Wednesday, August 29, 2007 - Jonathan -- His First real school Year
Jonathan is my sweet 6 year old. He is the 5th of 6 boys in our home. He is officially a full-time student in our home school. Last year, we began phonics, but we just worked about 3 days a week and spent about 15 minutes on those days. This year, he is participating in our co-op and is doing 4 subjects in school.
As most of you know, the beginning of any school year is exciting. Six year olds especially like school. It is no different for my Jonathan. He has been asking for weeks when we were going to start. He couldn't wait.
Monday, we had co-op. This co-op is designed after Charlotte Mason's style of teaching. We study (or I should say, "the kids study") Latin, Shakespeare, Art, Nature and this we have added a Great Books class and a speech class. Jonathan is joining in with the older kids for art and nature. They are learning Watercolor in art. He absolutely loved it. I know he will love nature once the class gets underway, but Monday our teacher was sick so we didn't get to do nature. During the Latin class at co-op, I got to spend some one on one time with Jonathan. We did his phonics and started our first day with Five In A Row.
Tuesday, we had our first official day here at home. Jonathan was still excited about the whole thing but not as much as he was on Monday. We did his Phonics and Math first thing in the morning. He was so excited to start a real math book. Everything was going great until I told him that he was making his 4s backwards. He said, "I don't care." Well, that didn't make me too happy. I let him know that was totally unacceptable. Later in the morning he listened in on my 11 year olds science and his little brother got to listen in on his Five In A Row. It was a long day and he was tired.
Today is Wednesday and we proceeded to begin our day just like we did yesterday. It was a little harder to get him out of bed. He wasn't quite as excited to do any of his work, but he didn't say that he didn't care when I told him his 7s and 9s were backwards. We finished a little earlier (because his older brothers didn't take quite so long) and I let him get snack during the morning studies. I think all that helped him to have a better school day, even if the excitement was waning.
So, tomorrow will be day #3 of our "real" home schooling. I've noticed that throughout life the 3rd of anything is always the hardest. It is always the hardest day after a surgery, it is always the hardest day of a diet (or any new routine) and it is always the hardest day of the beginning of school. I think I'll get to bed early so I can be ready for whatever happens.
Here's a picture Jonathan drew of his big brother's wedding this summer. Sarah is the bride, Matthew is in the middle and Jonathan and Matthew's dad (my husband) is on the right (he performed the ceremony).
Thanks to Oprah, I had the privilege of listening to Al Gore present his opinions on global warming. I don't want to discuss the pros and cons of his opinions. What I found interesting was that Oprah compared him to Noah. It was interesting to see his reaction. He looked a little shocked and wouldn't accept the comparison. At the end of the show Oprah told him that she thanked him for being our Noah. By then, he seemed willing and even pleased to accept the comparison.
Al Gore presented his opinions with all kinds of larger than life charts and statistics. He showed projections of what scientist predict will happen if we don't fix the problem. He kept telling us that we need to do something now. We needed to fix our world and we have the power to do it. We've got to save it so our children and their children will be safe.
What Al Gore didn't do was bring God into the picture. He never suggested that since God made the world, He is the one we should seek help from. He never once suggested that the most important thing is to prepare ourselves for eternity. He never once acknowledged that we are not in control.
Noah, on the other hand, didn't go around from city to city like a celebrity telling everyone that he had figured out how to stop the flood. There wasn't anything in his message about the scientist of the day that proved it was going to happen. Noah didn't suggest that everyone build their own boat. He didn't suggest that everyone start living "green" so that the flood wouldn't come.
Noah proceeded to obey God by building the ark. He laboriously built the ark while others made fun of him. He taught the people that God was going to send a disaster (flood) and that they needed to prepare themselves by obeying God. There was nothing but Noah telling the people what God said. He taught them to obey God.
What a difference in their messages. One is about the physical, the here and now, telling us that we have the power to save the world. The other is humble and hard working, teaching others to obey God.
No, Oprah. I wouldn't compare Al Gore to Noah.
Al Gore
Noah
Warns of Global Disaster
Warned of Global Disaster
His source is men (today's scientists)
His source was God.
Solution is for man to fix the problem so disaster doesn't happen.
Solution was to begin obeying God and teach others to do the same.
Saturday, July 28, 2007 - The Most Important Thing
I hear it all the time. Everyone thinks they know what the most important thing is.
The most important thing is to get a good education.
The most important thing is to learn to read.
The most important thing is to be kind to others.
The most important thing is to be financially successful.
The most important thing is family.
The most important thing is to have good friends.
I went to see the movie Ratatouille last week. It was a really cute movie, but it made the point that the most important thing was family. It really struck me, as I watched those rats interact like family, that they've got it wrong. Family's great, but it's not the most important thing. Neither is a good education, or financial success or any of the other things people put so much importance on.
So, what's the most important thing? God. That's it. There's nothing else that matters. If we don't consider God to be the most important thing, we've failed. It doesn't matter how financially successful we are, how well we read, how kind we are, what good friends we have. None of it matters.
Solomon wrote a whole book on this -- Ecclesiastes. He tried everything. He put lots of things before God. He put his wives before God. He chose to satisfy their desires to worship their idols and even participate with them rather than to put God first. Solomon put his family before God.
Today, we tend to idolize our families. Our children are given such a place of honor in our homes, that we are, at times, willing to go against what we know God wants us to do to please our children. We let their activities, such as baseball (in my family this is the tough one), interfere with our gathering together and worshiping God. Some of us will put too much time into our work so that we can give our children what they want. Instead of being the parent and training our children, we let the children run things. That's not putting God first.
Many times, our families cause us to compromise on our convictions. To keep peace in the family, we choose to keep quiet about error. We choose to let things go that we need to speak up about . When we put our family first, we aren't helping them. It doesn't help a child or a parent or a sibling if we keep quiet while they continue in their sin. Putting God first may require some hard choices. It may cause others to choose to stay away from us. We still must put God first.
Back to Solomon. We can read about his life and see what happened when he began to put others ahead of God. He was the most glorious king. He was king during Israel's highest moment. He didn't put God first and they began to slowly lose it all. By not putting God first, his son was not ready to reign. His son didn't put God first and the fall of the Israelites began. If Solomon had put God above his family, things might have turned out differently.
Solomon summed it all up in the last two verses of Ecclesiastes.
"Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is the whole duty of man.
For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
whether it is good or whether it is evil."
That's the most important thing -- Fear God and keep His commandments. If we all truly believed that God is who He said He is, we'd truly fear Him. He controls it all. He made us. He made everything. He is the great "I am". He has the authority to tell us what to do. it doesn't matter what He tells us to do, if we truly believed that He is God, we'd do it. Even if that meant we had to give up what we thought was most important.
The kids in my Bible class are memorizing Acts 17:22-31 this quarter. It is one of my favorite passages. If you've ever wondered who God is, turn to Acts 17 and find out.
Paul was on his 2nd journey and was walking through the city of Athens. The people in this city were very devoted to worshiping their gods. They had built many gods (idols) and worshiped them religiously. They were so concerned that they not offend one of the gods unknowingly, they built an altar to THE UNKNOWN GOD. Paul was asked to present his "new" ideas to the people of Athens. He took this opportunity to introduce to them the God that they did not know -- the one and only God.
Paul stood up in the Areopagus and said,
Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you.
Paul then goes on to describe the God they didn't know to the Athenians.
God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, Nor is He worshiped with men's hands as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.
All the gods that Paul had seen in Athens were made with men's hands. They were thought up in men's minds. They needed man to take care of them. Without man, these gods did not exist. But the God that we serve does not need man. He made man. He does not need man to build a place for Him to stay. He does not need man to furnish Him with food. He does not need man to keep Him company. He does not need man for anything. God "made the world and everything in it". He is "Lord of heaven and earth". What could man possibly do for God?
I've heard people try to bring God down to their level. I've heard people try to put themselves on God's level. They want to be God's buddy. They want to be there to comfort God. They want to furnish God with anything He needs. Paul told the Athenians that God doesn't need anything that we have. Why? Because "He gives to all life, breath, and all things". Without God we are nothing. We can offer God nothing because He needs nothing.
So what should our relationship with God be? We should tremble at His awesomeness. We should respect the fact that He is all knowing, all powerful, and present everywhere. We should fear Him so that we would never willingly sin. Our only desire should be to be with Him, to be like Him and to be called a child of His.
As I read about different people in the Bible that displeased God, I'm amazed that they would even consider going against His will. Then I look at my own self and see how easy it is to think that I know what's best. It's easy to forget that God gave me everything -- life, breath and all things. I must continually check myself to bring myself back to my God. He should not and will not ever meet me half way. I must submit all to Him, my "God, who made the world and everything in it." He does not need me, I need Him.
Well, if you answered "no", you just don't know it yet. The recent media has been all a buzz about mothers who are coming out of the closet and admitting the shameful. They are bored. These mothers have had successful careers, decided to take some time out to have a family, and are bored. They bought into the whole idea of mothering is a spiritual experience that will leave you feeling uplifted and fulfilled at all times. Now, they are bored.
Being a mother is wonderful. Having children that look up to you and depend on you for everything is wonderful. Knowing that by rocking the cradle, your hand "rules the world" is awesome. The influence we have on our children as they grow up is immense. Mothers help in guiding their children to become responsible, loving, God-fearing adults. That is amazing.
What these poor mothers that are bored did not understand when they decided to become mothers is that it's not about them. If someone becomes a mother so they will be uplifted, fulfilled, and generally revered, they got into it for the wrong reasons. Someone that takes a break from their "real life" to become a mother and experience the joys of motherhood just doesn't get it. It's not about the mom being fulfilled. It's not about the mom feeling wonderful. It's all about the children having a loving home and being raised to be responsible, loving, God-fearing adults.
Mothering is not glamorous. It is hard work. It is the hardest work you'll ever do. It is not only the hardest work you'll ever do, but it is also probably the only work you'll do 24/7 with no pay. You'll be changing diapers, wiping noses, cleaning spilled milk, reading the same book for the 50th time, watching Barney on TV, singing children's songs over and over, cooking meals the kids don't want to eat, cleaning the same room several times a day, etc. If this doesn't sound appealing to you, don't have a baby. If it doesn't sound appealing to you, you'll get bored.
Now, for the rest of us who find all of the above exciting, motherhood will be a joy. Mothers that aren't bored know they will be doing mundane, repetitive chores everyday for as long as it takes her little brood to fly the nest. Mothers that aren't bored know that anything worthwhile is hard work. Mothers that aren't bored receive their pay in hugs and kisses. They know that their bonuses are the precious dandelion flowers their 3 year old brings to them with grubby little hands, the rocks their 4 year old lovingly hands to them with pride. They know that, eventually, their little guys will grow up and leave them. Then, their pay is in seeing their children treat their spouse with love and respect, see them become responsible members of society and see them lovingly do the mundane chores of raising children that she did.
While our media reports that mothers are bored and should finally come out of the closet and admit it, the rest of us that know better are quietly wiping noses, cleaning spills, and watching Barney as our children "rise up and call her blessed".
Friday, May 18, 2007 - It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
No, it's not Christmas I'm referring to. This is the most wonderful time of the year. This is the time of year when we are obviously nearing the end of our many books we've been working on all year. I love it. At the beginning of the school year, there is a sense of excitement as we bring out our new books we are going to study from. The end of the school year brings us the satisfaction of a job well done.
This year we have been reading the Uncle Eric Series (my 14 and 15 year olds and myself). They have been very interesting. They have sparked some considerable debate. Richard Maybury (Uncle Eric) has introduced us to the "rest of the story" so to speak. He has definitely given us many things to think about.
My 11 year old and I have read through Apologia's Exploring Creation With Zoology. It is a study of the flying creatures from the 5th day of Creation. We really enjoyed the easy going pace of this book. There are lots of activities to do in the book, but being the laid back home schooler that I am, we chose not to do many of them. Besides, we were involved in a co-op that had a great nature class. I left all the exciting dirty work to them. The Zoology book has great pictures and a conversational style of writing that makes it feel like you've got Mrs. Fulbright right in the room with you.
Our biggest struggle this year has been with math. We use Saxon and are happy with the program. We've just had some unavoidable interruptions during this last half of the year that caused a few problems with math.
This year, my 15 year old has working independently in Advanced Math. That always scares me a little when they work independently. Not because I don't think they can do it, but I'm not keeping up with them and then when/if they have a question, I can't answer it. Thankfully, he hasn't ad any problems.
My 14 year old has been working in Algebra 1. Math is not his strong point, but he's not bad at it either. He got about half way through the book (well, maybe 1/3 of the way through) and started making 70s consistently. I let it go a while think he would finally get out of his slump, but he didn't. We decided to do some remedial math with him for a while. We'll start back in Algebra 1 at the beginning of next year and give him another shot. Sometime, they just aren't ready for it yet. I think he'll do fine next year.
My 11 year old is working in Saxon 7/6. He does fine with it, we just got behind. We're doing about 8 lessons a week right here at the end. I think we'll get finished with most of the book. We'll start in 8/7 next year.
Jonathan has been learning to read this year (he is now 6). We are using Reading Made Easy by Valerie Bendt. This is the first year I've used this phonics program. It has been a good choice. It has no bells and whistles. It is not in color. There are no cute little readers. When I first started home schooling I thought everything needed to be fun and exciting. Reading Made Easy is simple, and down to earth. it's purpose is to teach reading. Jonathan has learned that very well. We are about half way through with the book. He was a little slow catching on, but now we're doing a lesson a day and he thinks it's great fun. He likes to pick books off his shelf and read them. That to me is success in reading.
We've done a lot of reading aloud together this year. We've almost finished reading through the New Testament twice. We read 1 Peter this morning. We should have it done by the time we're through with school. We've also read: King Arthur and The Knights of the Round Table, we started A Tale of Two Cities and didn't finish it, we're reading Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry. I know we've read others, but I can't think of them right now. I really need to keep better records.
Our biggest project this year was the string orchestra. We had 16 kids involved. Three of my kids were in it. One accompanied us on the piano., another learned to play the viola and the last learned to play the cello. It has been lots of fun. We had a concert Monday. I hope to have pictures and music for you to hear in the next few days.
Back to my original thought. It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. School is about through and we can look forward to the many plans we have for the summer. Of course, learning isn't about to come to an end, just what we call school around here. Learning is a never ending process for the whole family. I hope you have all had a great year.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007 - Shakespeare in the David Crockett National Forest
Spring is in the air. I'm not big on getting outside and doing all the great nature things that so many home schoolers do. Thanks to some great friends, I've been made/forced/strongly encouraged to get out there and enjoy God's great creation. Today we visited the David Crockett National Forest. We are in East Texas, so you pretty much just step outside and you're in a forest, but we drove to Boykin Springs and saw some neat things I had never seen before.
We got to see a Red Cocaded Woodpecker's habitat. We didn't see any of the woodpeckers, but we saw where they lived and heard them. It was really neat. The live among the long leaf pines. As you can see from the picture, these are very tall pines.
Then we got to see some pitcher plants. These are the neat plants that eat insects. They were about 1 foot or more tall. I didn't know we had those kinds of things around here.
Here are some pictures of the group listening to our guide talk about the woodpeckers. There were about 20 kids and 7 or 8 adults.
So, you may be asking where Shakespeare comes in. This field trip was part of our Charlotte Mason Co-op we've been working with all year. Since we were about 30 minutes from home, we just did the rest of our co-op classes out at the national forest. The kids sat under the trees and did their Shakespeare (As You Like It) and studied Latin.
I have a fond memory of this recipe. When I was young we went to visit my Aunt Norma. We arrived at her house after dark. She had fixed us a huge pan (at least to a little kid it looked huge) of Mexican Cornbread. I absolutely loved it. After I married, I was able to get the recipe from her. It is a great crowd pleaser and very easy to prepare.
Ingredients:
1 pound browned hamburger
1 cup corn meal
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 can cream style corn
1/2 cup oil
1 large onion minced
1/2 pound longhorn cheese
3 to 4 jalepenos
Mix all ingredients well.
Bake at 350.
Sorry, but I don't have an exact cooking time. I always just cook it until it is done. You'll know it, because the house will smell so good.
My family has finally arrived. We have made it to You Tube. The Old Schoolhouse put on a photo contest. I submitted some photos and was pleased with the video presentation that was made using my pictures and others. Mine are the cute boys on the swing set, the family in black and white on the playground equipment, little boy picking blueberries (carrying a white bucket), and the black and white flag.
Friday, January 12, 2007 - School Is Underway -- Again
I was definitely ready to get going again. The holidays were a great break, but all good things must come to an end. We all needed to get back on a schedule. I started a week later than I should've because of commitments to my Bible class.
We'll be doing basically the same thing as we did the first half of the year. We're reading Treasure Island together. We are also reading the New Testament again. We began reading the Bible last year and finished just before the Christmas break. I thought reading the New Testament again so soon would be a great profit to all of us.
The boys are doing their co-op classes again. These classes start right after our string orchestra. The moms involved in the co-op (many have kids in the orchestra) have told me I didn't have to stay with the kids. They knew that I needed to get errands (grocery shopping) run on Mondays. Last semester I never took them up on it. I hated the idea of dumping my kids on them for the afternoon. Well, Mondays were very hectic last semester. So, I dropped the kids off and Danny and I took the 2 little boys grocery shopping. We were through with everything by 2:30. It was wonderful.
Today is Christmas Eve. I do admire people that work so hard at keeping things religious this time of year. I think they are doing what the think is best, but we don't celebrate Christmas as Christ's birthday. It's not that we have anything against the birth of Christ. It was truly a miraculous event that I'll never grow tired of hearing and reading about.
God doesn't, anywhere, tell us to celebrate Christ's birthday. He tells us to remember his death and has given us a simple ceremony to keep the death of Christ in front of us. This we do on the first day of the week, as God instructed.
So why not Christmas? I don't know why God didn't choose for us to celebrate Jesus' birth. Maybe it's because He knew we'd make a big commercial event out of it. Maybe it's because it is not the most important thing. Maybe, God wants us to remember Christ's death above all else.
What is important that we obey God's word. We do things His way. We are not given the liberty to live and worship according to what makes us feel good. We are told to obey God His way. I find it interesting that God didn't give us a whole lot of do's and dont's. He didn't give us a lot of ceremonial festivities that had to be done just so so. God did that for the Jews. That's what the whole Old Testament tells us.
God chose to give us a better law. A law of liberty. It is so simple, in fact, that we just can't seem to abide by it. We always want to make things complicated -- because it makes us feel religious.
1. God gave us a simple plan of salvation that involves us changing our lives and humbly submitting ourselves to God.
2. God gave us a simple plan of worship that involves us individual and collectively singing praises, praying, studying, and partaking of the Lord's Supper.
3. God gave us a simple institution (the Church) that has a very loose organization -- elders oversee those that are among them, deacons take care of the physical needs of those among them, saints work together to build each other up and help each other to Heaven
I hope you have a wonderful holiday season and maybe find some time to dig a little deeper into God's word to find out what it is He really wants from us.
Sunday, November 5, 2006 - What Are We Teaching The Children?
As children grow up, we do our best to instill in them the truths of God. Have you ever wondered why some kids just don't get it? I have. I see kids that were taught the Bible. There parents were good parents. They were given every advantage possible to help them in their faith. Or were they?
Are we truly teaching our kids what God wants them to know? Are we truly instilling in them a desire to please our Heavenly Father? Are we making it absolutely clear that there is only one way, and if we follow that way, God will reward us? Or, are we teaching them to follow us (their parents)? Or to follow their preacher (pastor, youth director)? Or that we can pick and choose what to do out of God's will?
God is not a God of confusion. God wants all men to understand His will. If we study the Bible with an open mind and a prayerful heart, He will help us understand His will. God does not want us or our children to be confused. He wants us and our children to have total faith in Him. Faith that if we do His will, we will get to spend eternity with Him.
Some young people believe their parents can do no wrong. As much as we parents would like to think we do no wrong, we can't let our kids put their faith in us. As they grow, we need to teach them that God is the ultimate authority. They obey us because God commanded them to obey us. We instruct them in the ways of God because God commands us to do so. If our children's faith is in us (parents), what happens when we sin? What happens when we lose faith? If their faith is dependent on our faith, they will fall when we fall. We must teach our children to have faith in God. Then, if we fail them, they will not lose their faith.
We've had another prominent, nationally known preacher fail those that trusted in him. As of this writing, he's only been accused, not admitted guilt, but the people that had faith in him are devastated. They have been seen on television showing their utter disbelief that this man that they "put my faith in" could've done anything wrong. There is the problem. Their faith was put in a man. Are we teaching our children that they should trust a man (any man)? Are we teaching them that those in position of honor and authority are to be treated as God? Our responsibility is to teach our children to trust in God and only God. If their faith and trust lies in God, it doesn't matter what men do, their faith will not waiver.
As we read and study the Bible, are we teaching our children everything it says, or just what we want to teach them? There are lots of things in the Bible that is very easy to teach our kids: don't steal, don't lie, don't commit adultery, etc. But there may be some things that kind of make us feel uncomfortable. Are we teaching our children the things that we don't feel comfortable with? The Bible says that there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, etc. What are we teaching our children when we teach that everyone is okay as long as they believe in Jesus? What are we teaching our children when we say that baptism is not necessary for salvation? What are we teaching our children when we say to "attend the church of your choice"? What about God's choice? Shouldn't we look to Him to see what He wants us to do?
How confusing is that? We teach that everyone that believes in Jesus is a Christian, but then read in the Bible that even the demons believe and shudder. Are they Christians? We teach that all the different faiths that are based on all their different creed books are okay, but then read in the Bible that there is one faith. How can many be the same as one?
We wonder why our children's faith falters when they ask God for something and He doesn't give it to them? Have we looked in the Bible to see if our prayers are even being heard? Have we taught our children whose prayers are heard? Do we even know ourselves? What are we teaching our children when we tell them that God will take care of our physical wants? Is that what the Bible teaches? Have we reduced God to our Big Daddy in the sky that just deals out physical blessings left and right? God promises to supply our every need -- not wants. Yes, we should ask Him to help us through trying times, but that doesn't mean He's going to give us help our way. He'll give us help His way. If we've taught our children that God will answer their prayers the way they want them answered, then what happens when He doesn't? Our child has nothing to base his faith on. He thinks God failed him. God didn't fail him, we as parents have taught him error. We failed him.
We need to be very careful when teaching our children about God. If we teach the wrong math facts, or teach something that is historically inaccurate, it might hinder our child's SAT score or other academic endeavor. If we teach error concerning God, our child's soul will be in trouble. It won't affect his SAT scores, it will affect where he spends eternity. When you study the Bible with your child (or on your own), it is so important to put aside what man teaches. Read and study it as if it is the first time you've heard it. If you find that what a man teaches is the same thing you are reading, that's fine. If you both submit yourself to obeying God's word, you can consider him a brother. If what your preacher/pastor/minister teaches is different than what is found in the Bible, you will have to choose who you will serve? God or man.
Let's not confuse our children by teaching parts of the Bible. Understand what the will of the Lord is and teach it to your children.
Saturday, October 7, 2006 - String Orchestra Update
It's been a while since I posted. I
thought I would fill you in on how our string orchestra is going.
This is a home school string orchestra. There are 16 musicians
ranging in age from 10 - 17. All but 4 of the students have had
previous music experience. They either have played the piano or
another stringed instrument. Seven of the student are my private
students. Six of those are taking on new instruments.
We
have 8 violins, 2 violas, 4 cellos and 2 basses. I have taught
violin, viola and cello before, but this is my first experience with a
bass. The 2 bass players are brothers. I have taught both
of them piano, but I'm teaching the younger one violin now.
Most
of the instruments are new. New strings on stringed
instruments have a period that they need to stretch. This means
that tuning is a major issue. The instruments can go out of tune
in just a few minutes. So, I'm tuning a lot. The first time
I tuned the bigger bass (it's a 3/4 size), I was a little
nervous. The strings groaned and groaned as I turned the tuning
peg. The smaller bass ( a 1/4 size) was much easier to tune and
handle.
Most
of the kids bought their instruments on Ebay. You can get some
really inexpensive instruments that way. I know most teachers
would turn their nose up at them, but I know that most home school
families don't have a lot of money. I want the kids to get an
instrument in their hands. If they learn to play it and want to
keep going, their parents can then put the money out for a better
instrument.
We
have been blessed with a recent college graduate helping us out.
He plays viola. He's in town for a year while he trains to
preach. He's been coming to the rehearsals to help out.
He's been great. He helps tune, offers pointers and gives one on
one attention to those that need it. I wish I had a picture of
him to show you. Maybe next time.
Home school parents are pretty talented. I am always amazed at the amount of talent home school parents have. I want to encourage everyone to use your talents. I think it's a common feeling that "if I can do this, anybody can". Well, that's not true. What one person finds enjoyable and easy to grasp, another is struggling to do.
I have home school mom friends that are great at: art, science, latin, shakespeare, tennis, and on and on. There are also moms (or dads) that are great at organizing things. These people need to step up and share their talent with others. There are ways you can use your talent to help others, your own kids and even maybe make some money to help pay for curriculum. You could:
Teach a class in your home
Teach or tutor privately
Organize a team or group activity
I've talked before about our wonderful support group here in East Texas. I just have to give them another big pat on the back. We have moms (and even home school graduates) that are sharing their talents with others. They are making themselves available to others that might not have an expertise in that area. Spanish classes, math classes, history classes, art classes, latin classes, Shakespeare classes, science classes.
The interesting thing about our group is the way they go about these classes. Our group is very loosely organized. We don't have a central leadership. We like it that way. Our moms and dads that want to offer something just jump in there and offer it. Several of the classes that are offered are not open to everyone. To control the amount of kids participating, they are by invitation only. When I first heard about these, I felt a little funny. I hated the idea of excluding someone that might want to participate, but I knew that these classes worked well.
Just as a for instance, last summer a mom noticed that her son was really into sword fighting. He had made wooden swords and wanted to use them. She invited boys that were her son's age over one Sat AM for a fun filled morning of sword fighting. Another mom has a daughter that is really into Little House books. She invited several girls her daughter's age to participate in activities that expanded on these books.
This way of planning classes puts responsibility on our moms and dads to get involved and meet other home schoolers. If you participate in activities, you're more likely to be thought of when another activity happens.
Several years ago, when we lived in another city, a mom decided that her kids needed to get involved with other kids. She was good at science, so she invited all the kids her boys' ages to a science class. Well, the first class had about 15 kids. That was a lot of kids. The class was great, but that was a lot of kids. Each time she had a class, more and more people had heard about the classes and her little science classes in her home grew to a very large amount of kids. She even expanded it to 2 different sessions.
Now, she had a large project on her hands. Her original intent was to get her boys to meet kids their age. What happened was there were so many people involved that her kids not only weren't getting to make meaningful relationships with new kids, they weren't getting to spend as much time with mom. She quit doing the classes. If she had invited just a few kids that were her boys' ages, she would've had a manageable amount of students that could've really gotten to know each other.
One way to control the class size is to charge a fee. That does control the class size, but it also leave out the kids who don't have the money to spend on activities. The fee helps the mom in charge pay for expenses that are involved in the class. It also helps keep the families involved committed. Many times, if something is offered totally free, then it is not given much priority. If a family has committed either their time or their money, then, they are going to be committed to the class.
This year I started a String Orchestra. I invited everyone and I charge a fee. I don't want to exclude anyone that can't afford it, but I do want the families to understand there is a level of commitment they have to make. They have had to buy an instrument, book and set aside 1 morning a week to the String Orchestra. That along with the fee gives me the confidence that these families are making music a priority.
Another class that I'm involved with has seen to it that all the families involved are participating in some way. Most of the moms are teaching. This type of involvement also ensures a commitment.
We don't have to a major organization that sets up activities for us. We can do great things in little groups. If you have a talent, even if you don't think it's that big of a deal, share it with others. You will be amazed at how much fun it is and how much everyone will benefit from it.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006 - To My Email Subscribers
Hi! I began to notice that I wasn't receiving email notification of my own blog's updates. So, I changed companies I do this with. If you have subscribed to this blog and haven't heard anything from me yet or in a while, it's not personal. Bloglet just wasn't working. I'm now using Feedblitz. I hope this one works better. Thanks for showing an interest in my blog. I hope you find it useful.
It is definitely that
time of year. I thought I would wait a week before starting
school, but with all the buzz about PS starting, I thought I'd grab the
moment while the enthusiasm was there. Well, some of the kids are
enthusiastic.
I'm working on individual schedules tonight. If you're interested in what we're doing this year, read on:
James (15 years old)
Reading With Family
Chemistry (Do Independently to start with)
Adv Math (Do tests until you no longer make an A -- then work independently)
American Literature (Meet with mom once or twice a week, but do most
work
independently)
Writing Strands (work independently)
Spanish (Go through Berlitz program independently)
Gov/Eco (Read 4 letters every day. Do Vocabulary as
assigned. Discuss with
Mom and Andrew daily)
Computer (continue independent study as time allows)
Speech (work with Dad towards giving talks at church)
Music (Continue with piano, song leading, etc.)
Andrew (13 Years Old)
Reading With Family
Biology (Do Independently to start with)
Algebra 1 (2 lessons a day every other day)
LLATL Gray Book (Meet with mom once or twice a week, but do most work
independently)
Writing Strands (work independently)
Greek (Work with mom Tuesday and Thursday)
Latin (Work with Mom Wednesday and Friday)
Gov/Eco (Read 4 letters every day. Do Vocabulary as
assigned. Discuss with
Mom and James daily)
Music (String Orchestra )
Timothy (10 years Old)
Reading With Family
Zoology (Work with Mom and Jonathan)
Saxon 65 (2 lessons a day every other day)
LLATL Purple Book (Work with mom, do independent work as assigned)
The summer is almost over. Well, I should say, school is about to start. Around here it stays hot throughout September. I've been having trouble getting motivated to start school. But, with a little help from my local support group, I think I'm about ready to get back into the swing of things.
We had our annual Home School Kick-Off night this week. This is the only regular meeting our group has. It is basically a time that everyone comes to see what is available for their child this year. Each activity has a table and a sponsor (usually a home school mom) where you can walk around, talk to the sponsor, sign your child up, or not. It is a great time to see people you haven't seen in a while, to connect with people that you want to do things with.
It is also a great time to the newbies. Thirty minutes before the main event gets started, we meet with the new home schoolers and give them information about our group and just let them know they aren't alone.
The only thing my boys wanted to do this year was to play soccer. They love soccer. Our home school soccer is very low key. It just lasts for 6 weeks each fall. The kids have a great time.
I'm trying to start a String Orchestra. I had a sign up sheet available that night, but no one was willing to commit. I'm going to give them until next week, then bring it up on our yahoo group. We'll see how it goes.
I had quite a few sign up for my Homeschooling 101. We'll have our first meeting August 29.
One a different note, I've been writing children's songs for my Bible class. I put them on my website so you can hear/see/print them out. I would love for you to take a look/listen and see if it's something you can use. You can find them here: Bible Class Songs
Friday, July 14, 2006 - Support Groups -- Who Needs Them?
Home schoolers tend to be independent. The very fact that a family homeschools means they are willing to go against the norm. They're willing to stick their neck out and do what they feel is best for their family. If home schoolers are so independent, then why are there so many home school support groups?
When I first began home schooling (many years ago -- 1991), I knew a few families that home schooled. I wasn't a member of a support group, but I had some casual support. One weekend, I attended a Greg Harris seminar in Houston. I walked into the auditorium and saw 500 people. I knew there were home schoolers out there, but I had never seen so many in one place at one time. I was amazed. The seminar was good, but the fact that I was sitting there with so many people that were doing the same thing I was doing was the best thing I got out of that weekend.
We need each other. It doesn't matter what we're doing, we want to be around other people that are doing it. If we're trying to lose weight, we seek a group of people doing the same. If we have a medical problem, we seek others who have been through it before. The list can go on and on. We need each other.
Home schoolers are no different. We need the support of those who are doing what we're doing. We need to hear the experiences of those who have been doing it longer than we have. We need the comraderie that comes with those of the same philosophies of life.
There are different types of support groups. It may be beneficial to participate in one or several at the same time. There are local support groups, regional/state support groups and special interest support groups.
What can the local support group do for me and my family? It can provide us with group activities such as field trips and co-op classes. It can provide us with opportunities for growth through seminars, book fairs and newsletters. It can provide us with contacts to experienced home schoolers, home schoolers that have the same interests I have, or home schoolers that just want to get together with others.
Well, what about the regional or statewide support group? This support group is a means of organizing the smaller support groups to enable them network more efficiently. It may put out a newsletter with information that covers a broader range than just your little area of the town or state you live in. It may provide a large convention with nationally recognized speakers and lots of vendors. It may provide a voice with your state government and keep abreast of the laws that are being passed that might affect home schoolers.
Then there are special interest support groups. These support groups might be relatively local (in a metropolitan area) or nation wide. They may band together people that are teaching children with learning disabilities, or those of a particular faith or those of a particular nationality. These groups may be all the support a particular family needs or just another resource that they use to aid them in their home schooling experience. Special interest support groups may offer regular meetings, seminars, magazines, newsletters or have a presence on the internet.
All of these support groups have a noble purpose and good intentions. So why haven't I stopped talking about support groups at this point. I want to talk about some of the negative aspects of support groups. Let me say before I go further that as of this writing, I have home schooled for 15 years in 3 different cities in Texas. I have been a member of various types of support groups and I have even done some of my home schooling solo. I've seen the good, the bad and the ugly of home school support groups.
When I first began home schooling, I was in a town that had no local support group. I knew a few families that were home schooling and we decided to start a group of our own. We set a time and invited anyone that was interested to come participate. I got a phone call from a representative of the regional support group in the area. She wanted to come help us get started. I didn't know why we needed help, but I told her to come anyway.
Our first meeting was attended by several families and this representative. We began making plans on what we wanted to do. We basically wanted to have a park day, go on some field trips and have a mom's night out. The representative spoke up and said that we must form an organization, elect officers, write by-laws and have a statement of faith. None of us saw a need for this. I asked why we would need a statement of faith. I was told that having people sign a statement of faith would keep the witches and devil worshipers out of our group. Well, that didn't make any sense to me. If there were witches and devil worshipers trying to infiltrate our group, I didn't see why they would have a problem signing the statement of faith even though they didn't believe in it.
To make a long story short, the meeting left us feeling a little disillusioned. We did start our loose support group, but another one was started that was done the "right" way. We had a wonderful time at our park days and field trips. I don't recall ever having a witch of devil worshiper among us.
Our next experience with a support group was in a different town. The support group was very rigid. The laws and statement of faith were quite controlling. In fact, the statement of faith stated that the support group was an extension of the family. Since it was an extension of the family, it should be organized like God wants the family organized. That meant that only men could be leaders. I didn't get the connection. I've never thought of a support group as an extension of my family. I don't recall ever reading in the Bible where there was a husband, wife, children and suipport group. This group controlled every activity that wanted to associate itself with them. They wanted to control money paid to co-op teachers, who these teachers could be etc. It seemed the independence of the home schooler was forgotten and the support group had turned into an organization that had outgrown its purpose.
The support group we're involved with now is very loose. No organization except an email group. No elected leaders, no by-laws, no statement of faith. This loose organization has been the most peaceful I've ever been a part of. We're just a bunch of families that are home schooling our kids.
I have never understood why parents would take their kids out of school so they could be in control of what they taught their children and then turn around and sign on with a group of people that wanted to tell them how to home school their kids.
The perfect support group would offer some activities for the kids to get to know one another (field trips, park days, co-op classes), some activities for the moms and dads to socialize (mom's night out, family nights, seminars) and a means to keep in touch with each other (newsletter, blog, yahoo group).
If you are being asked to spend a lot of time doing support group sponsored events, you might want to reconsider your priorities. If you're being asked to sign papers stating your allegiance to the group or the groups beliefs, you might reconsider if you haven't jumped from the frying pan (public school system) into the fire (home school system). If you're being asked to spend money for things that don't benefit your family (monthly or yearly dues), you might want to reconsider if this is really the best way to spend your money.
Well, do I recommend you join a support group? Yes. It is a great way to gain the confidence you need to do what you're doing. But, be careful that the "tail doesn't start wagging the dog". Remember what your goals are and that it is your family.
Saturday, July 8, 2006 - Are You Homeschooling Or Doing School At Home?
So you've decided to homeschool. That's great! Are you going to bring school home or are you going to home school? Yes, there is a difference.
Doing school at home might go something like this:
At 8:30 the mom/teacher and children/students are in their schoolroom with desks lined up in a row. They work through their textbooks, filling in worksheets, preparing for the end of unit test. The teacher is kept busy grading papers and keeping the students focused on their work. At 3:30, they leave school at the schoolroom door, teacher turns back into mom, and students turn back into her children. This is done 5 days a week using a typical school calendar.
Homeschooling will probably look more like this:
At 8:30 in the morning, one child is practicing the piano, another curled upon the couch reading a book about George Washington, mom is in the schoolroom listening to the 6 year old read, while the toddler is playing with his cars at her feet.
After awhile, they all gather in the Living Room to listen while mom reads from the Bible and from Louisa May Alcott's book Little Men. Then while mom nurses the baby, the others go outside to play. They get interested in a frog in the garden and rush inside to ask questions about it. One writes about it in his journal, while another draws pictures of it.
After working on math and other academic activities they all eat lunch. The afternoon is filled with activities such as co-op classes with other homeschoolers, park day or running errands with mom.
What is the difference between homeschooling and doing school at home?
Homeschooling parents realize that learning is not limited to a schoolroom. Instead, learning happens all day, all over the house inside and out. While there is a certain amount of "book work" to be done, the "book work" does not dominate the schedule. Trips to the grocery store offer lessons in economics. Playing in the yard teaches about weather, seasons, insects etc., going to the local museum teaches about history.
Homeschooling parents also discover that they are not teachers in the traditional sense. Their job is to provide their children with the experiences and resources they need to help them grow into responsible, God fearing adults. At times, this comes from play time, visiting grandparents, doing chores, or watching TV (yes, carefully chosen TV programming can really be useful). At other times this comes from sitting down with pencil and paper and working those math problems.
Homeschooling is an extension of what parents do from the moment their children are born. Instead of helping them learn to walk and talk, they are now helping them learn to read and do Algebra.
Eighteen years after sitting my 5 year old down for his first day of school, we're still at it. We've graduated 2 and have one ready to graduate this year. Three more are working slow and steady at learning what they need to know to be the kind of adults God wants them to be.
Jonathan is my sweet 6 year old. He is the 5th of 6 boys in our home. He is officially a full-time student in our home school. Last year, we began phonics, but we just worked about 3 days a week and spent about 15 minutes on those days. This year, he is participating in our co-op and is doing 4 subjects in school.
