Monday, November 9, 2009
God's Way for God's People
I've been thinking about that visit to our local high school. One person commented that it must be a really tough school. I'm thinking, as in inner city L.A./N.Y./Miami? This is what I would expect to see in inner city L.A., but we are out here in the middle of nowhere, AZ. I don't think we have a tough school, necessarily. Actually I think most high schools in America have come to this. As things have gone downhill with grades, teacher and student behavior, administrative foibles, and the endless black hole effect of pouring money into the school system, we have added more and more rules. No prayer. No Bibles. Carry I.D. Fenced-in campuses. Campus police. No pocket knives, squirt guns, bubble gum, aspirin, etc. It's just proof that you can't legislate righteousness. After putting all these rules into practice, we still have more problems.
The real problem with public school is in the heart of most of those who are involved with it -- government officials, board members, teachers, parents. The students are the victims. Public school is a mess that I don't want my kids to experience. With a different foundation (the Bible) and a different outlook, and a very different goal, public school could be a great ministry. But it isn't. And it's not God's way to begin with. It's one of those carts from 2 Samuel 6. When David saw that the Philistine heathen had put the ark of God on a new cart in 1 Samuel 6, he probably thought, What a great idea! That would be much more efficient than having the priests carry the ark. But putting the ark on a cart resulted in disaster for David and his people. God didn't care how the heathen transported the ark, but his own people were to follow the instructions he had given Moses. God's way was to carry the ark, no matter what extra work was involved. We (my family) are God's people. Public school has been around for a long, long time, but for God's people, it's a new cart. God's way to educate our children is to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4. He gives us many warnings to keep away from the ways of the heathen (the heathen aren't just in deep dark Africa -- they shop at Wal*Mart) and to depart from those who teach contrary to God's word. Sure. It would be much more convenient to send my kids to school, and a lot less work for me. But it's not God's way at all. It's bound to result in disaster.
I don't believe the fact that we homeschool makes us better than you or anyone else. However, I do believe with all my heart that my children are better off than those who attend public school, and our home life is better off for it, too. Anything and everything in us that is good is not there because we are good, but because of the grace of God and the blood of Jesus Christ. No matter what other way is out there, we are content to do our schooling God's way. I feel sorry for those kids behind bars. And I feel sorry for those teachers, administrators and government people who can't figure out why their system isn't working. They'll never get it until they read and believe God's word and put it into practice. Public school is now a doomed system graduating doomed students (if they graduate at all). No new carts for us, thank you.
The real problem with public school is in the heart of most of those who are involved with it -- government officials, board members, teachers, parents. The students are the victims. Public school is a mess that I don't want my kids to experience. With a different foundation (the Bible) and a different outlook, and a very different goal, public school could be a great ministry. But it isn't. And it's not God's way to begin with. It's one of those carts from 2 Samuel 6. When David saw that the Philistine heathen had put the ark of God on a new cart in 1 Samuel 6, he probably thought, What a great idea! That would be much more efficient than having the priests carry the ark. But putting the ark on a cart resulted in disaster for David and his people. God didn't care how the heathen transported the ark, but his own people were to follow the instructions he had given Moses. God's way was to carry the ark, no matter what extra work was involved. We (my family) are God's people. Public school has been around for a long, long time, but for God's people, it's a new cart. God's way to educate our children is to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4. He gives us many warnings to keep away from the ways of the heathen (the heathen aren't just in deep dark Africa -- they shop at Wal*Mart) and to depart from those who teach contrary to God's word. Sure. It would be much more convenient to send my kids to school, and a lot less work for me. But it's not God's way at all. It's bound to result in disaster.
I don't believe the fact that we homeschool makes us better than you or anyone else. However, I do believe with all my heart that my children are better off than those who attend public school, and our home life is better off for it, too. Anything and everything in us that is good is not there because we are good, but because of the grace of God and the blood of Jesus Christ. No matter what other way is out there, we are content to do our schooling God's way. I feel sorry for those kids behind bars. And I feel sorry for those teachers, administrators and government people who can't figure out why their system isn't working. They'll never get it until they read and believe God's word and put it into practice. Public school is now a doomed system graduating doomed students (if they graduate at all). No new carts for us, thank you.
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Monday, November 9, 2009
Who? ME?
Awww. Thanks, Tia! I'll try to write an interesting, encouraging, captivating post this week and live up to the award. 
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Nov. 7, 2009
My Weekly Report
This reporting has gotten by the wayside because I have been so busy. I have been doing the FIRST Lego League. It is so demanding this program. I will not continue this next year. We spend two days a week and about 5 hours a week working on programming, building, and research. This is a tough job. The children do not know how to program a light sensor. So, I realize this is too hard. They will have to pray and seek the Lord as to how to make these missions work.
We manage to get reading Story of the World, Plutarch, and Shakespeare into our schedules. We have manage to get Primary Mathematics in for both boys. We have soccer practices, piano and violin practices too. Since the FLL has consumed a lot of my time, I realize that we need to do something different. I did summer school and then I did FLL in the fall. I really overextended myself. My children are learning a lot, but I feel it has come at some price.
My younger son got a staph infection. I do not know where. I pray the rest of us don't get it. I took him to the infectious disease doctor who put him on strong medicines and a body cleanser. This is hard. He has missed games this season due to illness and the staph infection. We are battling our bodies and our wits at the same time.
That is my report.
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Nov. 7, 2009
I am going to do this.
I always go back and forth with a plan, but I am sticking to this plan.
I am not going to continue with Classical Writing Homer B. I am going to trust the Charlotte Mason method. I am going to take the stuff from Ambleside Online and use to finish up Homer B myself.
I am going to teach my son how to write in a slow and progressive practice. He will learn how to write a draft and then rewrite what he has written. My struggle will be how to teach him how to write a persuasive piece. That is what I will work on with him starting in January. I how that I can find pieces that can teach you how to write persuasively. Pray for me. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.
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Nov. 6, 2009
New blog site
I have been taking a blog course and am blogging at www.liftingmyeyes.wordpress.com.
Please visit me there!
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Amy made my heart glad today with this remark, "Boy, I'm happy I don't have to go to school!" It's the kind of remark that encourages an insecure homeschooling mother to just keep plugging along.
The girls have been wanting to play tennis for some long while. Upon hearing of this the other night, a friend from church generously loaned us a couple of rackets and a can of balls. He said, "Just go to the fire station and ask the fire chief for the key to the tennis courts. I do it all the time." Just to be sure we weren't going to be chasing a wild goose, I called the fire station this morning. I had four girls all dressed for the courts and ready to go. "No... we haven't had the keys for the tennis courts for three years. You'll have to call the high school." Aha! Just as I suspected! A goose was loose.
After learning that I would have to bravely send my girls on to the high school campus, I gave them $5 for a key deposit plus a walkie-talkie. In fifteen minutes my radio bleeped. I could hear a bit of resentment in my daughter's voice. They needed to have an adult signature. Why don't adults trust kids? I had to brush my teeth and make my hair look presentable, but my girls waited patiently. Borrowing my daughter's bike I pedaled three or four blocks to the high school.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
A Visit to the Local High School
The girls have been wanting to play tennis for some long while. Upon hearing of this the other night, a friend from church generously loaned us a couple of rackets and a can of balls. He said, "Just go to the fire station and ask the fire chief for the key to the tennis courts. I do it all the time." Just to be sure we weren't going to be chasing a wild goose, I called the fire station this morning. I had four girls all dressed for the courts and ready to go. "No... we haven't had the keys for the tennis courts for three years. You'll have to call the high school." Aha! Just as I suspected! A goose was loose.
After learning that I would have to bravely send my girls on to the high school campus, I gave them $5 for a key deposit plus a walkie-talkie. In fifteen minutes my radio bleeped. I could hear a bit of resentment in my daughter's voice. They needed to have an adult signature. Why don't adults trust kids?
I had to brush my teeth and make my hair look presentable, but my girls waited patiently. Borrowing my daughter's bike I pedaled three or four blocks to the high school.No one accosted us when we entered the gate, but the girls had been questioned the first time they went in. "Do you have ID? What are you doing here?" As if they look dangerous. But I can understand the school having security. They might have weirdos off the street, four little Baptist girls in skirts, for example, come in shooting or something. Scary. Funny thing is, to me it looked a lot scarier on the inside that it does on the outside!
We made our way to the administrative office building and down the hall to the bookstore. We could feel eyes turning to stare from all directions. Frankly I was happy to be an unusual attraction -- a happy mother with orderly children, none of whom were dressed like street-walkers in training. I signed for the tennis court key.
As we exited the building we met the one teacher we know there, and we stopped to chat for a minute. He's a good man trying to make a difference in this place. Truly, it's a mission field. His family homeschools, too.
Going around the outside corner of the building I was thinking maybe we could get off the campus through a back gate and avoid walking all the way around. I noticed a security guard leaving the building right behind us, and observant woman that I am, I did not notice until I had asked him for directions, that he was actually a police officer, and in front of him was a male student in handcuffs!
On our way to the rear gate, which we found locked, one of the younger girls excitedly pointed out the little playground equipment, and commented that she didn't know high schools had playgrounds. I explained that that was play stuff for the school's day care...
Finally making our way back to the front gate, Alison said, "I don't like the way these kids look at me. They probably think I don't know anything!" I told her they probably know a lot of things she doesn't know, and to be glad for that!
And after all that, the tennis courts were full. But it wasn't a wasted trip. We now have a key. We learned first hand that school is like prison. And I now have four kids who are glad to be homeschooling.
We made our way to the administrative office building and down the hall to the bookstore. We could feel eyes turning to stare from all directions. Frankly I was happy to be an unusual attraction -- a happy mother with orderly children, none of whom were dressed like street-walkers in training. I signed for the tennis court key.
As we exited the building we met the one teacher we know there, and we stopped to chat for a minute. He's a good man trying to make a difference in this place. Truly, it's a mission field. His family homeschools, too.
Going around the outside corner of the building I was thinking maybe we could get off the campus through a back gate and avoid walking all the way around. I noticed a security guard leaving the building right behind us, and observant woman that I am, I did not notice until I had asked him for directions, that he was actually a police officer, and in front of him was a male student in handcuffs!
On our way to the rear gate, which we found locked, one of the younger girls excitedly pointed out the little playground equipment, and commented that she didn't know high schools had playgrounds. I explained that that was play stuff for the school's day care...
Finally making our way back to the front gate, Alison said, "I don't like the way these kids look at me. They probably think I don't know anything!" I told her they probably know a lot of things she doesn't know, and to be glad for that!
And after all that, the tennis courts were full. But it wasn't a wasted trip. We now have a key. We learned first hand that school is like prison. And I now have four kids who are glad to be homeschooling.
Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him,
If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
John 8:31,32
If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
John 8:31,32
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Nov. 3, 2009
Free Holiday Idea Book-180 pages-Recipes, Crafts, Articles and More
Has been a long time posting.
I am reorganizing here :) Have a new header and such.
I plan to devote this blog to teaching and homeschooling ideas.
Speaking of which . . . two resources you are going to love!!
Autumn Treasures - we still have beautiful foliage here--so still a great time to do this unit study/lapbook!
I am reorganizing here :) Have a new header and such.
I plan to devote this blog to teaching and homeschooling ideas.
Speaking of which . . . two resources you are going to love!!
Autumn Treasures - we still have beautiful foliage here--so still a great time to do this unit study/lapbook!
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Nov. 2, 2009
16 to 4?!
Ah....DS's newfound love is playing Uno. We play and play and play. It has been incentive for him to get chores completed quickly and get a quick game in before we start school! *grin* We have started a challenge that really began when we sat down one rainy day last week to play and I said, "Hey, best two out of three. Waddaya say?" It has turned into DS 16 games to my 4. In the name of all things sane and real how can my son be beating the socks off of me in Uno of all things?!?!?
So the saga continues. I am working on coming back from behind in a stealth attack he'll never see coming.....I think.
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Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Month in Review -- October
It's that time again! Past that time. If I don't hurry up and post this it will be the November month in review post. Looking back through my photos, I can't believe October went so fast. We had a fun and busy month with twelve days of special company -- there went almost half the month!
We are well into school for the year, but we about to make a curriculum change in math. I do love Teaching Textbooks, but I have at least two children who would benefit greatly from some Charlotte Mason-type learning. I am having a hard time breaking out of my box, but thanks to my dear friend, PlainJane, we are getting some very practical math and taking a break from TT for a bit. Introducing Your Business Math Series. Amy and Elisabeth will be bookstore and pet store owners, respectively. They will be responsible for ordering stock, selling product, recording sales and figuring sales tax, and calculating their monthly profit. But first things first! Each girl will have to come up with a name and a logo for her business! They are going to love this, and I think I will, too. (Please, God, let us have only happy faces at math time from now on!) But wait, that is what is going to be happening THIS month. Back up!
October started with lots of creative play. I love this stuff! Elisabeth contructed a covered wagon and roped a horse to pull it.
We are well into school for the year, but we about to make a curriculum change in math. I do love Teaching Textbooks, but I have at least two children who would benefit greatly from some Charlotte Mason-type learning. I am having a hard time breaking out of my box, but thanks to my dear friend, PlainJane, we are getting some very practical math and taking a break from TT for a bit. Introducing Your Business Math Series. Amy and Elisabeth will be bookstore and pet store owners, respectively. They will be responsible for ordering stock, selling product, recording sales and figuring sales tax, and calculating their monthly profit. But first things first! Each girl will have to come up with a name and a logo for her business! They are going to love this, and I think I will, too. (Please, God, let us have only happy faces at math time from now on!)
But wait, that is what is going to be happening THIS month. Back up!October started with lots of creative play. I love this stuff! Elisabeth contructed a covered wagon and roped a horse to pull it.
Betsy's interest in things western continued throughout the month. A friend left us a couple of felt cowboy hats. Within a few minutes Betsy had rifled through her drawers and come up looking like a real-live cowgirl, minus boots. Boots. Boots! Cowgirls have to have boots! What ever will we do?!
On a whim I stopped at the Salvation Army to find a pair of kids' boots. No cowboy boots, but look what they did have, in unopened boxes:
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This was such a fun find, because while some people are always in the right place at the right time, I am almost never in the right place at the right time. I'm in church at the right time, of course, which is the right place to be at church time. But I rarely get in on a deal. This time I did, and I am thanking the Lord. For a song, we are now the happy owners of a Lego train station, cavalry soldiers, bandits, horses, garbage truck, and even a bicyclist -- that one's for Daddy, you know -- and lots of extras! There you have it. That's what the little girls have been busy with the entire month.
In the few moments when no one was Lego-ing, we had a couple of birthdays...
Emily was so excited to get If You Give a Cat a Cupcake and its accompanying kitty, that she made all of listen to her read the book out loud before she would open the rest of her gifts! Daddy and Em had their Dad and Daughter birthday date at the famous In-N-Out Burger. Good choice, Em. She's been in a big hurry to be six ever since she turned five.In the few moments when no one was Lego-ing, we had a couple of birthdays...
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The other October birthday was Alison's 15th. I can't believe we didn't get one birthday photo. Where was my head?? Where was everyone else's head?? It's so wonderful to have a teenage daughter. It such a blessing to see the Lord working in her life and making her into a responsible and very pleasant adult person. Here she is working like crazy on a hat for a friend's little girl's birthday.
We enjoyed a nice visit from Grammy and Grampy, complete with art and art lessons. Amy and my mother seem to be kindred spirits of sorts. They share a common interest in artsy stuff; add to that the same genes for height and slenderness and energy. I now have more of my mom's paintings and pastels hanging in my living room. They are very special to me. 
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Elisabeth learned to crochet! Here is her first complete project, a hot pad:
Emily helped make supper. It was one of those days. One of those days when the man of the house needed to be fed with something delicious and filling, to know he was loved and appreciated in his castle. We got a huge auto repair bill that day. Medical bills were piling up. But the man of the house came home to an experimental meal. I meant well, really I did. The website said this one was a keeper. It wasn't in this house . Disaster struck! And there was enough of this horrid dish to feed an army and a half! It was so bad that it became a sermon illustration! But a prudent wife doesn't throw bad food in the trash -- she figures out a way to make it edible. Next day it was salvaged and gobbled up. 
The western theme continues:
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We had special meetings at church with special friends from Kansas and here in Arizona,
we witnessed a gun fight in our local gold-mining ghost town, Oatman,
climbed Sitgreaves Pass (in the car),
And finally, the month was finished off with a surprise package in the mail!
we witnessed a gun fight in our local gold-mining ghost town, Oatman,
climbed Sitgreaves Pass (in the car),
climbed a mountain at sunrise, on foot (using the word "we" very loosely, I admit),
played music, participated in speech co-op, and enjoyed our first cold weather, complete with hot cocoa, layers of clothing, extra blankets, and long underwear. But not the furnace. Not yet. (Don't laugh. It's cold here, too.) 
Isn't God good? Yes, he is!
Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness,
and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psalm 107:8
and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psalm 107:8
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Monday, November 2, 2009
Halloween 2009 Recap
Our older daughter dressed up all day, in one form or another--
She just wanted to wear the arm warmers. LOL
She only wore this around the house.
We dabbled with a costume idea for baby sister:
Thinking she could go as a "toy"...
At first she thought it was funny:
But that soon wore off and we knew that wasn't going to get it!
So instead I took a few more photos
Note the attempt at decorating her pumpkin w/ her feet!LOL
The weather this Halloween was no where near as nice as it was last year! Brrrr. I heard lots of passersby commenting on the fact, too. Everyone was cold. Except for baby Girl... she was toasty enclosed in her stroller seat! Though no one could see her all covered up in the stroller parts-- she made a cute pumpkin!
Sporting a LL Bean fleece bunting under a piece
of bright orange soft fabric I had in my stash... I just
sort of wrapped it around her to keep warm!
DD12 went Trick-or-Treating as a Vampire Beauty Queen this year. (Her idea.) The costume was pretty easy to make as she already had a formal red dress (one my mother had bought YEARS ago that i'd taken in for her to play dress-ups. Well it actually FITS now! GASP!), and had gotten shoes from a lady here locally that gave her whole wedding ensemble away (including the tiara she wore.)
note the pantyhose--- she improvised (tore them) so they'd allow her big toe into the shoes. LOL
I sewed the sash from some white cotton fabric I had in my stash and she painted the lettering.
it says "MISS TRANSYLVANIA 1863"
Makeup base was from a vampire kit and the eye makeup and blush was from my own makeup bag. Teeth were from the mall and a big spot of laughter for us the whole afternoon!LOL
After two hours were were tired and her feet were hurting:
Blisters were starting to form on her little toes! Ouch!
She just wanted to wear the arm warmers. LOLShe only wore this around the house.
We dabbled with a costume idea for baby sister:
Thinking she could go as a "toy"...At first she thought it was funny:
But that soon wore off and we knew that wasn't going to get it!
So instead I took a few more photos
Note the attempt at decorating her pumpkin w/ her feet!LOLThe weather this Halloween was no where near as nice as it was last year! Brrrr. I heard lots of passersby commenting on the fact, too. Everyone was cold. Except for baby Girl... she was toasty enclosed in her stroller seat! Though no one could see her all covered up in the stroller parts-- she made a cute pumpkin!
Sporting a LL Bean fleece bunting under a piece of bright orange soft fabric I had in my stash... I just
sort of wrapped it around her to keep warm!
DD12 went Trick-or-Treating as a Vampire Beauty Queen this year. (Her idea.) The costume was pretty easy to make as she already had a formal red dress (one my mother had bought YEARS ago that i'd taken in for her to play dress-ups. Well it actually FITS now! GASP!), and had gotten shoes from a lady here locally that gave her whole wedding ensemble away (including the tiara she wore.)
note the pantyhose--- she improvised (tore them) so they'd allow her big toe into the shoes. LOLI sewed the sash from some white cotton fabric I had in my stash and she painted the lettering.
it says "MISS TRANSYLVANIA 1863"Makeup base was from a vampire kit and the eye makeup and blush was from my own makeup bag. Teeth were from the mall and a big spot of laughter for us the whole afternoon!LOL
After two hours were were tired and her feet were hurting:
Blisters were starting to form on her little toes! Ouch!None the worse for the wear, baby Girl was still content in her stroller, playing with her toys when we arrived back home!
Hope EVERYONE had a safe & FUN Halloween!
Hope EVERYONE had a safe & FUN Halloween!