Spirit-led Living and Homeschooling - Homeschool Blogger

YWAM Publishing Helps Us Learn History through Literature

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:10:00 -0500

I’m a firm believer in teaching history through the use of good literature. My oldest is 14, and so far all we’ve used for History and Social Studies are “living” books.

Our family really enjoys the Heroes of History and Christian Heroes: Then and Now biographies published by YWAM Publishing. So far we have every one published. Beginning in 5^th or 6^th grade, my children start reading these wonderful stories for their history. They’re reading about real people of character who changed the world. Many of the Christian biographies are about people that most textbooks wouldn’t mention, but they are important in contemporary Christian history.

My 14 year old daughter, Emily, likes YWAM biographies “because they don’t just tell about the person’s greatest accomplishments. They actually tell about their lives and that makes you care about the characters more.” They are interesting enough to keep the attention of children young and old alike. They’re easy to read yet are interesting even for teens or adults. Check out the books yourself at YWAM publishing. YWAM Publishing BTW, they also have Unit Study guides for many of these biographies. They also have some of them written and illustrated for younger children.

As my children get older, I’m being stretched and my convictions are being tested. It’s very tempting for me to turn to a textbook to teach history. So far, I have resisted. As Emily loves history, I don’t want to do anything to turn her away from it, and I’m sure that a textbook focused on getting in all the facts and dates and major events would do that. While I’m looking for that “perfect” book that is interesting, complete, and Christian in worldview, I will continue to let her get her history in by way of biographies and historical fiction. Since my daughter and son have both read all 46 Heroes biographies that YWAM offers, we will next be purchasing their International Adventures biographies, such as Bruchko and Dayuma and Peace Child which are for teens through adults. Again, you can check these out at YWAM Publishing .

Okay, I know I’m totally on the YWAM bandwagon here. I’ve bought a lot of our best books from them and I just have to give them a plug. I’ll tell you that on the books they carry, they have the best price of anyone. I’m one to shop around to get the best price and I know it’s true. So let me tell about some other books we’ve gotten from them and that they offer, many of which we’ve used for History as well.

My daughter has enjoyed The Daughters of Faith series and she and my son both like The Guardian series, The Reel Kids Adventures series, Wally McDoogle series, Jim Elliot DVD, William Tyndale DVD, and others. Other books we’ve gotten for our homeschooling through YWAM are Annals of the World, Exploring the World Around You, It Couldn’t Just Happen, Men of Science-Men of God, and the Wonders of Creation series. The Wonders of Creation series is a good series which I would recommend for 5^th through 7^th or 8th grades.

I know there are other books we’ve gotten through YWAM. Guess I’ll tell about those another time. I hope this has helped someone. I’ve spent so much time scouring the internet, catalogs and bookstores for good books for my children, that I’m glad when I can let others know of my discoveries.

Teaching Children about Spiritual Hunger

Wed, 8 Jul 2009 23:41:00 -0500

I shook the milk jug with my fake milk--cornstarch in water--toward the kids at children's church last Sunday. "The Bible is like milk," I declared. "It nourishes you--it feeds you--so you can grow." The children stared at me waiting for more. They're such sweet children and want to know the truth. They were expecting me to explain this mystery of how the Bible feeds us. "It's like food for the spirit," I expounded. I picked up my big Bible and held it up to add clarity to the concept. They continued to stare. Some had heard this concept before and relaxed at the familiarity of it. Others continued to stare blankly. Wonder what they were really thinking. I just can't guess.

Then the idea came to me. "How many have ever been hungry. How many know that feeling in your stomach called hunger pangs." Surprisingly, a few didn't raise their hands. (Ah, America. We're well-fed.) "Well," I continued, "when you were a baby you learned what it feels like to be hungry. You felt that pain in your stomach, you cried, you were fed some milk and felt all full and good inside. You found out that when you had that pain in your stomach that you were hungry and you wanted milk. You don't even remember it, because it was when you were a tiny baby." They like this. Kids like hearing about when they were babies because they can't remember it.

"Well, we don't seem to learn so easily what it feels like when our spirits are hungry and we have to teach ourselves to know. Sometimes you will feel lonely or kind of empty inside. You might feel like something isn't quite right or that something is missing. THAT means your spirit is hungry. You need to spend time reading or hearing the Word of God--the Bible. Or you can remember verses you have learned. You need to spend time with God--praying or worshiping and listening." OH! I could see the look of understanding spreading across many of their tiny faces. Because at five or six or seven or eight years old, most have already felt this spiritual hunger. They didn't know what it was. I hope that they have learned what it is and learn to feed their spirits before they get used to the feeling of being hungry all the time--and think it's normal or inevitable.

12 Year Old's Speech on Abortion

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 11:30:00 -0600

I received this today in an email. It's a great example of a winning speech given by a 12 yo girl given at her public school. Because of the subject matter, it would be great to show older children if they're working on speech writing/giving. It's also a great example of a young person standing up for their convictions in the face of opposition. Read the article here: 12 Year Old's Winning Speech on Abortion

20 Great Reasons You Homeschool

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:36:00 -0500

What Can I Do with a Major in...

Sat, 6 Oct 2007 20:12:00 -0500

I just found this neat site that lists jobs/careers/businesses you could pursue with a degree in different fields of study. It's a great idea for those considering college to look through and maybe investigate more.

"What Can I Do with a Major in...?"

My degree was in English. Hmmm, wonder why "homeschool mom" isn't listed.??

If you have more resources on this topic, please post it in the comments. Thanks!

Socialization

Sat, 2 Jun 2007 13:38:00 -0500

I borrowed this from another blog--who borrowed it from another site. It's great, though, so I'm adding it.

Free Online Books for Homeschool and Book Lists, too

Wed, 30 May 2007 21:25:00 -0500

I’ve been collecting more free online books and book lists for homeschool to share…

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/ The Making Of America

http://www.eclectichomeschool.org/resources/booklists/default.asp

a list of recommended books by subject with descriptions of the books

http://www.thehomeschoolmom.com/schoolroom/onlinebooks.php

a list of sites with various online books for homeschool. This site also has other free homeschool resources.

http://www.fullbooks.com/   Lots of online books

http://www.monergism.com/free_online_books.php   Online Christian books. (Luther, Calvin, Matthew Henry’s commentary, Foxes Book of Martyrs, Jonathon Edwards, Pilgrim’s Progress and others.)

http://www.blackmask.com/index.php Many online books in various formats. You don’t have to be a member to download books, though it looks like you do.

http://www.malaspina.org/home.htm Has literature by time period, subject and discipline and includes online “great books”.

http://eserver.org/ Iowa State University online literature program—classics to modern

http://www.truelightacademy.com/truth.html A nice list of recommended books by age level.

http://ota.ahds.ac.uk/    Oxford University online books and texts

http://www.bookpop.com Listen to children’s books online written by the author

http://www.bnl.com/shorts/          Classic short Stories

http://www.sonnets.org/    English Sonnets

http://www.hbook.com/booklists/default.asp Reviews and Recommendations for children’s and young adult literature

http://www.poets.org/   Search for Poetry and poets and also organized by state

Mark Harris' Tribute to Virginia Tech - Wish You Were Here

Tue, 29 May 2007 16:12:00 -0500

You can hear Mark Harris' tribute to Virginia Tech at his site: www.markharrisonline.com It should be the first song that plays and is called "Wish You Were Here."

Video Testimony of Lauren McCain--Homeschooled student who died in the VT tragedy

Tue, 29 May 2007 15:20:00 -0500

Lauren McCain was a Virginia Homeschooled student who died in the shootings at Virginia Tech in April. Campus Crusade taped Lauren McCain's Christian testimony at Virginia Tech on February 22, 2007. Her dad, David McCain, sent the link out to friends and well-wishers.

You'll find Lauren's testimony to be enthusiastic and possibly something that would encourage your families.

Also, please continue to remember her family in our prayers, as well as the families and friends of the other victims. Please also pray for the churches and ministries in our community as they still have many opportunities to minister to students and faculty because of this tragedy and will have even more when the VT students come back in August.

Lauren McCain's Testimony: http://www.starshellmedia.com/lm_video.htm

John Taylor Gatto Online -- Articles, Mp3's, and The Underground History of American Education

Sun, 6 May 2007 23:04:00 -0500

"...‘How will they learn to read?’ you ask, and my answer is ‘Remember the lessons of Massachusetts.’ When children are given whole lives instead of age-graded ones in cellblocks, they learn to read, write, and do arithmetic with ease, if those things make sense in the kind of life that unfolds around them."

– John Taylor Gatto

"It’s absurd and anti-life to be part of a system that compels you to sit in confinement with people of exactly the same age and social class. That system effectively cuts you off from the immense diversity of life and the synergy of variety; indeed it cuts you off from your own past and future, sealing you in a continuous present much the same way television does..."

– John Taylor Gatto

Have you read these articles by John Taylor Gatto? They’re worth reading—and printing out to share! They will make you glad you’re homeschooling—or help you to decide to homeschool. I’m going to print some of them out to make them available for people who are thinking of homeschooling or who have relatives with objections to it.

I’ve found quite a few articles, several mp3’s to listen to while you browse the web and if you have lots of time on your hands, John Taylor Gatto’s latest book, The Underground History of American Education is online at his website at http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/chapters/index.htm . You can even take his History of Education Tour at http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/historytour/history1.htm

(For those you don’t know, John Taylor Gatto is a former award-winning school teacher from New York. He’s written some excellent books on education which address the problems of our public education--coming from a secular perspective and first hand experience.)

The Six Lesson Teacher
http://www.afhe.org/resources/articles/gatto_the_six_lesson_schoolteacher.pdf

What an Educated Person Must Know
http://www.afhe.org/resources/articles/gatto_what_must_an_educated_person_know.pdf

Teacher of the Year Acceptance Speech, 1990
http://www.afhe.org/resources/articles/gatto_teacher_of_year_speech_1990.pdf

The Nature of Public Education
http://www.homeschooloasis.com/art_john_taylor_gatto.htm

Dumbing Us Down The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling
http://www.homeeducator.com/FamilyTimes/articles/10-4article4.htm

What Really Matters, part 1
http://www.life.ca/nl/40/gatto.html

What Really Matters, part2
http://www.life.ca/nl/41/gatto.html

Why Schools Don’t Educate
http://www.naturalchild.org/guest/john_gatto.html

A Short Angry History of American Forced Schooling
http://4brevard.com/choice/Public_Education.htm

The Seven Lesson School Teacher
http://www.worldtrans.org/whole/schoolteacher.txt

The Public School Nightmare: Why fix a system designed to destroy individual thought?
http://www.dvschool.org/psngatto.htm

Personal Solutions, Family Solutions
http://www.life.ca/nl/45/gatto.html

Against School: How Public Education Cripples Our Kids and Why
http://www.spinninglobe.net/againstschool.htm

Absolute Absolution
http://www.spinninglobe.net/absolution.htm

We Need Less School Not More
http://www.spinninglobe.net/lesschool.htm

Institutional School Must Be Destroyed
http://www.spinninglobe.net/institsch.htm

Nine Assumptions of Schooling--and Twenty-one Facts the Institution Would Rather Not Discuss
http://www.spinninglobe.net/9assumptions.htm

Confederacy of Dunces: The Tyranny of Compulsory Schooling
http://www.spinninglobe.net/condunces.htm

The Underground History of the United States – You can read the whole book online here.
http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/chapters/index.htm

Here are a lot of mp3’s of John Taylor Gatto’s lectures or interviews including “Outing School”, “A Schooling is Not an Education”, “The Paradox of Extended Childhood, Real Purposes of Schooling”, “The Guerilla Curriculum”, and more. These are put on by Radio Free School. Be sure and click on the symbol at the left to “download” to play in Quicktime.
http://www.altruists.org/downloads/by_subject/others/education/

70 Minute Interview with John Taylor Gatto
http://www.teachmeteamwork.com/teachmeteamwork/files/john_taylor_gatto_sm.mp3

Videos of John Taylor Gatto
http://www.edflix.org/gatto.htm

The Paradox of Extended Childhood mp3
http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/multimedia/jtgsound_paradox.htm