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Dangerous Wonder
Mar. 20, 2007
New Sonlight Language Arts and other thoughts....
Well, all the buzz in the Sonlight world is about the new Language Arts program. Apparently Dr. Ruth Beechick was instrumental in getting this language program overhauled. I am most excited and most relieved to learn of this new improvement in the Sonlight world. I had a hard time this year wrapping my mind around the LA program with my kiddos. It seemed to be the thing that halted me the most...next to the instructors guide (IG). Okay...true confessions...read on...
With all my life lessons I have had this year, I have realized that my biggest challenge with homeschooling my precious children wasn't the program I was using, but the busyness of life I was attempting. I have blogged already about all the things I have cut out of my world to help curb my insane lifestyle of busyness. Now that I have come up for air and am assessing the damage done during my "life-lessons", I am realizing how much my world affects my children. From the state of cleanliness or lack of in the house to the running at break-neck speed from here to there. It all affects my kids ability to deal with stress, to focus on the task at hand, to answer respectfully, to be kind to their siblings, to have a servants heart, to use self-control....the list goes on.
My world is now refocusing to the way things should be. To slow things down and to get a grip on the things that were "flapping in the wind." The first thing that I have been striving for is control over the house. This, so far is ummmm.....needing lots of work. I realize how much I am scattered because of the state of things in this place. The next thing is regaining discipline in our lives and especially with the children. Yikes! So much territory to regain!!!! The next thing is control over school time...which is what I started this blog about....sorry about the tangent!
Sonlight was a brand new curriculum for our family to use this year. I wasn't real confident in the way things were supposed to be done when we started. So when my "insane busy" schedule started with all our outside commitments....this is when things started to explode for us. I basically shut down and couldn't wrap my mind around using this new "thing." I blamed the curriculum for a while, but then realized that it had a lot to do with me and my crowded brain. I couldn't think about lunch menus much less tackle a new way of doing school!
The Lord in His infinite wisdom has brought me to a place where I truly understand what it means to be dedicated to my family and to keep my priorities in place! There was a sermon a few sundays ago about marriage. One of the points was how our priorities need to be the following:
1. God
2. Spouse
3. Children
4. Vocation
5. Ministry
Basically, without this order, our world blows up and ceases to function properly. I don't know about you, but a lot of times #5 would take priority and then it would eventually mess everything up. Without God as my number 1 everything else falls apart. So my dear friends...I now am etching this priority on my brain so that I can keep first things first.
Another sermon that I heard this week by Dr. David Jeremiah was about how God put us on earth to accomplish certain things. Even though we are capable of doing lots of things, that doesn't mean we need to do everything. Just because we are able to do good things, doesn't mean that good thing is the best for our life right now. God has certain things for us to do and the rest is for someone else. So we must prayerfully consider what it is that we should be doing with our time. What does God want me to be doing with my time? I know without a shadow of a doubt that my job right now is to be the best wife and mother to my family that I can be. No one else can do that for me.My children need me. My husband needs me. This is the most important job in the world.
This week I am finally back to using my Sonlight core the way it is supposed to be used and the kids are loving school again. I am feeling good about what we are accomplishing each day and not trying to stuff too much in there because I'm feeling guilty about not touching all the bases! I know I am doing just enough for each day. I was questioning whether I would even do Sonlight next year. I was hesitant to recommend their curriculum....but now that I have my head where it's supposed to be, I can focus on the important tasks of life. I am very excited about the new LA program and pray that it will be a good fit for our family. The best part is that God is ultimately in control of our homeschool experience. He is our best resource, our best curriculum, our best teacher. May we all keep our eyes on Him no matter what curriculum we buy!
Thanks for stopping by! God bless you today!
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Posted by
Mar. 20, 2007 - You took the words right out of my mouth!