Check out the blog from HSLDA:
http://www.hslda.org/highschool/blog.asp


On there, they have a neat Civics Quiz:
'Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) developed a short civics quiz. As an educational opportunity, why not give your teen the quiz and see how well he scores? Answers are provided on ISI’s website. You may even want to test your civics literacy! American citizens who have taken the quiz scored only 49%, while college professors did not score much better (55%).'

I also really like this site, A Homeschooler's Journal:
http://www.cyberlearning-world.com/journal/criticalthinking/day3.htm
I really agree with the basic point of it.



I am in Full Swing with our Civics course with Tyler(I make up my own
Civics curriculum, and it is great to be able to do so-)and we are memorizing the First Articles of The Constitution, for for memorization's sake- but for the sake of really understanding, through going over it one weekly, and doing a fun project around it in one way or another, once a week. I even found some very neat PBS VHS videos about The President and Congress and The President's Role at the Library book sale, and we have really enjoyed watching them.

Getting to the heart of Biblical Parenting
By: Paul Tripp

"Dear friend, I am very encouraged by your desire to grow in your understanding of biblical parenting, and it is our prayer that you will glorify God in the way you are raising up the next generation. As we all know, it is challenging work, but there is grace available from our Savior..." Paul Tripp's biblical parenting seminar



Part 1, Getting to the heart of parenting

*Judges 2:6-15

The heart is the target: The inner man (spirit, mind, will & emotion) is what causes
behavior; Proverbs 4:23: "Above all else, gaurd your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."

What rules your heart?
What the heart does: the heart recieves the grace of the new covenant.
What the bible says the heart can do: repent, believe, see, sing, discern, grieve, think, pray, love, hate, fear, become hard, give, lust, be faithful, upright, righteous, turn away, store things, rejoice, be humble, love God, be proud, know, meditate, seek God, remember.

The heart is very important. It is the wellspring of life.

How do we address the heart? Shepherding the child's heart begins with communication. Communication shapes so much of biblical parenting- Western culture says that we are what our experience makes us; the bible says that we are what our heart is. This profound insight is only found in scripture.
Mark 7:11-23: Jesus says here that nothing outside of a man or a woman can make him or her unclean, but that it is what is inside of our hearts that make us unclean.
Luke 6:43-46 and Matthew 15: 11-30 tell us that no good tree bears bad fruit.
Slander, murder, lust, greed, sloth,etc. all come from our hearts-

These behavior problems are first problems of the heart.

The heart must be addressed before the behaviors can be addressed.

This is why behavior charts, alone, will not work.

Behavior can be restrained ( think Eddie Haskell)without any heart change.
The content and character of our hearts can be filthy while we are looking clean on the outside, this is what Jesus was talking about when He said that Pharisee's were like whitewashed tombs: they were clean on the outside, but they were dirty on the inside.


A change in outward behavior without a change in inward behavior is not what we want.

When we address fighting, for example, we need to know that fighting reveals the content of our heart : something is going on in the heart that causes them to typically live in conflict with other people. The goal of parenting this child biblically is to get at the heart issues that make this child ever want to fight.
Two teens can live in the exact same situations, and yet one will be combative and one will not. Why? because the issue is in the heart of the teen, not in the environment/experiences of the teen.

Addressing just the fruits of the problem- the yelling, or cursing, or hitting, or disrespectfullness of tone or speech without first addressing the heart is, as Tripp coins, like "stapling apples to a barren fruit tree." The stapling of apples to the leaves does not make the barren tree fruitful. The tree is still not growing fruit, you have just addressed the 'behavior' of the tree without addressing the root issues, the 'heart' of the tree.

We rot when we are not attatched to the life-giving roots of the tree of God, we are the branches and He is the vine. Apart from Him, we can do nothing...

To produce a true life-giving harvest one must be attatched to the vine- this is why a threat or "I'm bigger,so listen to me" will not work, and do not bring glory to God. These methods of parenting wrongly instruct the heart. They rob your child of the desire and growth of being holy- the opposite of just staying out of trouble.
When we say "just stay out of trouble" we help our children become skilled sinners, instead of helping them become holy.


Part 2 to follow next post.... hope you enjoyed Tripp's teachings, so far :)


These are the Reccomended Resources for parents from this seminar:


Books that expand the vision for parenting given by the bible:

By Paul David Tripp:

A quest for more

Age of opportunity

War of words

Instruments In the Redeemers Hands

Lost in the Middle

Relationships: a mess worth making by Tim Lane and Paul Tripp

How people change, by by Tim Lane and Paul Tripp

Just why is Christian Homeschooling 'to the glory of God?'

Christian Homeschooling is to God's glory because parents are seeking to
teach their children from a perspective that honors God as who He is,GOD.
God over all, creator, redeemer, the life-giving vine that noursishes His people- all of us,His branches.

In this schooling, we teach Creationism. We teach our children that the theory of Evolution has one very big flaw- a flaw that cancels it out- that flaw is that this theory of creation and adaption leaves out God. We teach our children that we are to love one-another as God first loved us, to serve and comfort one-another in our needs as God never ceases to serve and comfort us. We teach them that the order God loves and ordained is celebrated in Mathematics, and in Science. We teach them to use their creative minds, such as God gifted us with, in His image. We may do a lot of the same things as the world's educational system does them, with one holy exception: we honor God in all that we do, we acknowledge Him and Praise Him, we say it is Ok to talk about Him and His commandments!, we learn His way's and not the way's of the world.

Christian Homeschooling honors the mother's exceptionally important role in the home.
The position of the Homeschool teacher is one filled with women who boast in and trust in Jesus' Christ's redeeming work on the cross. We raise our children up for Him as we lovingly teach our children the ABC's and the 123's, how to walk as a believer in this sometimes dark world, how to be a light on a hilltop.



For these reasons, and so many more, God is glorified through our Christian Homeschooling. Be encouraged, mothers, for this is our heartwarming task- though we are sinners through and through still God allows us to partake with Him in this glorious task of raising our children, part of the next generation, up to know Him, honor Him, love Him, and love His commandments.

Free alphabet printing practice sheets, only cost you a sheet of copy paper, a bit of ink and couples minutes of time! :)

http://www.homeschoolviews.com/resources/lettersheets.html

Why did I say 6th grade? He's doing 7nth. LOL!

I found this need poem I wanted to share. God bless! :)



A MISSIONARY'S VISION
After marriage God called me to the mission field -
A little bundle needing all my care,
A disciple in touch with my life, obedient to all he hears.
Then came some more all in a row.
Everywhere I went, six little arrows in tow.
God had to call me again to His mission field.
I answered, "To China, to Africa, to Israel, oh where?"
His voice was clear, soft and gentle. My ministry arranged -
"My child, you are to polish our arrows,
Preparing them for My call to spread my
Words of life for other nations to see."
"Lord," I cried, "Loneliness surrounds my soul,
No other woman stands with me answering your call.
The sacrifice is great."
Women give way to another's voice, pulling them away
from their home, far from the quiver."
Once more I pleaded, "May I go too, Lord, I feel the call
To share with the lost, Life giving words,
To feed the hungry a satisfying meal."
"My child," Jesus replied, "You share with your
children salvation and truth.
Feed them meals under your roof.
Discipline them, train them and then lie down in peace,
For sacrificial love have you given to make the world right.
Arise in the morning, open My book,
Teach them into My eyes they must look."
"Yes, Lord, I replied, "But should I serve you in a more
obvious way?"
"Child, my sweet child," God spoke once more.
I anointed you to do this work - the high calling of Motherhood.
To show our children the need for my love."
"Lord,", I sought out, still not fully convinced,
"Should I sew for those in thread barren clothes,
a Dorcas, a Martha?" "Sit at my feet, my child, listen to me.
Your daughter needs dresses, your sons warm shirts,
The button of your husband's coat still lies on the table. Pick up your mantle, the rod of Aaron.
Lead my women back to their home.
"Yes, Lord." Filled and content, I took my position in God's mission field.
Hungry faces graced my bedside.
Clothed in God's mantle, children at my side,
I prepared breakfast.

ANewYearOfHomeSchooling

I am looking forward to a fun time of homeschooling this year :)
My middle child is beginning First Grade this year, and will be practicing his writing as well as reading and we will use some of the My Father's World materials to enhance his learning. My oldest child will be doing 6th grade work with A Beka Curriculum this year, and exploring Engineering (his current future-career interest.) I am also doing some Kindergarden Prep. with my Preschooler, Misses soon-to-be-Three :) This will be an eventful year and I am planning on resting in God's grace as much as I can during all of it ;) I am pretty sure the boys will be on bowling leagues and do swimming, and I may do Mommy&Me classes with Grace later in the year.