessons. After lessons, they have 2 afternoon chores (put away their clean laundry and make a clean sweep throught the house picking up anything that belongs to them and putting it away) and 2 "paid chores" to do. I'm a little sneeky with the paid chores because I look around at the last minute to see what needs doing in the house and then stick those chores on the charts :)

They get paid for doing things like: cleaning the bathroom sinks and mirrors, taking out all the trash in the house, sweeping, vacuuming, dusting, etc. We give them $0.25 a day for paid chores. They are required to do their morning and afternoon chores...if they choose not to do their paid chores then the natural consequence is that they do not get paid :)

Hope this is helpful....

Color Famous Paintings

2012-01-11T11:51:00.000-06:00

This site offers great coloring pages to use when studying an artist. We are studying Pablo Picasso this term and recently viewed his painting "Three Musicians". I plan on using this site to let the kids color their own "Three Musicians" this week.

LINK: MAKING ART FUN

No Separation in Their Education

2012-01-09T14:30:00.000-06:00

"We should allow no separation to grow up between the intellectual and 'spiritual' life of children.." (Charlotte Mason)

This is a quote that I absolutely love! Think about it....As adults, our own spiritual education should have a direct effect on every part of our lives if we properly apply the knowledge that we gain from our studies. The apostle Peter wrote, "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:15-16). Why then would we want to teach our children to separate their spiritual education from their "school subjects" in our homeschool?

Here are a few ideas that I have thought of that will help to practically apply this idea to our "school subjects".

:: Science
God created everything that we study in a science book! Every "discovery" that is made by man was already known by God. Acknowledge Him when teaching this subject. Point out scientific evidences from His Word, and be aware of how amazing His creation really is.

:: History
God has always been working in the lives of men, and history is the story of mankind from the beginning of His creation. Remember that the Bible is the most accurate history book we can read to our children and the most important!

:: Language Arts
God has given us a means by which we can communicate with each other. This way of communication is vital to the spreading of His gospel! Languages, grammar, composition, reading...these are all gifts from God that we can use to learn more about Him and teach others.

:: Math
Understanding how to properly solve problems, manage money, and use logical reasoning are all skills that a Christian needs to know. We should be sure that we emphasize to our children that all material gifts are from God and that we should learn to be good stewards of the things He has given to us.

Here are a few more verses to meditate upon:

O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.

(Psalms 71:17)

For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. (1 Timothy 4:8)

But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
(2 Timothy 3:14-17)

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33)

2011-12 School Year: Week 18 in Rewind

2012-01-06T11:54:00.000-06:00

Well, we are back to the grind....just kidding. We have really had a great week back in the books! We began our new plan, which you can see HERE, and things are rolling right along. Since I just recently posted our curriculum line up I'll just share a few highlights of the week.

A friend of ours gave Sister a few Klutz books that include the supplies you need to learn to crochet and embroidery. She is really enjoying learning these new crafts and she is DETERMINED to figure this crocheting challenge out!

Her first row....she had to start over several times.

Sister's first embroidery challenge. She did great!

Then there are these little life saving charts that we started using again! I got the templates HERE and have been using them all school year. They really help us stay on track with chores and I plan to write a post about how we use these charts later.

This week we also began having "book basket time" again. We have done this in the past and it really helps the kids to be able to explore topics of interest on their own. This book basket time has inspired Brother to learn more about dinosaurs. He has read from several books and even talked Sister into helping him dig for fossils in the back yard. Here are a few of his favorites:

I also got an Etsy shop going this week too! I'm hoping it will help to simplify selling my artwork. You can check it out here:

Something To Grow By

2012-01-04T16:52:00.000-06:00

"The wisest woman I ever knew--the best wife, the best mother, the best mistress, the best friend--told me once, when I asked her how, with her weak health and many calls upon her time, she managed to read so much, "I always keep three books going--a stiff book, a moderately easy book, and a novel, and I always take up the one I feel fit for!" That is the secret; always have something "going" to grow by. " (from Parent's Review, by A., edited by Charlotte Mason,Volume 3, no. 2, 1892/93, pgs. 92-95)*

Although the above quote was written many years ago, it still contains so much wisdom for us today. The author of the article is suggesting that mothers continue to read, learn, and grow. I can think of several reasons why this is so important! Here are just a couple:

1. We are commanded by God to continue studying and learning about His Word. "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15). This command is not written to men only. Our busy lives as wives and mothers do not excuse our need for personal prayer time and study time in God's Word. The truth in the song we sing with our little ones, "Read your Bible and pray everyday and you'll grow...grow...grow" applies to us grown ups too. Set aside time to pray, read, and grow.

2. "There is no sadder sight in life than a mother, who has so used herself up in her children's childhood, that she has nothing to give them in their youth" (from Parent's Review, by A., edited by Charlotte Mason,Volume 3). If we stop growing and learning we will not have much to offer our children as they continue to grow and learn. As a mother who homeschools, I realize that I am most likely the most influential person in their lives. I want to be able to offer them inspiring ideas from a large variety of areas of learning. I can't introduce them to any of these rich ideas if I have not first experienced them myself. So, I must continue to explore, experience, and learn every day.

So....to be the best I can be I'm going to pray, read, explore, experience, learn, and grow everyday along with my children.

(If you are interested, the books I am currently reading are listed on my right sidebar under "What Mom's Reading".)

*This quote was taken from a Parent's Review article from the Ambleside Online website. You can go HERE to read more about what the Parent's Review was and see more articles.

New Year, New Ideas, New Blog Pages

2011-12-30T15:03:00.001-06:00

I've been working hard these past few days. I've put away all the Christmas decor, tried to get caught up with the house work and laundry, got some new paintings and cute little note cards finished and posted on my art blog, started reading some new books, and completed a plan for the remainder of our school year.

You can see the school plan by clicking on the tab at the top entitled: Our Curriculum
You can read about what I'm reading by going to the new tab: Learning About Charlotte Mason
You can see what's new on my painting blog by clicking the tab: My Paintings

Hope you have a very Happy New Year!

Sharing A Find

2011-12-26T20:27:00.001-06:00

In today's high tech world, teaching our children how to type is a must! I found this site called Typingweb.com. It offers free typing instruction and if you register it keeps up with your progress. Plus there are some really fun games to play for extra practice. We plan on starting this in January.

Check it out here: Learn To Type

Photo Update

2011-12-25T13:49:00.001-06:00

When left to herself, Sister never ceases to amaze me. She made a weaving loom in her bedroom!

Stockings and sleepy heads :)

Sister got this in her stocking this morning. It's was a kit to make your own MP3 player case. She finished it in about an hour.

So cute :)

We spent our family Christmas time out of doors.

Sister and Sammy

Brother and Sammy

Brother and Sister in the tent ready for their first camping experience (we started small in the back yard).

Dad hung the new rope swing in a tree in the back yard. Sister is a master swinger! :)

Santa Came!!...(a little early)

2011-12-24T12:58:00.000-06:00

Sugar Cookies

2011-12-12T21:09:00.001-06:00

New Blog Announcement

2011-12-10T22:57:00.000-06:00

Since I seem to be moving in a positive direction with my "little art shop" :) I have decided to move everything that deals with my paintings over to another blog. Here's a link to a new and exciting beginning!

ART BY AMANDA HILBURN

I've still got a few things to fix up on the new site but it's up and browsable. I've also got some new and exciting things in the works! I will be adding new things as they become available for purchase to the new site. Be sure to check it out often for surprises! An easy way to be sure you don't miss anything is to subscribe and get updates!

2011-12 School Year: Week 17 in Rewind

2011-12-02T11:58:00.002-06:00

Yay for Friday!! We completed all that we had scheduled for the week and we are now officially on Christmas break! Never before in all our homeschooling years have we taken this many weeks off of "book work". We will put aside our formal schooling and look for ways to enjoy the holidays together while learning in a different kind of way.
I was inspired by several of the ideas in this eBook offered on Homeschool Freebie of the Day. It is a book of ideas from other homeschool families on how to make the most of the holidays. If you homeschool and have not subscribed to their blog I highly recommend that you do. They offer some really neat stuff and it is all free!

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the book:

"I would say to place the formal books and schedule that you have been using completely aside. Please don't worry about feeling like you are "falling behind" or "off schedule." The spirit of the season is about love. This means spending time with your family. This means you must be extra careful at this time of year not to overschedule yourself with outside activities. Why not just take an afternoon and spend it with grandmother (or other family members) over coffee, hot chocolate, and cookies?
EVERYONE would enjoy that more than anything else. Why? Because you are giving each other the
gift of TIME. This is the greatest give that we can give each other in this world. I know that this is
much easier said than done. So, I would say to stop, slow down, and think seriously about the time you
spend and how you spend it, especially during this busy holiday season. Remember, PEOPLE are
more important than anything. The people in our lives are GOD's GIFTS to us, and we should treat
them as such. And, don't forget to keep GOD in your activities..."

"Making Christmas cards is language arts/writing. Baking is math and science. Reading great read-alouds focused on the holiday... Making gifts as art.Caroling-music Card making-Art Buying Gifts-Math Baking-HomeEc/Math Christmas in Other Countries-Geography Giving to those less fortunate-Community Service. You don't have to take days off over the holiday season in order to get it all done. You just have to incorporate it into your "school"

day! Make it fun and they'll never know they are learning and think they are not even doing school."

So now that we are off the books I need to get a few ideas together for crafts, recipes, and stories to make some fun Christmas memories!

If you have any neat ideas to share please leave a comment!

2011-12 School Year: Week 16 in Rewind

2011-11-26T12:23:00.000-06:00

We had a 3 day school week with Thursday off for Thanksgiving and Friday off for Christmas decorating.

Here's the end result! :) They did a good job.

2011-11-23T11:17:00.000-06:00

2011-12 School Year: Week 15 in Rewind

2011-11-19T16:19:00.001-06:00

Another busy week of chaos! We've been to the pediatrician's office 2 times (and will go back again next week). Monday we headed to the doc because Brother had a bad case of eczema on his wrist that I though HAD to be some awful staff infection or something similar. It turned out to be nothing and I'm thankful! Then both kiddos had their physicals on Friday. That was no fun! Both of them had to get a "catch up" immunization shot, AND while we were there the doc informed me that according to their records Brother had not had his 5 yr. old shots!! WHAT? So much for MOTHER OF THE YEAR....LOL! So we will be going BACK to the DR. next week for MORE SHOTS! UGH! He is not happy, but he was super brave and did not even flinch when he got his shot on Friday.

As far as school goes, we did get our normal work load accomplished this week, but I have no idea how! On top of the 3 R's we got in several lessons on the book of Judges, a few chapters of science, a nature walk with Dad, several episodes of School House Rock, and started reading My Side of the Mountain for our read-aloud.

I also started painting again this week. I have always enjoyed painting, but never took the time to actually do it. I was looking for a picture to go on our living room wall but could not find what I wanted. . I did not want to spend a fortune on something I knew I could do myself (I like CHEAP, what can I say?) So, I just made it myself, and I enjoyed it so much I painted two more pictures for fun. I guess you could say that the frugal side of me forced me to be creative...and I liked it! Dad and Sister are trying to talk me into trying to sell a few, but that might take the fun out of if....we shall see :)

This is the one I painted for our living room.

Sister wanted this one for her room.

I'm not done with this one yet. It still needs a frame and some more SpArKLe :).

School House Rock...Classic Fun

2011-11-17T20:20:00.000-06:00

We have a dvd with all of the School House Rock videos on it. Our children learned to count by 2's, 5's and 10's because of these videos. It's a family favorite. But a word of warning....these songs WILL be stuck in your head! :) (Mr. Morton is my personal favorite.)

Thanksgiving

2011-11-17T16:11:00.000-06:00

Scholastic has some really neat things to do, read, and watch for Thanksgiving. SCHOLASTIC THANKSGIVING

National Geographic Kids has some links to several games, crafts, recipes, and activities. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS

Here's another link to more fun craft ideas. FALL AND THANKSGIVING CRAFTS

And there are a few fun videos on YouTube too :)

2011-12 School Year: Week 14 in Rewind

2011-11-11T10:57:00.000-06:00

Monday we began our week with a much needed day off! We spent time with Dad (since Monday is his day off) and enjoyed some free time to just BE! It was nice.

Brother spent some time this week helping Dad tinker with some old computers. Dad has a lot of experience in this area since he worked with computers for several years before becoming a full-time Gospel preacher. Brother learned a lot, and they both enjoyed it. But what guy doesn't enjoy taking something apart and putting it back together?

Brother has also picked his soap/wood carving hobby back up. I checked some books out at the library for him and he's been digging in bars of Ivory for a couple of days now. (CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEA!!)

For about 11 weeks, Dad was taking Fishers of Men classes and we were doing some Bible studies with him to help with his class. As a family, we sat down with open Bibles and answered many many questions. We all learned and enjoyed it very much....However, Sister LOVED it! She asked if there was something else she could do like that because she learned so much about the Bible! I LOVE IT when our children show such excitement over spiritual things!!! Sister has been taking a Bible Correspondence Course and Dad has been grading it. So far she is doing very well!

Sister has also been reading The Mary Francis Sewing Book and learning more about needles, thread, and stitches. It has inspired her to make new things and she has even talked about making and selling some of her ideas. (MORE CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS!!)

We also began decorating our Tree of Thanksgiving. I just drew some leaves on colored construction paper, cut them out, and tied a piece of yarn to them. The kids write something they are thankful for every day and hang their leaves on the tree.

Another exciting thing that happened this week is that I finally got my first eBook finished and ready to share. It is a guide to help others make their own timeline of centuries combining major Biblical events with major secular events in history. I have spent several years agonizing over teaching the subject of history because of several issues. 1) I did not trust any curriculum to be accurate. 2) I did not want to teach Bible separately from history. 3) I did not know enough about how Biblical history and secular history fit together. This timeline is the end result of my own study and growth. It has step-by-step directions to make your own timeline, direct links to free online clip art, and much more! Follow this link for more information: PIECES OF THE PAST (The price has been lowered for right now, btw)

On a sad note, we are back down to to 3 pets.....Snowflake the mouse is no more. We are not sure what happened, but he was not eaten by Chester the snake!

eBook Announcement!

2011-11-08T20:08:00.010-06:00

I'm so very excited to announce the completion of my first eBook! It is the first of many homeschooling helps that I hope to write and make available on my blog.

This 25 page eBook, Pieces of the Past, will help you make your own historical timeline of centuries (like the one I have on our school room walls). It is compatible with any history curricula and can be customized to fit your needs. It includes things like:

~ A timeline reference chart to use as your guide. The chart shows you where people/events belong in which century.

~ Over 90 timeline references combine secular history with major Biblical events and people like: creation, Moses, the prophets, Jesus, and the completion of the written Word.

~ Direct links to free online clip art for each timeline piece.

~ Labels for the dates and each timeline piece are typed out for you and ready to print.

~ Ideas for using a timeline to teach children.

~ A complete, step-by-step guide to making and displaying your own timeline.

Samples:
Here is a copy of the Table of Contents and some pictures of our completed timeline. With Pieces of the Past as your guide, you can make one too!

If you would like to purchase a copy of my new book, please follow this link: Pieces of the Past. You will be directed to my eBooks tab that has more information about the book and a cute little button that says "buy now." Just click that little button, enter your payment information via Paypal, and I will then email you your very own copy of Pieces of the Past!

Resource

2011-11-05T10:59:00.000-05:00

This website allows you to customize your own worksheets for: grammar, math, writing, spelling, geography, games and puzzles. I've had it listed under my Great Links tab for a while, but I thought I'd give it it's own post. It's a really great and helpful site!
WORKSHEETWORKS.COM

2011-12 School Year: Week 13 in Rewind

2011-11-04T14:01:00.001-05:00

Here's our week in pictures. I don't have a lot of time to write much, but a picture's worth 1,000 words, right?

We painted our salt dough map of Palestine.

We labeled all of the land that was divided among the tribes.

The kids used our big map to label their own maps.

Sister made a few puppets.

Here's a close-up of her. I love her flower petal skirt and hair!

Brother with his huge limb that is "so awesome that you HAVE to take a picture of this, MOM!"

Their notebook pages about Rembrandt. Since Rembrandt is famous for painting himself with different facial expressions, they had to look in a mirror and do the same. They did a really good job!

Meet Snowflake the mouse. He's the little white ball of fur inside the cup. Snowflake was purchased by Dad at Petco this week as food for Chester (the snake). Snowflake was put into Chester's cage and it appeared that Chester did not want to eat at the time. Snowflake was left in the cage with Chester all night hoping the snake (who has not eaten since we got him) would do what he had to do while we were all asleep. The morning revealed that Snowflake had taken over Chester's little house and run Chester out! Snowflake was actually SLEEPING in Chester's house while Chester was chillin' in his water bowl! "Yea!!!", the kids proclaimed,"now we can have another pet!!" Thus, we now have pet #4.....Snowflake the mouse, and no dinner for Chester the snake.

Give or Get?

2011-11-03T15:38:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that our local Wal-Mart had Christmas trees up! HUH?? Is it just me, or does anyone else notice how our country seems to skip from Halloween straight to Christmas? I don't know about everyone else, but I like to enjoy the fall and Thanksgiving too! I enjoy the beautiful leaves, the brightly colored mums, all the pumpkins, hay bales, and scarecrows. I love that Thanksgiving is a national reminder of the blessings He gives us everyday. Fall is my favorite time of year, and I do not like the thought of just rushing it on past to get to Christmas. I like Christmas too, but in my opinion, it has become a holiday mostly focused on and devoted to materialism in our "I, me, and mine" culture. There is an air of anxiousness that begins about this time of year that most Americans experience. "Whoa!", we say," It's already November and I have not bought ANY gifts yet....I've got to shop, shop, shop!" Ugh...I hate that pressure! And that's exactly what it is...peer pressure.

So, I say enjoy the fall! Be thankful! Teach your children that it is better to give than to receive! Here are a few fun links for making fall crafts with kids! I hope to make some of these in the next few weeks with our children, and discuss the things we should be thankful for everyday of the year :)

FALL CRAFTS FOR KIDS

FAMILY FUN: FALL CRAFTS

BUSY BEE KIDS CRAFTS

APPLES FOR THE TEACHER

KABOOSE: KIDS CRAFTS

A Great Find to Share

2011-11-02T10:39:00.001-05:00

Go to FotoFlexer.com to use some awesome photo editing software for free! You just choose a pic from your computer (or use free clip art from the internet), download a pic, edit it with all their special tools, and then save it to your computer! I love it! (I'm such a geek)

FREEBIE!!!

2011-10-31T14:27:00.001-05:00

Here's a link for a free e-book for girls. It's a big book! It's a sweet book! It's an educational book! It's an antique book! It's a FREE book!

Click on this link: The Mary Francis Sewing Book--Adventures Among the Thimble People (PDF) on Homeschool Freebie of the Day
OR....you can pay for a bound copy by following this link: The Mary Francis Sewing Book

2011-12 School Year: Week 12 in Rewind

2011-10-28T14:16:00.003-05:00

Highlights this week:
~ We participated in Bible Bowl on Monday night, and all the kids knew Acts chapters 26-28 better than MOST adults!!!
~ We went on a field trip on Tuesday to see replicas of the Nina and the Pinta (which was really cool) LINK, and we rode a trolley around downtown Memphis (which was equally cool!).
~ We started making our salt dough map of Palestine. This is just the basic shape with the bodies of water and mountainous areas carved out. Next week we will paint the map!

~ Beginning on Wednesday we were able to really hit the books and get in some full days of work.
1. We read more about Joshua and wrote narrations from chapters 7-11.
2. Ancient Greece is studied along with the books of Joshua - Malachi in our current history curriculum, and we found something on Netflix that is a fun supplement!! Jim Henson's The Storyteller: Greek Myths has been an exciting addition to our Greek Myth studies.
3. Continuing our study of Rembrandt we did a picture study of his painting The Storm on the Sea of Galilee. One interesting thing we learned was that Rembrandt painted himself in the picture! He is the only man looking at you when you look at the picture. He really liked to paint himself! How weird is that?

4. We started reading from our Abeka Science books and made some notebook pages about the study of science.
5. For our new read-aloud, we chose Bunnicula by Deborah and James Howe. It is a mystery and it is so funny!! It's one of those books that make the kids beg, "Just one more chapter, PLEASE!" I have to admit...I like it too :)

6. Sister has been reading The Ballad of Lucy Whipple and The Golden Fleece. Brother's books right now are The Adventures of Peter Cottontail and Theseus and the Road to Athens.
7. We moved along in grammar, spelling, math, Latin, and penmanship...nothing really exciting to report about those subjects.
8. We also began a new reward system for both children, which I will explain later in a post all it's own.

Well, that's about it for week 12! Wow! Is the year flying by, or what?

Workboxes Re-Worked

2011-10-27T19:46:00.001-05:00

Since our use of work boxes seems to be one of the most popular subjects on my blog, I thought I'd share a few changes we've made recently concerning these little containers. We have used work boxes for several years now and every year seems to call for a little bit of tweaking to make these boxes keep on working. (By the way....Did you know that making changes in your home school is not a sign of failure? If you see a need for change that will make your days easier, help your child understand something better, or keep a kid from crying, stressing, and detesting learning, by all means CHANGE IT!!)

Okay, back to the subject at hand...
I made a few changes to our work box system because of these reasons:
1. The kids requested it.
2. We are NOT morning people in this house!
3. It gives me a little more freedom to get some things done in the morning.
4. The children are getting older and are more able to do more subjects on their own.

Our changes are not big or complicated. Here's how it now works.
~ I fill the boxes the night before (like always), and I put things in boxes 1-5 that are subjects that the kids can do on their own.
~ Box 6 is the "work with Mom" box for both children (there are only 6 boxes per child, by the way). I put things in box 6 that they will need me to help them with.
~ After breakfast and chores I can now say, "Okay guys, go work on your boxes!" While they do their work I can get laundry started, clean up the kitchen, take a shower, fold clothes, check email, WHATEVER! WOO HOO!
~ I get my stuff done while they work on boxes 1-5 and I assist if needed. Then one kiddo gets a break while I do box 6 with the other. Then we switch!
~ We do our family subjects last, and sometimes those subjects are done after lunch. These are things like: history, science, art, composer study, nature journals, etc.

So far, this has worked out really well for my now 4th and 5th graders! However, if for some unseen reason we need to change it.....we will!

2011-12 School Year: Week 11 in Rewind

2011-10-21T13:44:00.003-05:00

Our week has once again been very busy and full. We attended the Spiritual Sword Lectures hosted by the Getwell Church of Christ, took one day off for my birthday (and a little shopping), bought Halloween costumes, and today we are preparing for our monthly birthday fellowship in our home for anyone in our congregation who has a birthday in October.

Besides all of the above, we have surprisingly accomplished a good bit of book learnin' :) This week we added a few new things to our curriculum for various reasons.

1. We began a new history guide: Joshua - Malachi & Ancient Greece. Together we read from the book of Joshua, and began reading Famous Men of Greece. Sister started reading The Golden Fleece, and Brother started Theseus and the Road to Athens. I got some great oral narrations from the kids this week. They seem to enjoy this study so far.

2. We added some new penmanship work for both children. Brother began using Crawly Critters Cursive and Sister began copy work using Spelling Wisdom book 1.

3. We dropped Writing With Ease and began writing our narrations from our history or science studies using less of a summary type narration and more of a "tell everything you can remember" type narration.

A highlight of the week was our nature study about leaves. Here are a few pictures of the kids working on their nature journals. We collected leaves, brought them inside, identified them using a field guide, and made leaf rubbings in their nature journals. Here is a link that explains how to do a nature study on leaves: Handbook of Nature Study

We identified these trees in our yard: ash, two kinds of oak, and sassafras.

Holes in History

2011-10-16T16:32:00.002-05:00

We have been using Story of the World Volume 1. It's a good read, it has projects, recommendations for library books, and map work all put together for each chapter. It has been fun for the kids, BUT I am disappointed in the lack of Biblical history in this program. First I had to add creation, Noah, and the account of the Tower of Babel to explain the beginning of world nations. Then we had to add Issac, Jacob, and more about Joseph. Next we had to add in the meaning of all the plagues of Egypt and after Moses, Story of the World skips ALL of the period of time when Israel was at it's peak and studies Assyria, then Babylon and spends the rest of the book on Greece and Rome! Nothing is mentioned about Joshua, the period of the judges, the kings or prophets! I can't just skip all those things! They are too important!

So, we will be filling in this huge gap with Simply Charlotte Mason's guide Joshua - Malachi & Ancient Greece. It will lay out a reading schedule for us to cover this period of time from the Scriptures 3 days a week, study Ancient Greece 1 day a week, and geography 1 day a week. Jason (my husband) has an ABUNDANT supply of geography resources in his office, so we will be doing our own geography studies on the scheduled day. ( FYI...I don't necessarily agree with their choice of geography curriculum which is A Child's Geography Vol. 2. If you need more info send me a message and I'll be glad to discuss it with you! :)

We have used these guides before and I love that they schedule reading from the Bible and then instruct the students to narrate what they read. I have not found any doctrinal error thus far in their guides (except the geography curriculum, which they did not write). You simply read the passages scheduled directly from the Scriptures and then discuss them. I plan to use these free Old Testament notebooking pages for the kids to write out their narrations.

These guides are written so that they can be used for any age group or combined age groups. There are suggestions for grades 1-3, 4-6, and 7-12. They also schedule living books to compliment the period of history you are studying and they even schedule them according to age groups. There are a few projects to do (like making a salt dough map) and they also include Charlotte Mason style end of term exams for each age group.

Another thing that makes these guides stand out (in a good way) is that they do not glorify pagan nations, idol worship, or mythology. They even have a disclaimer at the beginning of this guide to alert parents. Here is a quote from the disclaimer: "...make sure you children have a firm foundation in the truth about the one true God and interpret mythology through what Scripture says about it." I agree and have stories I could tell about the confusion my own children have suffered when trying to discern truth from myth when they were younger.

You can also go to this LINK to see how they have planned their history rotation and the books they suggest to go with each time period.

Well, this has turned into somewhat of a review of these two programs. That was not my intention, but maybe it will be helpful to someone else!

2011-12 School Year: Week 10 in Rewind

2011-10-14T16:59:00.000-05:00

Sister's new art work. (#1)

(#2)

Our memory verse for the week.

Sister's narration page about Ashurbanipal of Assyria.

Sister's fact sheet about Assyria.

Brother's narration page.

And..his fact sheet.

We've had another busy week full of learning, fun, friends, fellowship, and a great Gospel meeting! Our children were learning day and night with the meeting going on from Sunday -Wednesday. We hosted the preacher's family in our home (Wayne and Cindy Rogers, Chris and Matthew are great friends of ours). They also homeschool, so we were all able to get some school work done during the day, share some ideas, and enjoy one another's company too.
Here's a brief summary of what we got done:

Bible: Both children listened to Acts chapters 26-28 and took the Acts 26 quiz on The Bible Domain. We memorized I Timothy 2:5, and attended the Gospel meeting too :)

History: We used an Abeka Old World History book to discuss the period of the Judges, then went into the next chapter of Story of the World about the return of Assyria. We will continue to add Bible in as we go since Story of the World leaves so much out!

Science: This subject was the most neglected this week...we read from our Christian Liberty Press nature reader and took care of our pets at home. Like I said, science was somewhat neglected, but we will pick up the slack later on.

Reading: Brother is reading Time Cat, Sister is reading a Nancy Drew chapter book, and our current read aloud is The Aeneid for Boys and Girls, retold by Alfred Church. The idea of reading the Aeneid (even the version for boys and girls) intimidated me, but the kids are LOVING it!

Both children continued with Math, Grammar, Writing, and Spelling, doing a great job in all subjects. This was also our week for Character Reports to be done. Both children answered their questions honestly and we decided that they had some areas which needed work (i.e. neatness, perseverance, and doing their very best all the time) You can go to this LINK for more info on our Character Reports.

2011-12 School Year: Week 9 In Rewind

2011-10-05T15:54:00.002-05:00

I'm posting a summary for this week a bit early because we have some plans for the end of the week, and we have done a TON of work these last three days.

We finished up our Human Body lapbooks.

Sister's handiwork

Brother's lapbook

Chester got a new home.

We studied the Phoenicians and used History Scribe to make notebook pages.
This one was done by Brother.

...also Brother's.

Here's Sister's narration page.

...and her facts page.
We used several sources to study the Phoenicians including: Story of the World Vol. I, Abeka Old World History & Geography, and the Usborne Internet Linked Encyclopedia of World History.

This map came with our Story of the World activity book.
I really like how they incorporate geography with each chapter of history.

Brother is working on memorizing this new poem.

Sister memorized this new poem for language.

We also added several new things to our wall time line. Georgia O'Keeffe, Virgil, the Phoenicians, William Tyndale, Rembrandt, and Vivaldi were all discussed this week in one or more books that we read, so they were added to our time line.

Since we finished up our Human Body lapbooks, we began reading the Christian Liberty Press Nature Reader (level 5) for science. I can't even explain how wonderful these readers are. We just love them!

Both children are doing really well with Math U See and they are progressing at a steady pace. This math program is a life saver for us!

First Language Lessons levels 3 & 4 are still working out great, and Writing With Ease is progressively getting tougher for both children. At one point on Wednesday, Brother exclaimed, "Dictation is making my brain burn!!!" I was in complete agreement...it was a long and hard selection. Here is a sample of his dictation for this week. According to the instructions I am supposed to read this to the child 3 times, then they repeat it and write it. (It does not always work out that way for us :)

"The Spartan girls, who were brought up by the women, were, like the boys, taught to wrestle, run, and swim, and to take part in gymnastics of all kinds."

Whew!!! He did it, but it resulted in much frustration and a bit of whining...thus the brain burning comment :)

We worked on Acts chapters 26-28 for Bible Bowl, I Peter 3:15 for memory work, and finished up the book How Do You Know the Bible Is From God by Kyle Butt. The last chapter of this book talked about William Tyndale and how an English translation of the Bible came at such a great cost to many men. This was something new to our children and they were emotionally affected by this new knowledge. I highly recommend this book!

2011-12 School Year: Weeks 7 & 8 In Rewind

2011-09-30T19:59:00.001-05:00

For the past two weeks our lives have been so very busy! I'm a little behind on my weekly summaries so I'll try and briefly catch up.

First of all we have had a lot of fun! We have had visits from grandparents, trips to the zoo, a night at the county fair, and Sister's birthday (and sleep over party).

However, we've had many of our Christian family who have been sick that we have tried to help out with cards, calls, prayers, and food. We also had one funeral this past week that the kids and I helped Dad prepare for by cleaning the church building, setting up tables and decorations for feeding the family lunch, and cooking to help with the meal.

At one point in the week I was so frustrated because I felt that we had not gotten enough school work done. Then I began to think about all the things our children learned these past few weeks that cannot be taught by a text book. We did get several days of book work accomplished, but the "real life experience" this week taught so much more.

Lessons learned this week from the real world:
~ Pray for those in need.
~ Put your own desires aside, put down what your are doing, and help others when they need you.
~ Following a planned schedule is not always possible...be flexible!
~ There ARE things that are more important than school work (oohh...did I really say that?)

Nature Studies

2011-09-29T19:05:00.000-05:00

WARNING: Those of you who know me personally will be quite shocked by this post. LOL!!! It appears that homeschooling will cure arachnophobia, ophidiophobia, and insectophobia! Who knew??

Okay...this is living on our front porch, and I have not killed it. This is quite unusual for me since I am not known for being a fan of things that are creepy-crawly!

Whew! Is he creepy or what?

Sister was trying to get a dead moth to stick to the enormous spider web so that she could, "Watch him eat it!" I'm sorry to say that it did not work....

AND.... Yes, we now have a pet snake! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
I know I've either lost my mind or have reached some sort of breakthrough! LOL

He is a hog-nose snake and is very "harmless", so I am told.

His name is Chester and he lives in a little cage.... with a lid..... on our porch.... OUTSIDE (for now)!

Since we had a live specimen on hand, I thought we'd do some nature journaling for science.

Brother's page.

Sister's page.

Mom's page (yes, I decided to start my own journal to help encourage the kids and set a good example....actually I love doing it! It's really fun.)

While we were outside drawing Chester the snake this praying mantis was watching us from above.

Also creepy....but very interesting. They can turn their heads! It is very cool... in a weird sort of way.

Teach Them .... Gently?

2011-09-28T22:28:00.002-05:00

But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

(1Peter 3:4)

While studying the Charlotte Mason method, reading about how others use her method, and visiting forums to discuss her method I constantly came across the word gentle. Ladies were looking for a "gentle grammar program" or a "gentle math curriculum" on the forums. I read Karen Andreola's book entitled A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning. Blogs, books, and CM curriculum sites seem to be filled with everything "gentle". "So....what's up with this idea?", I asked myself (and I asked on the Simply Charlotte Mason forum, one of my favorites, btw). What exactly does it mean to teach your children gently?

I want to share this link to the Simply Charlotte Mason blog. Go there and read the series: Is Charlotte Mason a Gentle Approach?

This series has helped me to understand how and why I should be more gentle in my teaching approach. I hope you enjoy it and learn from it, as I have!

True Love

2011-09-17T11:44:00.000-05:00

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails... And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love"
(1 Cor. 13:1-8, 13).

This week I have been thinking about how I often fail to teach our children about the love of God, the positive side of Christianity, and the reasons why we should want to be obedient to Him. I find myself too often pointing out the "don't do's" without explaining why. I make sure they know their memory cards and verses, but don't remind them how blessed we are to own a Bible. I am determined to make some positive changes and I wanted to share why I think this is so very important.

Too many Christians of my generation have fallen away. Too many congregations of the Lord's church are dying because they are losing their young people. Why? I believe our young people have a lack of true love for God and a lack of understanding personal application of the scriptures.

Children need to be made aware of all the wonderful things that God has done for them! We need to cultivate in them a true love and respect for God. They do not need to view God as a drill sergeant, but as the loving, just, and giving God that He is.

Our love for God is the very heart of personal faith and obedience. Until we understand how much He has done for us, we will not have the desire to please Him that we should. Children must be taught this! I've purposed to share with my children things like:

* God's gift of nature.
* God's gift of our amazing bodies.
* God's gift of family.
* God's gift of the Bible.
* God's gift of the universe.
* God's gift of friends.
* God's gift of language.
* God's gift of health.
* God's gift of salvation through the sacrifice of His only Son.
* God's gift of Heaven.
* God's gift of prayer.

This list could go on and on forever, because He has literally given us everything we have! If we really stop and think about everything He has done for us, obeying Him should be so much easier. When I ask my children why we should obey God, I want their answer to be...."because we love Him!"

"...Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself" (Luke 10:27).

Personally applying Bible truths should come naturally to a person who truly loves God. We want to please those whom we love! Children need to be taught how to look at Scriptures and ask "How does this apply to me?" We have to help them make "their faith their own," as some might say, and not something they have just heard all their lives but not really understood. Facts can be taught, verses can be memorized, and warnings can be sounded, but until a child truly understands how to personally apply that knowledge, all those facts are useless to him.

I am planning on showing our children how to put their names in the text and see how we can make a passage personal. I plan to let them take at least one day a week and draw or write about reasons why they love God or something they have noticed that He has done for them. I also plan to make sure that my thinking is more in tune with all the great things that He has done for me.

These are just my thoughts and plans for helping my children find a true love for Him. Hope this helps someone else!

2011-12 School Year: Week 6 In Rewind

2011-09-16T16:24:00.001-05:00

The highlight of this week was our trip with Dad on Thursday. We had a great family day at the zoo! It was a much needed day of fun for us all.

Children, Rebellion, and Lies of Satan

2011-09-14T15:50:00.004-05:00

I have often observed Christian parents who allow their children to do things, say things, or behave in ways that are questionable, to say the least. These parents may make comments like, "We have to be careful not to be too strict or push religion on our children. That kind of thing can cause children become rebellious!" or "I don't want to be over protective or shelter them too much. How will they be able to cope on their own in the world if they don't know all the different types of evil out there?"

At one time, I have to admit that I was not sure what to think about this idea of appeasing children to try and keep them from becoming rebellious. Truthfully, I did not give it a lot of thought until I had children of my own and was searching for the right way to bring them up. I want to share some things that I have learned from God's Word that have helped me straighten all this out.

First, let's look at a Biblical example for teaching children. In the book of Deuteronomy, God through Moses instructs the children of Israel and says,

"And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 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. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates." (Deu 6:5-9)

It is evident that God wanted these children to be drenched in His teachings! These parents were to teach it and live it on a daily basis! What can we learn from this example? I've learned that it is GOOD and RIGHT to talk to my children about God daily, point out the marvels of His creation, and fill their minds with spiritual things from His Word. The idea that being "too religious" around your children will make them rebellious is simply a lie and one of Satan's best (in my opinion). I'm not saying that we should make our children spend all day reading the Bible or constantly quote scriptures to rebuke our children if they make mistakes. I have heard stories about parents who punished their children by making them copy verses 100 times each when they made a mistake. This is certainly not what I'm saying! There is a big difference in being drenched in His Word and being drowned with It. What should our children see everyday of our lives? They should see us live a life for God everyday and they should hear us speak about Him "when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." Our children should never have cause to doubt our faith in HIM!

"Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, 'I have no pleasure in them'." (Ecc 12:1)

Here is another verse that has helped me sort this all out. This verse is telling young people to be obedient and faithful to God while they are young, so that they will be prepared later in life when tough decisions come along. This is a verse that, in my opinion, refutes the idea that so many parents have in our society today. Some seem to think that young people (especially teenagers) are supposed to be rebellious. I've heard some say, "Kids have to be allowed to try things for themselves and learn from their mistakes." There is no place in God's Word that says anything remotely similar to this thinking! Sin is sin! Young people can easily learn from the examples of others without having to experiment with sin to find out what it's consequences are! I've heard is said that "you do not have to live in a trash can to know what trash is!" As parents we cannot (and must not) compromise in any way. Allowing our children to do things that they know are wrong (no matter how "little" they may appear to be) will only confuse them! A child will view compromising parents as religious hypocrites and this will do MUCH more damage than the "strict parents" could ever cause, in my opinon!

Think about these two examples of children who where faithful to God from an early age......

Samuel is an Old Testament example we can examine. His mother, Hannah, prayed to God for a child and promised to give him back to God if He would answer her prayer. Her prayer was answered and she sent Samuel to Eli, so he could be dedicated to serving the Lord. Samuel grew up in a place where he was taught on a daily basis about God and worship to Him. "But Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child, girded with a linen ephod" (1Sa 2:18). Did this lifestyle and constant teaching ruin Samuel? Not according to the Bible! Samuel became a great man of God.

What about Timothy? He's a great example from the New Testament for us to think about. In 2 Timothy, Paul speaking to Timothy says, "And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2Ti 3:15).

I would say that these two Biblical examples show that Christian parents should expect their children to be faithful to God while they are young, and that rebellion is NOT a requirement in the teen years!

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." (Prov.22:6)

This one really made me think. I have struggled with this verse in the past, but now I can see that this verse cannot be a PROMISE that a child properly trained will never stray. God has given us all free will and I, as a parent, cannot control what my children do as they grow up and make their own choices. However, this verse does command parents to train up a child in the right way! (also see Eph. 6:4) From this verse I can be sure that if I teach and train my children properly (as I am commanded to do) they will know the difference between right and wrong. Then when the time comes for them to make decisions on their own, they will not be confused by my example of hypocrisy or compromise, but they will have a foundation of truth to help them choose the right way. Parents, we will not be held accountable for the choices our children make as adults, but we will be held accountable for what we allow them to do while under our authority!

"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world," (Jas 1:27).

How can parents and children compromise and remain "unspotted from the world" ? We can't. Simply stated, if we allow our children to sin, we are also guilty of sin. Parents MUST be sincere Christians, consistent with discipline, strong in their convictions, and determined to guard their children's hearts in order to be pleasing to God. We have to intentionally plan ahead and be prepared to react to situations correctly. Decide ahead of time how you will handle certain things if they come up. Know what God's Word says about things like: dancing, immodesty, drinking, purity while dating, and any other topic that you fear may rear it's ugly head in the future. God tells us to train and teach our children because they need our help and guidance. We must be determined to do what is right no matter what!

I fear that the idea that parents should allow their children to "sow wild oats" so that they can "live and learn" is one of Satan's best ploys today. However, I believe that his lie that we as Christian parents will cause our children to rebel by faithfully instructing them and not compromising truth is even more dangerous! How else will our children learn if we neglect to teach them? Hosea 4:6 records a time when God's people were ignorant of His will and how God felt about their lack of knowledge.

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee..." (Hos 4:6).

I pray that Christian parents will wake up, be aware of Satan's lies, daily drench their children in God's Word, and be determined to "bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" !

Interesting Study Link

2011-09-12T10:15:00.000-05:00

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/09/12/watching-spongebob-can-lead-to-learning-problems/

Just thought I'd share this! I found it very interesting and informative.

2011-12 School Year: Week 5 In Rewind

2011-09-09T19:53:00.005-05:00

It has been a beautiful week! The weather has been perfect and the kids have played outside more this week than they have in a very long time. We took a trip to the park and did some nature journaling, too. As far as book work, here's a summary of what we got accomplished in between soaking up the sunshine.

Family Work:

Bible ~ Our memory verse this week was: 1 Cor. 10:31. Both children studied Acts 22-25 and took quizzes on each chapter (on THE BIBLE DOMAIN) in preparation for Bible Bowl.

History ~ We studied ancient Africa (ch. 11 in Story of the World Vol. 1) and really enjoyed reading several African folk tales. They were silly and the kids loved them!

Science ~ We continued reading about our bodies. This week we focused on our respiratory system. We added some more mini books for our lapbooks and also made this neat little project from the book Easy Make & Learn Projects: Human Body.

Art ~ We made a notebook page about Georgia O'Keeffe. Sister enjoyed it, but Brother would rather have been playing with Legos....oh well, that's okay. I did not correct all of his spelling errors or sentence structure since it was already such a chore to just get him to do the page. I may do something different with him next time. LOL

Sister:

We did some rearranging in Sister's curriculum this week. She had been struggling with Rod & Staff English 5, so we went back and reviewed some things using First Language Lesson 4 and added in some poetry memorization. Sister completed reading I'm a Christian, What's Next? by Kyle Butt. She is doing very well with everything else and did a great job this week. She and I also spent a bit of time painting with watercolors. She is much better at it than I am.

This is her flower.

Brother:

Brother's week was full of the 3 R's and lots of voluntary Bible reading (all his idea). He has been walking around reading verses from Proverbs to us all. He said, "Wow! This is good stuff!" :) I love it! His reading has really improved over the last few weeks and he is now MUCH more interested in reading for pleasure.

Newton the newt joined us for school this week.

The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child: Ancient Times: From the Earliest Nomads to the Last Roman Emperor (Revised Second Edition) (Vol. 1) (Story of the World)

I'm a Christian, What's Next?

First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind: Level 4 Instructor Guide (First Language Lessons) By Jessie Wise, Sara Buffington

First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind: Level 4 Student Workbook (First Language Lessons)

Easy Make & Learn Projects: Human Body (Grades 2-4)

God Made the Country

2011-09-07T11:34:00.000-05:00

If you read my blog very often, you know that I have been (for the past few years) learning more and more about Charlotte Mason and her teaching methods. One of the things Ms. Mason stressed was that time in the "out-of doors" is very important for children. She recommended outdoor time DAILY for her students and for their teachers too. Hmmm...until I read this article on the Simply Charlotte Mason blog, I had never given much thought to MY need for the outdoors. Then I began to make some connections and realized that Charlotte Mason was, once again, very much correct!

I thought about how Jason (my husband) and I have often discussed that when we know we have reached our stress limit we both tend to seek relief in the outdoors. I find myself going outside for a walk, sketching or painting landscapes and flowers, watching nature shows like Planet Earth or episodes of Shark Week! These things help to calm me. (Well, Shark Week is not too calming, but you get the idea. LOL!!) When we are looking for a good vacation spot we always want a place where we can be outside as much as possible. We choose to steer clear of "touristy" type cities. We choose mountainous areas most of the time and love to walk the hiking trails. I recently made the comment that water makes me happy. I love lakes, streams, rivers and especially the ocean. In the past I had thought this was just one more of those quirky things that just belonged to me and my family....but is it?

Just take a look at these two pictures. Which of the two makes you feel peaceful, content, and want to be in the picture?

The Country

The City

Apparently this is not just a Hilburn thing...A recent study was done that showed that taking a walk in a park or looking at nature scenes helped stressed out students refresh and regroup much more than taking a coffee break or walking down a busy street. (Here is the article about that study: The Wall Street Journal.) So what's so great about the natural world? Why does it make us feel a certain way when we are in the "out-of-doors"? In my opinion, it's because nature is God-made and the city is man-made.

And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. (Gen 1:31)

God made what we call "nature". He also made us and put us in this perfect environment. Therefore, it only makes sense that we all should have this love for His creation and feel a great sense of peace when we experience it. He made it for US!

This new discovery has made me appreciate His creation more, made me more determined to include nature study in our school days, and also shown me, once again, how much I can learn from Ms. Charlotte Mason.

Words of Wisdom

2011-09-03T13:14:00.002-05:00

I copied this from an article on Harmony Art Mom's blog. (view the full article here: Harmony Art Mom) It talks about how we, as homeschool moms, tend to compare our homeschools with others and why that is not always a good thing.

"We tend to look at homeschool mom A, who is doing great science experiments; homeschool mom B, whose kids are great musicians; homeschool mom C, whose kids read 17 books per week; and homeschool mom D, whose child just won a national art contest. Then we think ALL the moms are doing ALL those things, and we think we don't measure up. All we do is play fun math games. But other moms look at us and think, 'Wow, I wish I could even REMEMBER the math game ideas she makes up.' "We tend to forget that we are all different, and we do different things. There probably is something that you do that many other homeschool moms wish they could do. Even if there isn't, God gave you YOUR kids, because He knew YOU could do the best for them. It is too easy to compare, and too hard to be content where we are. All the homeschool moms that you think have it all together are thinking of somebody else, or something else, that they would like to do, too."

Since I find myself thinking these very thoughts from time to time, I decided to post this quote for my own benefit. Hope it is helpful to you too!

2011-12 School Year: Week 4 In Rewind

2011-09-02T13:36:00.001-05:00

We have been going full speed for four weeks and I must admit....I'm just plain tired!

My tiredness and other issues resulted in us having a three day school week. We voluntarily took Thursday "off". I put off in quotes because we did do educational activities on Thursday just not at a desk...with paper...and books...and pencils.

We went to the library, the kids washed the car, and then they played and played and played. All this play was prompted by an interesting new room in our local library which we had never explored before. This room had puppets that we could check out! How cool is that??!!

Here are some pictures of the ventriloquists in training:

Then Friday morning the previously mentioned issues began. Here's how our day unfolded:

I was in the shower when Sister knocks and yells, "Mama! We took too many vitamins and now we have a weird rash all over us!" (I will never understand why things always take a dramatic turn when I am in the shower.) At this point, I have no idea what the vitamins have to do with the rash, but I hurry out of the bathroom to check things out.

It appeared that Brother could not remember if he took his vitamins the night before or not, but he went ahead and took some the next morning. This explained the "took too many vitamins" part of Sister's dramatic dialogue. They then proceeded to show me a fine, raised rash on both of their forearms. I first thought it was poison ivy....but then wondered about the Hilburn Puppet Theater that had been going on for hours the day before....hmmm.
Knowing that it was a holiday weekend, I called the doctor's office just to be safe. They, of course, wanted to see the rash so that they could properly diagnose the problem. As it turned out, it was not poison ivy and appeared to be "contact dermatitis" (a.k.a. something funky with the library puppets).
Soooo, we spent a large majority of our day at the doctor's office, took allergy meds that made the kids pass out, and ended up with a three day school week!

Did I mention I am tired??? LOL!

Sweet Sister

2011-09-01T22:15:00.001-05:00

Sister asked me if she could draw on her marker board. She surprised me with this :)
(click on it to enlarge the picture)

Online Bible Study Tools

2011-09-01T19:46:00.000-05:00

These are my four favorite online Bible study tools! Take some time this week to check them all out.

1. E-Sword "The Sword of the Lord with an electronic edge"....This is a free program for your computer. It contains the entire Bible in several different translations, dictionaries, maps, charts, concordances, and amazing search capabilities. Having the ability to search for a certain passage, verse, or even word is what makes this program really helpful, in my opinion.

2. The Bible Domain "The Bible Domain is a site made for learning more about God's Word."...This site was designed by my husband and is LOADED with great resources. There are articles, sermons on audio and video, quizzes on several books of the Bible, and an unbelievable list of great links.

3. Bless Your Heart (blog for Christian ladies)...This blog will "Bless Your Heart". It is packed full of great lessons from God's Word that are so desperately needed in today's world. Topics range from marriage, modesty, and materialism to faith, family, and feminism.

4. Come Fill Your Cup "Grab a cup of tea, coffee, cocoa, water--whatever. Sit for a moment and take time to fill your spiritual cup."...Another awesome blog for Christian ladies with great articles to encourage and motivate. This blog also features its own pod casts with a variety of different women speaking on different topics. These audio talks can be streamed through your computer or downloaded to an MP3 player for a great pick-me-up when you need it most!

Thy Word Have I Hid In Mine Heart...

2011-08-30T13:01:00.000-05:00

We use a scripture memory system which I first learned about on the Simply Charlotte Mason website. This is our family's second year using this great idea and it is a wonderful tool. I have already written a post explaining how it works, but I wanted to share a list of the scriptures we have in our box. Hopefully this will encourage others to get started and make it a bit easier for anyone beginning this great challenge.

I took this list and copied and pasted these verses from E-Sword (a free, online Bible program that you MUST check out if you do not already know about it) into a Word document. Then I just cut the verses, folded them, and stuck them in my index card box. Easy as pie :)

Here's our list in no particular order....

2 Tim. 3:16-17
Gal. 2:20
1 Tim. 6:6-8
1 Sam. 12:24
1 Tim. 4:12
John 1:1
John 1:3
Eph. 5:19
Phil. 2:14
1Cor. 15:33
Heb. 11:6
2 Tim 2:15
Rom. 10:17
Ecc. 12:1
Ps. 119:105
Eph. 4:32
John 11:35
Eph. 6:1
Gen. 1:1
Ps. 119:11
Heb. 13:1
Mark 16:15-16
Acts 22:16
Ps. 1:1-6
Josh. 24:15
Luke 13:34-35
Ecc. 12:14
John 14:6
1 Cor. 10:31
2 Cor. 9:7
Matt. 6:9-13
2 Cor. 5:17
James 1:17
Titus 3:5
1 Tim. 2:5
1 Thess. 4:13-18
2 Cor. 7:10
1 John 2:15-17
Ecc. 12:13
James 1:22
2 Peter 3:18
1 Peter 3:15
John 4:24
(One card for the next 4 verses, labeled Gospel Plan of Salvation)
Mar. 16: 16
Acts 2:38
Rom. 10:10
I Pet. 3:21

Clear Your Mind

2011-08-28T16:47:00.000-05:00

I tend to get bogged down from time to time with all the THINGS in life that concern me. It's almost as if I cannot think clearly because "a fog of chaos" has settled in my mind. I have so many concerns floating around in my little brain that I can't seem to focus on what's important. Things that I really have no control over begin to control me.

If you are a work-at-home mom, homeschooling family, preacher's family or a Christian woman that is trying to live a godly life and teach others, I'm sure you have felt this same fog taking over. It can really cause us problems and keep us from doing God's work if we allow it to hang around.

I've experienced "the fog" lately and I have found a VERY helpful way to clear my mind, so I wanted to share it with you :)

1. Take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the center. (I know this sounds weird, but just stay with me.)
2. Write "CAN" on the left side of the line and "CANNOT" on the right side. This stands for things you "CAN" do something about and things you "CANNOT" do anything about.
3. Start writing. Make a list of all the things that are bothering you, putting them under the correct heading of "CAN" or "CANNOT".
4. After writing it all down, look at the things under "CAN" and make some plans about how to accomplish those goals. Now look at the "CANNOT" list....cut the list off the piece of paper, ball it up, throw it in the trash, and forget about those things which you cannot do one thing about! Give them to God.

"And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?" (Luke 12:25).

"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you" (1 Peter 5:6-7).

Try it. It helps. Believe me :)

2011-12 School Year: Week 3 In Rewind

2011-08-27T09:44:00.000-05:00

“We spread an abundant and delicate feast in the programmes and each small guest assimilates what he can.....He requires much knowledge, for the mind needs sufficient food as much as does the body.....The knowledge should be various, for sameness in mental diet does not create appetite (i.e., curiosity).”

-Charlotte Mason

So far, our weeks have been a feast of variety and nutritious "mind food". I can already see ways that my study of method and efforts in planning over the summer have made a difference in our home school. However, there is not a lot to report this week since I wrote two posts earlier that included the most exciting moments of the week. (See Artist Study-Georgia O'Keeffe and Pause For Poetry posts.)

Here's a brief summary of things we accomplished:

Our memory verses for this week were: 2 Timothy 3:16-17. We got everything done that was scheduled for the 3 R's, finished up our 3 week study of world history using our time line, and continued reading The Wizard of Oz (which is still nothing like the movie). We learned about the muscles in our bodies, watched a video about our muscles and added more mini books to our little piles that will soon become our human body lapbooks.

Sister's Latin studies are getting more challenging (which is making it more fun) and we found these awesome videos on YouTube to help her with violin instruction.VIOLIN INSTRUCTION

Brother's Math U See books and blocks finally came in the mail and he HUGGED them! I must say that I have never seen him that excited about anything educational before. He said, "Mama, I just love math so much!" (I'm not sure he is my child. LOL!!)

We made a trip to the library and checked out some books about ancient China for next week's history studies. We plan to pick back up with Story of the World Vol. 1 and take our time "digesting" all this interesting information.

Artist Study-Georgia O'Keeffe

2011-08-25T16:23:00.000-05:00

"It is in the study of the fine arts that a child is introduced to the passion, power and beauty of life expressed through the eyes of artists, musicians, and poets. The integration of intellect and emotion in the fine arts is a dim but true reflection of God's creative nature that is part of His image in man. Children learn to express it as they become more aware of it in others."

(Educating the WholeHearted Child, pg.65.)

My favorite subject to research, teach, and do is art! We take one great artist and study their life and work once a week for several weeks at a time. This is an idea that I adopted from the Charlotte Mason method and I love it! (We also do this with great composers and sometimes with great poets.)

I chose Georgia O'Keeffe for our first artist study this year. Some homeschooling moms like to match up their artists studies to fit in with the time period of history that they are studying, but I don't do that. We just pick out what interests us and go with it.

Here's how it's done at our house:

1. Pick an artist. There are several web sites that list famous artists from which to choose. Here are a few: Simply Charlotte Mason, Ambleside Online, Harmony Art Mom's Blog (scroll down to bottom for list), and this Artist Study Lens on Squidoo.

2. Choose some great biographies in the children's section of the library and read them the first week of the study to kick things off. Be careful here...some artists lives were nowhere near moral and some children's books lay it all out there! I suggest you read the book before reading it to your children or handing it over to them to read for themselves. Some of the best children's books about artists are written by Laurence Anholt and I also like biographies by Mike Venezia. (See my bookstore for a list of these great books.)

3. Pick out your favorite works by the artist you have chosen and display them somewhere in your home. (Warning: many famous artists have immodest paintings. Preview all art books before giving them to your child.) You may choose an over sized library book full of pictures that you can lay open on your coffee table, post card reproductions of the works to stick on the fridge or change your computer screen saver or wallpaper to one of the artists works (go here to see many pictures online). Whatever method you choose, leave this display out for the children to see and become familiar with for several weeks. We usually change the displayed work weekly.

Long Pink Hills, 1940, oil on canvas, 7"x18"

Poppy, 1927, oil on canvas, 30"x36"

4. While you are displaying these works for your family to become familiar with, do some painting or drawing yourselves and try to copy the artist's style.

Brother's abstract landscape.

Sister's abstract landscape.

Mom's flower.

5. After you have read, displayed, and painted yourself, pick a new artist and start all over again! You can spend a much or as little time as you wish on each artist. It's so very easy to do! It can be done without much cost to you, and this small addition to your week will bring out a wealth of creativity in you and your children! Plus, it is just plain fun.

Pause For Poetry

2011-08-25T10:59:00.000-05:00

I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud

by William Wordsworth

I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud

That floats on high o’er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of the bay;

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

Brother had to read this poem today in his First Language Lessons book. It was one of my very favorites when I was in school but I had forgotten about it until today. I remembered liking it so much that I had written it out on a piece of yellow, legal-sized paper and tacked it on my wall in my bedroom. As I was telling the kids about that yellow piece of paper, I took out an old poetry book that I had when I was young and guess what was folded and tucked into that book......YEP! It was my yellow, handwritten copy of Wordsworth.

I also found these printable poetry pages that were made for First Language Lessons. Here is the link if you are interested: http://homeschoolcreations.com/Language.html

2011-12 School Year: Week 2 In Rewind

2011-08-20T10:57:00.003-05:00

Here's a run down of the things we covered this week:

Family Subjects:

Bible- Both children memorized Gal.2:20. They studied the conversion of Cornelius from Acts 10, memorized their cards for Bible class, and read/listened to Acts 22 & 23 for preparation of Bible Bowl. They took the Acts 22 quiz on The Bible Domain daily for practice. For our family Bible time before bed we are reading How Do You Know the Bible Is From God by Kyle Butt. It is a great, interesting, and well written book that we are all enjoying!
Quiz: http://www.thebibledomain.com/quizzes.html

History- We briefly covered Assyria & Babylon through Nero and Constantine using our wall timeline and the Abeka Old World History text book.
(We are covering the entire timeline in 3 weeks before picking back up with Story of the World Vol. I. We decided to do this to help them see the big picture of history before digging into one area.)

Here are a few pictures of our timeline.

Literature: I have been reading The Wizard of Oz aloud to both children. We are on chapter 9 and have all enjoyed it very much! The kids keep pointing out how different the book is from the movie. Sister has been reading Still More Stories From Grandma's Attic and Brother is working on The Mouse and the Motorcycle.

Art: We began a study of Georgia O'Keeffe. We read Georgia O'Keeffe by Mike Venezia and Through Georgia's Eyes by Rachel Rodriguez. We also looked at many of her paintings in a book that I found at Goodwill (love, love , love that bookstore!!!) that is a HUGE, hardback book full of her paintings. It is, of course, entitled Georgia O'Keeffe by Nancy Frazier.

Science: Using Abeka's 4th grade health book, we began a study of our bodies. I read to the children, they narrated (or re-told) what I read, and we began making a lapbook to go along with our study.We also watched a neat little video and took an online quiz about the skeleton.
Lapbook: http://www.homeschoolshare.com/my_body.php
Movie and Quiz: http://kidshealth.org/kid/htbw/

Good Deed: Both children chose someone that they wanted to encourage by making them a homemade card.

Sister's Subjects:

Math: We worked on mastering the times tables, and we re-ordered Math U See. (Math is not a happy topic for me right now.)

Language Arts: Rod & Staff 5 is working VERY well for Sister. It has been a challenge for her, but not too overwhelming.Writing With Ease level 4 is quite a challenge, but very good for her. Spelling Power is still our favorite spelling program. I re-tested her and she placed a level up from last year. I also threw in some reading practice and comprehension with Read & Think sheets from Abeka (because I got them for free from a friend:)

Latin: Getting Started With Latin has been fun and easy so far. We have made it to lesson 9 without complication! The mp3 downloads on their website are great for making sure we are pronouncing the words correctly.

Logic: Sister is loving Mindbenders (or Mindreaders, as she mistakenly called it yesterday.....LOL) We only do this once a week, but boy do those puzzles make your brain work!

Music: She has practiced her violin, but we have GOT to get her another instructional video....

Brother's Subjects:

Math: Math U See is on it's way in the mail.....(see above comment about math woes)

Language Arts: Brother is really doing well with First Language Lessons. He is halfway through level 3 and will soon begin level 4. He is also finishing up Writing With Ease level 2. Because of this book, he has been introduced to samples of good literature that amazingly spark enough interest to make him want to read the whole book! (That is a VERY good thing!) For spelling he is using Spelling Power and also tested a level up from last year. I am requiring him to read to me from the McGuffey's Third Eclectic Reader daily to beef up his reading skills, and one day a week he does a Read & Think skill sheet. Brother is also plugging along with his cursive handwriting practice. He is doing much better with it this year.

Music: He has practiced his guitar daily.

Well, that's about it! A good, full week done!

Spice Up Your Science Studies

2011-08-17T16:33:00.001-05:00

We are reading Developing Good Heath (Abeka's fourth grade health book) right now. This book is a text book..... not a living book. However, we are going to use this text book and the Abeka fourth grade science text (Understanding God's World) as a sort of "spine" or a starting point for our science studies this year. There are numerous websites with lists of living science books to go along with whatever topic we may be studying each week. There are short videos and quizzes online that are available for our use. We can make lapbooks about any given topic, and we can use narration through drawing, telling, or writing for evaluating what is being learned.

Here are a few sites that will help spice up any science study:

*Guest Hollow's Science Curriculum with links and books listed
*Simply Charlotte Mason's living science book list
*Paula's Archives living book list
*Penny Gardner's living book list
*How the Body Works Site (videos, quizzes, etc.)
*Homeschool Share's free lapbook list
*Homeschool Share's free unit study list
*Enchanted Learning's site
*Online field guide on enature.com
*Science games online

Making the Most of Our Days

2011-08-16T14:46:00.001-05:00

We started a new schedule last week. It is working very, very well for us all, and it is working in ways that I had not predicted. In the past I have either tried to schedule our days to "the hilt" (as we say in South Alabama) or gone to the other extreme and had days full of chaos. I think I have finally figured it out. Here's the schedule that is posted on our fridge and in every one's school planner:

"This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24)

Wake: 7:00

*Breakfast

*Morning Chores

*School

Lunch: 12:00

*Finish School Work

*Quiet Time (1 hour)

*Afternoon Chores

*Free Play Time

Dinner: 5:00

*Showers

*Family Bible Study

*Electronics Time (2 hours)

Bedtime: 9:00

I have found that this works so much better than trying to plan every hour of the day. Our days are not always predictable! Some days school may take a little longer, or some days we may be done earlier. Some times we may need to run errands or clean house or visit someone with Dad. No matter what our day may hold, this schedule will work out without making me feel as though I have failed to follow it because it is FLEXIBLE (that word makes me smile).

The new plan also allows the children to have structured school & chore time, quiet time (they listen to audio books while playing quietly in their rooms), free time (play outside or inside) and electronics time (television, computer, Wii, etc). The kids were not exactly thrilled by the lack of the electronics time, but they have found (to my excitement) very creative and educational ways to fill their time.

Here are a few of their recent interests:

Sister made a quilt on her sewing machine, painted, did some drawing, washed and rode her bike, and began listening to a Nancy Drew audio book.

Brother has been making Lego movies using our digital camera and the computer, working on his nature journal, riding his skateboard, and actually ENJOYING the audio version of The Jungle Book.

Here are a few pics of the kids and some of their new projects:

2011-12 School Year: Week 1 In Rewind

2011-08-13T17:28:00.002-05:00

We started our week in the mountains of Arkansas.

Beautiful!

Brother had his backpack full of tools for investigation in the creek.

Sister....also beautiful :)

Brother's first specimen.....a snail.

We got home on Monday and started school on Tuesday. The kids worked on lapbooks about dragonflies for science.

Brother gluing his mini-books into his lapbook.

Sister getting it all laid out just right before gluing.

Sister's book.

Inside Brother's book.

Overall, our first week went really well. We started a new schedule, tweaked our workboxes and curriculum a bit, and learned a lot! Yea, for surviving week 1 of school!

Living Books....What Do You Mean?

2011-08-04T14:00:00.000-05:00

If you have never heard of the idea of using living books to teach your children, you should read this article by Sonya Shafer in the latest issue of The OldSchoolhouse Magazine. It explains this concept in a simple and easy way to understand. Living books are a MUST in our homeschool!

Here's the link:
http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine-digital.com/thehomeschoolmagazine/freegift?folio=76#pg79

Blog Topics

2011-08-03T11:06:00.000-05:00

I just re-organized my blog and I hope it will be more useful to others. All posts are now tagged and grouped together by topic to make it easier to find things I've written in the past. There is a "topic cloud" that contains a list of everything I've written about. For example: workboxes is one of the topics. All of the posts I have written about workboxes will pop up when you select this subject.

I should have been labeling my posts all along, but just figured out how to do it today! LOL!! It should be MUCH easier to find things now.

Pretty Little Pets

2011-08-01T17:54:00.002-05:00

This is my favorite visitor to our bird feeder. I did not even know that birds like this lived in Mississippi. He's a goldfinch.

This is Sheldon (Brother's turtle) eating his carrot snack.

I'm not sure, but we think this is a baby blue jay. It is unlike any other birds we have seen. (If you know what it is, please leave us a comment!)

Help With Gardening

2011-07-30T14:34:00.001-05:00

The Old Farmer's Almanac Website

I was told about this great site by a fellow gardening friend. It is really helpful! I will use it for future reference since, according to the experts, I planted foes in my garden this year. I'm thinking that's why some of our vegies did not do so well!

There is also a site for children that looks really neat too. The Old Farmer's Almanac for Kids
Put on your overalls and check them out...hehehe.

Is Ignorance Really Bliss?

2011-07-24T20:44:00.002-05:00

I'm sure you've heard the old saying, "Ignorance is bliss." I know that I have used this line as a joke in the past but never really thought about it much until recently. I sometimes get discouraged by the world, as I'm sure we all do. Just simply watch the nightly news and you will see murder, theft, and new laws in America that break the commands of God. Our media is full of immodesty, filthy language, and all that is ungodly. These things are all being glamorized and shoved in our faces on a daily basis. As a Christian wife and mother, it is hard NOT to be discouraged, depressed, and want to hide from all this evil. I've wanted to delete my account on Facebook, throw away our television, stop trying to help those who do not respond to my attempts to help them, and just get rid of all connections with the world! Wouldn't it be easier to follow that old saying, "Ignorance is bliss", cut myself off from everyone, and live in my safe little bubble? After all, the writer of Ecclesiastes said, "For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow " (Ecclesiastes 1:18). So, what do we do when we are so discouraged and feel the need to hide away?

I've found it helpful to take a break from all the things that are causing me stress, pray, and recharge with the Word. Proverbs 14: 26 says, "In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge" (Proverbs 14:26). It is okay to separate yourself for a time. Even Jesus went away from the crowds of people on occasions to pray and rest. He, no doubt, got very weary of the people and the sinful world around Him. He also had to endure the immaturity of His closest followers, His disciples. We too can take a break, read His Word, and pray for renewal and strength. "In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul" (Psalm 138:3).

However, we can't disconnect forever. What if all Christians stopped teaching, stopped speaking out, and sat silently while all the world around us continued on it's track to destruction? Would that be a loving attitude for us all to have toward the lost in this world? The Bible instructs us to use our knowledge and teach others. We cannot carry out the great commission if we hide in our houses all day! "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen" (Matthew 28:19-20).

No matter how much I'd love to hide from all the evil in this world, I know that I cannot do that and be pleasing to my Lord. The daily life of a Christian is a battle. It always has been, and it always will be! We must stay strong, keep working for Him and we will reap everlasting benefits!

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not" (Galatians 6:7-9)

"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:10-17).

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13).

Summertime Beauty

2011-07-22T15:33:00.001-05:00

This is one of the sunflowers that we planted in our little backyard flower garden.

We also planted these zinnias.

These have really attracted a lot of butterflies this summer.

Here's our marigold plant and a cute little butterfly (which I think may be eating our cabbage...).

The cutest little watermelon EVER!

Our first tomato.

The Hilburn garden.

Cucumbers from the Hilburn garden.

The pretty, yet possibly problematic cabbage eater!

Our Feathered Friends

2011-07-19T09:43:00.001-05:00

Since the spring, we have been watching our little birdie friends eat from our two bird feeders on our back patio. We have identified many species of birds. We have seen: Cardinals, Goldfinches, House Finches, Bluebirds, Mourning Doves, Sparrows, Chickadees, Blue Jays, Robins, and a Hummingbird or two. We started this observation and study for the kids (of course), but I have really loved watching these little guys out my kitchen window every morning! Birds are another marvel of God's creation that I now have a new found love for and better appreciation of because of homeschooling.

We used this link to print out our identification sheets: BACKYARD BIRD IDENTIFICATION QUIZ
You can also go to this site to see different birds and hear their unique calls and songs. It is really neat!
ALL ABOUT BIRDS

Khan Academy

2011-07-09T21:43:00.003-05:00

Here's another free resource for math and science.
Khan Academy
Instructional videos and online practice are on this site for FREE. :)
This looks like a good thing to use when introducing a new concept in math or to give the kids a little variety when practicing or drilling.

Free, Fun, Creative Ideas....and Did I Say Free?

2011-07-09T21:31:00.001-05:00

I just got an email from the Freely Educate blog with a link to a site called ActivityTV.
Here's the link to Freely Educate....LINK
Or you can go directly to Activity TV.....LINK

It looks pretty neat! Just wanted to share.

Making Workboxes Work

2011-06-30T17:30:00.002-05:00

We began using workboxes two years ago. This is a picture of our first go at it. I read THE book by Sue Patrick and tried my best to use it the way she suggested. However, her way did not fit our needs and caused our school days to be longer than normal. I was recently asked to share how we use workboxes, so instead of telling you all about why our first system did not work, I will share how we have tweaked this system to work for us. This is how we do it.

My Schedule

First of all, I use Simply Charlotte Mason's Planning Guide to get the year planned out. Then I get it all sorted out by weeks and put everything for each week in a file folder (but that's another post..we are gonna stick to workboxes right now). Next, I make a plan for what subjects we will do on certain days of the week. For example, we may have history on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. We may only do art on Fridays or music on Tuesdays...you get the idea. Then I divide the subjects up into three categories: Family, Workboxes, and Mom & Me. Family subjects are the ones that we do together (memory work, history, art, etc.) Workbox subjects are the ones that each child can do on his own (reading, Bible cards, handwriting, etc.), and Mom & Me subjects are things that Mom will need to help with (language, writing, math, spelling, etc.). I then list all the Family subjects a the top of my page (color coded in red) and scheduled on the days that we will do them. Next, I list the Workbox and Mom & Me subjects for each child (also color coded according to child). I have my schedule posted by my desk and each child has their own schedule on their bulletin boards by their desks (theirs are much cuter than mine...I may have to fix that this year :)

Kids Schedule

Having these schedules posted on the wall makes it easy to see what to do each day and to see what to put in the kids workboxes the night before. We begin each day with our Family subjects and then one kiddo works on their Workbox subjects while I help the other one with his Mom & Me subjects. Then we switch! ( I suppose if you have more than 2 kids, you could have several work on workboxes while you have Mom & Me time with others.)

We only use 6 workboxes per child. Five of the boxes have their Workbox work in them and one has all of the Mom & Me books, papers, or things in it that they will need for those subjects.

I got our boxes at Target and I really like the larger size better than the shoe box size. These are large enough for a text book to lay flat in the bottom and not wrinkle up the pages. These boxes also stack on themselves so I did not buy a shoe rack like Sue Patrick suggests.

We started out using the numbers that were velcroed on the boxes and tags, but gave up after a week or so. The kids found that to be redundant. The boxes are numbered, so they just go through them in order everyday.

I hope this has been helpful and not too confusing! I know that there are a million different ways that these awesome little boxes could help organize your school day! I hope you find the best way to make your workboxes work! (I'd be glad to answer any questions anyone has! Just leave a comment below!)

Great Resource

2011-06-29T13:08:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to share a link to an unbelievable site! There are tons of great ideas for organizing, planning, printing, and creative ways to encourage and keep things going in your homeschool.

I just printed these reading challenge sheets and we are headed to the library! My kids are super excited about earning points for reading :)

Hope this helps someone else!!

HOMESCHOOL CREATIONS LINK

Guard, Protect, Keep...

2011-06-27T16:40:00.001-05:00

"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23).

After a week spent at Sardis Lake Christian Camp, my family recently discussed the fact that the songs that we sang all week are now "stuck" in our minds. I have found myself singing these new songs while unpacking, washing clothes, and weeding our garden. Just today I walked by Brother's room to hear him and Sister singing a camp song while doing their chores. Our minds are so easily influenced by our environment whether it is good or bad! In Proverbs 4:23, we are told to keep or guard our hearts (minds). It is our responsibility to make sure that the things that are going into our minds (and our children's minds) are things that will build up, not tear down. On a daily basis we should ask ourselves, "Do the things I think about or listen to match up with the list in Philippians 4:8?"

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things" (Philippians 4:8).

It is no secret how perverse and ungodly popular music is today. It is almost impossible to find a decent radio station. It's not just rap or heavy metal...every genre of music seems to have these issues! My family, most often, chooses to listen to (parent approved) CD's or MP3's instead of the radio because of that very reason. It is just the safe thing to do! We should, as Christians, be honest with ourselves and really think about the messages that some songs portray. Put the words to these songs to the Philippians 4:8 test. If the song does not measure up...trash that song and don't allow it to influence your thinking.

For more info on this subject try these links:

Come Fill Your Cup Blog

Plugged In Online

O How I Love Thy Law...

2011-06-16T10:24:00.001-05:00

"O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day."

(Psalms 119:97)

I recently read a poll started by another homeschooling mother on a very popular forum. She asked the question, "What subject do you consider to be the CORE subject in your homeschool?" The choices were: history, math, science, Latin, writing, and other. The majority of the moms had picked "other" as their choice. When I saw that "other" was the top choice, my first thought was that the poll maker had left Bible out of her choices and that was why "other" was the top choice. WRONG! As I began reading the comments, I saw that most of them had picked READING or LANGUAGE ARTS as the subject on which they spend the most time. Hmm...

Please, don't misunderstand me. I do see the importance of teaching reading, math, and good language skills. I know that if one does not develop and sharpen these skills he will struggle with learning for the rest of his life. I go to great lengths to make sure that our children are getting enough practice and drill in these areas. However, these subjects should not be the subjects that take up the majority of our teaching time with our children. Charlotte Mason taught that math, language arts, and reading were VERY important skills that must be taught in order to gain knowledge in three areas. She said:

"Children need three kinds of knowledge: the knowledge of God, the knowledge of man, and the knowledge of the world around him. Of those, the knowledge of God is the most important, the most necessary and the one that has the potential to bring him happiness." (Charlotte Mason)

I really believe that if the mother loves God's Word as she should it will take precedence over all other subjects. She does not do this by having her children count sheaves of grain for math or color a picture of Abraham for art or by making every task done for "school" relate to Biblical times. She will teach this subject by living it daily! She will naturally refer to principles and accounts from the Bible throughout the day, and she will be an example of holy and righteous living before her children. However, she can only do this if she herself studies and follows God's Word.

(Deuteronomy 6:5-7)

I will choose the "knowledge of God" as the core subject in our homeschool.

Psalm 1

2011-06-13T22:14:00.001-05:00

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish. (Psalms 1:1-6)

Brother's Birthday Party Pics

2011-06-01T09:50:00.001-05:00

His "Tech Deck" cake.

Gifts and Friends

They are loading the marshmallow gun!

B's new telescope.

Learning To Preserve Flowers For Nature Journals

2011-06-01T09:39:00.002-05:00

Well I had recently posted that using Press N Seal to preserve flowers in our nature journals was a great thing.....it's not so great. It seems that the Press N Seal holds in the moisture and the flower petals seem to get gooshy, turn black, and sort of ooze a bit :(

Looks a little gross...

Before using the infamous Press N Seal, we used a method that works better, but is a little more work for Mom. You will need: flowers, wax paper, an iron, an old towel, and scissors.

See how much better this looks!

You just arrange your picked flower on a sheet of wax paper. Put another sheet of wax paper on top. Cover the paper with an old towel and iron away. Once the wax is sealed around the flower, cut it out and tape it in your journal.

You can also add things like glitter, crayon shavings, leaves, feathers, or sand to the area around the flowers for extra fun.

Here are a couple of links that are helpful:
Flower Press
Garden Guides

Fun With Nature

2011-05-26T19:34:00.001-05:00

This is the beginning of our little garden. We planted: carrots, watermelon, cucumbers, pumpkins, cabbage, tomatoes, and some marigolds to try and keep the bugs away.

We have a few green sprouts, but it will be a while before we are eating anything from this little farm.

Sister working on her nature journal on the patio. We have figured out that Glad Press n Seal works great for pressing flowers in their nature books.

Both kids came running in the house laughing at a "fat little bumblebee that landed on a clover bloom and made the whole flower fall over." They both made pages in their journals about the chubby bee.

I asked Sister to pick her favorite page. She chose this one. (See the pressed flowers? It really works well.)

This is Brother's favorite page from his journal. He has enjoyed finding feathers this year and taping them in his book. Birds were a major topic in our nature studies this spring. He was overjoyed by spotting a hawk today in our yard. What made it most exciting was that the hawk was carrying a snake in its talons! How cool is that? He made a page in his nature journal of course :)

Here is a link to a fun website. It is a site that shows kids how to build "fairy houses". It is a way to encourage kids to explore and play outside. It looks like fun for grown ups too! ;)

FAIRY HOUSES LINK