• Tuesday, November 10, 2009 - God's Way for God's People, part 2
Posted By diamondsintherough
As happens any time you make a strong statement in a public forum, I drew fire with yesterday's post. Read the comments.
Here's the point.
If you educate God's way, you are better off.
If you choose to homeschool, you are better off doing it God's way.
If you spend your money God's way, you are better off.
If you worship God the way he prescribed, you are better off.
If you nourish your body God's way, you are better off.
If you train up your children God's way, you are better off.
If you attend the church of God's choice, you are better off.
If you choose your friends God's way, you are better off.
If you spend your time God's way, you are better off.
Not better. Better off.
Homeschooling is not the salvation of our children's souls. Homeschooling does not give me a guarantee that my kids will be saved, sanctified, and serving the Lord. But I can see it from here.
Not better. Better off. |
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• Monday, November 9, 2009 - God's Way for God's People
Posted By diamondsintherough
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 b ring 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?
Posted By diamondsintherough
• Nov. 9, 2009 - Aspects of writing
Posted By Debbie
November is NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). The goal is 50,000 words. My husband will probably meet this goal. I will probably write about 2,000 words. I am okay with this. To me, it is just motivation to put my ideas to paper. I don't have much time to work with, but am enjoying the process anyway.
My 12 year old daughter, Bethany, has always been a terrible speller. A year ago her spelling was consistent with dyslexia. She has made much progress. We did a year of Sequential Spelling and now use prepared dictation. Her spelling is sill not good but at least it is starting to make sense now. Progress is a good thing. I see her really trying to spell phonetically now. Her phonics based reading is starting to show flaws as she reads harder material, so that is something we are working on this year.
My 8 year old son, Andy, really resists writing all together. At best I get him to write one sentence a day, and that takes a good 30 minutes between the whining and the actual writing. His copywork is done with light strokes, and his letters, though legible, are typically formed in reverse (example: lower case a is drawn from bottom of stick to top and then clockwise around the circle). I have tried correcting his handwriting technique, but this only frustrates him. His free hand writing is somewhat shakey, hard pressing on the page, all capital letters, and seldom a finger space. He completely shuts down if I ask him to write a sentence without telling him exactly what to write. He has never liked coloring, and just this year started drawing a little bit. He does not like cutting with scissors. He complains that it is hard. He gets silly during the assignment time. He loves the computer and does not mind typing in small quantities. He loves reading, science, math (only if it is done orally), building with k-nex. I really don't know what to do. I need to know if he is resisting because it is truly hard or because he just rathers do something else. I need to know how far to push him and when or if to make accomodations. Any ideas?? |
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• Nov. 6, 2009 - To Make Lesson Plans or Not
Posted By Preparing The Way Home
| Making and using lesson plans can be good for keeping your sanity. They will keep you on track and help you to be accountable to yourself and to God. They don't need to elaborate and don't have to take hours of endless planning. It can be as simple as writing down the page numbers your children are to complete each day. This year I'm trying something new. I have two teenagers and on Monday mornings we sit down and they fill in the lesson plans, with my approval. This has been great, because It frees up my time and they get to be a part of planning their work load. It also let's your children see what they've accomplished and how much they have left. I think this has been one of the best ideas I've had yet! Don't forget the most important thing.. Lesson plans are to be your guide, not your master. So, if your children don't complete everything planned for the week, don't sweat it. Just move it to the next week and move on. |
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• Thursday, November 5, 2009 - A Visit to the Local High School
Posted By diamondsintherough
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.
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. 
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
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• Nov. 3, 2009 - Chasing Rabbits
Posted By Debbie
| Sometimes chasing rabbits makes for the best learning. Last week we finished the first Narnia book, The Magician's Nephew and then watched the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe movie. The opening scene of the movie takes place in London during World War II. My kids asked questions about what was happening as the children were being evacuated. This week we are exploring some of life during WWII. We are reading Anne Frank, Attack on Pearl Harbor-an Interactive History Adventure (the kind of book where you choose what action to take and turn to the designated page), Growing up in World War II. |
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• Wednesday, November 4, 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.
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:
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.
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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. 
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:
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),
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.) 
And finally, the month was finished off with a surprise package in the mail!
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
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• Sunday, November 1, 2009 - Couponing Progress = 0
Posted By diamondsintherough
Some of you dear friends are dying to know how my couponing is going. Well, it isn't. But that doesn't mean we haven't been talking about it around here. For evidence, I submit Amy's school assignment for today, in which she was to write a paragraph using five of her vocabulary words:
Some people have a hard time discerning that they spend too much money. Others are cautious and conscientious about spending, and have a limited amount that they'll spend. Others would like to spend less but they can't comprehend the system of using coupons. It seems ominous to them and soon the desire to learn wanes to a lower caliber. From their perspective couponing is for ladies that live in big cities. So after she tries and fails, the average lady will become content with her grocery spending and her paramount concern will become finding a different way to save money.
Well done. She went above and beyond the call of duty and used eleven of her words.
I am not doing as well. I can't get the hang of the schedule. Grocery ads out on Wednesdays, drug store ads out on Saturdays, right? No. Wait. That would be Sundays. Before I get my act together the next ad is out. And all those expiry dates. I have a hard enough time getting my church letter out on time once every other month!
A friend sent me this link today. This one. Some smart woman back east only buys what she can get for free or near free. She spends, on average, $4 a week on groceries for her family of six. !!! We have six. How does she do this? How does she get anything free, coupons or no? Say you have a coupon for 25¢ off spaghetti. Even on triple coupon day that spaghetti is still going to cost about 25¢. The manufacturers of the cheapo brands don't print coupons, and the way normal people (that's me -- I'm normal, right?) use coupons, it is cheaper to buy the off brand with NO coupon than it is to buy the name brand with. I don't get it.
And THEN, this woman has a members-only website where you can see all the deals, plus a forum with more deals. It's only $1 a year, but how much money do you think she makes in one year just from this? She's an enterprising soul. Why didn't I think of that? I'll tell you why. It's because the inside of my brain looks like this:
Honest.
...Most of the items on sale at CVS/Walgreens/RiteAid/Target are things I never buy. Guess if I figured out how to get it for free, I'd buy it. Okay, I'm not a complete dummy. I did okay in college, and I did pretty well in math. Maybe I'm only text-book smart, and not real life smart. Is that it? Don't answer that. Maybe I'm not even textbook smart anymore.
I never used to care much about coupons. I thought they were kind of a bother, and not worth the trouble. But lately I have been praying for a way to add to the household income without leaving the house. Is the Lord showing me that the answer is not to get more, but to spend less? I can go for that if he'll fix my wiring.
Maybe I need to start a local couponing club. Anyone interested? We could help each other figure this thing out. Come on, friends, move on out here to the desert where it's nice and warm all winter, and we'll all get rich on couponing. Merlynn Randall, you are appointed president of our new club. We'll call it Cactus Clippers, or something like that. (Help.) |
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• Oct. 31, 2009 - Living Philippians 2:14
Posted By Misti
Philippians 2:14-16 "14Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe 16as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing."
God has really been dealing with me about this passage for the past 6 months or so. He has gently pointed out every time that I complain about ANYTHING. It seems that I can't complain anymore and "get away" with it. The Holy Spirit is right on top of me. I am so thankful though because I have discovered that the act of complaining can really affect your whole attitude. Just as the act of gratefulness/thankfulness can also change your whole attitude.
Unfortunately, I am also much more aware of others who complain as well. I have been somewhat shocked and disappointed at how often people who claim to be "in Christ" complain about practically everything.
It is not only a bad testimony and witness as a Christian, but also affects their attitudes and the attitudes of those around them. Complaining seems to breed more complaining.
Let's look at the Scripture and see WHY God wants us to "do everything without complaining."
It says if you don't complain and argue, you are "blameless and pure...without fault" in a generation/culture that is "crooked and depraved." Basically, our culture is full of godless complainers. When we live differently by NOT complaining, we "shine like stars." That means, BOY do we stand out as being different.
"As you hold out the word of life" or basically, walk out your Christian walk...you will be able to say that you "did not run or labor for nothing." You can destroy your Christian testimony by complaining. If you share Jesus with somebody, but complain about anything and everything, it will not draw them to the Savior that you claim to follow. On the other hand, if you share Jesus and truly show a good attitude, thankfulness and a non-complaining attitude as you "shine like stars", others WILL notice and want what you have.
I challenge you to ask God to hold you accountable in the area of complaining. Not just in your speech, but in your emails and everything you type online. You will notice those around you complaining less, and you will also notice a change in your attitude. I promise.
In closing, the Message Bible puts it this way:
14-16Do everything readily and cheerfully—no bickering, no second-guessing allowed! Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night so I'll have good cause to be proud of you on the day that Christ returns. You'll be living proof that I didn't go to all this work for nothing. "
So go on out there and be a "Breath of fresh air" to this "polluted society!" |
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