The action packed adventures of a life lovin' Mom and her quest to surf the waves of life rather than getting swamped. Fancy a dip? http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/dearLordifeellikeawhale/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Tue, 5 Sep 2006 15:57:00 -0500 Tue, 5 Sep 2006 15:57:00 -0500 Sometimes, a litle wisdom goes a long way...   The greatest achievements were at first, and for a time, dreams.   The oak sleeps in the acorn.   (James Allen 1864-1912) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/dearLordifeellikeawhale/196745/ Tue, 5 Sep 2006 15:57:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/dearLordifeellikeawhale/196745/   Hey friends,   Ok, so I'm officially excited. I could bounce even higher than my kids on a trampoline, I could even run to the nearest mountaintop and shout my lungs out.    Why? Well today marks the launch of the Living Heritage blog. This is the official blog of the newest and freshest homeschooling organisation in the UK, launched this autumn. Do you love diving into classic literature with your kids? Interested in British architecture? Art? Historical greats? Enjoy some fun along the way? Check out our new blog www.homeschoolblogger.com/LivingHeritageUK. It's going to be updated regularly, put it on your friends list today!   Jane   (Living Heritage managing editor) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/dearLordifeellikeawhale/179469/ Mon, 7 Aug 2006 05:06:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/dearLordifeellikeawhale/179469/ Today we stuffed our lunches in bags, braved the M1 and went to the John Bunyan Museum in Bedford. Not just any old museum, no siree. This is the museum dedicated to the life and writings of John Bunyan and his world famous book 'Pilgrims Progress'. The museum is on the site of where he spent 12 years in Jail for preaching back in the seveteenth century. It houses Johns old anvil (he was a tinker) a huge key to his cottage, The actual wicket gate that the story begins with, his old violin and even the platter that his blind daughter mary used to bring him food on while in prison. Oh yes, not forgetting his handwritten will!   The kids and I were blown away. What a rich heritage.What an inspiration to proclaim Jesus as Lord. What a total privilege to have the opportunity to raise my kids in what is good and true.   Next term (Sep) we're going to be working on the Pilgrims Progress Homeschool curriculum by Answers in Genesis(currently one of Gena's picks) It's absolutely amazing and I can't wait to start! Jane http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/dearLordifeellikeawhale/164682/ Mon, 10 Jul 2006 15:29:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/dearLordifeellikeawhale/164682/ Coming soon 'Living Heritage' organisation, magazine and blog created  to equip, resource and inspire  UK Homeschoolers. I'm so excited about this, we've been working on it for a long time, TOS have been a wonderful support. Check out http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/homeschooluk It's going to be good! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/dearLordifeellikeawhale/156724/ Sun, 25 Jun 2006 14:45:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/dearLordifeellikeawhale/156724/ Now I love a good romp through the forest with my kids like any homeschooler. I love it when they initiate their own learning and adventure and discovery are round every corner. We have spent many an afternoon knee deep in mud exploring and debating the world around us. One of the definite advantages of homeschooling is indeed the 'white space' time for a child to create and explore their own way.   However, I'm feeling more and more uncomfortable with the style of home education in this country where ANYTHING goes, and education just supposedly happens regardless of what you're doing.  Here's my issue with it...   Surely, we are called to 'raise' our kids. This, to me, means not only giving them whitespace time to explore, but ALSO giving them opportunitiues to learn self discipline and getting to grips with some decent work. I want to be sure what they are well tooled up for the working world AND well tooled up in Godly character. This stuff doesn't just happen as they meander through life with barely any goals or direction!  Sure , autonomous learning has a place in a homeschoolers kit bag - but surely many more tools, and dazzling gems of learning we can also offer our kids. Jane     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/dearLordifeellikeawhale/99393/ Mon, 13 Mar 2006 15:17:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/dearLordifeellikeawhale/99393/ Alas, I'm just not great at gardening.   It's not that I don't like a fragrant garden of blooms and vegetables, I just some how can't do it. Each year I look at our square garden spilling over with climbing frames and plastic tea sets and I think 'This year I'll do it...'.   As I started to feel guilty that the kids were missing out on the wonderful joys of gardening that I have yet to discover, I took them to talk to a local gentleman who has been gardening his allotment practically since the dawn of  time. The kids were mesemerised as he talked of giant marrows and beans growing to the sky. I asked him, nonchanently, what his secret was (hoping for the key to my gardening va va voom) The answer from this gardening master?   "Water, wait, prune and water some more. Then just wait and trust."   It got me thinking...homeschooling is much the same.  Sure it involves the active business of teaching, traing and pruning. But it also involves waiting and trusting. Giving our kids the space to root in the well nourished ground, giving them opportunity to reach for the sun themselves...   Maybe this blossoming thing is for me after all!   Jane http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/dearLordifeellikeawhale/83066/ Sun, 12 Feb 2006 15:28:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/dearLordifeellikeawhale/83066/   There's a great entry on Gena's blog (TOS Publisher) about the 10 reasons why they homeschool. Well, here's the Bullivant family version...   1 We tried school. It sucked the spark out of my kids. It narrowed their social development. It cramped their creativity. It generated a 'whatever' attitude in the kids.   2 Homeschooling is a jungle track adventure. the family is interacting in the real world. There is no gulf between us all. It feels alive.   3. Unlike the schedule of school,The kids get opportunirty to persue interests. This afternoon my 7 year old has spent hours researching habits and care of squirrels (to his delight the squirrel in our tree has had kittens!)   4. They are confident to mix with all ages boys and girls, they're not interested in 'anti girl/boy gripes'. They are close with each other.   5 they are not sucked in by the shallow kid culture that is rampant in school. There imagination is not swamped by TV characters.   6. They are not rating themselves against other kids all the time. This has given them confidence to stretch themselves academically. They enjoy learning!   7 My youngest is not being 'dumbed down' by the label of 'preschool'. She joins in with the boys experiments and explorations.    8. Alongside the wealth of 'academic' stuff we explore, they are becoming well tooled up as responsible people. They learn to cook, manage plan and evaluate the stuff of real life.     9. They are growing in their faith of the living God every day. They think nothing of getting together for a quick pray. Our local school is headed by a very sweet lady, who also happens to be an atheist. A kind teacher, popular with the kids, also happens to be a gay rights activist. Sure that's their choice but It's so not right to submit my kids to damaging philosophies.   10 Homeschooling is fun!!!!     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/dearLordifeellikeawhale/69894/ Wed, 18 Jan 2006 11:24:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/dearLordifeellikeawhale/69894/ Life roars on in so often, I barely have time to think. But occasionally, between hoovering the hamster and attempting to bake, think is what I do.   I was just thinking what the deep longings of my heart are. If I was asked by God "Jane, what are the longings of your heart?" What would I say? Sure I have the mum -standard ones that our kids grow strong and true, that I be an honourable and beautiful wife. I also have one other deep longing that is a real big deal to me... Our middle boy, turbo charged Sam, has severe allergies. He's spent half his life wrapped head to toe in bandages because of eczema and now he's allergic to so many foods that he can't have 80% of stuff people usually have. His skin is cracked so bad sometimes. So, as a family we have such a limited diet it's untrue.    ANYWAY....the longing of my heart is that God would totally heal Sam. No holds barred, the full deal. I believe he can. Last summer God laid it on my heart to go and put Sam's creams on him and pray over him every night when he was asleep. So I did..... And I waited ....and I waited. I was waiting for God to do...something! Then I finally clicked on. It's not about waiting FOR God. I'm to sit with Sam and wait ON God. Just give the Lord  my heart, my life my little Sam. Rest in him.   My little guy  has just come down from bed now, itchy. So I'm going to go cream him up and wait on the Lord now.    Be encouraged friends, and wait on Him. He knows the deepest longing of your heart. Goodnight! Jane :) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/dearLordifeellikeawhale/66382/ Tue, 10 Jan 2006 17:34:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/dearLordifeellikeawhale/66382/  Sharks, apparently, grow to the size of their environment. So Jaws in the pacific ocean grows to be... a big mama. Put some species of shark in a smaller environment (like a fish tank) , and they grow to be...tiddlers!   I was just thinking...a crucial part of parenting surely has to be an expander of our child's horizons, not a limiter. It's easy to get focussed on boundaries and plans and schedules. I know I do because I want to tool my kids up with a generous hunk of self discipline. I'm now learning to also cheer them on as explorers of life's great adventure. Encourage new interest, fresh expression.On the days it feels as if we're all banging around in a fish tank together I try and throw a curved ball of something we've just not done before. A glistening drop of the big wide beautiful ocean... http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/dearLordifeellikeawhale/62689/ Mon, 2 Jan 2006 14:13:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/dearLordifeellikeawhale/62689/ Ok so today I'm a happy cookie. Why?..   Finally (FINALLY) my second book 'Juggling with Hamsters.Raising amazing kids without chasing your tail' is done and we just emailed it to the publishers in Oxford. The kids and I all hovered around the computer and pressed 'SEND' and off it went zipping through the air waves, and we all did a jig!   I don't who was relieved, me or my husband. You see, ahem, how I've written this book is as follows: Spend all day homeschooling/chasing our snail/becoming a master at stuffing things in closets.Put the kids in bed - read story/check for monsters under bed/double check under bed.Touch base with dear, exhausted husband. THEN...get a frappucino (starbucks is round the corner) and unearth laptop from piles of kid junk. Panic when find one of kids has downloaded sonic the hedgehog games. If book manuscript doesn't have runs of sonic all over it, it will either be a miracle or my editor has had his finger oon the delete key for a LONG time. Then write whatever I can squeeze out (kids used upall my imagination juice at story time). Then, I press 'save'. Thats' how the last 5 months have gone.   So now we're back to last week and finally my 50,000 words was done and I asked my dh to format it all for me.  'Sure' he said 'which file is it in?' . ummmmm. Y'see, I've just been pressing  'save'. Files and all that I've not quite stretched to (there's only so much a girl can do!) Luckily he unravelled it all from 'sonic the hedgehog' files and spruced it up. Kind, kind dh. I MUST get better at this IT stuff!   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/dearLordifeellikeawhale/45993/ Fri, 18 Nov 2005 08:11:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/dearLordifeellikeawhale/45993/