Jul. 4, 2009 - Passions

This week I’ve been thinking about passion – what is my passion?  What is passion?  Thanks to Hollywood we think of romantic passion but I believe there is more.  Jesus was passionate – Paul was passionate – the early Christians were passionate.  The early Christians – they turned the world upside down!  You can’t do that without passion.  But what about me?  Am I passionate about the things God would have me be passionate about.  I think of Paul again – as Saul he was a passionate man, and yet Jesus apprehended him and he came to see that the things he was passionate about were not the things the Lord Jesus was passionate about.  Saul, changing his name to Paul, changed his passions to be in line with Jesus.  We need to do the same.  What passions will I be known for?

Jul. 2, 2009 - Our family collage

Jul. 1, 2009 - Independent study - to what aim?

One of the things we have been working on with my youngest two (10/12yo) is independent study skills.  They have the ability to do some work independently and yet they lack the self discipline to get in and do it.  This is the area we have been working on.

1. Heart.  We have had many conversations about the idea of growing up, not only physically but also morally.  I have put the idea out there for them to slowly latch onto that they need to start being self disciplined – making the right decisions for themselves, not because I am there telling them what to do or checking up on them.  This is something that takes a while for them to grasp and run with so we are slowly putting the idea out there.  I can’t make them grow up, I can’t make them mature, but I can surround them with opportunities for them to make choices and then be diligent with ensuring they have to live out the consequences of their choices.

2. Habits.  Habits are a helpful thing – we practice something so much that we don’t think about it.  Like breathing!  In order to establish habit each of my children have two lists that they work on in the morning.  Personal Responsibilities and Independent Study.  The idea is that this list is their reminder, their prompt, instead of me.  While in training I do remind them to check their list – referring to a list is yet another habit to be developed.  I need to help them establish a habit and yet not remove all sense of responsibility and thinking from them.  I need to remind them to think, rather than remind them to do.

Their independent studies lists

Nomi:

Piano
Math

Writing

Reading / Journal

Art

Daniel:

Typing

Math

Writing

Having our children work independently is an admirable goal – one that is high on my priorities but it must be kept in balance with the idea that we are discipling our children.  That means, we need to spend time with them, sharing our heart, and building their hearts and lives.  Imagine Jesus with his disciples encouraging them to go be independent as they learnt of him.  No, Jesus had his disciples with him, observing him, talking with him and questioning him, being involved in the things that he was involved in.  We must keep a discipleship balance in our lives.

Jul. 1, 2009 - One life - one organiser

I have blogged about this before but I get asked this question often so I thought I'd post again.  Besides, as I write this up it helps me simplify and consolidate my system in my head – which is a good thing.

My diary, my control journal (a Flylady term), my organiser, my homemakers notebook:  regardless of what you call it - I have a system that keeps all my notes and to-dos in one place helping me with all the different responsibilities that I carry.  Many of the commercial diaries or time management systems are around the idea that you have a business life and then you have a home life, that weekends are uneventful times, and that your day is divided up into 1/2 hour slots where you make appointments.  But that isn't my life.  I wanted a system that stopped me from compartmentalising my life and yet keep me on track. 

When I began to put this binder together I found it helpful to know what I wanted from it: I wanted to be able to carry it with me like a diary, I only wanted one place for information (not another diary, calendar, list filed or kept somewhere else).  I remembered back to another time when I used to have a system like this but the binder became so heavy it was impossible to carry with me so this time I considered a5 size binder for that reason but the time factor of reducing everything to a5 made it not efficient.  The solution was to be careful what I put in it.  It was to be used on a daily basis, not a place to store papers.  It was to keep me efficient not something that required a lot of time to maintain.

I use an a4 size ring-binder with dividers.  Here are my divisions:

·        Daily to-do - I use simplemom's daily docket as my template though I have tweaked it to suit me and my brain (and what needs to be remembered).  My daily docket includes my daily routine (on the left side) and (on the right) Heart focus, Priorities, Commitments, Menu, Lessons, Online activity.

·        Discipleship plans - Discipleship covers all areas of a child’s life.  This is where I keep my notes – heart training, lifeskills, and study lists (assignment sheets and study routines)  

·        Office Lists - office to-do lists (both Master list and current to-do) as well as my office routine schedule - this keeps me on track with office work for both family and business (much like my housework routines do). I also keep notes of ideas for a blog post or article I want to write here.

·        Menu Planning - this week's menu, freezer and pantry lists, list on quick to make meals, list of the meals my children can prepare or want to learn.

·        Shopping list - I keep this list in a separate tab than the menu planning so the children can find it quickly and add to the shopping list.  I have a shopping list typed up by shopping isles but I let the kids just write a quick list on blank paper as they run out of an item or need something to be bought and I transfer it to my organised shopping list the day before I go shopping.

·        Housework rosters and chore lists (For both myself and the kids)

·        Lists:  Birthday dates, gift ideas, phone numbers,

·        Calendar - a block style monthly calendar that has all my commitments recorded - reoccurring as well as one-offs. 

·        Blank paper - I like to keep blank paper in the back of the binder as well.  This is for those times that I want to take notes.  I am trying to discipline myself to keep everything centered in this binder, reducing bits of paper here and there. 

My binder sits on my kitchen table and only gets put away when we have visitors - it then goes in the office.  Wherever I go it goes (well, maybe not to a wedding, but it does go to Church with me) It is my diary so I need it with me.

Every Sunday afternoon (or evening) Pete and I have planning time where we set to and plan our week and let each other know what we are doing. My diary helps me through this process.

·        I print off another set of daily to-do lists and fill in the Commitments, Menu and Lessons sections for the week.  I refer to all the sections of my diary for the relevant information.  I have found that if I write these things in by hand weekly, I am a lot more in tune with what needs to happen rather than printing off routine checklists each week.

·        I find that it works better if I leave Heart training and Priorities to write up on the day or night before so I can keep in tune with what is really important. 

·        The rest of my planning session is spent preparing any lessons that I have listed for the coming week and these are kept to a minimum.

The big question is – do I follow it?  Well, yes and no.  It is there as my guide.  My best days are the days that happen closest to my plan but life happens!  I reckon you need somewhere to start from, a base from which you can be flexible.  Flexible isn’t to be without a plan, flexible is holding onto that plan loosely.

But a willingness to be flexible has to be in balance with a willingness to work hard, and apply self-discipline.  I know my life on paper looks different than real life.  I try hard to get them to match and yet I want my plan on paper to include the goals that I am striving towards.  I am working hard at using my time wisely, using my time for its intended purpose. 

Jun. 29, 2009 - Intentional Heart Training this week

Jun. 29, 2009 - What has been filling up my days?

It has been a while since I’ve blogged so here is a quick overview of what has been filling up my days…

• I’ve had a bad cough for weeks and weeks.  With that comes sleepless nights and exhausted days so that takes up time.
• The kids have had dentist appointments
• Saturdays have been spent at Netball and Cricket – this year all the ages played at the same time which shortened the amount of time we were in town.
• I’ve gone out for lunch and morning tea with a few new friends
• I’ve taught the boys to do the grocery shopping
• Josh and I went to an evening hosted by the Universities in our State.  Josh was the only boy there!
• I held an information night for parents – the topic was:  how to teach character intentionally in your home.
• Doctors appointments for myself and one of my kids
• Farewell BBQ, Sleepovers and playdates for the kids
• Oh, I nearly forgot!  I have release my book, Heart Focus Parenting, online.  That was a bit of a learning curve!
  

It has been a very busy time.

This week my goals are

• to see a doctor for a second opinion
• help my kids finish creative projects to put in the local agricultural show
• finish a digital photo album, send off to printers
• catch up with a mum regarding discipleship homeschooling
• help with the youth group progressive dinner
• attend an online short course (2 hours)
• cancel my dentist appointment – don’t think I can go to the dentist while I have a cough!

During these activities I want to teach my children

• to use our time wisely; to be aware of what we are doing, and what we should be doing
• to discuss the idea that we all have our strengths, and to encourage each other in those strengths

Jun. 27, 2009 - My Book, Heart Focus Parenting, is ready to go!

I am very excited to say that I have finally worked out all the techno involved it making my first book, Heart Focus Parenting, available to you online! 

Though we may know that God is after the heart, so often our parenting settles for the quick fix of external behaviour. Our role as parents is to turn our children’s hearts towards God; that they may know Him, hear His voice, and choose to walk in His ways. Heart Focus Parenting is a collection of articles and thoughts to encourage parents to keep their focus on their children’s hearts day in and day out.

Excerpt:
The Heart Focus: What does it mean to reach the heart of a child?

Go direct to Heart Focus Parenting Page

Live life with your kids!

Jun. 17, 2009 - My 5 W and H lesson for today

We are reading Galileo’s Journal – treating it much like a FIAR book, but I’m not putting in a lot of prep – I want to see what rabbit trails we take.  But with thinking along the lines of asking the 5 W and H questions - Who, what, where, when, why and how, I have come up with a bit of a sketch which gives me something to fall back on.

Who – Galileo

What – he improved the telescope and saw amazing things in the sky

Where – Italy, Venice, Padua, Florence

When – 1564-1642

Why – He showed perseverance, curiosity, asked a lot of questions

How – how the telescope works, planets and their moons, rotation of the earth around the sun

Today we pursued the idea that Galileo asked a lot of questions and tested his ideas.  This is, in essence, the scientific method.  We revisited that.  Then we did a few experiments with water to learn about lenses.  This quickly moved on to experimenting with liquids for Nomi and chemical reactions for Daniel.  Daniel dearly wanted to create an explosion but his ideas never quite made it (phew!!)  This kept them occupied, without my supervision for a good hour.

Nomi the Scientist

Daniel the Scientist

We didn’t notebook like I wanted to but the kids each wrote up what they learnt through their experiments.  Tomorrow we will record about lenses.  I have printed off a poster showing the Scientific Method which I found through a google search and they have filed that in their notebooks.  I am going to laminate a copy of this poster and put it up on the wall – to help us work through problems with thinking, testing, and coming to conclusions.

Jun. 17, 2009 - The beauty of the 5W and H

Who, what, where, when, why and how

These six words can be the basis of a unit study that you plan or even better yet it can guide you through a teaching moment that has caught you unprepared.

This morning I was looking at a story and wondering how to draw out the best learning opportunities.  It dawned on me if I asked each of those questions I would have covered a lot of ground.

• If we ask the question WHO – we talk about the people
• If we ask the question WHAT – we talk about the event
• If we ask the question WHERE – we talk about the place, geography
• If we ask the question WHEN – we talk about history
• If we ask the question WHY- we talk about philosophy and values
• If we ask the question HOW - we talk about how things came about – Science

These questions can be asked of anything that we read; the Bible, a picture book, a chapter book, a living book, a classical novel.

Once we ask a question we can encourage our children to find the answers.  This happens by them either thinking or researching and possibly even asking more questions.  Once the answers are found the children can record their learning – notebooking, media presentation, drama, art etc.  These questions even help us work out what written work can be expected.

Here are the basic options:

Who – write a biography, or character sketch

What – write about the event,

Where – maps

When – timeline

Why – think Biblically, a paragraph on your thoughts / observations

How – think scientifically, hypothesis and record your observations

Jun. 16, 2009 - Join in with our family's silliness

Jun. 16, 2009 - Are you learning stuff?

One of the huge benefits of homeschooling is that we, as mums, are made acutely aware of the opportunity to learn.  The things that our children want to learn about are usually way outside our own understanding or interest.  But we dig in; we become enthusiastic because that is going to help our children.

But what about learning for ourselves?

We have a little joke going on around our place at the moment.

2008 was the year of the Bowser – this was when I learnt to fill up the car with petrol!  Yep, shocking admission but until then I always went to the place where they served you!

2009 is the year of the Knife – we have a chef living with us at the moment and he has given me a big heavy knife and taught me how to chop chop chop, seamlessly like you see the chefs on TV doing.  (I’m still a bit slow but I’m getting there and I haven’t cut myself yet!)

I guess the point is that I can actually define some of the things that I am learning – I have taken specific steps towards something and I can say “I learnt to do this….” And my children rejoice with me, just as I celebrate with them when they master something.

There have been many seasons of my life where I have set specific goals to learn something:

• When I first got married I wanted to have a repertoire of recipes so that when children came along, I was very familiar with a wide variety of meals.
• I also learnt about homemaking routines and habits (thank you to Emilie Barnes)
• When we lived in a shed, I learnt about small space living and how to maximise what we did have
• When I ran a craft group I learnt how to make one project in a variety of ways – not just in line with my naive country prejudice
• When we started homeschooling I learnt about all the methods, philosophies and curriculums
• When I wanted to write I learnt to build a website
• When it became obvious that my son had some learning difficulties, I learnt as much as I could so I could help him succeed.

These are just some of the intentional learning seasons that I have had in my life. 

There have been other seasons though when my life is just so chocker-block full that I can’t squeeze in another book, project, life-skill or lesson for my children let alone for myself!  That’s okay – there is no doubt something I am learning through all that it is just not so deliberate.  

The benefits of learning something new

• You grow in your abilities
• You grow in your understanding of the world around you
• You become a better conversationalist
• Doors open up where you never expected and you never know what experience God will use next!

What about you – I’d love to hear the things you are learning now, and the things you have learnt in the past.

Jun. 15, 2009 - What do I gain?

Many of the verses of Prov 31 have made a modern day woman cry out and say “I can’t do it!” but v18 kind of rubs the salt in the wound. 

We’ve already read that this woman

·         Is virtuous, excellent, strong

·         Her husband trusts her

·         She’s busy with her hands

·         She’s an astute consumer

·         She herself provides for her household needs

·         She is wise with money

·         She is strong, (she seems to exercise!)

And now we read that she rejoices in her gain – she is profitable – and that she seems to work through the night as well!  When does this woman ever stop!

 Prov 31:18  She senses that her gain is good, and her lamp does not go out by night.

This verse tells us that she sees the benefits of her productivity, she knows that the benefits are there and that they are good!   These benefits are hers today – she experiences them.  Do we see the benefits of our productivity?  The world thinks in terms of wealth and affluence but God’s kingdom has a different set of value so we need to be careful not to look for gain in areas that God doesn’t look for gain.

Paul said,   But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Phil 3:7  Paul recognised all the things that he previously held to that he thought put him in good stead in the eyes of God, but when he met Jesus this changed.  God sees ‘gain’ differently.  We need to see things as God sees them.

I have re-written Paul’s decree with myself in mind, a woman who has pursued Prov 31 -

…though I myself have reasons for such confidence.  If anyone else thinks she has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more:  I was brought up by a Prov 31 woman, who trained me in the ways of keeping house and managing household, I am able and skilful.  I have studied with zeal books on the subject, helping others to pursue excellence.  But ….. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ ….

My housework, my striving for orderliness will not gain me Christ, nothing I do in my flesh will gain me Christ.  Christ will transform me: transform my habits which will affect my household, my finances, my days but He must come first.  My goals must be in Him. 

·         Does He want me to have a perfect house?  No, He wants me to train my children and be hospitable to those in need.

·         Does he want me to be a successful business woman?  No, He wants me to be a good steward with what He has given me in order that I may give to others.

·         Does he want me to run a charity organisation or successful ministry?  No, he wants me to be aware of the needs of the people around me and the people I meet down the street.

The answers might be different for you but be sure of what He does require of you.

To love the lord your God with all your heart and

to love your neighbour as yourself.

Do my skills, talents, upbringing, expectations, dreams get in the way of this happening? 

Do I look for gain where God looks for gain?

Jun. 8, 2009 - There should always be options

Does our society train our children to be versatile, flexible and resourceful?  Or are we so comfortable in our materialistic world that we can’t fathom there being any other way?

As I did my housework this morning I was thinking of all the mod-cons that I have in my house, in my kitchen especially.  I wondered if training our children to cook using modern equipment is truly training them to deal with the future.  Now, I have no idea what the future holds, and I tend to shy away from conspiracy theories but I do wonder at the adeptness of past generations and the lack of flexibility in today’s generation.

We teach our children to clean house but will there always be electricity for the vacuum cleaner?   I think of the folk over in Zimbabwe – they have spasmodic electricity – how do they cope?  Our children could face tough times, they could be missionaries in an undeveloped country, in a remote area, the world could simply change. Would they have the resilience and the resourcefulness to find solutions?

On the heels of these thoughts came our very own experience.  This afternoon I was teaching Josh to cook Shepherds’ Pie when we ran out of gas on the stove.  Both gas bottles empty!  Josh’s first response was “oh no! What are we going to do now?”  My first response was – electric frypan or BBQ.  There are always options.

One of my fondest memories with my brother was a night when mum and dad were going out and we were planning a simple dinner with a dvd.  Just before we started cooking – a power failure!  We decided to head outside and light up the BBQ.  We had a wonderful time – not only did we cook the food we had planned but we raided the fridge to boot and got real creative on the BBQ. 

Are we teaching our children to be versatile , flexible and resourceful – or are we just teaching them to use gadgets?

PS - after talking to my mum about my thoughts (and they are raw thoughts) I / we came to the conclusion it isn't about not using the tools and opportunities that we have today - they certainly make our life easier and I'm not wanting to go back to the so called good ole days (I'm sure they had just as many problems as we have today but they looked different).  It is a matter of thinking and training our children's thinking.  The three character traits that I keep coming up with versatile, flexible and resourceful are as much about attitude as they are about skills.  If we are giving our children a variety of skills and teaching them to think about what is going on around them, teach them to think outside the box, and teach them to be prepared to do things differently then we will be training them for the unknown.  The army never know exactly what is going to happen - their skill levels (and attitudes) are prepared though.  I guess it is the same for our kids.

So with that in mind, I should have asked Josh - what are we going to do now, instead of just sharing my thoughts - given him opportunity to be flexible, resourceful and versatile!

I wonder what his solution would have been?

Jun. 3, 2009 - Hospitality - Be prepared for impromptu invites

I met my friend in the grocery shop after church on Sunday – we were both doing a quick shop on our way home from our different church services.  I was buying food for some lunch guests that I had invited home - an impromptu invite.  She commented that she never did that, though she would like to and that she noticed that I did it all the time.  Our conversation reminded me of how I got myself into that habit.

• I would menu plan to have people over.  I would have one section on my menu plan where I would note a meal that I could serve should we invite guests (this then converted to my shopping list so I had the food on hand.)
• I would have meat in the freezer so if Pete invited someone for dinner (evening meal) then I could quickly defrost something.  Sometimes I would have a frozen meal ready to defrost that would serve more than just our family.
• I would plan a nice Sunday lunch, something that could be prepared either Saturday (like a quiche or soup) or plan something that could be quickly thrown together (like a cheese platter and veggie sticks, or toasted sandwiches) and if we didn’t have folk over we would eat it for lunch and dinner ourselves.

There has always been an understanding, a trust between Peter and myself, that if the other invited someone home for a meal, then it would be okay.  Peter knows that I’ll rise to the occasion and I know that he will if I issue an invite.  Part of being able to do this, as the cook, is to be prepared – mentally and physically, knowing that you can handle the food side of the invitation.

Jun. 1, 2009 - Toy Organisation

Jun. 1, 2009 - Learning by Conversations - Dinner table conversations

Jun. 1, 2009 - Learning by Conversations - heart conversations

Jun. 1, 2009 - Learning by Conversations - more questions

Jun. 1, 2009 - Do you have problems today?

I have been reminded a few times lately of a line from one of the “Love Comes Softly” DVDs – The young man is listing all his problems with his feelings for the young girl and the older man says, “That doesn’t sound like a problem, son, that sounds like an opportunity!”    There are so many situations in my life where this encouragement would work.  

Are you seeing problems today – how can change your perspective and see them as opportunities?

Jun. 1, 2009 - Learning by Conversations - Finding the right words

This morning I thought I would brainstorm all the “Thinking Words” that I could use to make my children think and learn.  Bringing these words to my attention – even making a chart of them – means that as I talk to my children I can give them thinking questions, I can pose a problem or even an assignment on any subject that we are talking about and the children will be learning and being stretched.  These words maybe very science/math orientated but if applied to any field of study they will make you think broader than you did at first.

Compare

Explain

Examine

Discuss

Classify, sort

Produce

Estimate

Hypothesise

Prove

Provide evidence for

What do you infer?

Observe

Interpret

Question

Conclude

Cause and effect

Predict

Measure, calculate

Demonstrate

Define

Identify

Describe

Experiment

Tell me

Design

Consider

Analyse

Brainstorm ideas

What are your references?

What are the variables?

What are the changes?

Represent what you have learnt

Communicate what you have learnt

Report on what you have learnt

List, Write, talk, and draw what you have learnt

I wonder…

In what way…

What do you think about…

What would happen if…

How could you…

How did….

What did you learn from this…

Did this remind you of something else?

What is the practical application?

What is the principle here?

Where do you see that principle in life?