Happy New Year's  everyone! I hope your holidays were infused with memories.   There is always a sigh of relief  that comes after Christmas Day as you realize  that the hustle and bustle is over for another year.  

Now it is time to think about the beginning of a new year.  I always feel that New Year's is similar to the first day of the school year.  There is a sense of  anticipation of the plans you have for the New Year as well as their being  a sense  of  newness.  You can let go of any negativity that happened during the last few months and start all over again in January.   You can start with a fresh slate.

The New Year is a time to take stock of all that has happened in the first part of the school year.  Are you happy with the results?   If you are not happy with how the last few months have played out then take time to think long and hard as to why, exactly, things are not working.  

Is the problem with your curriculum?   Is it too workbook-y  for your child?  Is it too teacher-intensive for you?    Does it meet your child's learning style, as well as your  teaching style?  

Is the problem with your schedule?  Is it too rigid, too time-intensive?  Or is it too relaxed to the point that you aren't getting anything done?  Maybe a rhythm-type schedule would work better for you.  Many homeschoolers start their learning time  first thing in the morning.  Maybe that doesn't work for you.  Maybe starting later in the day, even in the afternoon  would work better for your family.   After starting  school in the morning for 5 years, our family has started our learning time after lunch and that has worked so much better for us 

The problem might just be with your philosophy.  It just might be that the way you are educating your child resonates with you but not so much with your children.   I found myself in that situation.  A Classical Education resonates so strongly with me.  I know that if I could be educated over again,  I would  love to be educated in this manner but it doesn't work for all of my children.  So I have spent this last year   trying to think if it is possible to achieve a happy medium.  So far,  it isn't working very well, but I am not giving up.

I want to encourage you if you are having difficulties in your learning time, to take  the next few days and think deeply as to what exactly is the problem.  Then slowly  try to come up with some solutions.  These ideas might not work, so be ready to go back to the drawing board and fool around with more ideas.  It is very much a trial and error process but once you hit pay dirt, it is so rewarding for both yourself and your children.

 

Julia lives on the  Canadian Prairies  with her husband,  homeschooling their  3 children (10,8,6)  and is attempting to give them a Classical Education.  You can read more  at her blog.

                 

                   

                    

7 Up Pound Cake

                                                           

~From the kitchen of: Mrs. M~

                         

 1 &1/2 Cups softened butter

 3 Cups of white, cane, or raw sugar

 5 Eggs

 3 Cups of flour

 2 Tablespoons Lemon extract

 3/4 Cup room temperature 7 Up

 

 Directions: Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time.  Beating slightly after each one.  Add flour and lemon extract.  Fold in the 7 UP.  Pour into a greased and floured Bundt pan and bake at 325 degrees for 75 minutes! Cool about 30 minutes and flip out onto a pretty glass plate or fancy platter and let cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and cut into 32 wedges and serve.

Take time to bake this cake and you won't regret it! It takes no time to whip up and cooks for awhile so you have extra time to take a long soak in the tub. It is also very heavy so one piece does it, unless you're a guy!  Have a lovely lady over for tea, bring out the good china tea cups,  and have a wonderful laugh over good cake and a funny story! Enjoy my dear friends!  By the way, the picture is not my own and this cake is actually prettier!

Love in Him,
Maiden Princess

Thank you, MaidenPrincess, for this wonderful award!! I've SO enjoyed meeting and "getting to know" you through Homeschoolblogger! You have a wonderful heart and have been a wonderful encouragement through your blog!

As you celebrate Christmas this year, please remember all the parents who are still fighting for their right to homeschool, and for parents who have had their children taken from them by force without just cause because they homeschooled their children--like the Johansson family of Sweden. This Christmas we can rest easy knowing that the gifts that we bought for our children will help further their education or offer a new way for your family to have fun together. The Johanssons have been denied Christmas with their only child, and so much more. 

Tia Linschied
Senior Editor of HSB

Right Here; Within,

by Rosy : )

Within our very own walls people are hurting.
Within our very own walls people are crying.
Within our very own walls people are falling apart.
Within our very own walls people are searching.
Within our very own walls people are waiting.
Within our very own walls people are yearning.
Within our very own walls people are burning.
Within our very only walls there is shame being felt
and pain that is taking over.

Somewhere within our walls,
and within these lives,
things are happening.

Somewhere within the body someone is happy.
Somewhere within the body someone is helping.
Somewhere within the body someone is hiding.
Somewhere within the body someone is hurting.
Somewhere within the body someone is healing.

Outreach is a great thing,
but sometimes we need to go within our own walls
and within our own lives to reach out (in).
The battle never ends,
but God sends us into ALL the world.
That doesn't just mean overseas.
That means right here, right now.

Right here; within.

This poem was written by one of my good friends. She had it on one of the e-mails she had sent me as an encouragement and I really liked it. I asked her if she minded if I posted it on my blog and she didn't but she didn't think it was that good. I totally disagree! It's amazing!!!! It is so powerful and so true and a message each one of us needs to be reminded of today.

So, thank you Rosy for your encouragement to all of us, to be a healthy unit as the body of Christ so that we can continue to reach out to others. May we be found today as a person who will knit together the body and be there for the hurting, struggling, and pain-stricked members and point them to the only answer, The Father. He has all the answers, HE is all we need and all that will satisfy. He can solve every problem, wipe away every tear, and uphold us through all of life's rough times. The only way we can be there for the body is if we give them hope of Jesus and remind them of God's power and faithfulness. The only reason we can be there for them is because of Him!

Take the time to encourage a lonely girl, a hurting person, a down-trodden battle weary solider in Christ! Because He is the one who holds us all together, and without Him we are helpless in this world of insanity! Only He can bring peace into our hearts, only He can provide what we really need, only He can be our all in all, only He could give His one and only Son to die on a cross, a cruel and horrible death, to give us life abundantly and freedom from the domain of Satan. Take time to encourage the body today. It starts by taking out your Bible and reading it yourself so that you can be encouraged and have encouragement from other people.

Reaching In,

Maiden Princess

 

Thank You Mardi (www.iamadaughteroftheking.blogspot.com) for giving me this wonderful award! I really appreciate our friendship and the encouraging and challenging articles that you post on your blog!

"Praise the LORD, all nations; laud Him all peoples! For His lovingkindness prevails over us, and the faithfulness of the LORD is everlasting. Praise the LORD!"   Psalm 117

Just meditate on those words today and let them refresh your soul.

Because of His Grace,

Maiden Princess 

I’d rather walk in the dark with God than go alone in the light; I’d rather walk by faith with Him than go alone by sight. ~ Anon

This is so true!  How often I overlook the enormous blessing He gives me.    May we all strive to be consicious of the blessings, big and little, obvious and hidden. May we be found looking for His blessing all around us and not being guility of wasting any time we have been given by complaining about our circumstances. Hope you day has been blessed!

Looking To Him Alone,
Maiden Princess