Oct. 21, 2009 - Handling interruptions

So often a homeschool mum, or any mum for that matter, asks – “How do you handle interruptions?” 

There are many things which cause interruptions to my focus time with my children.  These days it is likely to be the telephone or a household chore that needs doing but when the children were younger it was more likely to be a baby crying or nappy change.  When I have to walk away from my children, leaving them with the temptation to lose focus, fool around and cause major disruptions it helps to keep control of their choices and to have options.

Control their choices:  Just because you are not physically present does not mean your authority is not present (or can’t be).  Before you leave the room make it very clear what you expect of them.  Tell them what to do while you are away.  Eventually, as they grow up, you want them to be able to make this choice wisely for themselves, but during the training phase you need to show them what a wise choice looks like.  I remember studying Punctuality – which is using our time wisely, there was an aspect about using our unexpected ‘free’ time wisely.  This is exactly this type of situation – the child has some unexpected ‘free’ time – how will they use it.  Initially we need to direct their choices with the goal in mind that they will eventually make these choices for themselves.

Have options:  What do I tell my children to do?  Once again in our study of Punctuality we discussed that if they are left waiting for someone then they need to use their time wisely but still be ready to go when the person comes back.  This means going outside to play while Mum takes a phone call is probably not the best choice, neither is going into another room.  The best choice in this situation is to occupy yourself and yet stay in the area so you can see when things are ready to get back on track.  Reading books, playing with Lego, drawing, or playing with the doll house were the favourite things that I used to direct my children towards, these days they tend to read or work on their independent studies (something that they can drop quickly when I return).  The other thing I learnt was that it worked better if they all had individual, independent activities – this way WW3 didn’t break out while I was out of the room.

Oct. 17, 2009 - Time slips by so fast

Oct. 6, 2009 - Asking Questions as you Read the Bible

Oct. 5, 2009 - The End is in Sight

2009 is coming to a close – at least it isn’t very fair away.  Are you starting to panic?  Are you starting to push your children for no other reason than to get this finished?

Though we need to take stock and do all we can do to keep ourselves ‘on track’ we also need to remember a few things.

1. We need to stay ‘on track’ with God’s plans not our own.  We need to ask ourselves why do we feel we are not where we should be?  Have we been slack and therefore need the self discipline to pull up our socks, or have we simply been living life and stuff happens, learning happens but it happens differently than we planned.  We need to discern are we in a different place because other good learning has happened?  It would be helpful to list that other good learning to keep our focus on the right balance.

2. Learning happens 24/7, 12 months of the year, for life.  I was saying to my daughter just last night that I feel a sense of relief because of this mindset – she doesn’t have to know everything by the time she is 18.  She doesn’t have to know everything this year!  If I do my job well she will be able and interested in learning new stuff for the rest of her life.  I need to focus on what is the most important for the now and not be distracted with anything else.

3. Check my purposes – Am I pushing my child to finish just so we can tick it off as finished, just so we have something to show the moderator or grandparents, just so we can do the right grade level next year?  If this is our reasoning, then we need to reconsider.  Our goals should not be just to get the work done; there is no learning bonus in that.  The question we need to ask of a unit study, or class, or curriculum is – “Is my child learning?”  If there is learning happening then that is a great thing, if there is no learning then you need to consider your options but I doubt rushing through it will be one of them.

Interestingly, these three points have more to do with our heart as the parent than they do with the students work/study ethic.  We need to do a heart check.

The one other lesson that I remind myself of at this time is that just as lessons and learning aren’t dictated by ‘school hours’ neither is the discipleship lifestyle dictated to by the calendar year.  Just because the calendar changes from 2009 to 2010 there is no real cut off date that says we need to get things done by.  Life rolls on just the same.  Our children’s character, interests, and learning goals just roll on from one year to the next.  So I need to be true to my beliefs of discipleship and ask myself, “Why have I an end of year deadline in my thinking?”

Sep. 17, 2009 - Thoughtful little Presents

Sep. 16, 2009 - Planning a Unique Education

Do you know their weaknesses that need strengthening? 

Do you know their strengths that need further opportunities? 

In our family we have some core things that are important for our children to learn and become competent in -

• We desire for each child to love God
• to be able to defend their faith

• to be responsible people, to have dominion in the spheres of their life
• to read, to think and to love learning
• to have an interest in the world around them and the people who live there
• to be competent in the uniqueness God made them – to express their passions and talents

These things are for all our children regardless of their strengths and weaknesses.  How we address these things may vary from child to child.  So how do we create this individual plan?

This week I did some brainstorming with Jessica to find out what was important to her and what was important to me in terms of how she filled her days.  (Remembering Jessica is all but 15, and therefore has some input into this process.  This isn’t so much the case with the younger children.)   It is easy to get swamped, or distracted with projects, good projects, and yet they aren’t the best.  What is going to be the best for Jess for the next season of her life – (this season could range from 6 weeks to 12 months).

As we talked I wrote up a chart with three columns – first column was the area of our life, 2^nd was for Jessica’s thoughts, 3^rd was for my thoughts.  I then asked one question – the same question for each aspect of our life.  What is it that you need to learn, or want to learn in this area of your life?  My website, lifestyle-homeschool, is written in this sequence so it was as simple as opening up each page to see the different aspects of each area of life.

What do you want to work on, what is important to you in the areas of

• Relationships – with God and man
• Responsibilities
• Developing your self (Intrapersonal skills)
• Talents and Giftings
• Academic studies

We filled in two pages of ideas – some of these ideas we realised are already happening, some we realised need to happen and others are for another season.  It was truly a time where we had to separate the good from the best.  We cannot do everything and yet we can do the things we set out to purposefully do.

Sep. 10, 2009 - Loyalty

Sep. 9, 2009 - Tools to help the distracted child

Many of the difficulties we have as children will stick with us for life – we just learn strategies to overcome.  As parents we need to give our children these strategies, these tools, to help them now and for the rest of their life.  If our children are easily distracted, what external structure will help?

• A routine – having set times (roughly speaking) where certain activities are expected helps a child to grow in self governance.  Whether you are directed by a clock or by a sequence of events if the child knows this sequence they can use it to help them stay on track, they know what is happening in their day.  They know when food is expected, they know when they are to study, to play, and to relax.

• A timer – I love timers!  Each of my children has a timer and they are expected to use it as they learn self discipline in any new area. They are allowed ½ hour on the computer a day (free and fun time), they use the timer so they don’t abuse this privilege.  They use a timer to pace themselves through their day; their piano practice, their reading time, to remind them to do a chore, etc.  Another reason I like timers is that they make a noise that penetrates my world and I can use their timer to help me check in on them and encourage them to stay on track.

• A diary or to-do list.  I believe in teaching my children to be accountable to a to-do list.  It sits there as their external reminder of the things they need to do.   If the list remains constant some of the daily practices become internal habits but it is okay to be reminded of what needs to be done.  We have lists for morning responsibilities (personal devotions, chores, exercise), independent work (which varies for each child but encompasses the things that need daily drill – music, math, writing, reading)

• Check points – While our children are learning the skill of self-motivation we need to be their external-motivation.  Creating check-in points in our daily schedule where we follow them up, see how they are doing, keep them on track and possibly even enforce consequences.  I also teach my children to report back when they have completed their one task, be that a household chore or school work.  I become used to expecting them, and if they don’t show up I know they’ve been distracted.  We must understand that if our child doesn’t have a skill, we need to do that for them.  So if they don’t have focus; we must create an environment where they can focus.  They don’t have thoroughness; we must create an environment where they can be thorough.

• Removing privileges – with responsibility comes privilege and the converse is true.  Without responsibility, there is no privilege.  The trick is that we don’t see the privileges our children have because it is all just our life.  Privileges are the things that are absolutely necessary to their well being, e.g. Privileges are free play time, computer time, afternoon tea, visiting friends, playing sport…. Privileges will be different in each home, but think this through – what is really a privilege and what is the core basis of your child’s life?  When we make a distinction the privileges can be used as rewards for a job well done.  This is true to real life – I know that I can’t sit and scrapbook until my responsibilities are taken care of. 

As our children get older they need to be aware that the things they do, the choices they make are creating a habit of slothfulness, tardiness, or procrastination.  We can discuss the fruits of these habits.  At 10 years of age, I struggled to remember instructions.  I could walk from one room to the next and have no idea what my mum had asked me to do.  She started to give me lists – and taught me that this was a tool to help me remember.  I have seen with my own children that they each have weaknesses, and each of them need different tools to help them overcome these weaknesses and develop good habits. 

What helps your distracted child?

Sep. 6, 2009 - Ready to Go

When we were growing up we would ask our dad one question every time we were  going out – when do we leave?  Dad would never give an answer – instead he taught us to think.  He would say

• What time do we need to be there?
• How long does it take to get there?
• What time do we have to leave?

I recently revisited this with my kids – but I added a few more things for them to think about.

• Where am I going?
• Why am I going?
• What do I need to take?
• What time do I need to be there?
• How long does it take to get there?
• What time do I need to be ready to leave?

Sep. 6, 2009 - My Boy has flown the Coop

Joshua is off on his first adventure away from home. Rotary has sponsored him on a week long citizenship education programme.  He has flown to Canberra (capital city of Australia), will be billeted /hosted with a Rotary family and involved morning till night in a variety of activities.  He’s seeing the old and new Parliament houses, the Australian War Memorial, and many of the other institutes and significant places in Canberra.  He’ll be involved in role plays, discussions and has to deliver a 90sec speech.  It is a very exciting opportunity for him.

It has taken some effort to get him prepared to go.  We live in the tropics so to travel to Canberra in the winter is no mean feat!  On Saturday he travelled from 40degrees here at home, to 2 degrees in Canberra on the first night.  Cold is a completely new experience.

Another completely new experience is the clothes he is required to wear.  Business clothes – every day.  Tie, Jacket and shoes.  Yep – even wearing shoes every day, all day is a new experience.  Its not that we don’t wear shoes, its just that barefoot is so much more comfortable!!

A few locals have wondered how I’ve gone – empty nest syndrome and all that.  I have actually surprised myself.  I have not felt overly anxious or worried about him at all.  I must admit, I’ve appreciated the phone calls, and to hear happiness in his voice – he is relaxed and that is a good thing.

I was thinking about this today – We have prepared him for such a time as this.  We have brought him up to know God’s ways, to think Biblically, to consider other people first, and to ask questions when he wants to know something.  When we send our kids out there is a natural tendency to wonder if it will be all okay.  I am sure Josh will experience some knocks, and these maybe hard to take but they will be good for him.  It is all too easy to start getting anxious about these things but I firmly believe we have done all that we can and anything that shows up as “negative”, isn’t because we’ve “failed” but because he needs a little more input, a little more maturing, a little more practice. And that is what parenting is all about.

Sep. 4, 2009 - Shifting lines

During this last week I went to a communication seminar for people working with children.  One of the things that we discussed was the issue of inconsistency.  What makes us accept a behaviour one day and yet the next day that very same behaviour is totally unacceptable.  Our line in the sand moves.

We brainstormed several reasons

·         We are tired or hungry

·         We are distracted with other things

·         Different environments or different people have different expectations on us

·         We are taken by surprise

Though each of these ‘excuses’ are understandable we need to know that our children do better when we are consistent.  Being aware of the things create inconsistency is one step forward.  What makes you inconsistent?

Aug. 31, 2009 - Talking opportunties from the Internet

Often when I am browsing online I find things that I’d like my kids to read. 

• Interesting and controversial blog posts – this gives us a platform to discuss things
• How-to’s  - this would vary depending on the their interests
• Funnies – share a story, a video clip, an email – and laugh together
• Articles that connect with their studies or books they are reading

Just as we like to share the good stuff we read in books, the interesting newspaper report, or relive the story/movie we enjoyed so too do we need to share the internet finds we come across. 

To share these things with my kids I

• email a link to them (this is a double bonus as they like getting emails and the younger ones don’t get too many)
• print it off to share over the meal table
• leave my browser open, note it in my diary, so we all come back and have a look-see

Not only do I want to share the things I find, I want my children to share the things they find.  (Only my older two have the freedom to browse and find online at this stage).   Each individual (adults included) needs to learn to value what the other person values.  We can show this respect by being interested in what they are interested in, by listening and my asking questions to encourage their conversation.

I never cease to be amazed at the diversity in our family – same gene pool, same environment – and yet different people.  This means we all want to talk about different things, we’ll find different things to share. This is what family is about – to be interested in each other – and that includes our internet finds.

With all this sharing and talking going on it does mean we need to be discerning - we can’t share everything, but we can share the best.

Aug. 12, 2009 - Celebrating our Children's Abilities

Aug. 7, 2009 - Charlotte Mason's Philosophy and a Discipleship Approach

I am really an eclectic homeschooler in that I choose whatever method and whatever resource will assist me in reaching my goals with my children at any given time.  One of the things that I have learnt is that I have to ‘tweak’ things to fit my family – my family is unique, just as yours is, and each unique child needs a unique approach in order for them to reach their optimum. 

Over the years Charlotte Mason has been an influence in our home – her philosophy has influenced me, and her methods are the foundation of many of the things we do.  Here are some of the key principles as outworked in our home:

Children are born persons

I believe that God created my children whole beings, that they are little people and need the respect and consideration that big people need.  They also have sin issues that need to be dealt with.  I believe it is my responsibility, as the God given parent, to instruct and train my children in God’s ways.  They do not need to wait till they are ‘old enough’ to understand God’s word.  They do not need to wait till they are ‘old enough’ to walk in His truths.

Education is an atmosphere

When we are discipling our children we need to use every situation, every environment we find ourselves in as an opportunity to teach our children.  I used to say that homeschooling was our lifestyle, but now I say our lifestyle is our homeschool.  (Read about more about that quote)

Education is a discipline

As we walk in God’s truths, as we practice His words, habits are formed, our character is developed.  We need to give our children every opportunity to see their choices in light of Gods Word, to give them time to practice good character.

Education is a life

My desire is for my children to have understanding but to seek wisdom.  Wisdom is the practical application of knowing Jesus.  Whenever we learn anything we need to consider Jesus, be it in our practical life, our moral standards or our academic studies.  There is no separation between the physical world and the spiritual;  God is involved in all aspects of our life.

A child’s mind has an appetite for knowledge

It is easy to give my children the facts but I want to teach them to think, to come up with ideas, to make connections with truths.  We read, talk, and write as our primary method of formal learning, though there are also many hands on situations as well (though they always include plenty of talking!)  Conversation stimulates ideas.

A child requires much knowledge, to feed the brain

It is our intent to give our children a broad general knowledge as we believe this will make them well rounded, able to participate in a wide variety of social situations and conversations.

I believe Charlotte Mason wrote with a discipleship application in mind.  Whenever we read anything, we read it with our ‘glasses’ on – what glasses do you read Charlotte Mason’s 20 Key Principles?  Through the glasses of education, or through the glasses of discipleship?

Aug. 4, 2009 - Off with a Bang!

Monday was our beginning of a new season of our year – a study season.  Well, that is our hope and goal.  As I look over our year we have several seasons; each season brings its different focus and emphasis.  Our goal is for the months of August, September, part of October and all of November is to be a study focus.  We will see how that goes!

It started well yesterday.  We had a really good day.  Really good days can look different depending on our goals.  I try and assess a really good day based on the fruit of the spirit alive and happening during the day, but especially the peace (and harmony) at the end of the day.  So it doesn’t really  matter what we do throughout the day – whether it is a study day (like yesterday) or a creative day, or a helping / serving day – the important thing is that we worship God in all that we do and that we allow the Holy Spirit to keep a check on our hearts – our attitudes and actions!

But yesterday was a study day.  I find the key to a successful study day is preparation; my preparation. 

1. Overview for the study block period (generally 8-10 weeks)
2. Specific plans for the week/day

My weekly planning looks like this:

1. A study routine – knowing what subjects I’d like to fit into what days
2. Lesson plans – a list for each subject, breaking down individual lesson objective and resources for that lesson.
3. A daily to-do list

My daily to-do for Monday was:

• Devotions (with Nomi and Daniel)
• Character (with all children together) introducing new trait for the month
• Writing (IEW, all children together)
• Money (with Josh and Jess)
• Auslan (with Jess, Nomi and Daniel)
• Language lessons (Daniel)
• Each child has their independent work to work on as well.

Though I say we had a good day it doesn’t mean that things went according to plan – but we were productive, intentional and aware of what was happening throughout the day.

I started late – Jess and I got talking about an opportunity she is working with.  As happens with the older two a lot of these days we get ‘side tracked’ with heart issues (not bad issues – just issues of life). There is so much to teach them as they enter young adulthood.

The Devotional and Character lesson went well.

I had planned on our writing lesson to be together – it seems so easy on paper – we would talk about the techniques and send them off to write at their own level of skill.  But in real life this doesn’t work for me – the younger two get frustrated that they don’t know what the older two are talking about and they lose interest and if I focus on the younger two the older two think it is all a waste of their precious time.  So 5 minutes into the lesson I sent the younger two off to work on their independent work, while I talked to Josh and Jess.  Later on, I had the opportunity to work with Nomi and Daniel on their writing.  It ended up being a successful lesson as each child had a clear understanding of what writing skills they need to focus on during the coming month.

But that took about ½ hour longer than I expected.  Once again this was because we got talking about the broader picture stuff – it happens!  I needed to tweak our plan – so I cancelled “Money” and then I realised that Nomi needed help with her Oral presentation (due Friday) so I cancelled “Auslan” as well.  But…. Somewhere between cancelling and lunch I lost 30mintues so I never got to Nomi after all.  Not sure how that happened!

So even though I say “I had a good day” I can also say that things didn’t go according to plan, things were changed along the way, and some things simply didn’t happen.  But a lot did happen.

The lessons I learnt from yesterday:  I was hit with the realisation (again) of the importance of being prepared, I am also aware that I have to hold those plans lightly and meet the real needs of my kids as they are presented to me on the day.

Jul. 25, 2009 - Learning from Wisdom

In any given situation we learn by one of two methods –

1. We learn from our own experiences, from the consequences of our actions or
2. We learn from the experiences of others, from their life’s lessons

The author of Divine Mentor, Wayne Cordeiro,  classifies these two options as learning from consequences or learning from wisdom.  He states, that we need to learn from the experiences of others (wisdom) as we don’t have enough time to learn everything by hard knocks - done our own way. 

We can learn from the experiences of others from the stories they tell, or the instructions they give.  God Himself wants us to learn from wisdom as he gave us his Word for our instruction and correction (2 Tim3:16).  The Bible is full of story after story where one man, and then the next, learnt to walk with God.  To learn from these accounts is wisdom.

It is easy to settle for the generally understood and accepted idea that some kids just need to learn it the hard way – they need the consequences but if God tells us to learn from those who have gone on before us, to learn from wisdoms way then we need to help those kids learn from the experiences of others.

Our kids need to know how to learn from wisdom, how to learn from the experiences and instructions of others.

• When they read the Scriptures can they see the wisdom to be learnt from the people who lived and walked with God many years ago and apply it to their own lives?
• When they read a biography or a living book, do they draw life’s lessons and apply it to their own lives?
• When they talk to an older person, do they see the opportunity to glean from their experiences and to not make the same mistakes themselves?
• When they watch a movie, do they see the character based choices and the consequences of those choices, can they connect that to their own lives and the choices they have to make?

Learning from wisdom then becomes much like any other study technique we teach our children – and yet far more powerful.  We must model it, we must make them to be aware of the opportunity, and we must teach them the thinking skills so that they can approach a book or an older person with the intention of learning from these people’s experiences.

Jul. 18, 2009 - Adventure Boxes

In going through my emails this morning I found a link to this Heart of the Matter article, Adventure Boxes.   What a great idea.  I then clicked over to Angela's blog as she's doing the same thing.

These ladies are putting together hands on activities, books, movies - all sorts of activities for the child to do in order to develop skill or knowledge on a particular subject.    Their plan is to use this box of activities during the summer. 

It is much like putting a unit study together except maybe focusing on more hands on activities and things that can be done independently.

I like this idea.  I think there is merit in Heather's final comment though - why wait till summer (or for us over here in Australia, why wait till the term breaks?).  I think this will help me in helping Daniel use his free time productively.

Over the last few months I’ve been trying to get my head around how I could tweak Sue Patrick’s Workboxes to help Daniel with his free time.  I think this idea will work better.  It will give him choice (he needs to learn to make good choices on how to spend his time), it can incorporate all the learning styles and senses (hands on, reading, writing, viewing etc) and best of all – it is all in one box!!

Daniel has just made a soft toy/doll – a pirate and is in the middle of making another.  He has all sorts of design features he wants to do differently on this 2^nd doll – make a beard and a hook on the hand for starters!  I think I’ll build a box of activities around this theme.  A quick brainstorm has come up with these ideas – any suggestions welcome!

Keywords:  Pirates, treasure, treasure hunters, boats, oceans

Talent twist: 

• Camera – using your pirate boat, take photos making a story sequence
• Make another pirate doll

Hands on (preferred learning style)

• Make a treasure chest (this could become his gift box for gifts he has ready to give)
• Create a treasure hunt – make a map of our back yard, and bury your treasure. 
• Make a compass - map skills
• Make snakes and ladders game, but with pirate theme
• Drawing boats

Academic (teaching independent learning skills):

• I have downloaded a Hands of a Child lapbook from currclick.  This will require me to read a segment to him but then give him independent writing focus.  It will also give him scissors and glue practice as he works with making mini books.
• Books from the library
  • Fiction – either myself or one of the big kids will type his oral narrations
  • Non fiction – I’ll help him with key word outlines and summaries (Just one a week)
• Internet research:  building on internet skills
• Study flags used for nautical signs

Just for Fun

• DVD - Pirates who don’t do anything (Veggie Tales)
• Family Read aloud – Treasure Island (we’ve already started this so that ties in nicely)

Pulling this together:

Recently I have been made aware afresh, of the benefit of being prepared.  You can only go by the seat of your pants for so long and still be effective.  The key for this Adventure Box to work for Daniel is my preparation.  I am going to write an activity card for each of the above activities.  This card will tell

• Adult involvement rating – Independent, Adult needs to be available, Adult needs to be with you.  This will help him decide an appropriate activity to match the other family activities going on.
• Notes to myself on moral or character issues I want to discuss at that time.
• Materials and Instructions for the activity, including internet links where necessary.
• A space for Daniel to write about the activity – did he enjoy it, what did he learn etc. Space for a photo of a hands on activity completed.  This can then be filed and become a part of a permanent record of learning.

I am excited about this…. I’ll get back to you to tell you how my plans have gone!

Jul. 18, 2009 - School Holidays - the discipleship way

As we move towards a discipleship family lifestyle that isn’t dictated to by schools we have the freedom to manage our days as it suits our family.  The school system is clearly divided up into 4 terms, with 2-6 week holiday break in between each term.  Does this suit our family?

When we get asked, “Do you take school holidays?” I often um and arr about my answer.  Yes, we do, but no we don’t. 

Yes we do – we change our routine because it is a good time to catch up with many of our friends.  In fact the school holidays are some of the busiest times of the year and to be honest, we more often than not take an extra week off just to recover!  (I actually consider many of the activities we do with other families part of my children’s specific education.) 

No we don’t – learning happens day in and day out, the kids continue with their reading (because it is a part of their life), they continue with their writing (because they have something to say!), they continue asking questions and they continue finding answers.  This is learning and I can’t tell them to stop just because it is a holiday break!  The other aspect to “no, we don’t” is our routine.  The children are so much more peaceful and creative when we have order in our home.  So we maintain a routine during our study breaks, albeit a different routine than during our study times.

Some people think that if you have a routine for your holiday time you are not free to be spontaneous but that is being on a scheduling, not a routine.  A routine is simply a sequence of habits.  There are two parts two having a routine –

• The routine should reflect reality – what habits are you happy with help you get through your day, these should be the basis of your routine.
• The routine should help with the discipline it requires to work on the areas of your day that you are not happy with – to help you form new habits.

A holiday routine is not about taking away the freedom to have fun and relax.  It is about keeping in balance your responsibilities and your freedoms.

There are times that we are not home so we don’t have our quiet individual time after lunch.  This is okay, mind you, when my children were little this habit was a priority, nowadays, we can all cope with a full day out of the home.  The routine isn’t so we don’t do things, but rather when we are at home there is order in the home, and we use our time wisely.

Because our daily routine has a discipleship focus it isn’t really that hard to shift gears – in a sense our holiday routine looks pretty close to our study routine (but the differences are there):

6-8.30am Relationship time and Responsibilities

The children maintain their personal devotions, and we continue to work on issues of character as we relate to each other. The chores still need to be done throughout the day.  We are not as rigorous on starting the day at 6.00am – though for a few of my children this has become habit and it is hard for them to sleep in.

8.30-12.30 Discipleship time

During the term (or as we call it – study block) we try and focus on discipleship in areas of personal development or academic areas, though life happens and presents many other opportunities for discipleship as well.  During our break times, we keep a discipleship focus in that we look for opportunities for the children to learn from Peter or myself, but our day to day plans are more towards creative talents and relationship activities (such as playing games together)

12.30 – 1.30 Lunch and Chore time

1.30 – 3.00 Individual time

We maintain this aspect of our routine – if we are at home.  This is the time the kids have some quiet time to themselves and some time together.  They often listen to audios, read books, and work on creative projects.  The key idea with this block of time is

1. a small amount of Quiet time for everyone (not the whole time)
2. focus time for mum (don’t interrupt mum – unless there’s blood and no breathing!!)

3.00 – 5.00 Free time

During these few hours we encourage productivity in either their relationships or projects

5.00-6.00 Chore time

6.00-8.00 Family time, get ready for bed etc.

Do you have a routine for your holiday times?  What are the key parts that hold your day together?

Jul. 8, 2009 - A Great Read

click on image for link

 

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?