My Blog = My Life: homeschooling

It's in the garden, amid the blooms and thistles, the soil and the stony ground, the dead seeds and lush vegetation where the story of sin and forgiveness, the Fall and Redemption, and life as one who has been engrafted into Christ can be told with real-life illustrations like no other. How fascinating it is that the place our children love to play is the same ground that can be used for discipling their eternal souls!

"Do you see that clematis? That's such a pretty vine! Jesus said that He was the True Vine. Everyone who loves Jesus has to bear fruit just like those purple flowers. Otherwise the Lord will cut off the dead branches like Mommy does so the rest can grow better."

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. John 15:1-2

"These flowers are called a peonies. Sometimes flowers like to grow in fields of grass where the horses are, even though they'll get cut down when the farmer makes hay. If God even cares about clothing a field of grass with pretty flowers, then we certainly don't have to worry about where we will get our clothes because He cares for us even more!"
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Matthew 6:30

"This pot is made out of clay. The person who made it is called a potter. The Bible says that God is the Potter and we are His clay. He made us and can do with us whatever He wants to do. That should make us very happy because God's plan for His people is perfect - much better than any sort of plan we could think of."

But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. Isaiah 64:8

"These pumpkin seeds are dead. They won't grow if we leave them on the driveway. But if we put them in the garden where the soil is really healthy, they will begin to grow and produce beautiful orange pumpkins! Our hearts have to be like the soil in the garden, ready to receive God's Word with joy and produce fruit. If are hearts are stony like the driveway, than we will fall away from the Lord when temptation comes."

But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Matthew 13: 20, 21, 23

"What kind of plant is this? That's right, a tomato plant! How did you know? Because it has tomatoes! Jesus says of His people that by their fruits we will know them. The best way to tell if someone loves the Lord is if they want to do the things that please Him."

Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. Matthew 7:16, 17

"When we're sick, we don't need to buy our medicine from the store. God tells us that the fruit from the plants He made are for food and the leaves are for medicine!"

And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine Ezekiel 47:12

The parallels here only scratch the surface. So much more could be said about Creation, the sin that enter the world by disobedience in Paradise, and what it means to be engrafted into Christ. Next time you're out pulling weeds, pause for a second and whisper these truths in to the eternal souls of your dirt-covered, sun kissed, wee ones.

Home school conventions and curriculum fairs are full of them: stressed-out homeschooling moms in search of the "perfect" curriculum. Anxious faces suggest meandering through the crowded hallways and sifting through myriads of material is no easy task. Moms stop other moms to ask, "What curriculum do you use?", hoping to discover the link to a successful school year.

What am I really asking when I implore another homeschooling mother about her curriculum choice? Because in all honesty, the curriculum she uses with her children probably won't help me with mine.

Giving myself the benefit of the doubt, perhaps her child does learn the same way as my child. Maybe that's why I'm curious. Maybe I really am looking for the most effective way to teach my child their ABC's and 123's.

Or maybe, I'm liking the way her kids are turning out and want my kids to turn out like that too.

It's silly isn't it? That I can think the key to a successful home school lies in a brand of textbooks. It's silly that I can stress over curriculum as if my choice will make my child turn out okay. I can put more thought into how they're going to learn the comparably insignificant three R's when my focus ought to be teaching them about our ruin in Adam, redemption in Jesus, and the renewing of our hearts and lives by the Holy Spirit.

What an awful lot of unnecessary pressure we put ourselves under, when ultimately, it's the grace and power of a super-natural God that is absolutely necessary to make any home school successful!

In the end, it matters not whether Johnny learns to read. Reading won't get him into Heaven. Neither will his ability to write, compute numbers, or dissect a frog.

"If you try to give people knowledge, and you haven't trained them in character, based on faith, they will become intellectual reprobates." - Doug Phillips
In the end, what matters is my child's salvation. This is not something that can be found in a curriculum, worksheet, or activity binder. I can't give them a page of multiple choice questions and give them a passing grade. I can't do anything to make their salvation happen.

Hallelujah!

From beginning to end, salvation is the work of the Holy Spirit, applying the atonement Jesus paid for with His blood to sinners who God loved for no reason in ourselves (Hebrews 7:25).

This is what gives me hope as a home school mom. The God who can save my child is the same God who takes no delight in the death of the wicked, but desires everyone to come to repentance (Ezekiel 33:11). He is the same God who promised that those who seek Him shall find Him (Proverbs 8: 17). And these promises are certain because He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrew 13:8).

Therefore, as a homeschooling mom, I ought to be pouring my energies, sweat, and tears not into curriculum, but into familiarizing my children with the Bible because faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17).

Don't get me wrong. We ought to do due diligence in choosing curriculum that corresponds to the individual needs of our children. But if it's not working, don't sweat it. There is one thing needful in a child's education, and that is to sit at Jesus' feet (Luke 10:42).

Start your day in God's Word. Choose curriculum that is Word-centered. Pray for the salvation of your children. Present them with the Gospel as you sit in your house, walk along the road, when you tuck them in bed at night, and when you get up (Deuteronomy 5: 6,7).

Go forward and home school in hope. The salvation of your child does not hinge on your curriculum choice; it rests on the finished work of Jesus Christ who has freely offered Himself in the Gospel.

Linking to: Raising Homemakers,, Deep Roots At Home, Wise Woman, Raising Arrows, The Better Mom, Walking Redeemed, A Mama's Stoary

... continued from yesterday. Read Part 1 here.
Currently, we're teaching our 2-year-old to memorize the Proverbs. Proverbs for Parenting | A Topical Guide for Child Raising From The Book of Proverbs compiled by Barbara Decker has proved to be a handy tool as each of the proverbs are organized into their respective categories.

If Charity is having a particularly difficult week with anger and temper-tantrums, we can flip to the anger section and choose a few verses from there to work on. If she's habitually stalling when we ask her to do something, we'll turn to the chapter on obedience. If she's having a hard time finding something nice to say to her brother, we'll memorize a verse on kindness.

There's nothing difficult or scientific about our method for memorization. For the most part, it's a simple process of "repeat after me." This past week, we memorized Proverbs 16:6: "By mercy and truth, iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil."
1. First, I'll read the verse through and explain any words she might not understand: iniquity, purged, depart.
2. Then I'll say the first phrase and ask her to repeat it back to me. I do this several times over with each section of the verse. That way, it gets ingrained in my memory as well as hers!
Mommy: "By mercy and truth... "
Charity: "By mercy and truth... "
Mommy: "Iniquity is purged... "
Charity: "Iniquity is purged... "
3. Once I think she's familiar with the phrases, we start combining them, two at a time:
Mommy: "By mercy and truth, iniquity is purged... "
Charity: "By mercy and truth, iniquity is purged... "
Mommy: "..and by the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil."
Charity: "... and by the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil."
4. Next, I leave out key words, and give her the opportunity to fill them in:
"By ________ and _______, _________ is ________: and _____ the _________ of the _______, men __________ from ______. Proverbs ____ : ____."
5. Once she's done the above a few time, we're down to just a few prompts until she can say it on her own:
"By _____________, iniqu... _______________; and ________________, men ____________________. _________ ___ : ___."
The whole process takes less than 15 minutes. I'll randomly review the verse with her several times throughout each day of the week until she can rattle it off and we move onto the next one. A few other things we've found helpful to aid in Scripture memorization are:

• Music. We sing a Psalm from our Church's Psalter with her before bed time. It's so fun when she picks it up and is able to sing along with us or recognizes it in a Church service!
• Regular Review. We try not to forget about a verse once we've moved on to a new one. To keep it fresh in her memory, we'll say the first word of a verse she knows when we're in the car or at dinner, and she'll finish the rest.
• Consistency. I find this to be the hardest part of all, especially if my morning is rushed by a tight schedule. However, if Charity's kept in the memorizing mode, it becomes easier for her to catch on. Once she recognizes it as part of our daily routine, she becomes the one who reminds me: "Mommy? Can we do the 'merry heart is good like medicine' one?"

It's a well known fact that a child's ability to remember things is second to none. The capacity to soak up their influences is the motivating factor behind our government's resolve to get them into the classroom at an increasingly young age. Once they're out from underneath their parent's control, the state has a no-holds-barred approach to indoctrinating our children with immorality and socialistic propaganda. This explains why the 4-year-olds in our province are going to school and being taught to question their gender, and why books like Heather has Two Mommies is perfectly acceptable story-time material.

It wouldn't be so bad if it was truth and righteousness our government was so concerned about instilling into our children. But then, if it was really God's Word the government looked to as their moral compass, they probably wouldn't be so quick to snatch the future of the nation away from their parents as soon as possible. Proverbs 22:6 was written to Dads and Moms; it is our duty to train up our children in the way that they should go, not the state's.

This reason, coupled with the desire to see our children's salvation and a life-time of blessing from the Lord, ought to make Scripture memorization and biblical instruction fundamental to the everyday life of a Christian family (Psalm 119: 9-11; Deuteronomy 6: 6,7; 1 Peter 3:15). If our children learn to abide by God's principles and commandments concerning marriage, economics, and life in general, they will become the leaders in a society that is craving for morality, prosperity, and stability.

What we think are the basics of life (i.e. arriving to a job on time and sober) are becoming extinct in a culture that's lost its way. This give a distinct advantage to the child who has learned to abide by God's formula for a happy and peaceful life:

"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates, day and night." Psalm 1:1,2"He who heeds the Word wisely will find good, and whoever trusts in the Lord, happy is he." Proverbs 16:20"... His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who has called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." 2 Peter 1: 3,4If we want to give our children a good life, we must give them God's Word. It is the key to salvation and the pattern for success. No amount of toys, allowance money, clothes, or candy can produce righteousness or an outstanding member of society. We cannot save our children; that is an act of God's grace alone. But we can hide God's Word in their hearts and take comfort in knowing that it will never return to Him void (Isaiah 55:11).

After several months of collaborating with ten fellow homeschooling mamas from around America (yes, I'm the lone Canadian contributor to this eBook!) Homeschooling Day By Day, a 40-chapter thriving guide for mothers is finally here!

Homeschooling Day By Day
$4.99 40 Chapters (with Discussion Questions)
PDF Version:

KINDLE version:

If you've ever wished for a homeschooling manual- or better yet, a mentor- you will love Homeschooling Day by Day. It is the spilling over of hearts into words from eleven mothers who, like you, are in the trenches raising and educating their children at home.

Some are at the beginning of our journeys (such as yours truly), three of us are second-generation homeschoolers (also including yours truly!), some have very large families (seven kids or more), and some are homeschooling children with special needs.
All of us are passionate about the opportunity to teach our own children. No one has a teaching degree and yet we all homeschool because we believe the One who has called us to this momentous task is able to provide the wisdom and grace to be able instruct the children He has given us day by day.

Don't buy Homeschooling Day by Day if you want to be told that homeschooling is easy or if you've already got this thing licked.

This book is for homeschooling mamas who struggle, grow weary, wonder if they're doing enough or if they're pushing too hard, worry that they're in over their head, deal with criticism, or desire plenty of practical advice and helpful hints to make this glorious calling worth the life-changing road it's bound to take you down.

Table of Contents:

Part One: The Heart Of Homeschooling

1} The Worst Homeschool Year Ever
2} Debunking Super Mom
3} Homeschooling Heroism
4} How Pride Hurts Homeschoolers
5} Facing The Mirrors
6} Your Greatest Critic
7} Teaching Without Words
8} Embracing The “Want To”
9} The Most Important “R”
10} God's Word: The Heart Of Home Education

Part Two: Challenges Of Homeschooling

11} On Getting It All Done
12} Can I Homeschool For Free?
13} Homeschooling & Dyslexia
14} Homeschooling A Child On The Autism Spectrum
15} Homeschooling The Strong-Willed Child
16} Homeschooling & Working From Home
17} Homeschooling While Working A Full Time Job

Part Three: Seasons Of Homeschooling

18} Balancing Multiple Ages
19} Homeschooling Teenagers
20} Preschoolers: Q&A
21} Obedience Training
22} Seasons Of Survival

Part Four: Homeschooling Foundations

23} Traditional Homeschooling
24} The Classical Method Of Homeschooling
25} The Unit Study Method
26} The Charlotte Mason Method
27} Eclectic Homeschooling
28} Other Homeschooling Methods
29} Learning Styles
30} Covering All The Bases
31} Making Homeschool Fun
32} Six Ways To Simplify Curriculum

Part Five: Tools For Successful Homeschooling
33} Keeping First Things First
34} Steps To Prioritizing
35} Mama's Schedule Fiasco
36} Building A Homeschool Routine That Works For You
37} Menu Planning Helps
38} How To Create Lesson Plans
39} Creating & Working Toward Goals
40} What It All Looks Like In Reality

Homeschooling Day by Day covers the following topics in a down-to-earth style:

• Homeschooling methods

• Learning styles

• Homeschooling children with learning disabilities

• Homeschooling teenagers

• Homeschooling preschoolers

• Managing multiple grade levels

• Dealing with criticism and insecurity

• How to handle bad attitudes and expectations

• Lesson planning

• How to keep up with housework, meals, your marriage and so much more!

Homeschooling Day By Day eBook: $4.99 PDF version

KINDLE version:

It is our prayer that Homeschooling Day by Day will equip, empower, and encourage you to give homeschooling a chance for the very first time or bring fresh vision and refreshment for those who are in the thick of it.

1777 New England Primer Cursive & Manuscript Printable Alphabet Sets $2.99 each
While preparing for our daughter's first official year of "school," I found myself searching for cursive worksheets and came up empty handed. I decided to create my own and since then, I’ve had dozens of requests from other Moms to compile them into a printable set. What follows is a set of the English alphabet in cursive, combined with rhymes for each letter from the 1777 New England Primer and plenty of dotted lines to aid in practice.

Our goal for our children from the beginning has been to stress the importance of character and personal salvation in their education. Hence, I’ve included 26 Scripture passages to correspond with each letter of the alphabet. These verses, combined with the biblical ditties from the 1777 Primer used by the Puritans help enforce the Gospel message in the tender hearts of our children while they learn to write. A: In Adam's Fall, we sinned all. B: Heaven to find, the Biblemind. C: Christ crucified, for sinners died. The first half of the book includes printables for individual uppercase and lowercase cursive letters. In the second half, the letters are attached to help teach the flowing pattern of cursive script. I recommend printing out the entire book and laminating the pages if you wish to reuse them with an erasable marker.

1777 New England Primer Cursive Printable Set | 64 pages
$2.99

... and here is the Manuscript version, complete with the same 26 Scripture passages to correspond with each letter of the alphabet, biblical ditties from the 1777 Primer used by the Puritans, and plenty of dotted lines for practice!

1777 New England Primer Manuscript Printable Set:
$2.99

What Customers Are Saying About The 1777 New England Alphabet Printables:
"This is beautifully put together- an excellent resource! Thank you for all the work you put into it!" - Sandy Tritt

"I was so happy to see you offer this wonderful resource. My daughter needed extra help in math last school year,by the school giving her the extra help they removed her from her cursive class. We were assured all year they would help her to catch up. It sadly never happened. I have been looking for something that would work with how she learns. This book is perfect! I plan on using it daily until school starts and then working with her on the weekends. Again, Thank you!" - Beautiful House Life

"My 3 yo saw me downloading this and asked, "Mommy is that for me for school?" When I told her yes, she was SO excited and wanted to start NOW... so thank you for making one little girl extremely happy today!!" - Ruthanne McFarlane

"I got a copy and I am so excited! I'm going to print and laminate here in a little bit and then I'm going to take it over to Staples and have it bound so its super easy for my little one to keep together YAY! Cant wait for the manuscript version! Thanks, Jacinda, for all your hard work! I tried to figure something like this out awhile back to save money and I'm just too challenged in that area... what a blessing!" - Sommer Alvarez

"Thanks! I love it! I'm sure my daughter will enjoy learning cursive with these pages." - Andrea C.

A Reader's Cursive Primer all put together!
1 Week of Fall Activities & Printables for Preschoolers

As part of our study on "Fall" this year with our 4 year-old, I created a "package" entitled 1 Week of Fall Activities and Printables for Preschoolers to go along with our theme. It is free to anyone who wishes to use it! If you'd to see how we used these printables in our home, you take a peek into our Fall-themed week here. Print or Download here. Table of Contents Sugar Cookies (to use with cookie cutters) ___pg. 4
Autumn Fires Poetry Memorization___pg. 5
Autumn Treasure Hunt___pg. 6
Leaf Prints with Crayons___pg. 8
Thankful Tree___pg. 9
Painted Pumpkin Faces___pg. 10
Corn Husk Dolls___pg. 11
Apple Twigs___pg. 12
10 Frugal Fall Field Trip Ideas___pg. 13
Fall Reading Suggestions for Preschoolers___pg. 14
If you’re interested in receiving more printables like this in the future, you may wish to subscribe via email, or follow Growing Home for updates via Google Friend Connect, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Google +.