Learning Styles and Interests Sneak Preview!

An excerpt from Learning Styles and Interests by Christie Berry

There are many ways that learning styles are described because the term actually encompasses much more than just the mode in which a child learns. You may have heard the terms Multiple Intelligences, modality, predispositions, kinesthetic, auditory, or tactile. These terms are all pieces of the larger puzzle of Learning Styles. For children with special needs there are other pieces that also contribute to the child’s learning style that need to be considered when determining how the child learns best.

Certain parts of our child’s learning styles are unchanging, some need to be learned, while others are always changing and need to be re-evaluated regularly. We will discuss each part of the puzzle and how they fit together to create your child’s best learning opportunity.

Pieces of the Puzzle:

Unchanging:
        Disposition/Personality/Character Traits:

        Talents/Aptitude/Natural Abilities/Multiple Intelligences:

        Modality:

        Disability:
                Strengths/Weaknesses

Changing:
        Interests:

        Environment:

Self-concept:

Disability:
        Strengths/Weaknesses

Remember as you learn about your child's learning styles seek God’s face and His will for your child. He will lead you and guide you as you search for the purpose He has for your child’s life and the mission that life is created for. Everything that your child needs to accomplish God’s plan is created within your child and finding those attributes should be at the top of your list for identifying your child’s learning style.

Disposition/Personality/Character Traits:

There are many different interpretations and ideas of the different personalities in the world! None of them are perfect. Most of us have some characteristics of all of the personality types. Most of us will be stronger in one or two of them than the others. It is a great opportunity to learn the character traits or personality types of the individuals in our family. We can see how our family dynamics affect learning in our home.

Talents/Aptitude/Natural Abilities/Multiple Intelligences:

Everyone has special God-given talents or natural abilities that can help them reach their purpose and mission in their life. These natural abilities help them to understand and organize their environment and information around them.  They help them assimilate new information and store it in the long term memory. These are abilities that come with ease.

There are several theories and ideas about talents. The natural abilities, combined with the child’s interests, make up the aptitude of the child or individual. Some of the natural bents of the child will not be interesting to the child and they should not be forced to pursue that area. Allow the child to pursue areas as God leads them toward the purpose of their life and He will lead them to those areas that come naturally.

Modality: (better known as Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic)

Each child is created to be completely unique. There are no two alike in appearance, personality, or preferences. This uniqueness is apparent in how children learn. One may learn best reading a book while others learn best by trying everything they see in the book. Another child might learn best by listening to the book on tape. Most children have a combination of modalities with one of them being the most dominant.

There are many modality assessments available. Modality is often referred to as learning styles and is broken down into 3 main areas: Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic/Tactile. These three are broken down into more specific areas.

Visual subsections are picture or word. Do you visualize pictures or see words in your mind?

Visual Learners love watching videos and reading books with stimulating illustrations. Providing a visual context (picture rich books like Usborne or Dorling Kindersley) helps these children to understand an idea or concept. Older students should be taught to take notes while studying or listening to reinforce visually what they hear or read.

Auditory subsections are listening or verbalizing. Do you repeat things to yourself or read out loud to yourself, or do you remember better listening to others or a tape?

Auditory learners receive and retain information best through listening, reading aloud to themselves or someone else, or listening to books on tapes. History and story tapes can be found that would enhance any home education, but will especially appeal to the auditory learner.

Kinesthetic/Tactile subsections are hands-on, whole body, sketching, or writing/note taking. Tactile includes hands-on, sketching or writing/note taking. Kinesthetic is whole body movement.

Kinesthetic learners are always doing something. They learn best through hands-on activities. They are not content with observing but would rather touch, manipulate, put together or take apart. Unit studies work well for these children to actively participate in learning the details of the subject. You can also include field trips, crafts, activities, projects, or anything that will bring the subject to life! Tactile or Kinesthetic learners also need to move while listening. You can include fidget toys or a rocking chair in your educational setting to help them move while listening. Many times they will not appear to be paying attention but can repeat back to you all that has been said because movement helps them to be more alert while they listen.

Interests:

Many parents are clueless about their children’s interests. Or, even more often, believe that they know what those interest are and are surprised to find out that the child has  a totally different idea of what is interesting! This is especially true as children mature and become independent individuals. It is important to ask your children often (monthly or as often as necessary) what they are interested in.

It is also important to understand that there is a difference between interests and talents. Many children have talents but are not interested in pursuing them. On the other hand, a child might have an interest and have no talent whatsoever in that area of interest.

Environment:

The environment has a direct effect on learning and is greatly underestimated. Many times people tell their children to ignore the things going on around them when in actuality you should try to manipulate the environment to create the best situation for learning. Many children are required to be stoic and immovable in the educational setting and when they are unable to do that they are labeled ADD/ADHD, a behavior problem or undisciplined. Each has a different need for the environment, some get cold easily, others stay warm all the time; some are distracted by noise, others by smells or movement; some need to feel full or need to be by a window. The elements of your environment are sound, body position, interaction, lighting, temperature, food, color, and time of day. Once you discover the environment most conducive to learning you will be able to create that environment for the best educational for your child.

Self-concept:

A Note  on Self-Concept:

From a worldly or humanistic standpoint, self-concept or self esteem is thinking of yourself as worthy and as good as or better than others. This point of view is a very dangerous, selfish point of view.

However, if you look at self-concept through God’s perspective then you will see that the question of self concept isn’t about the importance of who you are, but rather the security in knowing Whose you are. Understanding who you belong to and whose family you are adopted into is the key. You are adopted into God’s family if you are a Christian. You belong to the King of the Universe. You are brothers and sisters and co-heirs with the Savior of the World! With that as your self-concept you can overcome all disabilities. This is why it is so important for you to teach your child who they belong to and seek God’s will and purpose in your child’s life so they can overcome all disabilities and be successful in the mission God is preparing them for.

Strategies To Try
An excerpt from Strengths, Struggles and Strategies by Christie Berry

There are more strategies than any one article could begin to define. But the number one rule to remember is to modify instruction — Yours! We can’t always change the way a child learns but we can change how we teach the child. The lists below give you lots of things you can add to your instruction to improve learning.

• Supervision
• Questions
• Praise
• Allow more tries
• Allow more time for answers
• Elicit more correct answers
• Positive Regard
• Give more feedback
• Encourage to keep trying
• Shorter lessons
• More concept examples
• More lesson structure
  
  

Compensation  and Modification Strategies:

READING:
*Shared reading
*Sight/phonetic programs modified and adapted to fit strength
*Tape recorded reading
*Rereading

COMPREHENSION:
*Verbal recall
*Writing a journal
*Dictation
*Answers in a tape recorder
*Drama or role play
*Drawing pictures to show content/comprehension

WRITING AND SPELLING:
*Verbal answers
*Less writing
*Dictionary/spellers
*Dictation

MATH:
*Fewer Problems on page
*Answers only (not showing work unless missed)
*Times tables charts
*Calculators
*Verbal answers
*Manipulatives

MODIFYING THE PRESENTATION OF MATERIAL
*Break assignment into segments of shorter tasks.
*Use concrete examples of concepts before teaching the abstract.
*Relate information to the student's experiential base.
*Reduce the number of concepts presented at one time.
*Plan short discussion times with the student to check for comprehension.
*Provide consistent review of any lesson before introducing new information.
*Allow student to obtain and report information utilizing: cassette recorders, dictation, typewriters/computers, interviews, calculators, fact sheets, multi-sensory manipulatives.
*Monitor and adjust the rate at which material is presented.
*Give additional presentations by varying the methods using repetition, simpler explanations, more examples and modeling.
*Use verbal responses to indicate comprehension.
*Assign tasks at an appropriate reading level.
* Have the child repeat back to you the directions when possible.
* Provide directions in a written format when possible (pictures can also be used)

MODIFYING THE ENVIRONMENT
*Use study carrels.
*Seat student in an area free of distractions.
*Allow the student to select his/her workplace.
*Help keep student's work area free of unnecessary materials.
*Use checklists to help the student get organized.
*Frequently check the organization of the student's work area.
*Provide opportunities for movement.
*Provide Structure:
        · keep a schedule on wall (picture schedules for non-verbal)
        · ensure child understands the rules and expectations  
        · organize workspace
        · use color codes
*Provide standing work space
*Provide ‘time out’ or 'safe place' area for calm down time
MODIFYING TIME DEMANDS
*Reduce the amount of work
*Prioritize assignments and/or steps to completing assignments for the student.
*Space short work periods with breaks or change of tasks.
*Consistently follow a specific routine.
*Alternate quiet and active tasks.

MODIFYING THE MATERIALS
VISUAL MOTOR INTEGRATION AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION PROBLEMS
*Allow for spelling errors.
*Allow student to use either cursive or manuscript.
*Set realistic and mutually agreed upon expectations for neatness.
*Let student type, record, or give answers orally instead of writing.
*Avoid pressures of speed and accuracy.
*Reduce the amount of copying from text.
*Accept key word responses instead of complete sentences.

VISUAL PROCESSING PROBLEMS

*Highlight information to be learned.
*Keep written assignments and work space free from extraneous and/or irrelevant distracters.
*Provide clear and well-defined worksheets.
*Go over visual task with student and make sure student has a clear understanding of all parts of the assignment from the beginning.
*Avoid having student copy from text.
*Have student verbalize instructions before beginning task.
*Avoid crowded, cluttered worksheets by utilizing techniques such as blocking (blocking assignments into smaller segments), cutting (cut worksheets into sections, folding (fold worksheets into sections), and highlighting, color coding or underlining.

LANGUAGE PROCESSING PROBLEMS

*Give written directions to supplement verbal directions.
*Slow the rate of presentations.
*Paraphrase information.
*Keep statements short and to the point.
*Avoid use of abstract language such as metaphors, idioms, and puns.
*Keep sentence structures simple. 
*Encourage feedback from student to check for understanding.
*Familiarize student with any new vocabulary before beginning the lesson.
*Reduce the amount of extraneous noise such as conversation, radio, TV, outside noises, etc.
*Alert student's attention before expressing key points.
*Utilize visual aids such as charts and graphs.
*Utilize manipulative, hands-on activities whenever possible.
*Cue student by calling his/her name before asking questions.

Book Review: “Eagle Doctor”

Author: Crissy L Nelson

Review author: Donna L. Gibson

Prologue: Patch Adams

Being an avid reader I read many various authors. I love a good book! I especially love non-fiction, as long as it is uplifting and has some positive points or truths we need to be aware of.

Stepping into the pages of this book will capture your attention as you meet Crissy Nelson and her foster son, Stevie. Crissy is a nurse at the University of Minnesota. She has always been a caring person, ready to give the most of herself at her own expense. She was reared in the kind of love and kindness that is unconditional and with her steadfast faith in God, she is prepared to face nearly anything. That is what she is asked to do with her son, Stevie.

Stevie is a small lad of Native American descent who has many, many physical challenges. He has no verbal form of communication, severe lung disease, and numerous complications.

Her care and love for this boy prompts her to take him as her foster son so she can give him even better care. She has lost the love of her life because of her devotion to Stevie, and can have no children of her own.

Enduring all the complications of fostering a Native American child, being a white women and single, she struggles to comply with all of the conditions under which she may become Stevie’s foster mom. She relates the meetings with the Native American community and
Stevie’s natural mother. She learns the importance of Stevie’s relationship with his tribal community and his mother.
You will find laughter, tears, tenderness, frustration, miracles, pain, joy and never-ending love. You will experience her trials with homecare and other established care in the medical field.

Be prepared to live with Crissy the miracles of her white quilt given to her after the death of her dear Grandfather. You will come to know the help the Native American community is to her and Stevie. Their spirituality and their care for one of their own is accompanied by their respect and appreciation for what Crissy has given Stevie.

You will meet Crissy’s many good friends, efficient doctors, her family and Stevie’s family. Her faith in the Lord, gives her endurance and energy beyond the norm. Her love knows no bounds.

Last, but not least, PLEASE enjoy Chrissy’s poetry and her quotes from others.
The world should read this book. It would clear up so many misconceptions about the physically and mentally challenged and educate the public to the fact that we should NEVER underestimate their capabilities and the love and joy they bring those who care for them.

Building Organization and Study Skills

Organizing space and things:

• Teach child to use a date/appointment book to keep track of important dates, appointments, activities.
• Let them keep a journal of the daily school activities. Allow the journal to be written, dictated, recorded or typed, whichever is enjoyable for the child.
• Let them use a drawer in a file cabinet to keep important papers.
• Provide assistance to help sort out cluttered areas and use containers, files, drawers, shelves or other ways to sort, organize and maintain items important to the children.
• Use a dry erase board, checklists, or notes as personal reminders.
  

Time management and awareness:

• Use a timer to manage time, allow the student to control the timer to teach self management skills.
• Teach child to tell time and read a non-digital clock.
• Teach child to read calendars and schedules.
• Establish a daily routine and schedule.
• Write out the schedule and put up in the room or use a picture schedule for non-readers.
• Help children learn to prioritize activities.
• Provide 'advanced notice' of upcoming events and activities. Before the activity, take time to discuss appropriate behavior, necessary rules, and assignments related to the activity.
• Teach the child to create and use checklists.
• Limit the 'at the table' school time.
• Teach the child to self monitor their work behavior and learn to use their time wisely.
• Use impulsiveness to create teachable moments, find learning in every situation.
• Use imagery to learn new concepts.
• Teach the child to organize their ideas by using sticky notes, dry erase board, tape recorder, prompting, lists, charts.
• Teach note taking skills (outlines forms, index cards, webbing/clustering techniques.)
  

Help Us Spread the Word!!!

Help Us Spread the Word!!!

Help Us Spread the Word!!!

We will be in Mobile February 25th at Praise Church. For more info you can contact Bonita at Praise Christian School in Mobile or email her at bonitaharris@netzero.net.

We are so looking forward to seeing all of you there! Drop me an email if you think you might join us! clberryr@att.net

At issue, The church and perspective.

The church we are attending is trying to decide what must be done regarding the overextension of finances, the needs of the people and how to meet those needs, location of meetings, pastor’s salary, and how to continue the vision of the church were the points of issue.

Location and expenses…

Most of those in attendance felt that the location was unimportant and we wanted to be with the pastor for the teaching. He has been paying 65% of the costs of the building and upkeep of the church from his personal income. He wants to pastor full time and be paid to work full time for the church.

If a person is not meeting their living expenses they can do one of two things…increase the income or decrease the expenses. He has tried to increase the income and it has not worked. The only other option is to decrease the expenses. This means that we must locate another building that will house the people.

My thoughts:

Does the body have to meet in a large building? Can expenses be decreased by meeting in homes, community centers, school buildings, etc? Of course. Will these options be acceptable to the group? This is unknown. This will be up to the perspective of the people in attendance. Will they perceive church as church without a building?

How can the pastor be a full time pastor of the church knowing that they cannot meet the expenses of the building in which they are meeting, or the pastor’s salary? Can a pastor be a full time pastor and be self-employed? Should a pastor rely on the body to meet the needs of his family? Did Paul continue to make tents as he went from place to place ministering to the people? Did the people give because he preached about giving so that he and those with him could pay their bills? No. They taught, caused a fire or fueled a fire in the people. The works were then manifested among the people and they gave willingly so that all needs were met and Paul and the others could have food and shelter.

On that thought…are the programs in the church created to bring in people or do people in the church willingly offer to meet the needs of others and as needs are met then more people come. Do we begin by doing and then get a calling? Do we step out without a vision first? Of course not. First we are set on fire by the love of God and in that fire is born a vision and desire to help and please and minister. Ministry to others is born of the fire and vision God instills upon us and as we minister to others the word spreads and people come. I think that we have an upside down understanding of how the body of Christ works and grows. It is not a logical view and definitely confounds the wise just as the word says!

This leads us to meeting the needs of the people and the pastor’s perspective of how the church should work. To meet the needs of the people one must first become intimate with the people….strangers will not tell you their needs. The next step is to begin meeting the needs. Each of us meeting each others’ needs, encourage, support, intercede, provide, individually or collectively for one another.

Pastor said that we need to be a church for him to pastor. But can he pastor with a church that has a different definition? I guess I am wondering what his definition of church is. He said they needed to incorporate. This is not God’s order to be a church or body of believers, it is man’s and then it is not a requirement. There is no definition of church in this state’s administrative code. He does not need to be “incorporated” to preach, teach, evangelize, baptize, perform weddings, funerals, and ordain other ministers. So the expense of incorporation is not necessary, nor does the pastor’s pay or work as such depend on it.

When the pastor teaches and fuels the fire within the people they begin to minister to others. As believers minister to each other and those around them, people will see the miracles and good deeds and will come. If they come the church grows and those coming will help others and the cycle continues. The more you give the more you will receive. If you are faithful with a little you will be given more.

Now to look at it logically, if you give away what you have you will have nothing!  This is the way of logic. If you turn it around it is the way of Christ! If you give away what you have you will have more! This is the same as with the church. Think of things logically and turn it upside down and you will usually have Christ’s way!

Logic: If you give the people the freedom to start their ministry people will leave.

Christ: If you give the people the freedom to start their ministry you will draw people that need to be ministered too and who will begin their own ministries.

Logic: If you build a bigger building, have more programs, do bigger and better things you will grow a church.

Christ: If you teach truth and community, meet in homes, help each other with daily things you will grow a church and from the growth will arise programs and other ministries that will meet the needs of the people.

Discussion with Satch about thoughts of community and One Faith Fellowship Meetings at our home, the hierarchy of secular religious institutions and beginning the journey to form “community”.

Community:

I used to feel a sense of community in my local church. I could go there and usually I could share some of my concerns, problems, hurts, joys and accomplishments in a safe haven without being ostracized because of my differences or weaknesses. As I grew in Christ and “worked” toward leadership, as I understood it and was being taught at the time, I began to learn who I could and could not trust, what things I could reveal to what people and who to stay away from at all costs. I began to close out more and more people until I finally only felt safe with one sister that would listen, give “wise counsel” as she was taught, and love me anyway, no matter what decision I made. My husband was not a Christian at the time and of course real appointed leadership without the guidance of a saved husband was beyond reach at that particular institution. However, I was able to pay our tithes to the church and my sweet husband had no problems with me staying at church many hours in meetings, working, teaching, and with the intercessory prayer team. Our church was a non-denominational Word Church that still pushed the legalism, and what I now see as bondage, for the leadership to obey at least, if not for the whole body.

When I really began to see that the feeling of community I felt for several years was false was when my father was in a terrible accident and I needed to be with him. We were living several states away and were barely making it from paycheck to paycheck with two small children. I went, of course, to my community to request financial help to get to my father who was in intensive care and was possibly at the edge of death. I had already found a round trip airline ticket for under $300 at an emergency rate and had reserved the ticket knowing that I would surely be able to get the needed funds. My husband agreed with my thinking that after 5 years of paying tithes and offerings to the church they could at least loan me the small amount I had asked for.  I had only asked for the fair of the ticket, I still had no idea how I would get from the airport to the hospital or eat or anything else that may cost money on the trip, I only knew I needed to get there.

I called the pastor and told him of the dilemma and asked the money question. You would have thought that I asked for a lung! There was silence on the other end of the phone. He then asked if we had asked the Red Cross for emergency relief or financial help. Of course we had not and it had not even crossed our minds. I was shocked! He proceeded to tell me that if I did and couldn’t get help elsewhere then to call him back and he would talk to me then. When I was unable to get the money elsewhere he then gave me the money for a ticket. The rest of the story is for another time my point is that this was the first insight into a false sense of community.

Many more things happened that continued my enlightenment that culminated in a final experience that brought me to think community did not exist. My husband was stationed in another country and I was left to care for the children and our home for a year by myself. I needed help with some yard work and had asked several of the brothers to please help. No one had time.  Several months passed and the broken tree limbs that were scattered throughout our back yard were still there only by now I had managed to move them into a pile. I just needed someone with a pickup truck to help load them and take them to the dump for me. A second time I asked the brothers and elders of the church to help. Again, they had no time. Meanwhile, I met and befriended a wonderful Catholic family. After only a few months they offered to help me with the yard and together our families worked to pick up the branches and her husband carted them off to the dump for us. Within myself I felt this should have been done by the brothers of the church. I felt ashamed and embarrassed to be part of a group of people who had no time for the others. I also believed that community only existed in my mind, not in the lives of real people.

Shortly after this incident (which is in itself another story) my husband was told he was being sent to another state and we put our house up for sale and moved. I felt so free! I could begin again, anonymously. I attended the local interfaith chapel for several years, still believing that community was non-existent, and not expecting to find it or even looking for it. As I grew farther and farther away from the church and closer to Christ in my spiritual walk, I found myself wanting to have church at home within my “community,” my family. I started feeling a need for community again and began looking for kindred spirits to inspire me and encourage me. Meanwhile, my husband’s community at work was inspiring him and encouraging him. He began talking with people the Lord had sent in his direction and he came to a belief and acceptance of Christ as his Lord and Savior in an incredible way (but that is his story and I will let him tell it.) We had church at home for 8 – 10 months and I began to feel the need once again for community. I had a friend that had talked about community from a secular standpoint and I was overwhelmed with the need to create this unobtainable existence.

What is community? Why does it seem so unobtainable? So elusive? Where do I find it? Why am I not finding it in the churches I attend? Many questions, few answers.

Thoughts of consideration:

The government of church causes a false sense of community. While attending a local church recently (we are visiting many churches now) the pastor had the congregation break into small groups and “minister” to one another. He explained that we are all to minister to one another as Christ ministered to the disciples. I liked this and believe what he taught. However, the government of this particular church, albeit not dominating or legalistic in the extreme, was a perfect example of secular government; a perfect example of a hierarchy; pastor, elders, deacons, and then, at the bottom, the laymen. There is some sense of freedom, in that, some members and positions are voted in by the people and others appointed by the leader. Yet this is no different than a corporation in structure. No different than a local or federal government; A democracy, per se. When Christ said not to be as the governments of the Gentiles, but to minister to each other as servants in Matthew 20:25-28, He didn’t mean that a Minister was to be an important leader in the church and was to lead the people into believing and working their faith as prescribed by the hierarchy system of the governmental church. He used the term minister, as a person that serves others, a waiter, if you will, would be a better example of how the word is used. A servant would be an unpaid waiter or minister. Christ’s example denounces governmental hierarchies in His body. The Gentile government and the current Jewish government of Christ’s time was very class driven and hierarchical.

The lack of mutuality, true love and the uprising of oligarchy within the body

It is common and almost an instinct to find the strong in power and control within the community or group of people. Even in small groups of people such as work, school or church we see a great amount of power given to or taken by a small elite group of people. Some might call them the “natural leaders” while others may consider them the ones who always take control of every situation, others may say the survival of the fittest. This power and control of the few over the many is called oligarchy and is prevalent in ours, and most, societies. In the true love of community and mutuality the natural leaders are the ones giving and serving the most.   They are the ones that shine out amongst the many and strive not to attain power or leadership. The many choose them for their ability to encourage, trust, give without reciprocation, and truly minister to the people.

While attending a small church for some time I heard a statement made on several occasions from one of the ministers there. His statement was that there are no big I’s and little you’s. I thought this strange seeing he was a minister and stood in the pulpit above us telling us how to believe and live correctly as Christians as if he were the one hearing from God and the rest of us could only glean from his utterings. Galatians 3:26-29 tells us that there is no longer an oligarchy within the body of Christ. All are equal and mutually ministers to one another. We are told not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together because it is within this community that we can show mutuality and meet one another’s needs. We are all parts of the Church, the true Body of Christ. We cannot function properly without all of the parts together, working together mutually and equally.

It was difficult to learn mutuality many years ago after moving from the life of my childhood and first husband’s house into my present husband’s house as his submissive wife. I lived in a home in which I was but a servant to the man of the house. When I married Satch, he was different. He didn’t feel that it was my “job” to do the dishes or keep the laundry and beckon to his every whim or thought. This was difficult for me to understand. I felt guilty when he cleaned something or cooked dinner even though I was working 12 hour days. I was neglecting my responsibility as a Godly wife. It took many years for me to understand the pure love and mutuality that he gave and I learned to reciprocate. This relationship of mutuality allows us to accept each other where we are and to love purely without compromise. We discuss our disagreements and agree to allow the other to grow and change on their own without coercion.  We pray for each other and love in our oneness and differences. We continue to seek wisdom from God to walk in His Spirit of true love and mutuality.

This true love and mutuality is the Oneness of Christ for His Body as well. In John 15:13-15 Christ calls His disciples His friends and makes them equal in status with Him. In searching the meaning of the word friend I found the words in the Greek for friend were philos and hetairos, both meaning dear friend, brother or clansman. Comparing this to the meaning of friend in the Hebrew I found reya, meaning brother, husband, lover or close companion, which brings a deeper meaning to the word friend. This was the friendship the Jews understood Christ to mean when he told them they were more than servants they were friends. Unfortunately, friendship in our American culture is not intimate and thus a true love and mutuality is replaced with shallow association and fear of being truly known by another. This opening of oneself to another is dangerous and could be extremely hurtful if opened to the wrong people. Thus, it is easier not to open ourselves up at all and to maintain only a shallow level of fellowship. It is also unfortunate that, in our society, we can no longer gain or give trust completely to one another. This is the basis of finding true community. The large conglomerate church permits this shallow fellowship and true community is seldom found. I have actually been told by a pastor not to share with anyone our difficulties because we could get hurt! How on earth can we be encouraged by the body, have help from others, if we are afraid to share with them our concerns? How can they pray for us and stand in the gap, if they don’t have specifics?

What to do now…

One Faith needs to start community. We need to open ourselves and know that God is our protector and His armor will be sufficient to keep us safe (Gal. 6). We want to begin by inviting friends into our home and life with true love and mutuality. Giving as each has need in all aspects of life. No false belonging will be accepted, safety, trust, one another-ness will be grown out of shallow acquaintance. God’s love will be shared and mutuality will be understood.

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A disclaimer and some thoughts on maturity.

I feel that some may think that I am anti-establishment. I am not. In fact, I enjoy the fellowship of the local body of believers and attend church regularly. But unfortunately, I find that the sense of community that I crave is not available at the local church.

Maturity in God:

Another area I find lacking is a need to grow. I tend to grow best when I discuss, search, debate and learn the scripture with others, not to convince but rather, to strengthen and enlighten my own spiritual understanding. This is also not found within a church, and in fact, is frowned upon due to a concern that the body will “stray” or be persuaded to believe something different than what the organization is teaching.

While in leadership at a small church in California, I attended and taught at several weekly home Bible studies. The pastor was dogmatic that leadership knew how to discern and ward off those that wanted to change or persuade the study and group into a direction that would teach false doctrine. Of course, this is a valid concern, and very important when dealing with new believers. However, his prescribed intervention was extremely stifling when it came to the seasoned believers. I truly believe iron sharpens iron and that coarse discussion of issues can strengthen the belief systems within the individual.

I also think that with young believers there is a need for training. I have found the best training for new believers is to teach the basics of discernment, prayer, and to line all teaching up with the word of God as His Spirit gives understanding and wisdom. God meets us where we’re at and slowly turns us toward Him. Every one of us has a different understanding of His word because it ministers to us at the place we are at. As we grow our understanding will mature and change. This Living Word, never changing, yet always fluid in our understanding of it, is what has caused doctrinal differences between religious organizations. It is not the Word that changes, but rather our growth and maturity changes our understanding of the Word.

This is where the governmental church falls short. Doctrine is taught at one person’s understanding and maturation level and fails to meet the needs of those at different levels of maturity. In point and counterpoint type discussions we can listen to the understanding of others and search to find relevance and growth within the level of our own knowledge. No one is pointed out as being wrong, it is understood that each of us have a different insight into God’s word according to our experience.

By Christie Berry

All of us go through trials and tribulations. Our home has been going through a valley for almost 2 years now... in the midst of it all, God has been teaching and growing me in His faith and His Spirit. I just wanted to share a bit of a vision He gave me while I walk in this valley... it is a blessing or ‘jewel’ if you will, that I have treasured along this difficult walk that I would like to share with you… treasure it as I have.

It has been hard to see God's mountain on the other side of this mucky valley... my muck boots keep getting stuck in the mire of Satan's devastation. Daily I encounter a new area of quicksand and other obstacles. I was considering this one day and thinking about how it sounds when you pull your boot out of the mud and then place it down again...you know the sound. That's how I feel as I walk this valley floor. I have told God so many times, "There better be a HUGE BLESSING at the other end of this valley, Lord!" Yet, as I looked far into the future I saw no end to the valley!

With each step and each day I get closer to God, closer to His blessings. I find that I can’t even lift my foot without His help. I am not able to lift my head to see the mountain in the distance without His help. Facing another day in this valley is devastating, yet He is with me without fail. I have to go to Him every morning, every day, every moment just to stand. I can only go on with God, not a single thought can manifest without His help. As I get closer to the Mountain from whence cometh my help; I am finally seeing the shadowy hint of a mountain in the far distance. Every so often, I see the Son's light glimmer on something on the side of the mountain. The more I trust in Him, the stronger my faith gets, and the more clearly I see that the tiny sparkles on the side of the mountain are increasing in number and brilliance!

I am on a blessing treasure hunt as I walk the valley... I find small blessings, pearls of great price, hidden in the muck and mire throughout the valley floor. As I find one, I grasp it and hide it in my heart, admiring it often as I walk this difficult journey. I am so tired, I am dirty, I feel weary, yet I walk, thinking that I must be the only one out here. I find another tiny pearl. And another jewel, one that shines like a sapphire. I pick each precious blessing up, and admire what God has done, giving Him praise and honor. I cherish each blessing, not knowing when the next one will be found or if I will even notice while I sink into the muck with each step. It is hard to search for the jewels when you are busy looking at the muck!

I look again toward the mountain. More twinkling lights are visible now and the mountain is getting larger. What was once a vast flatland, is now giving way to the mountain. It’s shadow is getting closer. I think again of the blessing God has for me in this glimmering mountain looming in the horizon. I look at the muck and up again, between each step. Each time I look, I can see more and more glittering stars in the mountain. Suddenly, I feel elated! God reveals to me that He does not have a Huge Blessing on the other side of this valley, He has a Mountain of Blessings instead! The tiny blessings that I found along the way, make up the wholeness of the mountain in the distance. God does not have a huge blessing, but an abundance of blessings waiting for my arrival at the end of this adventure, at the end of this difficult valley walk. His promise to me is to do exceedingly abundantly above all I can ask or think. (Eph 3) All He asks of me is to stick close to His side and look for the flickers of blessings He sets out for me along the way to encourage and remind me that He is always there, I am never alone!

Keep looking for the treasure in the muck and watch for the glimmer of God's light shinning on the mountain side in the distance! He has a mountain of blessings awaiting your arrival!

I pray that this encourages anyone else going through a valley and seeking God daily to make it through as much as it has encouraged me to live it and believe it!

My son turned 18 last October. He is not finished with high school yet, he should be done before May. He plans to go to a local university and get an engineering degree. He can do it, his strengths are in science and math. He took the ACT and SAT without accomodations and scored 19 on the ACT, actually a good score for not being able to focus on the test and being severely stressed out almost to the point of having a panic attack over it, but not good enough to get a scholarship to go to the university he wants to attend. He was very depressed. He took the ACT again and felt like he did better, but he was still disappointed. He needs a 23 to get the scholarships he wants. He has the ability to do it, if we can get his accomodations, but we need a recent diagnosis that will be approved by the ACT Board. So this month we will go and try to get an up-to-date diagnosis and work on getting our test again. Unfortunately, none of it will be done by the scholarship deadline of Feb 1st.

Then there is the whole emotional separation thing. Boy, this is hard! He is 18, he wants to make his own decisions, privacy, space, well you get the idea. April came to me and asked if I knew why he was depressed yesterday. When I inquired he wouldn't answer. So, while I was answering email last night, I read the many blogs that I usually read including the children's (I read and comment on them a couple times a week... They are aware that I read them.)  I read and posted on the blogs as I usually do and found that his heart was broken. Because I read the blogs, now I'm nosy! Ugh! His God-sister can ask what is wrong and try to find out and he thinks she is just concerned. But when I do the same thing, I get accused of being nosy. How else can I pray? How else can I encourage? I don't think of myself as nosy. I asked the kids if I could read their blogs. They gave me the addresses and showed me how to log on! Well, he was angry with me. Now I'm sad. I want him to grow up, but I also want him to know I care and I want to be encouraging when he needs it.

It hurts to watch them grow up and become independent!

In God's Word this morning I read lots of Psalms, probably 6-8 different ones. I was looking for encouragement! The scripture I set to memory was Psalm 31:24;

"Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord."

I will be of good courage. Lord help me to grow my faith as I trust you to care for my child in his move toward independence. Give me strength to endure. Thank you and praise you!

Blessings,

Christie

Getting Started

The first thing you need to do is: research, research and research…talk to others that are homeschooling, look at books at  the library or bookstore on homeschooling, explore teaching styles, look at curriculum options, investigate Homeschooling on the internet, if possible, join a support group, a web ring or email list.  It is important that you understand the many aspects of homeschooling. Learning the opportunities  allows parents to make the best choices for the learning needs of their child. Begin now learning  your children's interests and learning styles as well as your own styles and interests. Look for materials that are interesting to them.

Learn what your state requires. Find a covering organization, create your own church school, declare yourself a private school or fill out the appropriate paperwork for your state. But, please do not remove your child from a public or private school until you have learned the  homeschool requirements for your state. This is not said to be negative, however, many schools have become full and reached their capacity and enrollment limits, many states have paperwork that needs to be submitted, many have waiting lists and it may take some searching to find the best situation for your family.  If you have special needs children, it will be a benefit to have an educational consultant to help you with program planning and curriculum decisions.

De-schooling

Many children that have been in a formal environment for education have lost the love for learning and curiosity that is born into us. Many of them have a lack of self-esteem and no longer feel capable of making decisions on their own without lots of adult approval and encouragement.  Children in school settings have learned to wait until they are told what to do and have not had the opportunity to explore and develop the inborn curiosity that helps us grow and learn. Given the chance, children will discover how to direct their own activities and will regain that innate love for learning and exploring the world around them. For the first few weeks (or months) that you are at home with your children, let them "de-school". Give them plenty of time to relax, play, and explore. You may provide educational television, videos, computer games, go to the library, bookstore, local science or historical museum, or just take a nature hike. But don't insist that they jump right into homeschooling as if there is no difference between it and the public school system. Don't rush your kids through this "detox" period.  Take this time to do several things: watch your  children play, pay attention to the things that interest them, gather ideas, learn their individual learning styles, keep notes for yourself if necessary, and use this information to encourage learning, create activities and develop unit studies. Give them time to find out their own learning styles and abilities, and take time to learn your own styles as well.  They will let you know what they need, if you let them!

Patience is a Virtue?

I hate to see the "ideal" homeschool family with mother and 3 children sitting at the table all working intently with no  distraction or disruption, mom patiently working with the youngest while the others work independently without complaint. It's not that I would hate to have my children working independently, or that I wouldn't want my children to sit at the table working without complaint. I suppose I hate to see it because in reality my family doesn't fit that depiction! For example, while I'm working with my eldest on a research problem my youngest wants all of my attention. I stop what I am doing to find something for her to do and return to my son at which point I've forgotten what we were looking for! Of course, this doesn't happen all of the time, sometimes we are the calm, learning family, but not always. Many who do not homeschool ask where I get the patience to be with my children day in and day out. The answer is, "I don't!"  Sometimes I'm not very patient at all and on those days we find something to do that doesn't require me to be patient. Usually, on those days the children need a break as well and we take the day to do a "field trip" to the park, library, or other location where patience isn't as necessary! Finding other homeschooling families to socialize with helps, also. We plan days during the week to meet for a few hours and let the children play so we can have some "grown-up" conversation. I've also had time to learn my children's temperament and this helps a lot!

Spending time with your children gives you the opportunity to truly learn your children's strengths, weaknesses, attitudes, and personalities. Once you begin learning about your children you gain patience and understanding of how they think, react and respond to different activities and actions. This in turn helps us to modify our communication and actions to decrease the need for added interventions when situations arise. In other words, we learn to avoid problems and choose our fights as we go along. As we grow with our children and they grow with us, we change daily, our children change, grow, mature and learn from our modeling and together we become a closer, stronger family. This is our family's ultimate goal and learning and education happen to be a wonderful fringe benefit to that process!

The Teacher Within

Since the day we brought our children home we have been teaching them. First it was talking to them giving them language and helping them feed themselves or hold a bottle on their own. Later we encouraged them to be independent by helping them sit up on their own and then to walk. We worried when they didn't talk early enough or had difficulty with potty training. We learned as well. We learned how our child thought, what made her happy, what made him sad, how we could get them to do what we wanted. Who better knows how our child learns? We have been their teacher for so long. We know when their feelings are hurt, their likes and dislikes, whether they are more alert in the morning or in the afternoon, when they are having a bad day or a good day! We have begun the learning process for our children and for ourselves.

Many people have told me "I'm just not sure." Or "I'm scared, can I really do this?" Over and over again I hear the same questions, "What if I make a mistake?" Or "I'm just not ready." Fear is your worst enemy! Everyone is afraid of doing things differently. It is normal to feel excitement and apprehension before you take the big step to buy your first house, make the big job change or choose an alternative education program for your child. In this last case, many parents feel that they are not "teachers" so how will they know how to teach their child? They have been taught that conventional education as we understand it and see it today is the only "correct" way that a child can learn. Our history shows us otherwise. Some of the smartest people in our society and the world could not learn within the "conventions" of a socialized school system. Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, George Bernard Shaw, Bertrand Russell, and Winston Churchill to name a few. Learning does not take place by opening the top of the child and pouring the information in, all we can do is facilitate the learning. It is up to the child to learn, it can't be forced. Our responsibility as educators is to provide access to the information and the tools to use that information. We can help the child learn to find their own resources, research their ideas, and enjoy learning, but we can't make them learn, that has to be their choice. There are as many ways to teach children as there are children! They come to us alive with curiosity and parents have the best ability to nurture that curiosity and encourage learning.

There is a teacher within each of us, waiting for the right time to provide a resource, help find a book, or just be a listening ear when our children are exited about something they have seen, heard or done. Letting the children know they are important and encouraging their strengths is the best way to teach. Giving them access to the world around them through your experience and lighting a fire in them to find their own experiences is truly teaching.

This will be a quick entry. I want to thank all of you that have kept our family in prayer. Yesterday afternoon Marie passed away. I know I could not have endured without the fervent prayer of the saints! Below is the email I sent out to our family and friends. It is an account of her last days. There is hope for the porcupine and all our efforts are not in vain!

Yep, that's what it feels like to love some people, the un-lovable, un-touchable people. That's what it has felt like to minister to and help my sister. She is angry, in pain and is not at peace in her situation. Her anger and pain, her discontentment are like quills, poking everyone that comes near. It makes me sad.

God is stretching me and teaching me to love the unlovable, the ones only he can love. He loves the unbelievers, the sick and in pain, the hateful, the dregs. God can give us his heart of love for the unlovable.

I try so hard to keep her comfortable. She responds by yelling and refusing to take the very medicine that will make her more comfortable. Lately, I have asked God for his will to be done in her life, bring her to his knowlegde quickly and end her torment. She is only 39, so young to loose her life, but her pain and torture are so horrible, she asks to die. "God take her quickly."

I remember when my daughter was going through painful surgeries and therapies. God stretched me then, too. Facing pain in someone I love, wishing I could take the pain away or endure it for her, crying with her. God showed me then that there is always a reason for the things in our lives. But they don't come easy. My heart hurt, my mind had difficulty seeing good in the midst, I couldn't wrap my thinking around the situation.

Now, I endure another's pain again. Seeking God daily for peace and staminae to endure the daily vigil. Everything else in life passes by without care. I don't stress over what I will cook for dinner, where we will go for our next field trip, or what we will do for school. Those things are trivial and pale next to the life of another. "God reveal yourself to her, and let me love her with Your love and your heart. God show yourself and your love through my actions and speech."

So, I hug a porcupine. It hurts so bad, yet I must not give up. I cry with the pain of it, but I hold on tighter. "God, thank you for your Spirit and safety, while I hug this beautiful creation, this wonderful child."

Thank you to all that are keeping our home in prayer. Your prayers are coveted!

God continues to bless and show Himself Awesome! God has set into place a person that is assisting me with the school (would NOT be able to do it without her!)

Marie is hanging in here. She talked with the Chaplain from Hospice. She is still not ready to believe in the Savior, but she was open to discussion! Another tiny jewel to hang on to!

April is having a very difficult time accepting. She is ignoring the situation and is not willing to talk about it to anyone. She is spending more time retreating into her gothic music.

God is showing me some wonderful things through all of this! I will write about it the next time I have a few minutes.

Blessings and Many Thanks!

Christie

Hello to all!

Our family has been in difficult times. Our God Daughter and her mom came to live with us in July. Her mom (39yo) has stage 4 cancer. They do not believe in God so it has been difficult to minister to them through this difficult time. They have no family and we are the only family they have had for the past 17 years. Things are not good. The cancer has gone into the brain and we are trying to help as much as possible. She has lost the use of her legs and is having intermittent dementia.

Please keep our family in prayer as we adjust our lives to minister to them and face death in this way.

This has been especially difficult for our special needs child. She has a very difficult time with loss. She is still grieving the loss of her grandmother after 2 1/2 years. Watching her God-sister's mom sick, in pain, and quickly deteriorating has been hard. We are praying God's protection and asking Angels to minister to her as we go through this terrible time.

Thank you for your prayers!

Christie

Many of you have asked, "Christie, where are you?" Well, I am here, busy, and blessed!

I am working on several new booklets and a book. I have been doing several small workshops, homeschooling the kids, running our local co-op (picked that responsibility up at the last minute), reorganizing our church school cover, working on the new school year registrations, and staying excessively busy!

I have found myself in a daze! As each day passes by with constant goings-on, I am finding much trouble staying focused and getting anything worth while completed! I spend a few minutes each day seeking God for guidance and relief from the craziness of my over-filled daily schedule.

This past week has been especially overwhelming! Katrina has hit and several of our families in the Mobile Area have been affected. We have heard from only one of our families in the area and they have their health, but they lost part of their home. We have not heard from the others yet. We are in prayer for them and ask for your prayers as well.

We are preparing to house several families in our rental property and trying to get furniture and stuff to set it up for who ever God sends to live there.

In the midst of the ‘storm’ I sometimes find myself running and not stopping to seek God. When Katrina hit, many of the people began running, many are still running. Seeking God in the midst of the storm will show us His strength and His hand in all that is happening. Otherwise, we begin looking to ourselves and our own strength to travel through the storm. We begin asking, “Why?” and start to harbor bitterness and grief in our hearts and minds. Once this deception has its grip on us, a gap is created between us and the Father. To avoid this trap, and the separation from God that it causes, we must cling closer when the storm hits, just like we would hold on tightly to a rail in the 150 mile an hour winds of a hurricane.

In the midst of my daily storms, the insanity and business of my days and weeks, I must cling to Him. I must hang on for dear life, for it is truly my life that will be lost, destroyed, or, at the least, hurt.

How can I be hurt? My daily walk with the Father is how I can face each new gust of wind with strength and stamina. He gets me through stress, troubles, moods and pressures. He carries me when my body is no longer capable of handling the stressers of the day; when my mind can no longer tolerate the moods and ‘tudes of my children; when my heart can no longer face the hurting I see on the news. He is my strength in the midst of crazy daze.