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Month: August 2007

Grace: 3

We have seen and learned about the unavoidable wrath that is to come for all man, and that no matter how much we might try to strive to reach God or to please Him, we cannot do so. We have learned that it isn’t what you know but who you know. We have learned that it isn’t about our performance rather our position, through Christ. Today, I’d like to explore Romans 7 as it teaches about law and grace. Bear with me a little as I stretch the picture of two men. Mr. Law and Mr. Grace.

Mr. Law is over-bearing, demanding, rigid and points out every fault and error. While he has very high standards himself, he continually reminds you of your inability to keep to his standards. He doesn’t help you in your efforts. He is correct though – for he is pure and holy – but his standards are unattainable. Not only all this but you cannot be released from this through death as he will never die- he is eternal. Would you feel like a captive? What, where, who and how is grace in all this?

Well, Mr. Law won’t die. He won’t pass away. How then, can you be released from the control of Mr. Law? The way out is death – but not the death of Mr. Law rather that of our own death! As we identify with Christ, through Him, we can die to the Law!

Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.
Romans 7:4

When we ask Jesus to save us, when we accept His suffering on the cross, when we believe in His shed blood, when we have been justified through faith, we are said to have ‘died with him‘ So, once and for all we have died to the law. We have been released from the Law’s control and authority.

Wow! So where does that leave us? Are we now wandering around doing whatever pleases us? Do we not submit to authority? Do we have no rules? Ah, we need to keep reading Romans.

But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.
Romans 7:6

Now we have died to the Law, we have joined with Christ. We can run into the eternal arms of the graceful, kind, powerful Lord Jesus. But wait, there’s more. 🙂 Jesus wants us to bear fruit. It now looks like this:

 

PERFORMANCE —-> LAW —-> STANDARDS —-> INSTRUCTIONS

 

JESUS —-> POSITION —-> GRACE and LIFE —-> FRUIT

 

Jesus gives LIFE! Grace gives life! The Law does not give us life. You don’t have to live under the authority of the law. Choose life! Choose grace! You can have victory in life by living in and of grace.

Some common objections are often voiced to this preaching of grace. Some may say that it sounds like I’m dissing the Law. Not at all! But we do need to understand why God gave the Law and what its purpose was. Scripture holds the truth.

The law doesn’t save. It doesn’t produce righteousness. It does not impart life. It does not sanctify. The law is not evil or wrong, it is indeed holy. So what is its purpose? The law shows us our failure, our inability to obey God’s law. But rejoice with me for as we see our sinfulness, the more we see God’s abounding grace!

What does it mean to you, to be ‘dead to sin and alive to God’?

I hope to journal my thoughts here, as I explore the purpose of the law. If you have enjoyed these few posts so far, feel free to pop in with a quick comment or subscribe to this blog.

Grace- For the Homeschool Mum

Have you ever wondered what ‘grace’ has to do with the homeschool mother? Grace is a word often used but what does it mean and how does it relate to us?

Are you fulfilled in your walk with God? Are you doing enough to deserve His pleasure and acceptance? Is reading the Bible a duty, a chore, a bore or a pleasure? Are you reaching God? Have you searched for Him and found Him? Sometimes we can get caught up in a vicious circle of trying harder to deepen our walk with God, to reach Him, to please Him, yet we end up tired and weary, closely followed by a feeling of failure and disappointment. (Or am I the only one who has experienced this?) What is missing in all this? Is unfulfilled striving all there is?

The bad news

There is a wrath awaiting us! Yes, it is true. Couple this with the fact that there is a Holy God, in whose presence we cannot be, and you find ourselves in a terrible situation. No matter how hard you work at being or doing good, no matter how much you try to avoid sin, you still, in and of yourself, can not avoid the wrath nor can you enter His presence!

Now for the good news!

The believer knows and accepts that Jesus the Christ has made a way possible to avoid that wrath – through Him we can gain access to God’s presence. Not only does Jesus rescue us from that wrath, not only are our sins forgiven but He bought a place for us – so we can stand in a place of total acceptance and security. So, it isn’t what you know, it is WHO you know. It isn’t our doing or being that was able to attain this. It was all by his grace…all by His favour that we did nothing to deserve.

Now that we’ve been accepted, forgiven, rescued by grace, we need to learn what it means to live in grace. We not longer have to try and reach God. God reached down to man! No more striving. Wahoo!

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Romans 8:37

Living in Grace

Do you live in victory or in that vicious circle I wrote about above? Early in my walk as a new believer, I would set my feet to making resolutions. I wanted to get closer to God, to be used by Him and other fairly noble but misguided thoughts. These thoughts would lead me to going to the front of church during the altar call, repenting (again) and asking forgiveness (again) and making yet another commitment or resolution to do better in my efforts at growing as a believer. Within a few weeks or months I would be back again at the altar, repeating the same action. Oi voi! What a trap! What an unfulfilled path to tread. Where was the victory that Paul speaks of in Romans 5:17 and 2 Corinthians 2:14 In another post I’ll be looking at Romans 5:17 and Romans 7. It is very interesting and I gleaned a lot from it. I hope you will to.

How do you define ‘the gospel’? What does the Good News mean to you? How has it impacted your life? Are you living each day in the knowledge of God’s saving grace, knowing that God is not pleased any more or any less by your works? Are you living in the victory of the cross of Christ?

Whatever your heart clings to and relies on is your God.
~Martin Luther

Writing Lessons with the Boys

Charlotte Mason’s methods and other natural learning methods were wonderful with my girls for teaching them English skills. They both write quite well. Narration has formed the cornerstone or basis of their English lessons. However, the boys have an aversion to pencils and paper so writing has always been tedious and something down further on the ‘to-do’ list. I’ve been trying to focus on it a little more lately by using the 5W’s and an H and requiring more detailed narrations. It’s been like pulling teeth. So I did what I always do when I need to go back to the drawing board. I researched new curricula and/or methods. But nowadays, I am pretty particular as I have learned what I need, what the boys need, and what has most chance of success. A program could be the best program available, with all the bells and whistles available, but if it relies too heavily upon me, then it won’t get done. If it requires too much pencil work from the boys, then it won’t get done. If it is something that needs to be done every day, of every week, of every month of every year, then it won’t get done.

I was leaning heavily toward Institute for Excellence in Writing products as they have a dvd lesson which teaches directly to the student, yet also requires a little of me. The boys are achieving success using Math-U-See so I thought that something similar would be a hit. I received the program in the mail (Thanks Linda from Adnil) and spent some time looking over it. Wow, to say that I felt overwhelmed would be an understatement! However, I am trying to persevere with it.

Yesterday, the boys did the first lesson on outlining using key words. Today, the learned about writing a new paragraph from their keywords. I am allowing them to use the computer rather than handwriting their keywords and paragraph as getting the ideas and thoughts flowing is more important to me than using a pencil. I was very happy with their work today. Below is 10yo ‘Master C’ and 12yo John’s paragraphs. (I have their permission to share their work)

Sea Wasps
By ‘Master C’

Sea Wasps are the most venomous jellyfish with a poisoning ability greater then any snake. Sea Wasps search for shrimps on the beach. Sea Wasps have a deadly sting after humans get stung they only have seconds to stagger back to the beach. Sea Wasps are transparent and are difficult to see. Sea Wasps are not found in America and Europe but they are found in Australia. This blob of neurotoxin is quite capable of killing fifty or more people.

Sea Wasps
By John

The Sea Wasp is a venomous type of jellyfish, with poison stronger than that of a snake. While looking for food, it often floats into the shore of Australian beaches, causing danger to swimmers that swim along the beach. When a swimmer gets stung by one, the effect is deadly and gives them seconds to reach the beach. It is very transparent, making it difficult to see and making it harder to avoid. It is not found in anywhere in America or Europe, but makes its home around Australian beaches. It is quite capable of killing fifty or more people. Some may consider it the most dangerous creature alive.

Narration has always been a little more difficult for the boys and after years of persisting and encouraging I knew I needed to give them some key skills that narration could give them, but it wasn’t as they found it cumbersome and difficult. I’m hoping we’re on to a good thing here for the boys.

The Passion of the Christ

My husband and I both watched the movie, The Passion of the Christ. I spent a few days in prayer and study in order to prepare for the movie. I’m glad I did. During the week after the movie, God revealed something to me during that time that has convicted me so deeply… affected my life in a way that I have only shared with 2 other people (my husband a friend). It wasn’t something that I feel the need to share with everyone, and I know not everyone would understand it, as it quite contrary to popular mainstream Christianity but it is too special, too personal to share lightly. Of course I would share in the right situation but flippancy is one downfall that I have seen as a direct result of this movie. I think that’s a shame. :-/

We also prepared 16yo ‘Miss A’ to view the movie. Only she has seen it, out of our four children here. (Damian is 23 and the eldest but is not living in QLD with us) She is a Christian of her own volition, by fact that she has repented and taken responsibility or ownership of her faith as she matured which is different to my other children who still believe because mum and dad believe. Do you know what I mean?  There’s nothing wrong with this… it’s as it should be. But there comes a time in everyone?s life where they need to know what they believe and why… that it isn’t just because it is tradition to do so.

I started preparing my daughter for this a few years ago. We read books, she did the Messiah unit through Heart of Wisdom, etc. We taught her (as we also continue to learn) about the wonderful, liberating, profound, sacrifice that happened on that cross. This movie, as with any movie, focuses upon the physical death of Jesus the Christ. History shows us that many other people since that time have suffered horrendous torture.

We have taught our daughter in depth about the cross…it is so much more than physical punishment…so much more than the flippancy than it is often preached. With every fibre of His being, Jesus suffered more than any other, not physically but in that “he bore our sins in his own body on the tree“, and “he who knew no sin was made sin for us,” as “he suffered the just for the unjust” when God “laid upon him the iniquity of us all“. In being ‘the propitiation for our sins’ he bore the wrath of God upon all evil. The physical side of his crucifixion, painful as it was, was very minor in comparison with his sin-bearing…his separation from The Father.

No amount of emotion or painful sight can pierce the heart in such a way that a viewer can truly comprehend the real meaning of the death on a cross. This death was not just this way as to move us to feel sad, or feel emotion. Jesus told his disciples, “. . . this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

I have seen many people who watched the movie, were touched at the time but have continued on with their lives as though they had just watched a horror flick! Aacckkkkk! I have discussed with others how they didn’t think much of this whole ‘Jesus thing‘ because others have gone through more pain – therefore they missed the message of the cross. God is the one who will draw people…He will reveal Himself to people in His time. He doesn’t need a movie to do so, although He can use it if He so desires. He chose instead, to use words, language, vocabulary, the tradition of oral story telling in which to let us know of His message. So, we are preparing our children in the Word of God first so that they will be grounded in His teachings before being exposed to the visual and emotional pull of such a movie. We need a solid grasp of what happened on the cross before we see it *performed*. After all, no matter how good, it is still a performance – acting. No actor can thoroughly communicate the victory of His cry, ‘It is finished!‘ nor truly portray the utter trust of Jesus when he said, ‘Father! Into thy hands I commit my spirit‘. What did these words mean? I’ve been studying them for over a year and a half and I’m nowhere near finished yet!

Those who read this blog or know me in real life will also know that we aren’t overly cautious or protectionistic (it’s my word) with the television. We like Sci-Fi and LOTR (Oh boy, I’ve lost some people now eh?) but there are some things that are simply too precious, too meaningful to throw before our children in an attempt to impact a generation or teach them understanding.

Super Simple Spritual Sunday

SSSS Blog Meme

Here are a few blogs that I was really touched by or ministered to by this week. They’re in no particular order.

Margaret’s blog is one of those places where I will usually get a laugh (I don’t count on it, but it usually happens). However, after the chuckle has gone I am often left with a deeper insight than before I visited her blog.

Today, Margaret has written about Gomez Addams, from the Addams Family (who doesn’t like that show?) being a homeschool advocate. It’s funny but there’s also food for thought. Don’t take my word for it- pop over and visit her. Leave a comment if you liked what you read.

Phyllis wrote about Sowing and Reaping over on her blog. I was encouraged yet challenged by her post.

?If we focus on our needs, we will always be needy,? As I read this to my children this morning I was stopped in my tracks by what a profound statement it is, yet this is often where I find myself stuck.

Sally Clarkson over at Wholeheart Moms always motivates, inspired and encourages me and her post, Getting Back to Basics was no different.

I have pondered, lately, what I observe in many of the children that I meet along the way, how they reflect their mother?s philosophy of education and life. If you don?t start with the end in mine?what you want to see produced in your children?s lives, then you won?t build the right things along the way. I see so many sweet young moms going to these homeschooling fairs and piling themselves up with all sorts of colorful curriculum and work books?and even other moms who think they will accomplish their goals by using videos. Yet, the pioneering spirit of homeschooling, seems to be lost and I see the choice of these materials having an ill effect on so many children.

I purchased an inexpensive ebook to share with my daughters from Sheri Prescott. We have done a few of these type of books before but it has been awhile since our last one so I thought her new ebook looked good. It is!

How To Be a Super Model: A Guide To Inner Beauty. My goal is to encourage and challenge young women to seek Jesus with their whole hearts; modeling their lives after Him.

Well, that’s about it for me and the SSSS blog meme. Now that I have participated in one I will make sure I continue. if you have no idea what I’m talking about you can visit Robin’s blog for more information.

Teenage Rebellion in the Homeschooling Family

This post was in response to a thread on an email group. The discussion was about the high incidence of teenage rebellion in homeschooled children.

Sadly, I think there is a lot of myth and fear surrounding the teen years, especially amongst home schoolers. We don’t need to stick our heads in the sand and only discuss that which we want to hear- we need to know what is happening.

Big Questions

I believe that there comes a time in everyone’s life where they start to examine and question the big issues of life: why are we here? Who put us here? What happens when we die? Our answer or thoughts to these questions make us do the things we do.

We want to teach our children these things that we have taken on as belief and faith. We do teach them. We homeschool so we can spend more time with our children, building the relationship, instilling values, etc

There comes a time when a child starts to question those big issues of life. That isn’t wrong- it is necessary if one is to grow and be an individual person (a child of God), rather than a sheep. I see this as a transference of faith– where the child may start to take responsibility for their relationship with God. They are able to go directly to God for themselves and not relying upon their mum or dad. (Of course this is when some parents start to get concerned as that relationship may appear different to their relationship with God)

What happens if this taking ownership of faith does not happen? Well, it still may shift but instead of relying upon Mum and Dad’s faith, they may rely upon someone else’s: their boyfriend, husband, pastor, friends, magazine, tv, etc (The enemy is vying for the heart of all and is actively working toward gaining it via any means). They either take ownership of the faith they were raised in or they transfer it and take the beliefs or faith of someone else.

I think that we make a grave mistake in looking for any kind of formula. We think that if we homeschool, then our children will turn out okay. But then we have to homeschool a certain way or it won’t ‘work’. We have to avoid this, avoid that, do this, don’t do that…Oh, it’s all so hard – so many rules.

I believe that many of us deeply believe that there is a formula:

1 child + homeschool = Success

I also believe that many of us believe there is a recipe for failure, and it looks like this:

1 child + school = Failure.

Oh, I know that when we see it written so boldly like that we don?t agree that we think that way but?when it gets down to the heart of the matter it is often what is in our heart.

A Matter of Grace

Raising children is a matter of grace, in my opinion. It isn’t about a formula or a recipe. Whether or not a person realises they’re forgiven and walks in it when they are 15 or 45 doesn’t change the fact that it’s all about GRACE. Salvation is a work of grace and after all, salvation is what most of us desire for our children more so than simply the appearance of right living.

If one does follow recipe number one : 1 child + homeschool = Success, then I have to ask, is it about them and their parenting methods or is it about God’s redeeming grace? We need to know and accept that we cannot obtain our child’s salvation! (Having accepted that we can start getting on our knees)

We can lead them to Him, lead them in the ways of Him…teach them all about Him, and teach them to obey us as parents…but that internal work of the heart – to respond to God and obey Him is not within our control. We are the messenger, the herald who proclaims the message. The onus is on the hearer to hear and obey.

So what can we do?

We can pray! We can proclaim the message unabashedly! We can live by example. We can train in matters of outwardness. And we can hope.

There will come a time in their life when they question what they believe…it might look shaky for awhile but if the foundation is solid (that foundation being the message- the message of the work of the Cross through Christ) then we can be assured that God will indeed graft them into the vine and call them His own. They will start to see this as their faith…their belief and not just that of their parents. This is a most BEAUTIFUL happening!!!! Truly wondrous!

I have met and had the pleasure of knowing a few Christian young people. Young ones who have a desire to serve God, to serve others and have a great relationship with their parents and siblings. Yet, they were not taught at home. They attended schools. Both public schools and private schools. Upon talking to their parent’s, I came to see that there are some common denominators: Relationship, time, love, acceptance, gentleness, firmness, boundaries, laughter, etc.

However, I still think we’re missing something in all this. It’s all too easy to look at family and judge their efforts or judge the fruit by the 16yo. However, I don’t believe that we can or should do that. I have heard it said, and I believe it to be true, that our true test of parenting isn’t seen until we watch how our children parent. How do our children parent our grandchildren? That’s when we see the fruit of our job.

We can’t look at a 15yo, who is mulling over the big issues of life and struggling with it (which can be a normal part of maturing into an independent adult), and judge a family by that! In the same way, we can’t look at a family who has an obedient and God-fearing 16yo and assume that they have it altogether, thereby desiring to emulate their parenting. We don’t know where that person will be when they are 30, once away from the watchful eye of parents and responsible for themselves. So often we look over the operative word in Proverbs 22: 6 “when he is old”, not when he is a teen.

I was speaking to a beautiful elderly man a few weeks ago at church. He had previously preached and I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned things. His son is an assistant pastor at the church (the elderly fellow isn’t a pastor) and preaches…just not quite as deep and insightful as his dad 😉 Anyway, we were talking about parenting and John and I questioned him about his parenting approach, as we usually do when we see the ripe fruit 😉

He encouraged us to do as much with our children as we could- to teach them God’s way, to love them, to laugh with them, to be firm with them and to not get too hung up over the teen years. He found out we home-schooled and was encouraging about that but he just kept saying the same thing:relationship! His children went to public school. I know of others who have sent their children to public school and they have grown to be productive fruits in the kingdom of God, serving Him with their lives.

I believe we’d do much better to study and learn about how God parents us! For He is the ultimate parent! How does he love, teach, guide, command us? What does He expect of us? Then as we relate our parenting from God, we may be parents after His own heart.

So with the whole rebellion thing…gee I went down a garden path there eh?

What do we really mean by ‘rebellion’?

Do we mean that the children haven’t adopted our way of thinking in every aspect…do they not adhere to ‘our’ standards of dress, music, etc or do we mean that they have discarded (turned their back on) the ways of God and His word?

Ah, it’s truly a big question I believe…and one that would be good thought and discussion for Australian homeschoolers as home education continues to grow and develop in this country.

As for me, I’ll keep praying for my children… I’ll keep living according to Micah 6:8. Keep proclaiming the gospel of Christ- salvation by grace through faith. And keep building relationships with them so that when the days of questioning come, they will see the Jesus living in me and know that Jesus is the way.

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8

Getting Back to Basics

Sally Clarkson has written a beautiful blog post that I just knew needed to be spread far and wide. So while I will include excerpts from the post here please go and read the full entry, which you’ll find at: Sally’s blog

I have pondered, lately, what I observe in many of the children that I meet along the way, how they reflect their mother’s philosophy of education and life. If you don’t start with the end in mind, what you want to see produced in your children’s lives, then you won’t build the right things along the way. I see so many sweet young moms going to these homeschooling fairs and piling themselves up with all sorts of colorful curriculum and work books’ and even other moms who think they will accomplish their goals by using videos. Yet, the pioneering spirit of homeschooling, seems to be lost and I see the choice of these materials having an ill effect on so many children.

One of the problems of homeschooling today, is that it became big business and so all sorts of companies developed materials to tempt moms, who have so many feelings of inadequacy, to buy. The more of these curriculums a moms buys, the more stress she is putting on herself, because she will surely expand her feelings of inadequacy each month because of all the pages of assignments she will not finish. Multiplying guilt and inadequacy is never a formula for success in my book. More options does not necessarily mean more excellence.

Just because we now have hundreds of channels on television doesn’t mean the quality of shows has improved more doesn’t always mean better. This is also true of education. Plying your life with myriad activities and opportunities and lessons and classes are costly in time, money, and peace. Choosing wisely a few focussed activities, and choosing the make home the center and priority of a mom’s life is the wisest, most historically and classically soothing way to build peace in the home and godly character in a child.

There is no substitute for a mom diving into great thoughts, with her children, and passionately discussing these together. If one of our primary goals for our children is to inspire them to love learning and to give them a passion about knowing and learning and creating, then this passion is caught when taught by a living, breathing, responsive person. No child or adult can get as much inspiration, personal attention or focussed attention from a video or online school. Now I am not saying that these things cannot be employed for some of the education or for a few subjects in which a mom and child can benefit from the expertise of others (and mainly in the high school years or for math tables or language study).

But, if we replace the love and care and encouragement and passion that comes from a mother’s heart to her children with a machine, we cannot expect to have the same heart and character results. Jesus’ impact on his disciples was because of the personal heart and mind and relationship and life time He had with His disciples. Can you imagine Him putting them on a video and telling them, “At the end of this multimedia course, you will be expected to give up your life for the cause of my Father, who is in heaven.” No, indeed. They gave their lives for His cause because He loved His own and shared His whole life with them. He befriended them, cared for them, instructed them.

Your children are pre-wired to looking to you for love and approval and inspiration and care, they want you most of all. Your heart, your imagination, your joy, your love, your direction. May God so fill your heart, and give rest to your body, so that you will always have the resources from His Holy Spirit, from which your precious ones may have life to draw from.

Have you been blessed by Sally Clarkson’s books? If you haven’t had opportunity to read them yet, you need to! Buy yourself one or more as part of ‘parent training’ if you need to justify. Just get a copy of Sally’s most recent books. You’ll be glad you did.

Using the 5W's and a H

Do you use the 5W’s and a H to teach your children? I do! I have found it beneficial in more than one way.

When the children were younger and narrating orally to me, the would sometimes forget, especially with some literary books that seem to waffle a bit and take time to get to the point. I started by telling them to remember as many nouns as they could.

Then I came across the idea of 5W’s and a H. It’s not a new idea at all…but it helps me to teach my children to research, to think logically and to organise their thoughts. I made a sheet which listed the W’s and a H and how it could relate to each and every chapter, book, story or movie. I also made a blank sheet so that the child can fill it in while reading. It can be used for all ages.

What are the 5W’s and a H?

Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?

I call it our Observation Sheet.

We have used these sheets for every subject, including Bible study. They can form as memory joggers or prompts when making a lapbook, writing an essay or a project. This sheet can easily be incorporated with other study skills such as mind-mapping. You can also use them as narration or writing prompts.

You can download a copy of the sheets below. Let me know if you use it, and if you find it beneficial.

Download link: Observation Sheet

A Sabbatical Year in Homeschooling

rp_ponderingfamily-life.jpg

 

Last year I was tired and weary from eight years of learning at home with children. (We withdrew Miss A from school and began testing her in late 1997)

In 2006 I had planned to start afresh with a new plan, and I was trying to gather enthusiasm for the new school year. I had blogged about it all, and one thing led to another and I decided to take a year’s Sabbatical. The entries and thoughts are scattered throughout this blog so I thought I’d compile them in one place.

It all started when I was studying ‘Rest’ and Sabbath in the Bible.
bw-children

I’m going to try something a little different this coming year!

December 28th, 2005

Usually I pray and ponder and peruse all the curriculum catalogues so that I can plan an approximate guide for each of my children. Late last year I roughly planned out the years for each of the children until they are 16years old. It was a very loose plan with lots of room for delights, interests and purposes. I then broke that down into the various years. I had planned to break that down even further and map out what things we would do this coming year but I’ve decided not to! I’m going to try something different. Instead of the 4 P’s (pray, ponder, peruse and plan) I’m going to focus on the 3 R’s. No, not Readin’ ‘Riting and ‘Rithmetic but…

Rest, Relationship and Refreshment.

I want to rest in God more and lead my children to do the same. I want to focus more upon relationships than ever before and I want to make sure that we have quality times of refreshment amidst our life of work. I don’t want to always be striving toward the next academic goal nor feeling good about achieving my goals. I just want to rest in God. The practical implication of this is that I won’t be planning, rather I will record what we have done each day. Each of the children will have their own recording journal, which we have designed ourselves and had spiral bound, (Learning Lifestyle Journal) and it will cover the following areas:

  • SPIRITUAL LIFE ~Bible reading, study, worship, prayer, fellowship, devotional readings, journal writing
  • LIFE SKILLS~ Chores, serving others, life skills
  • RELATIONSHIP/CHARACTER~ Relationship to others, God and self. Exercise, sport, nutrition, hygiene, personal development, health
  • ENGLISH~The art of communication – copywork/dictation, grammar, poetry, writing/composition, spelling/vocabulary, literature
  • MATHEMATICS~ Problem solving, thinking skills, logic studies
  • SCIENCE~Nature study, typing/technology, study
  • HISTORY~Past people and events. History and biography
  • GEOGRAPHY~ people and places of the world. Government, Economics, Foreign Language
  • WORLD VIEWS, CURRENT EVENTS ~
  • CREATIVE ARTS ~ Music, art, crafts, drama, Shakespeare, instruments, and other creative activities
  • AUDIO, VIDEO, TV & DISCUSSIONS~ Things I’ve discussed or learned by listening or watching

There is also room at the bottom of the page for student notes or comments and parent notes or comment. Maybe I’m becoming more this way the longer that we do this [learn at home].

I’m tired of seeing myself as a homeschooler! We are a FAMILY! And that is how God designed us to be. Academics are one part of life and so much of it can be done within a different time frame to what we (as school-ised parents) know of.  I don’t want to “measure my success” by the amount of Table-Time that we have or the amount of books that we read or how structured or unstructured we may be.

The New Year came and I still wasn’t getting excited:

January 19th, 2006

I’ll confess. I’m not jumping up and down with excitement over lessons (school) this year. Nope! There was a time when we would visit Officeworks and stock up on all manner of new stationary and papers and binders and filing systems but (this is the beginning of our 9th year) I can’t even gather some motivation to do that at the moment. There was a time when I would devise some great plans but not this year- we’re just plodding on from where we left off. I love making plans though and if I must say so myself, I’m kinda good at it too. However, it gets really tiring seeing those plans NOT become reality due to one reason or another (usually called “real life”) so I decided not to make any fresh plans or schedules. Years ago, I decided not to make New Year’s Resolutions for pretty much the same reason yet it took me awhile to realise that the same thing happens with my lesson plans.

So, we’re easing back into lessons next week but we’ll start slowly. Bible, English and Reading Aloud and Individual Reading (Yes, I still have to insist upon individual reading for some of my children) will happen first and then once we are rolling with that, we’ll add Maths, Science and History and just keep going from there.

I have tried all of my usual tricks in order to find some motivation or inspiration and it just isn’t happening! Yes, I know that God has called me to this job and that in Him I can do it, but I’m still weary. I want to keep pressing on toward the goal but I’m still tired. I’ve read articles on burnout and while I usually glean something from them, I’m not this time round.

Last year I thought about the possibility of a Sabbath Year- one year every seven years spent in just *rest* before God. No striving, planning, feeling driven, etc. but to simply REST in Him. Yes, I know that this can be a daily process and it should be, but I also think I need a Sabbath Year.

Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart. – Psalm 27:14

I thought about this last year and decided against it BECAUSE I was scared! Scared that my daughter is getting older and couldn’t find the time to have off but I realised that be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. Joshua 1:9

So, with our Sabbath Year this year I’m committing to NOT striving or planning, but to just *live* and rest in the author and the finisher of my faith.

By July 23rd, 2006 we were midway into our Sabbatical

Here we are midway through the year, and it’s time to look back, to assess and take stock of how things are going.

In January of this year, I decided to have a Sabbath period. I called it a Sabbath year but later changed it to a Sabbath Season. I was content to take up to a year but didn’t want to be bound by that. The point of this Sabbath Season was to not strive. Not to plan. Not to be so consumed by homeschooling. To not feel so driven most of the time but to relax in Him. To focus on relationships. I knew that this should/could be the way of learning-at-home but it wasn’t reality for me. Not really.

So, where are we now six months later? What have we been doing? Surely we haven’t just been sleeping in late each day and doing nothing? No. As I had posted we really have been focusing on the 3 R’s – Rest, Relationship and Refreshment.

Yes we’ve been moving interstate, having visitors stay with us and going away for softball trips but we’ve also been doing some things that could/should/would be classified as lessons.

How is this different to what we were doing last year when I thought that God was directing our home? Well, it’s the same but different. The change is in *me*. I didn’t realize exactly how many layers of self I had wrapped up in homeschooling- but there’s a few. A few years ago, I thought I had given it all over to God… that He could do what He wanted with me and that I had died to self and let go of my ideals. And I did do that. However, I believe that there were still parts of it, my goals that had to be given over to God. I’m learning at a deeper level what He means when He says to commit our ways to Him.

So far this year, we have read history, science, done maths and English, watched many movies and had great discussions on the nature of man, practiced real life skills, trained our physical bodies, and implemented new chores and routines. But more than that, we have spent more time in God’s word- reading, studying, immersing ourselves in Him.

It’s not that we have stopped learning how to write or spell or do maths… rather that I don’t plan and wring my hands with worry. We simply pick up the lesson where we left off and if this means that we don’t do maths for 2 or 3 weeks then so be it! It isn’t going anywhere, and we’ll get back to it one day. Meanwhile, there are other things for us to learn or do.

I have been pleasantly surprised at how much my children have been able to achieve independently WHEN THEY ARE READY. Oh, I used to try and have them read this and that… to do this report and that essay but it was a bit of a slog. Now I see that as they are ready, (and I’m watching all the time to see when the time is right) they are able to go through 3 -4 times the amount of work that I could have taught them. But the added bonus is that they have done it themselves and so they taste success in doing something themselves.

So where to from here? Learning-at-home is a marathon, not a sprint. Maybe if I only had the one or two children at home I could do academics with 100% focus but I don’t- I have four beautiful children. This means that it is truly a marathon… the long haul. It has to be a lifestyle for it to be sustainable (for us). This means that I approach the educating of our children a little differently to someone who is homeschooling for a year or so or until high school. This is our 9th year (at time of writing), and I have approximately another 7-8 years before my youngest son finishes yr 12. It isn’t about ‘resting’ and not planning for another 8 years. It’s about not being consumed by that planning. It’s about truly trusting in Him and committing my way to Him.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

This Sabbath Season isn’t meant to be just for a month or so, for me. Rather it is to be the way we live for now, until the Lord directs us differently. This will come too, I think as there is a time for work and a time for rest. But on a much smaller scale, I’m even finding this to be true WITHIN our Sabbath Season. There is a time to focus on spelling, on maths, on history, etc. but I don’t need to focus on them every day, every week, every month. Seasons – what a gift from God!When I wake in the morning are my thoughts about curricula, lessons or history or are they on the Lord and how I can best serve Him this day?

What I have learned from our Sabbatical Year

November 25th, 2006
Well, it’s getting on toward the end of the year, which means a new year is coming. I’ve had such an interesting journey so far this year, and I’ve chronicled it a little on my blog but in scattered bits and pieces.

It all started when I pursued my own study on the Sabbath (Nov 2005). I decided to try focusing on the 3 R’s for 2006- the new 3 R’s – Rest, Relationship and Refreshment. Jan 2006 saw me not too excited about lessons this year so deciding to have a Sabbath Season.

We moved interstate in May so we had to ride the waves of moving. Throughout this I was becoming more interested in getting fitter and I realised something about our home and family, from reading Body for Life. The book talks about hitting high points and efficient workouts, etc. Gee, this sounds a bit like my homeschool- instead of wanting to do lessons and booky stuff all day every day, I want to do our lessons efficiently, hit some high points AND have a life!  In July, I was having such a good time that I decided to take stock of the year so far: and in August I started to formulate our recipe for success or not!

Throughout this time of Sabbath I have learned a lot about myself, the nature of Man, the nature of God, how we learn, etc I also learned, in a whole new way, that people will learn what they need to know, when they need to know it.

So where to for next year?

I’m getting a little excited about planning for next year but with the lessons I’ve learnt firmly in my mind.

Our focus will still be on the 3 R’s.

Rest, Relationship and Refreshment.

There are so many books that we haven’t read … books that I know we won’t even get to read … lessons that I haven’t done, but that’s okay! The important ones have been read, the important lessons have been discussed, relationships have been nurtured and the curiosity that is essential for learning has been kindled. Whenever I start to look at how much a child hasn’t done, I stop and look at how much they care, not how much they know and I’m left feeling content.

My family dynamics have changed a fair bit over the last 12 months, and I’m looking forward to a new season of working with my boys. The girls and I have always loved learning about history- it has been our favourite subject, but the boys are more interested in geography and science. Science is something I’ve tried to almost avoid but I’ve even been writing a unit study based on a Willard Price book in preparation for next year. My goal is to bring John to a level where he will be able to work more independently so that I can spend a little more time with ‘Master C’ . I want to streamline the basics so that we an all spend more time in God’s word and learning according to their delights and interests.

We’ll still have interruptions as we’re probably moving again in May, and with two girls working part time and youth group, and ‘Miss A’ ‘s softball this means the waves are starting get a little bigger, but that’s fine because that’s life! It’s how we know we’re alive!

So I’m excited about switching focus to a new subject (science) and teaching my boys, which is totally different to teaching my girls. I’m excited about teaching and showing them God’s word … ahhh, much to be thankful for.

Postscript

All in all our Sabbatical Year was a beautiful opportunity to learn about many things in ways that we hadn’t before. We tried new things, we tried new ways of doing things, we rested, we were refreshed and we were ready to start the new year (2007) full of energy. Most of all, I spent time growing in God’s word, gaining fresh and new motivation for the remainder of my days as a homeschool mum.

In the year 2006, the ages of my children were approximately: 15yodd, 13yodd, 11yods and a 9yods.

If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them!

You’ll be so glad you did.

Okay, what am I rambling about? Many years ago, when I was a young wife, my husband used to follow the football (Go Crows! AFL) My childhood was spent playing softball in summer and going to watch mates play baseball in winter. Football just didn’t enter into my life at all. Actually I never understood the rules and thought it was a little silly that grown men would chase an oval shaped ball all around a field. The strategic game of physical chess, called softball, was much more my style.

As newlyweds we would often have visitors over on the weekend: we loved entertaining! However, on a Saturday or Sunday the footy would come one and the men would disappear and the women would find them shouting and cheering at the television as they watched the football. I slowly became more and more frustrated as the months and years wore on. I really did not like how the football came between John and me. I didn’t like the feeling of “the men watch footy while the women do their thing‘. Oh, my husband didn’t do anything that made me feel like that but other guys did, as did their own wives. It just seemed to be the ‘norm’. ;(

So what’s a gal to do? I have learned that if you can’t beat ’em, then join ’em!!!!

Yes, I have been a mad Crows supporter for years and years now. You know what? My husband loves it! We have a ‘date’ time every week where we plan something to nibble, provide an activity for the children, if they don’t wish to support with us, and we have our footy time. It’s just one of the things we do together to help build and maintain our relationship.

In your own life, have you decided to ‘join ’em’ rather than nag or try to change something in your husband?

Shakespeare Study, the HomeGrownKids Way

To study, or not to study Shakespeare: that is the question:

When I first read Charlotte Mason’s writings I was thoroughly blessed. The CM series gave me some valuable tools that I could use to enrich our home and family life. I had never read or viewed any Shakespeare play until about eight years ago! We didn’t read or study any when I was at school and I confess I thought it was very outdated. However, once I became a parent and desired that my children learn to speak well and appreciate books of a good literary standard I knew that at some point, I would like to introduce them to Shakespeare. When and how were what I didn’t know. But the CM series taught me how I could introduce my children to the world of Shakespeare.

The girls and I shared a few Shakespeare stories. First, we read the version by Arthur Mee, then the next week I’d read another story version by Charles and Mary Lamb and then Edith Nesbit but our favourite retellings are those by Leon Garfield.

I would have the girls write out a few paragraphs of the story for copy work. Then, I’d also have them write out a few selections from the play. We would use narration as well as paper cut out figures to keep the characters straight in our minds. Eventually, we would tackle the play in its entirety. Oh! the fun we would have by taking a part each and reciting in our most dramatic voices! 😀 We watched a few of the plays that have been made into good movies (but be very selective). Some of our favourites were with Kenneth Branagh and /or Emma Thompson.
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However, I have decided not to introduce my boys to Shakespeare at the same ages as the girls. I will at a later stage but not yet…I don’t think it is necessary. Why, I hear you ask? I’m happy to tell you why not…but before I do I would like to say that this is my conviction, this is something that I believe was right for our family and I wouldn’t like to tell anyone else what to do. Now having said that (my disclaimer) I would also say that I don’t believe your children will be missing out by not covering or learning of Shakespeare while in the primary years. There, I’ve said it! (I know there will be some that will disagree)

As I said, we read the story versions so that the girls would have an overview…a basic understanding of the plot. However, if we weren’t going to continue and read the original play I don’t see what value there was in starting to learn Shakspeare at such a young age. I do know that it felt good to be able to say to other homeshool mums, to non homeshcooling friends, that we were learning Shakespeare. Oh, some looked at us in admiration or with a stare of incredulity. Over time though, I was convicted of my motives. I was feeling homeschool pride! I felt that we were doing something that typical primary/middle schools didn’t cover- yet we could! Oh, to have the girls run around quoting a few lines of Shakespeare certainly did my homeschooling ego good. (I’m sure that none of the readers to this blog have ever felt such a thing as homeschool mama pride eh? 😉 ) Oi voi! God had other plans. He picked me up and gave me a solid talking to!

Shakespeare is fairly intense. The characters and the plot are complex. The original language certainly is beautiful and rich yet the story versions seemed so watered down. In fact, the story versions are almost twaddle, in my opinion. Twaddle that sees some characters blaspheme or joke about sin. As an adult or young adult, we can learn to discern these things. In fact, Shakespeare can be like a spotlight shining into our lives, revealing sin. Black is not always evil and white is not always pure with Shakespeare, which is how it is in real life but I wonder if it is too confusing for a younger child is who still in the process of learning basic Biblical doctrine.

I don’t want my young children hearing or learning about the racism and prejudice of the Jews. I want them to hear God’s side of the story first. I want them to learn about the history of Israel first. Of course, they will learn of bigotry and racism and hatred, but it won’t be dressed as humour or satire or with cynicism that can be difficult for a young child to discern. I firmly believe there is a time to teach Shakespeare. And the process is still the same: introduce via story versions, mind map the plot and characters, watch a good movie version and study the original play. I just don’t believe it is necessary with younger children. How much better to fill their young minds with Bible stories, stories of nature, stories of heroism, fairy tales, poems, stories that inspire? The time will come when they will need to know about Shakespeare and it is then that we, as parents, need to seize the moment and teach with discernment.

Yes, I have read all the benefits for reading Shakespeare. (Here and here are two well articulated arguments) My girls have already studied many of his plays. Yet I have chosen a different path for the boys (currently aged 10 and 12). Why? I think it is all part of an Identity Directed education…being able to tailor the curriculum…being Spirit Led in the education of each individual child. God knows these boys intimately. He knows the plans he has for them. So I seek Him for the educational direction of each child. This is how He is leading me with my boys. It may not be for you. It may be. What is important is that you, and me, individually seek God for direction of our family and homeschool, that we rely upon Him to meet the needs of our families.

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What do you think? Do you teach Shakespeare to your young children? If so, why? If you don’t, why not? I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts.

(No condemnation, I promise ;))

Homeschool Copyright/Plagiarism issues

Better is the poor who walks in his integrity than one who is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.
Proverbs 19:1

After being quite sick for the last week, I awoke this morning to a horrible, disappointing shock that has left me reeling and very hurt. I feel like I have been robbed. But let me go back a little in time.

Years ago, like most homeschoolers I looked for ways to be frugal in our homeschooling. I learned to use the library a lot. They have some great selections of video’s, DVD’s, and CD’s. Sometimes we wouldn’t get around to watching or listening to them so I came upon the idea of making a copy before returning it to the library. I even felt quite frugal while doing so. After all, if I had to buy that CD I would need to have spent about $40. But now I had saved that. Before long, I ended up with a stack of things that I don’t think I would have needed or used, but as they were free I might as well have them on the shelf, just in case. I had even lent out my resources, feeling fairly sure that the person was going to make their own copy!

Oi voi!

Praise God! He taught me the error of my ways. He did not allow me to stay at that place. He showed me my sin. I was convicted of my wrongdoing. I set apart searching for every little bit of illegal stuff in my house and then we burnt it all. It was a whole family affair. Something started fairly innocently. I did not set out to steal or deceive. I just wanted to save a few pennies…but the fallen nature of man, and the enemy that seeks to devour worked and saw me down a path that I hardly recognised…a path I didn’t set out to take, but ended up there anyway. Thank God that He rescued me from that path and put me on the straight and narrow.

As is often the case with reformed drinkers or smokers, I developed a hot spot (a bug-bear, a passion) for copyright protection and violations. I now stringently try to protect the lawful copyright owner and go to great lengths to ensure that everything I do is above board. I encourage others to always check out the law and consider the use of a Fair Use Policy. Copyright is far more than a list of black and white words- it is legal, ethical, moral and Biblical values.

I administrate a second hand curriculum and resources website. I plaster this site with the homeschool copyright notices and information from homeschoolcopyright.com I want everyone to be informed as to their buying and selling (and borrowing/copying) practices.

Imagine my surprise when I logged on to the Internet this morning to discover a new website has been set up, on the same free board host that Aussie Homeschool Ads is on. That’s okay, I though. Anyone is free to set up their own board. I did not expect this person to set their new board up with the same URL plus one digit. I did not expect them to copy and paste my board structure (ideas which took months to create) on to their own board.

Yes! The board names, the descriptions, the categories (my intellectual property) were all EXACTLY the same as mine! It took hours and lots of effort to come up with those forums and title them and someone has just stolen them!

I ventured into he forum and discovered that some posts that I had written on Aussie Homeschool Ads had in fact been copied and pasted to the new forum…as though this other person had written it. I was livid. I was sad. That was directly stealing my post, my words. Maybe I should have been flattered, but at the time I wasn’t.
Well as with everything in life, I will deal with this…but the reason I blog about it is to increase awareness of homeschool copyright issues (while my issue here is more about fair use, and intellectual property and Christian ethics it still bears a mention).

HomeschoolCopyright.com
Join the Campaign Do you know what is fair and right use of the materials that you use, buy, sell and lend?

Aussie Homeschool Ads and Community Forum

He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.
Psalm 101:7

Some Bible Based Freebies

My family has been laid down with a horrid flu-like virus/bug. It is nasty. Fever, nausea, body aches and vice-like gripping headaches have saw us all have a quiet, lethargic week. Just when I was starting to get back into the swing of things! I have found some goodies on the ‘net for those that like handy dandy tools and gizmo’s. Check out some of these:

INSTAVerse
Do you visit Christian web sites or receive daily devotional emails? Ever want to look up a scripture fast? InstaVerse? by WORDsearch will let you instantly see the actual Bible text for scripture references like John 3:16 ? just point your mouse at it, and the text pops up in your preferred translation! The best part is that InstaVerse with the KJV Bible is free!

Get InstaVerse!

Power Point Bible Maps
In cooperation with eBibleTeacher.com, SearchGodsWord.org is pleased to offer 41 FREE Powerpoint Bible Maps. Ideal for teachers and pastors, each map comes in three different sizes (640, 800, 1024) to suit your needs. Also available is the original PowerPoint file used in the creation of the image files.

Daily Wallpaper for your computer
Heartlight has joined together with Paperquote.com to bring you an exciting feature: Daily Heartlight Wallpaper! Now you can have a new Heartlight image appear on your desktop each morning when you log onto the internet. By simply downloading the free software, you will be downloading new wallpaper for your desktop in no time!

That’s about it from me for this week. I’m off to do some much needed grocery shopping to stock up on some fruit and veg as well as get some party food for tonight is a special celebration! Our youngest, ‘Master C’ , turns from single digits into double digits!!!! Double digits is a pretty big event in our home. Double digits is when one goes from being a boy to a MIT: a Man In Training. It’s special. 🙂

Does Your Child Read Aloud?

Is there any value in having children read aloud? As tedious as it may be, it has tremendous value! I love books! I love reading and I like reading aloud to the whole family. But what about having children read aloud to us?

Family reading

Having a child read aloud is recommended by teachers and experts (and deservedly so) as it has immense benefits such as:

  • diagnosing language and speaking problems,
  • building speaking skills,
  • developing hand/eye coordination between paragraph and page structure,
  • develops vocabulary,
  • stimulates the imagination,
  • encourages creativity with voice and, if practiced regularly, can help with self-confidence and esteem.

Whew! Reading aloud accomplishes an awful lot… so much for such a simple exercise. Exposure to good books will also assist later on in the years with creative writing and journal keeping. Some ideas for writing to read are to:

  • have the child write out your shopping list and then help you with the shopping,
  • read suitable sections of the newspaper with them,
  • create and maintain a journal with them – you write one day, they respond the next day. This provides them with positive feedback in a non-threatening way.

Start Early

While it’s never to late too start having your child read aloud, it’s never too early either! If you think about it, most parents naturally do it anyway. Think about reading those first baby picture books that have pictures of single words like Mum, Dad, house, ball, dog, etc. Parents point to the picture and say the word, hoping for some response from the baby. Then gradually the books change and start to include more Repetition and Rhyme. Small children love repetition and rhyme and it is really important to their development. They will enjoy memorising and anticipating what comes next in a favourite book.

I have my children read aloud when they are learning to read. It isn’t something that is burdensome, it’s quite natural. When I am reading their book or reader with them, I simply ‘buddy read‘ with them. I’ll read a paragraph and then I’ll ask them to read a short passage. if they stumble over a word then I will help them. The goal is to build confidence and develop skills and fluency not to major on every word or expect perfection. Over time, they are able to read larger and more complicated passages. This is fairly standard with new and developing readers. Sadly though, once a child is fairly fluent in reading, many parents stop requiring their child to read aloud. 🙁

Next we might read some short poems. Choose poems that tell a story, have rhyme and rhythm and paint a word picture. Your child will love them!

Then comes the short chapter books with simple sentences where we help our child to decode words and read entire short sentences. As they try to sometimes make mistakes, we are there to help them along the way:correcting mistakes and helping them deal with frustration and congratulating them when they get it right. Once the children are fluent and capable readers there is no read to have them stop. Simply choose harder books and challenge them! 🙂 You can move on to read difficult passages in the Bible using the King James version, unabridged classics, poetry and speeches.

Good Literature

Reading aloud fine works of literature (or fine speeches) is the basis for public speaking (oratory skills) and is especially good for older children and boys. My boys are verbal with each other but not necessarily with me and the rest of the family. They don’t give wonderfully verbose and detailed oral narrations yet I know that they have the knowledge so I require them to read aloud a fair bit- to each other, to me, to their sisters and we still buddy read. I have them read their Bible and poetry out loud.

I also use reading aloud as an elocution (pronunciation) lesson. My boys can tend to mumble so we need to continue to practice it. Plus, I’d like it to be a habit so that they will naturally read to their own children. So why stop it?

My boys do lots of their own reading as they are in the ‘building fluency‘ stage so their books are suited to their developmental stage. When choosing passages for them to read aloud, I try to make them according to their level and ability without being too hard, yet still challenging. I try to challenge my daughters though as they are capable of handling more.

I still have all my children read aloud! It is a skill that needs to be practiced. I find that if we’ve been busy (like moving house or holidays) and I haven’t read aloud even I stumble and sound ‘bitty’ for a few pages until I get back into it. However, I’m not super-mum so I won’t pretend that we do it every day. Like most things, there are times of focus and times when it goes on the back-burner.

Live It! Model It!

If we value books and reading then our children need to see it in practice. Why will they value reading if they never see us read? They may start to believe it is something that only children do, and in their desire for maturity, give it up!

  • Make sure your children see you reading a variety of writing.
  • Make sure that you read aloud a wide variety of literature to them (personally, I think the Bible is the best and most important).
  • As the children get older tell them why it is important for them to know how to read aloud well. Often older children respond well to knowing why they are required to do something- they’ll often give their best once they know what they’re doing it (part of assuming responsibility for their own education).
  • One way for older children to practice reading aloud with character and inflection in a non threatening way is to have them read good books to their younger siblings. Younger children will rarely complain about it and it is also a lovely sibling bonding time. This has worked well in our home.

I think the key is all about giving the children opportunity to practice something- achieve a good standard which will build their confidence, which has the roll on effect of continuing to build necessary skills.

Do your children read aloud? How is it in your family?

Feel free to share via posting a comment or writing on your own blog (just comment me and let me know you’ve posted so I can read your blog).

That Which Is Plain

That which is plain to you and concerns you — do. That is righteousness.

That which is plain to you but does not concern you — do not demand of others. That is judgment.

That which is not plain to you, study, and pray. That is wisdom.

Fr. Tobias S Haller, BSG