Ugh. Where does the time go? I can't believe I haven't posted here in almost a year! It's not because I haven't had a lot to say, or that things aren't happening, it's just life. It tends to get in the way of all my really great plans. I don't know how it happens, but, there it is. What can I do?
We are at a real interesting time in our homeschool. Alicia is between 9th and 10th grade, Bailey is between 7th and 8th grade, and Christopher is plugging away in 5th grade in most subjects, but, is flying through 7th grade math. How do I keep up? I don't really know!
Right now I'm learning Chemistry, Latin, and Geometry. I'm reading classic literature I either haven't read before, or I haven't read in a long, long time. I'm re-learning Algebra and Physical Science. I'm putting together a science curriculum for a little boy who is super-science and math oriented. I'm making transcripts for kids who already know where they want to go to college, which helps a lot because then I can make sure we are hitting the things that need to be done for admissions. I can't believe I'm thinking about college, but, here it is, staring me in the face. My babies will be leaving before I know it and then what?
I often talk to friends who worry about what will happen to me when I face the empty nest. It seems that they are concerned that I will just be lost. Like all I am is a mom and a home schooler and what will I do when that is through?
Well, I have a few ideas! Will I be sad? Yup! Will I be a little lonely for my kids? Absolutely! But, I still have all the goals and dreams I had before I had kids. God-willing, I will still be a wife to a really terrific husband! I will be able to pursue things that I have a passion for. I am passionate about so much and I am so blessed that right now I am purusuing one of those passions--raising and discipling my kids! I have a sneaking suspicion that motherhood doesn't end the minute they reach 18. I still talk to my mom and ask her advice about things. I know that our relationship will change, but, I'm looking forward to seeing the people they are becoming come to life! It will be a blessing!!!
So, I'm growing, changing, and experiencing so many new things right now. And, if I'm lucky, I'll never stop.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Why Do I Do What I Do?
I want to thank Tracy in KY at the Well Trained Mind boards who wrote this. It's beautiful! And it's how I feel about being a mom, home educator, and woman of God.
I am training my children in the way they should go. I am teaching them when I rise up and when I lay down and when I walk. I am teaching them that everything they do must be honorable to God and to His glory. I am training them to think biblically and to memorize scripture and to analyze culture in the light of scripture. I am teaching them that they must prefer God, and that taking the gospel to the nations is glorifying to God. I am teaching them that the glory of God is the point of the universe.
I teach them that they must master grammar because language is the medium through which God gave us His word. If they are to correctly understand the Word of God, they must understand grammar. The Word of God is comprised of words and phrases and clauses and nouns and verbs and indirect objects and past tense verbs and present tense verbs and modifiers. They must master this so that they know what God has said. Further, in order to take the gospel to others we must be able to articulate it in the language we are speaking. Grammar exists for God. I teach them that they must become good spellers so that they can communicate the gospel clearly when writing. Spelling exists for God.
I teach them Greek so that they can read God's word in the language He communicated it so that they do not have to rely on other people to tell them what it says. I want them to read it for themselves in the original language, understanding all the subtle and not-so-subtle nuances in syntax and grammar and word meaning and logic so that they know what it says for themselves, because they have seen it for themselves in the language given by God. Therefore they can worship over God s Word and communicate clearly and with confidence to others what God has said. Greek exists for God.
I teach them history as God's working out of his plan in the universe, to His glory and for His purposes, thereby teaching them about their awesome God who frustrates the plans of the nations and sets up kings and deposes kings and wages war and determines history. My children are being taught that God rules sovereignly over history that nothing in history happens apart from the sovereign rule and purpose of God. As they see their God more clearly, they love Him more dearly and become jealous to see His name proclaimed among the nations. History exists for God.
I teach them logic as God's design for correct thinking and reasoning, so they can think clearly and reason well. If they are trained in correct thinking and reasoning then they can see better the beauty of the mind of their God as it is revealed in scripture. And then, as they take the gospel to others, they will not be mislead by false doctrine. They will see through the humanistic mechanisms of our culture. They will understand better how to explain the truth of God in the face of the depraved and distorted thinking that so characterizes the world we live in. By teaching them logic, I am teaching them to protect themselves AND to better reason with those who are deceived. Logic exists for the glory of God.
I teach them science and math so that they can see the hand of God in the order and precision by which He has created the universe. The heavens proclaim the glory of God, but it is so easily suppressed. Naturalistic thinking pervades even the Christian church and God is ignored. By teaching science and math as a glorious picture of the stunning capability of the mind of God, His glory stands forth to my children. We rejoice over our God, and they are thereby more bold in proclaiming his name to their friends and family. This is glorifying to God. Science and Math cannot be correctly understood apart from their relationship to God. Science and math exist for God.
I teach them Bible. We read the Bible, we ask questions of the Bible, we memorize Bible, we write about Bible--outlining, dictation, etc., we read commentaries and look at maps and check atlases of Bible lands and compare scripture with scripture and interpret our lessons through the Bible. We learn about missionaries and other countries and understand why we need to take the gospel to the nations. We apply Bible to our own culture and try to understand our culture in the light of scripture. The Bible is the backbone of what we do. Children who are biblically saturated are salt and light. Bible exists for the glory of God.
I teach them literature--lots of different stories, biographies, missionary stories, fantasies, etc. Much of this is secular in nature. Why is this important? Because they need to be able to filter everything through the lens of scripture. We take the books that don't mention God, and point out God's absence in the book. This is so crucial God is absent in our culture. This is one of the major sins of Romans 1--they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer. He is simply pushed aside from virtually all television, radio, movies, books, cartoons, children's books, our schools, the work place--He is absent. And this is horrifying and God-belittling and is the epitome of sin. But most people hardly realize it. I want my children to see it and thereby be inoculated against it. I want them to acknowledge God. So, we look at God's absence and talk about it, and we bring God into it. Take Pippi Longstocking--God is absent in Pippi-Longstocking. I do not want my daughter thinking that it is ever okay to conceive of God being absent anywhere, so we bring scriptural truths to bear on stories about Pippi-Longstocking, for example. Literature exists for God.
The Bible tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus. We are to look at what is not seen. I want to train my children to look at Jesus--all the time. I want to train them to see God, to be passionate for His glory, and to permeate their lives with Christ and His truths. Children who prefer God are salt and light. Children who prefer God are beacons testifying to His glory. So that is what I am doing to cause my children to be salt and light to a dark world. I want them to be articulate, God-centered, Bible-saturated, Christ-minded, Spirit-led, highly-educated people who are willing to go to the hardest places on earth and lay down their lives for the nations who have not heard. I want them to treasure Christ more than they treasure their own lives, and in doing so bring glory to God as the world looks on and considers Jesus as valuable because they see my children preferring Him over life itself. And I am pouring out my life to that end--in raising and training the children that God has entrusted to me, for His glory. I will answer to Him for my stewardship of the children He has given me. More than anything I want Him to say, Well done.
I am training my children in the way they should go. I am teaching them when I rise up and when I lay down and when I walk. I am teaching them that everything they do must be honorable to God and to His glory. I am training them to think biblically and to memorize scripture and to analyze culture in the light of scripture. I am teaching them that they must prefer God, and that taking the gospel to the nations is glorifying to God. I am teaching them that the glory of God is the point of the universe.
I teach them that they must master grammar because language is the medium through which God gave us His word. If they are to correctly understand the Word of God, they must understand grammar. The Word of God is comprised of words and phrases and clauses and nouns and verbs and indirect objects and past tense verbs and present tense verbs and modifiers. They must master this so that they know what God has said. Further, in order to take the gospel to others we must be able to articulate it in the language we are speaking. Grammar exists for God. I teach them that they must become good spellers so that they can communicate the gospel clearly when writing. Spelling exists for God.
I teach them Greek so that they can read God's word in the language He communicated it so that they do not have to rely on other people to tell them what it says. I want them to read it for themselves in the original language, understanding all the subtle and not-so-subtle nuances in syntax and grammar and word meaning and logic so that they know what it says for themselves, because they have seen it for themselves in the language given by God. Therefore they can worship over God s Word and communicate clearly and with confidence to others what God has said. Greek exists for God.
I teach them history as God's working out of his plan in the universe, to His glory and for His purposes, thereby teaching them about their awesome God who frustrates the plans of the nations and sets up kings and deposes kings and wages war and determines history. My children are being taught that God rules sovereignly over history that nothing in history happens apart from the sovereign rule and purpose of God. As they see their God more clearly, they love Him more dearly and become jealous to see His name proclaimed among the nations. History exists for God.
I teach them logic as God's design for correct thinking and reasoning, so they can think clearly and reason well. If they are trained in correct thinking and reasoning then they can see better the beauty of the mind of their God as it is revealed in scripture. And then, as they take the gospel to others, they will not be mislead by false doctrine. They will see through the humanistic mechanisms of our culture. They will understand better how to explain the truth of God in the face of the depraved and distorted thinking that so characterizes the world we live in. By teaching them logic, I am teaching them to protect themselves AND to better reason with those who are deceived. Logic exists for the glory of God.
I teach them science and math so that they can see the hand of God in the order and precision by which He has created the universe. The heavens proclaim the glory of God, but it is so easily suppressed. Naturalistic thinking pervades even the Christian church and God is ignored. By teaching science and math as a glorious picture of the stunning capability of the mind of God, His glory stands forth to my children. We rejoice over our God, and they are thereby more bold in proclaiming his name to their friends and family. This is glorifying to God. Science and Math cannot be correctly understood apart from their relationship to God. Science and math exist for God.
I teach them Bible. We read the Bible, we ask questions of the Bible, we memorize Bible, we write about Bible--outlining, dictation, etc., we read commentaries and look at maps and check atlases of Bible lands and compare scripture with scripture and interpret our lessons through the Bible. We learn about missionaries and other countries and understand why we need to take the gospel to the nations. We apply Bible to our own culture and try to understand our culture in the light of scripture. The Bible is the backbone of what we do. Children who are biblically saturated are salt and light. Bible exists for the glory of God.
I teach them literature--lots of different stories, biographies, missionary stories, fantasies, etc. Much of this is secular in nature. Why is this important? Because they need to be able to filter everything through the lens of scripture. We take the books that don't mention God, and point out God's absence in the book. This is so crucial God is absent in our culture. This is one of the major sins of Romans 1--they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer. He is simply pushed aside from virtually all television, radio, movies, books, cartoons, children's books, our schools, the work place--He is absent. And this is horrifying and God-belittling and is the epitome of sin. But most people hardly realize it. I want my children to see it and thereby be inoculated against it. I want them to acknowledge God. So, we look at God's absence and talk about it, and we bring God into it. Take Pippi Longstocking--God is absent in Pippi-Longstocking. I do not want my daughter thinking that it is ever okay to conceive of God being absent anywhere, so we bring scriptural truths to bear on stories about Pippi-Longstocking, for example. Literature exists for God.
The Bible tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus. We are to look at what is not seen. I want to train my children to look at Jesus--all the time. I want to train them to see God, to be passionate for His glory, and to permeate their lives with Christ and His truths. Children who prefer God are salt and light. Children who prefer God are beacons testifying to His glory. So that is what I am doing to cause my children to be salt and light to a dark world. I want them to be articulate, God-centered, Bible-saturated, Christ-minded, Spirit-led, highly-educated people who are willing to go to the hardest places on earth and lay down their lives for the nations who have not heard. I want them to treasure Christ more than they treasure their own lives, and in doing so bring glory to God as the world looks on and considers Jesus as valuable because they see my children preferring Him over life itself. And I am pouring out my life to that end--in raising and training the children that God has entrusted to me, for His glory. I will answer to Him for my stewardship of the children He has given me. More than anything I want Him to say, Well done.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Wordless Wednesday--July 16, 2008
This is some pictures of the children's VBS we helped our church here to do in a neighboring village. My dc did the puppets and helped to translate for the team from the US that came down to minister.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Some Really Good Writing Resources
I have been able to find some really great resources online to help with writing. Here are some links:
http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/prompts.html
http://www.tooter4kids.com/journal_writing.htm
http://www.writingfix.com/WritingFix_for_kids.htm --really great interactive games and more prompts!
http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/prompts.html
http://www.tooter4kids.com/journal_writing.htm
http://www.writingfix.com/WritingFix_for_kids.htm --really great interactive games and more prompts!
My Thoughts on Teaching Writing
Recently, I've been asked by friends and on a board I frequent how do I go about teaching writing. I guess it's not a topic I really gave much thought to, it just kind of happened in a way that was natural for me and my kids!
I use Learning Language Arts Through Literature as my primary language arts curriculum. I thank God for that curriculum! It was something I picked because it had everything in one box! I, again, didn't think it through too much, it was easy for me to teach, so I bought it. I had no idea about Charlotte Mason, Ruth Beechick, or learning/teaching styles at the time. But God led me to the curriculum that "fit" our family to a T!
The thing about that curriculum is, it's gentle. It's thorough, but, it isn't "rammy" or it doesn't teach things before a natural progression occurs. It doesn't go into too much grammar until it first teaches reading thoroughly. It then works toward fluency in reading while using excerpts from good children's literature to teach the child to appreciate good writing, good grammar, and all that goes with that through copywork, narration, and dictation. I love that! It flows.
It starts getting more into grammar at about 4th grade and progresses in difficulty from there. But, it makes sense.
So, how do I teach writing when we haven't even covered much grammar until about 4th grade? Do I just wait until then to get them writing? NO WAY! We use that time wisely in fine-tuning their imaginations! We use daily journals.
In their journals I let them write whatever they want. When they are too young to write, they draw and narrate to me what they want written. I use writing prompts to help them with their creativity a few times a week or as needed if they can't think of anything to write. I don't worry about things like spelling, capitalization, or punctuation until we've covered those things.
Once we've covered a component of writing such as punctuation, I expect to start seeing it in their daily journals. If I notice they are still making mistakes, I reinforce that component using worksheets or drills. If after that they are still making those mistakes, I will then talk with them about it. I want to find out if they are just still not understanding that component, or, which most often happens, they are just writing too fast and not carefully to do it correctly. From that point on, if they make those mistakes, I make them write the page over. I try not to correct their journals too much. I want them to be freely creative and fun for them, not more schoolwork!
They continue to journal even after I may not require it . They love journaling! My oldest has three different journals going at once: her prayer/Bible reading journal, her journal for her feelings, and one with ideas for stories, books, and articles she wants to write. She loves writing! She's good at it.
I'm convinced that if I had pushed and pushed, it would have gone the other way with her. Some kids can handle it. My oldest won't and my youngest can't. They would have melted under the pressure! As it is, they have been able to grow naturally as writers. They've been able to use their creativity and imaginations in their writing.
I've read things written by kids who write mechanically perfect, but, unfortunately, somewhere along the line the creativity was not developed or encouraged. It's hard for them.
The way I approach writing is not for everyone. Everyone is so different. I don't approach writing exactly the same with each of MY kids. Each one has their own personal struggles and abilities. Each has had to overcome some challenge along the way and each have new challenges they will face. Our job, my job, is to find the best way for each child and encourage them in the journey to becoming a good communicator through writing.
I use Learning Language Arts Through Literature as my primary language arts curriculum. I thank God for that curriculum! It was something I picked because it had everything in one box! I, again, didn't think it through too much, it was easy for me to teach, so I bought it. I had no idea about Charlotte Mason, Ruth Beechick, or learning/teaching styles at the time. But God led me to the curriculum that "fit" our family to a T!
The thing about that curriculum is, it's gentle. It's thorough, but, it isn't "rammy" or it doesn't teach things before a natural progression occurs. It doesn't go into too much grammar until it first teaches reading thoroughly. It then works toward fluency in reading while using excerpts from good children's literature to teach the child to appreciate good writing, good grammar, and all that goes with that through copywork, narration, and dictation. I love that! It flows.
It starts getting more into grammar at about 4th grade and progresses in difficulty from there. But, it makes sense.
So, how do I teach writing when we haven't even covered much grammar until about 4th grade? Do I just wait until then to get them writing? NO WAY! We use that time wisely in fine-tuning their imaginations! We use daily journals.
In their journals I let them write whatever they want. When they are too young to write, they draw and narrate to me what they want written. I use writing prompts to help them with their creativity a few times a week or as needed if they can't think of anything to write. I don't worry about things like spelling, capitalization, or punctuation until we've covered those things.
Once we've covered a component of writing such as punctuation, I expect to start seeing it in their daily journals. If I notice they are still making mistakes, I reinforce that component using worksheets or drills. If after that they are still making those mistakes, I will then talk with them about it. I want to find out if they are just still not understanding that component, or, which most often happens, they are just writing too fast and not carefully to do it correctly. From that point on, if they make those mistakes, I make them write the page over. I try not to correct their journals too much. I want them to be freely creative and fun for them, not more schoolwork!
They continue to journal even after I may not require it . They love journaling! My oldest has three different journals going at once: her prayer/Bible reading journal, her journal for her feelings, and one with ideas for stories, books, and articles she wants to write. She loves writing! She's good at it.
I'm convinced that if I had pushed and pushed, it would have gone the other way with her. Some kids can handle it. My oldest won't and my youngest can't. They would have melted under the pressure! As it is, they have been able to grow naturally as writers. They've been able to use their creativity and imaginations in their writing.
I've read things written by kids who write mechanically perfect, but, unfortunately, somewhere along the line the creativity was not developed or encouraged. It's hard for them.
The way I approach writing is not for everyone. Everyone is so different. I don't approach writing exactly the same with each of MY kids. Each one has their own personal struggles and abilities. Each has had to overcome some challenge along the way and each have new challenges they will face. Our job, my job, is to find the best way for each child and encourage them in the journey to becoming a good communicator through writing.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Good Things Are Happening
There has been significant progress in my son's ability to do language arts, which is a minor miracle. I have noticed that he has really clicked with it in the past few weeks, but, on Tuesday, there was a breakthrough. We were doing his lesson in LLATL about quotations. He stopped and said, "Mom! They made a mistake in this book and left off the quotation marks at the beginning of this quote and the comma at the end of the quote." I looked, and sure enough, they had! It wasn't intentional, it was an error in the book. I was so happy!
He's also making amazing progress in math. He has tested into Saxon 6/5 and been doing super with it!
Times like this, I feel as though it's all worth it!
He's also making amazing progress in math. He has tested into Saxon 6/5 and been doing super with it!
Times like this, I feel as though it's all worth it!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Wordless Wednesday
The view from our balcony! The one on the left is volcano Fuego and erupts nearly every day!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)