Homeschooling for the glory of God

Computer Science and Business for Middle Schoolers

2009-10-10T07:26:00.000-07:00

I haven't been faithful to this blog, have I?
It was a good idea to begin, and then there wasn't the time to continue on.

Maybe this year will be different.

Don't stop reading because your not interested in hearing about how my year is going so far, I have some neat courses of study to share with you!:

I found these Computer Science and Business education courses for the grades
6 through 8 online at http://www.crews.org/curriculum/ex/compsci/8thgrade/index.html
and figured I'd share them.

These look great, comparable to a course I might pay a hundred dollars or more for
Ty to take at RACC kids college, and here it all is for free online for the doing.
I am definately planning on doing the 8th grade Imaginary Company course with
Ty this year.

There are is also a Keyboarding Skills course available for free from this site,
which again is comparable to a course I might pay a bit for otherwise- and here it is free online. Never hurts to learn as many computer use skills as one can in this particular age in technology, and starting with a Keyboarding Course is a good place to begin as far as I can see.

2008-12-19T20:46:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-11-02T11:26:00.000-08:00

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

2008-10-03T16:06:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-09-22T18:51:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-21T14:44:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-23T18:46:00.001-07:00

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.

2007-10-30T13:54:00.000-07:00

Hi :) I felt badly about missing posting here for awhile,but,I wonder if anyone has even missed me posting? I felt like I was posting so much about our home schooling endeavors onto he other blog, that it was taking up too much space. But, I don't know how many have heard about this blog, or if anyone is even reading it! Lol! If you do read this blog,could you leave a comment and let me know? I may just lay down this blog, and continue to go ahead and post about home schooling as it comes up, on the other blog if no one really seems to be blessed by this one. Do let me know! And, I hope you had a great homeschooling day! ;)

2007-10-22T13:19:00.000-07:00

This poem made me cry~!~ by Grafted Branch.

Small Things

My darlings...

When you are grown
And doing big things,
Who will you be?
Where is this path to take you?

Will you be a frugal homemaker
That blesses her husband
With a lovely space to call home?
A place of calm and care, respect and regard
That he can't wait to come home to each night.

Will you educate your children at home,
Teaching them first to seek Christ's righteousness,
Trusting Him to then provide for your every need?
Helping your children see past themselves--
To be like Christ--
To look toward serving the needs of others.

Will you be an author
Who weaves her words to bring beauty
Or wisdom
Or companionship to her readers?

Will you be a musician
Bringing the most beautiful language of all
To large crowds or small congregations?
Will you invite youngsters into your home
And pass on your skill and knowledge as have
Musicians for thousands of years before you?

Will you design buildings
With wonderful rooms and stairs and drawbridges
As you do with your brissle blocks
And Lincoln Logs?

Will you offer your members an instrument of the Lord
For the healing of the sick?
Will you be the soul on the other side
Of the call button?
The one that comes running
To offer care, concern or comfort.

When you are grown and gone
And busy being the wife,
The mother,
The educator,
The writer,
The musician,
The mentor
The architect,
Or the nurse,

You won't remember
The hard work you're doing today.

It's the hard work of learning your letters,
And the patience you practice in writing your numbers.
You won't remember how long it took you to
Recognize the difference between "d" and "b" and "p,"
And you won't have any recollection of
How many times you sounded out "that" and "and."

You won't remember a time
When you didn't know
How to decipher the code of the musical staff.
You won't recall flashcards and drills and
"Naming the notes."

You won't remember feeding the dog.
Or cleaning the dishes.
You won't know what I'm talking about
When I reminisce about the months and years
It took to develop your habits of discipline.

And you'll wonder who I'm speaking of
When I amuse myself with the memory
Of your "little brain" and
How you tried so hard to make it grow fast
As you tried so hard to remember to pick up your toys.

I hope you won't remember how many thousands of times
I told you to take your thumb out of your mouth.

You won't remember your intricate block buildings.
You won't remember counting black beans
Or naming the Math-U-See rods...
One pea
Two carrots
Three little pigs
Four bananas
Five glasses of water
Six plums
Sevenilla
ChocoEight
Nine scoops of mint-chocolate chip ice cream

You won't remember copywork.
You won't remember making your first salt-dough map.
You won't remember when you first knew
That "ph" says "ffff," and that "tion," says "shun."

When you are grown and gone and doing big things,
You won't remember how hard you worked for every. little. step. here and now.

But I'll remember for you. I promise.

Posted by Grafted Branch @ Restoring the Years

2007-10-22T11:18:00.000-07:00

"I must be reminded annually, at least, that the less I rely on the pressing time structure of my curricula, the more learning weaves its way into the fabric of our days. Those are the best days..." ....this helpful little reminder written by Grafted Branch @ http://restoringtheyears.blogspot.com.

I so needed this little reminder today.

I so love to stick to my little(ok, rather large)planbook,
but today I told the boys and the little girly that we are
going to take a walk in the museum's park and feed the ducks
some leftover stale bread this morning, before
we begin our schoolwork.

They jumped in excitement at the idea!

Grace brought her little pink dolly stroller with her
My Little Pony plush toy in it and walked it around the path.
I wish I had thought to bring the camera...

Ty is currently reading about Asia, the largest continent on the whole Earth.
An interesting fact Tyler just told me: "Did you know that India and China are almost completely different and yet they are in the same continent, kind of like how Joshua and me are so different and yet we are in the same family... it kind of stinks." Lol. I have to go talk to him about loving his brother now ;).....

2007-10-19T12:49:00.000-07:00

We continued our studies into missionary work in today's world after the regular subjects of study were covered,and it was so sweet to see the heart for evangelism that is sparking in my oldest child's heart; with the sin struggles that beset him and he cannot *seem* to get any ground on, it is so encouraging to see God working in this fresh, unexpected way! I know that,in my own life, there are areas of sin that I will probably always struggle with as well ('till I'm in Heaven,)and yet God still chooses to work through me, to bless people and spread the word about Him, despite all of that. This sheds new light on 'He chooses the weak and the foolish to confound the wise'! There is no doubt that a child is weak and foolish according to the world's standards, but we as adults are weak and foolish too because we don't have God's wisdom and we recognize our weakness and our foolishness as gifts because they push us closer to God. We see our need for a Savior!!

Ty has confessed previously that he has not been sure that he could have a missionaries heart, because he would be too afraid to put his life in danger in order to tell others about Jesus. And I have prayed that God would bless him with a spirit of bravery, of unwavering trust in the Lord. Today during Bible reading time he told me that he thinks he is not afraid anymore, that the fear he once had has been overtaken by a supreme burden for the state of people's souls who need to hear about Jesus. He said that he trusts God to take care of him if he wants to travel as a missionary someday, even if it means prosecution for him in a new, scary way. I asked him if he remembered and understood fully how many Christians have been martyred and prosecuted for God in the past, and are being martyred and prosecuted now, how common it is (we have been going through the Fox's book of martyr's for some time now, a story at a time, and we are subscribers to Voice of Martyr's free magazine, you can check them out at http://www.persecution.com, which we read monthy and pray after reading for all the Christians being persecuted in the world, so he has been educated in this,) and he said that he did understand it,that he knew it was God's will what happened to those men and women and that if he were to die, that this would be God's will too. Tears were streaming down my face as he also said that God turns all things meant for evil into GOOD.!!!

My heart is just so overfilled with !Thanks! to God, for His provision of a Godly pastor, and his family, for us to learn from and for His plan to use parents(as regular, sinful people) to train up and raise these children's hearts and minds in a way that is the way that they should go-the right way; to train them to trust in God, as imperfect at that as we yet are. His promises, His ways, seem as foolishness to the world and yet look agaian: it was His plan that saved us all and it is His Holy Spirit that guides us daily to trust in Him; His grace that gives us the strength to do the right things every day when doing the right things is hard. Thanks to Him, for saving me, I can now teach my son about Jesus and about God's call to all of us believers to 'go forth and baptise the nations..." With a heart full of faith,I see Ty doing just that in the future years to come. Thank You, Lord!

2007-10-18T13:14:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon :)

Today was a busy day for us, what with me recovering and my sister being sick, but I still managed to do a (little bit of) home schooling, mostly focusing on "the 3 Basic R's" as they call them: Reading,'Ritin(lol)&'Rithmatic(lol again!.)

Today, my son did his reading in a book called Revolution in World Missions by KP Yohannan. It is a book that is distributed by Gospel for Asia and you could get a free copy of it by visiting www.gfa.org/freebook or calling 1-800-Win-Asia.
He read chapter 9 today, "Is Missions an option?" and I had him write a 3 paragraph summary of what he read, answering that question in it,after he was done. He wrote,

"If it were not for Paul,America would not have been founded in a biblical way, and we wouldn't know about God as well. We also would not have all the blessings we do, and we would not be a rich, prosperous nation either. I love how God makes America very blessed and rich. So,we should be very grateful to God..."

I love that summary! Especially the first line... "If it were not for Paul..". If it were not for Jesus, none of us would be able to be saved, and also if it weren't for missionaries many places would not be reached for God. Our world needs saints who want to give back all that we have been given. 2 Corinthians 8:13-14:"For I mean not that other men be eased,and ye burdened: but by equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that thier abundance also may be a supply for what you want: that there may be equality."

This past Sunday we had 2007 Missions Fund Sunday for Sovereign Grace Ministries as well.SGM celebrated 25 years of church planting this year!:)

The president of SGM,CJ Mahaney,explained a Christians expected heart for missions so well that I know his words will be rich material to bless you and me in our home education endeavors, in every subject, from now on: because they help us to lift our eyes Heavanward, and put an eternal perspective onto our hearts. His words are italacized below. God bless! xoxox's <3 Stacey

"Each year, our mission presentation aloows us to look back and thank God for His faithfullness to Sovereign Grace Ministries over the past twelve months. It also inspires us to look forward~ to anticipate grace to come, and to consider the opportunity we have to contribute to the advance of the gospel.
... 25% of contributions to the SGM Mission Fund goes directly towards financing church planting in the US; another 25% will help fund the pastors college. The mission of each is esentially the same: to plant and build gospel-centered churches for the glory of God. I also want to thank all of you for your involvement in the local church, your support in prayer, and your generous financial giving. It is my great priveledge and joy to serve the Lord with you. May you be primarily aware, as you read about our missions work, of the Savior~ the one whose sacrifice on the cross for our sins makes all this possible; and may all your praise be directed exclusively to Him."

2007-10-16T05:05:00.000-07:00

Good morning :) Please forgive me for missing yesterday, after I made this big thing of how I'd try and be here every day ;),lol! I am finding that challenging in the midst of this chronic pain I am having ith my ear & now tooth, so now keeping up with homeschooling in iteself, and the other blog, is becoming about all I can handle.Lol. I know this is not homeschool related, but should you desire to pray for me, please pray that my root canal will go well this afternoon and that my MRI I am getting for my tooth/jaws on Wedsnesday will reveal just what it is supposed to, to help my Dr. understand my symptoms better. Thank You.

Yesterday, as I sat outside of RACC waiting to pick my sister up, I had time to spare and rifled through some books and magazines I keep on the side pocket of the car door for times of waiting. I pulled out Family Worship by Jerry Marcellino, a small booklet full of big ideas that I bought at our churches resource table years ago. (The book only costs $4.00,from Audubon Press, 2601 Audubon Drive/ PO Box 8055, Laurel,MS 39441-8000.)

Reading it, I felt encouraged all over again about how I am part of the church of God,set apart, different from the rest of the world that is decidedly Un-Christian,meant to remain salty, remaining on the ancient paths... I think we can all use this kind of encouragement regularily?.... From the first page:

" Because the Christian is not his own, but bought with a price, he is to aim at glorifying God in every relation of life. No matter what station he occupies, or wherever he be, he is to serve as a witness for Christ. Next to the church of God, his own home should be the sphere of his most manifest devotedness unto Him. All it's arrangements should bear the stamp of his heavenly calling. All it's affairs should be so ordered that everyone entering it should feel "God is here!" A.W. Tozer.

I love that quote... and this one to go along with it from Jonathan Edwards, found on page 2 of this booklet:

" Let me now therefore, once more,before I finally cease to speak to this congregation,repeat and earnestly press, the councel which I have often urged on the heads of families, while I was their pastor,to great painfulness in teaching,warning, and directing thier children; bringing them up in the training and admonition of the Lord; beginning early, where there is yet opportunity, and maintaining constant diligence in labours of this kind."

...How great a quote is that! It sums it all up; what we are to be doing here in this world with the little ones entrusted to us, beginning early~ whre there is still opportunity to shape their minds and hearts~ and maintaining, with constant diligence, these kinds of labours! And the fist one, "Next to the church of God, his own home should be the sphere of his most manifest devotedness unto Him....",
"All it's arrangements should bear the stamp of his heavenly calling. All it's affairs should be so ordered that everyone entering it should feel "God is here!"... Oh how thankful I am that, as I look around my house, I see lot's of books about Him and Living the Christian Life, pretty decorations that boast His scriptures (no prettier words to display) and warm, comphy furniture that says come sit,take a tea or coffee, it is comfortable here; God is here.

Yet, how easy is it to decorate the outside ~ and ignore the inside? Like a white-washed tomb, scripture says. I want to follow the biblical commandment to be bear the stamp of His heavenly calling inside of my own heart, and instill it inside of my childrens hearts. When you walk into my home, do you find a family devoted to God and His good works, a loving family, a helpful family? Do you come into an environment free of strife, and gossip and follish divisions within the home? I hope this is mostly true, but of course it is not always true. Sinners live here, me truly being, as David once said ( though in my case it is true) the biggest sinner I know; I am busiest battling my own sin. As the administarion in this home when my husband is not in the home (usually quite a bit, as they are the main earners)we women are in charge of the atmosphere of the home and the content of the home while our head of the home is gone... are we keeping our own sin ever in front of us, battling it daily, and striving to make glorifying God our chief aim for each day?

This book may hold the most important message of all for homeschoolers, above mere academic curriculum and hoisting up the most important aim of all Christian households, and that is glorifying God in all that we do and remaining salty!

Another really neat tool for Bible Study (that I found at Christian Books.Com) is A Family Guide to Narnia~ Biblical Truths in C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia by Christin Ditchfield. many of us, as well as our children enjoy The Chronicles of Narnia series. This book really explores the Biblical Truths found in the storyline( of which there are many) and is a great window of opportunity to involve the kids in finding the Biblical paralells, in this chapter-by-chapter, book-by-book examination of The Chronicles. It is by Crossway Books and we bought it last Christmas for only $10, so it is prob. cheaper now ;)

HAVE A GREAT GOD -GLORIFYING HOME SCHOOL DAY!
<3 Stacey XOXOXO'S

2007-10-12T06:21:00.000-07:00

I am so thankful for my kids. They bring me so much joy. That I have the priveledge to home school them means even more joy for me!

I know that, with God's help, I can mold their minds and shape their hearts for God's glory :) Our family can send them out into the world as soldiers for God :)
I expect, through faith, that they will serve God faithfully and do much good in the world~ not because I think that we are such a gifted family, or because I esteem my kids as more important, but it is by God's grace that we and our children would desire to glorify God with our lives... we are all a work of divine grace, each one. Thank you God, for working in our hearts, changing us to make us want to serve You and not just ourselves!

This is why I love to teach my kids about the cross of Christ.

God and Jesus are such good examples to us of sacrificial love.

They teach us about laying down our lives for our friends... opposite of the western worlds way, that says 'dog eat dog' but preferring others above ourselves.

For this reason, I always preach God's way and Jesus crucified to my kids.

This is a grea area to study for Biblical Studies for the kids.

Ken Sande has a great curriculum for kids called The Peacemaker series for kids, here is a link to where you could purchase his book if you wanted to,
http://www.amazon.com/Peacemaker-Biblical-Resolving-Personal-Conflict/dp/0801064856/ref=sr_1_1/102-5046083-2810548?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192195941&sr=1-1.

It's kind of a long link~lol!~so you will def. want to copy it and paste it into your web browser.

Let me know if you have it, want it, or want to talk about it!

Have a God-glorifying home school day ;)

XOXO'S <3 Stacey

2007-10-10T08:55:00.000-07:00

Today is a day of personal dissapointments for me~things not working out the way I thought they would, my sin refusing to be quelched in the area of impatience and a decided lack of mercy with other peoples areas of weakness(weakness I cannot identify with)~but God is bringing this about to do a good work in me; I need the sanctification of trial to slowly rub away all the rough spots ;)

Despite all of this, today will be a God-glorifying day in home schooling here at 'The little church on Gregg St.' as our pastor would call a family home(enter your address;because I will be obedient to God in making it so, at least from my end~ which is all I can gert (some,lol) control of anyways... ;)

Today we are of course tackling the Daily 7~ Bible,Science,Math,Geography,History, Language Arts and Logic studies~ and we are also adding into the fold more of our ongoing studies on the Asain culture (China & Japan), so today we will be studying the Histories and Geographies of these 2 areas. We both like to do them both at once, so that we can compare and contrast as we go along. Though both in the greater Asai area, China and Japan couldn't be more different. Maybe the area they are most alike, it seems so far at least, is in their superstitious natures? I have not visited in either area, nor known anyone *well* from either area (does reading a lot of Amy Tan's stuff count?? lol), so I don't know a lot about the culture there from a real, living-it families perspective. It would be really neat to interview someone about that,though! Maybe Anna S. over at
@ http://ccostello.blogspot.com/, she seems to be very close to her
(what seems like a )very traditional family?
Accepting or declining, Anna S.? :)

In addition to our studies on the Asian culture, we will also be starting up in Generation Joshua today. You can join anytime, really, and we just heard about it recently,so... "it is an American Christian right youth organization founded in 2003 that aims to encourage the involvement of 11-19 year-olds in civics and politics. Generation Joshua's mission is twofold: it teaches its members Conservative Christian political principles and then organises them to campaign for candidates for public office who share its views....in supporting conservative candidates, the group hopes to implement a "Judeo-Christian America" based on Conservative Christian views. The children are ferreted into Student Action teams(CAP'S) : Typically, 25-100 volunteers are delpoyed to selected races of endorsed conservative candidates. In 2006, HSLDA PAC deployed more than 1000 individuals on the Student Action Teams.GenJ's national offices are at the Home School Legal Defense Association, which is also the campus of Patrick Henry College.
Michael Smith, president of the group's parent organization, the Homeschool Legal Defense Association sees Generation Joshua as part of a larger movement....
By training students (often homeschoolers) in the principles of conservative Christian political views and encouraging them to be active politically,
Generation Joshua seeks to fundamentally influence the next generation's involvement in government." All in all, it sounds like a very interesting project and my only concerns are just how these parents will feel if we do not stuanchly support only Republicans, as we don't always do? The club does not specifically say it is a Rebublican club, but every candidate they have supported in 2006(that's the only year I investigated) were all Republicans. I have to be honest here; I didn't vote for Bush. And, I have trouble believeing that he is truly saved, based on his fruit. But, that's a different post. Besides, only God can truly discern the heart of a man. And if God didn't want him in office, he wouldn't be~ so I will trust that God is working out whatever what He wants to through using him.

Tyler is excited about the opportunity to join GenJ, as he is already very interested in politics(far more than I would expect out of a 12 y.o. boy.)Oh well, he is always surprising me...lol!

Hope you have a great home schooling day, and bring lot's of glory to God in the midst of it all by leaning wholly on Him and giving Him credit for all He works out in your life ;)

XOXO'S Stacey <3

2007-10-09T06:29:00.000-07:00

Good morning :)

I look forward to a productive and fun day of home schooling 2day; it is overly warm for October here still (80 degrees!) but it is damp and gray outside, so that should help quelch the "iwannagooutsideiwannagooutsideiwannagooutside" virus, for a few hours at least :)

Today, we are going to go through our regular subjects ~bible, arithmatic,language arts,science, history,geography,logic and language~ and then choose one of our once-a-week subjects~civics,PA history, fire prevention&safety,health,art or music.

Today may well be music, since we have started reading about Willaim Hendels The Nutrackerand Tyler especially wants to go and see this play performed live at the theatre. We will be going, Lord willing, to be able to see this play live in Lancaster,where the Ballet Theater of Lancaster will present THE NUTCRAKER at the Fine Arts Center, Lancaster Mennonite High School.(Tickets are available by calling (717)672-0826. Or visit www.ballettheateroflancaster.org if your interested in going, too.)So, we are a family that likes to learn a lot about things before we see them in person, such as studying up on a place of interest and then visiting there, or reading the book before we see the movie. This always adds in more learning than just taking in a show, and the finale show serves as the carrot on a stick,er, reward to keep the kids going till the end ;)

We will have to come online and have Tyler do a little write-up about the play after we see it. I saw it years ago as a child in NY, but there's nothing like seeing something through your childs eyes ;)

We will also read aloud from Classic Myths to read aloud: The great stories of Greek & Roman mythology by Willaim f. Russell ($3 on Amazon.com.) In Foreign Languages, we are studying Greek. This is an offshoot of that study, and a way to incorporate Greek studies into Language Arts... we like to do that around here... look at a subject from many angles; cultures are not static and our learning is not static.
We have discovered that there is so much more to studying a language,like Greek,than just studying the language~ the words that the people speak, and how they speak them. There is thier cultures history,society,arts and food. There are places to visit and stories to hear. It is all very interesting. And fun ;)

So anyways, we are reading some of those stories to hear about the Greek culture today. To tie this study into Bible studies, later on this afternoon, we are also going to study the Hellinic and Greek cultures propensity to highly esteem scholarly pursuits and mans wisdom, while holding in a lesser regard spiritual pursuits. CB preached on Sunday about 2 Timothy 3:12-4:5, in a sermon he entiteled The Centrality of the Word, about how believers must stay true to the word of God, not giving into our subjective sense of what God is/would say to us, or our feelings, but to God's word alone, and he tied in how the Greek culture into this as an example, interestingly enough as this is what Ty and I are studying ;) by telling us about how they traditionally valued scholarship over strictly keeping to the Word,having itchy ears(v.3)and making teachings to suit their own passions... this will,of course, be taught to show the error of the Greeks way in this ~ how false teaching can work like a little leven altering the whole bunch of dough, the whole of the church, and how the word of God needs to be regarded as the Truth; it is not a journey or a quest as CB said on Sunday, but it is the truth, the destination....

Now how is that for homeschooling for the glory of God? I am not pride filled about this, but happy about this blessing to be able to do schooling this way... to glorify God. And I know that it does, because His word says so. Thank you God for allowing us to home school, for your wonderful world and peoples to learn about, for our pastor C.B. Eder, who is faithful to teach us the unadulterated gospel every week,and for my childrens hearts covered over in grace and so willing to glorify You in all that they do!

Please join us tomorrow as we share about our studies of Daniel Boone, American Frontiersman who was born in Birdsboro,PA and in the next few days as we visit his homestead, now preserved as an historical site available for visitors like us.

God bless you and your home schooling journeys, and hope you have a great day! :) XOXO'S <3 Stacey

2007-10-07T19:30:00.000-07:00

"These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates."
Deut 6:6-9

First, let me tell you that I will be on here everyday. I am in it for the daily walk with you...as we get up,go throughout the day sitting and walking along, and getting ready to lie down, and getting up again...all the while teaching our children about our glorious God. Homeschooling has been such a blessing in my life, as well as the lives of our children. My purpose with this blog is to first and foremost glorify God by talking about His good works and good love (the gospel!),to talk all that is home school,to support my sisters in Christ out there also homeschooling in this world, and to share what is/isn't working for us...

We are not subscribers to any set method of homeschooling because I like to stay open to doing whatever works best for my family, but I guess we are closest to following a Classical homeschooling way of teaching... though I do very much like the curriculum "My Father's World" for Kinder garden that my friend from church over @ Ashes in for Beauty.blogspot.com gave me to try.

I seek to educate my children to #1 Reverence and obey God, #2 Learn all they can for the glory of God and #3 Use all the knowledge they have acquired to bring glory to God,submitting themselves to His plan for their lives. We do try to instill into our children's hearts a desire to evangelise/do missions work, based on the scriptures in Matthew 28:16-20:
16. But the eleven disciples went into Galilee, unto the mountain
where Jesus had appointed them.

17. And when they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted.

18. And Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, All authority hath
been given unto me in heaven and on earth.

19. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them
into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit:

20. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and
lo,I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.

So, we try to observe all things He has commanded us and that includes teaching our sons to be men of God, rooted in the Word, bringing forth good fruit in due season, leaders in their homes and marriages, sacrificing for their wives out of love for them, just as Christ loved the church, and teaching our daughter to be a godly woman, rooted in the Word,serving her husband and family, doing good works and serving Our Lord with a fearful reverence.

I hope that you will enjoy this new blog, and find a home of refuge in it's words and ongoing conversations. I pray that you will be encouraged and girded up as you read and share in these pages and most of all, I pray that you will bring glory to God in your own home schooling adventures.

Love in Christ, Stacey <3