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| Abri (age 10) plays baritone and holds Noah (age -1) |
The world tells us so many things we have to do to be good homeschool moms. It's so much easier to think of the things we DON'T have to do! Here is a list of them. Have a listen!
https://open.spotify.com/episode/74v648ntwYefAz6rcg15bA
I just spoke at the 2023 CHEW conference. It was great for everyone, with Dr. Ben Carson and Justice Dan Kelly speaking.
I had a conversation with someone about memorizing scripture with their children and specifically about memorizing scriptures that are purposeful and helpful to children in developing self-discipline--meaning, Mom and Dad can use them to discipline their children and know they are giving them the truth. One day, "because I said so" will not be enough. Our Bible Lessons Guide in its original had several scriptures for just that purpose and I promised that mom to share them here. Just so you know, these were intended for pre-schoolers, so they will memorizable for any of your children. I recommend finding one that you think will be particularly effective for a particular issue your child may be having and use that one a lot to help him memorize it and apply it.
"Christ-Centered Curriculum for Early Childhood's" Appropriate Verses for Classroom Discipline
Anger
"Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry; for anger resteth in the bosom of fools." Ecclesiastes 7:9
"He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." Proverbs 16:32
"A soft answer turns away wrath; but grevious words stir up anger." Proverbs 15:1
"But now ye also put off these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds." Colossians 3:8-9
"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of worketh not the righteousness of God." James 1:19-20
Bitterness
"Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled . . ." Hebrew 12:15
Deceitfulness
"The wicked worketh a deceitful work; but to him that soweth righteousness shall have a sure reward." Proverbs 11:18
Disobedient
"Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves . . ." Hebrews 13:17
"Do all things without murmurings and disputings." Philippians 2:14
"Children, obey your parents in the Lord; for this is right." Ehpesians 6:1
Disorderliness
"Let all things be done decently and in order." I Corinthians 14:40
Filthy Talk
"Put off . . .filthy communication out of your mouth." Colossians 3:8
"Lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls." James 1:21
"Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient [appropriate]; but rather giving of thanks." Ephesians 5:4
Foolishness
"The thought of foolishness is sin. . ." Proverbs 24:9
"Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him." Proverbs 22:15
"But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient [appropriate]: but rather giving of thanks." Ephesians 5:3-4
Forgetfulness
"But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." James 1:25
"I will delight myself in thy statutes; I will not forget thy word." Psalm 119:16
Gossip
"He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool." Proverbs 10:18
"A talebearer revealeth secrets; but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth a matter." Proverbs 11:13
"The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly," Proverbs 18:8
"Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out; so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth. As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife." Proverbs 26: 20-21
Lack of Confession
"Acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou has transgressed against the Lord thy God . . . and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord." Jeremiah 3:13
"He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." Proverbs 28:13
"Confess your faults one to another, and pray for one another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." James 5:16
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I John 1:9
Lying
"These . . . things doth the Lord hate:. . . a proud look, a lying tongue, . . . an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations [plans], feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among the brethren." Proverbs 6:16-19
"He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth slander, is a fool." Proverbs 10:18
"The lip of truth shall be established forever; but a lying tongue is but for a moment." Proverbs 12:19
"Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor; for we are members one of another." Ephesians 4:25
"Lie not one to another, seeing that we have put off the old man with his deeds." Colossians 3:9
"Speaking the truth in love, . . . grow up in him in all things. . ." Ephesians 4:15
Noisiness
"Study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with you own hands . . ." I Thessalonians 4:11
Pride
"He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife . . . " Proverbs 28:25
"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." Proverbs 16:18
"Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." Philippians 2:3
"Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels [a heart] of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering . . ." Colossians 3:12-13
"Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up." James 4:10
Quarreling
"It is an honor for a man to cease from strife; but every fool will be meddling." Proverbs 20:3
"If any man have a quarrel against any; even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye." Colossians 3:12-13
Slothfulness
"The hand of the diligent shall bear rule; but the slothful shall be under tribute. The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting; but the substance of a diligent man is precious." Proverbs 12:24, 27
"The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat." Proverbs 13:4
"The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord; but he loveth him that followeth after righteousness." Proverbs 15:9
"He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster." Proverbs 18:9
"The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing." Proverbs 20:4
"I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; and lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well; I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep; so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man." Proverbs 24:30-34
"The slothful man saith, there is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets. As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed. The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom; it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth. The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit [mind] that seven men that can render a reason." Proverbs 26:13-16
"His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed [tended]." Matthew 25:26
Stealing
"Thou shalt not steal." Exodus 20:15
"Let him that stole steal no more; but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give him who needeth." Ephesians 4:28
"If the thief be found, let him pay double." Exodus 22:7
Unforgiving Heart
"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." Matthew 6:12
"Be ye kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Ephesians 4:32
"Even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye." Colossians 3:13
Unkindness
"And be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Ephesians 4:32
Being a homeschool parent isn't just about teaching reading and math; it's about life and who we are as parents and who our children are becoming. Even if you are not homeschooling, do not have kids, and are not even married, this book is about applying the Bible to every area of your life.
My book, Life in the Trenches
Who writes in cursive, anymore? Mostly people over the age of thirty-five. Why is it important? Is it important?
I mentioned to our local postmaster once that I homeschooled and he looked at me very sternly and asked, "You're teaching them cursive, aren't you?" Taken aback, I said, "Yessir!" It wasn't until I left the post office that I realized that you can't work for the post office if you can't read cursive! There are too many people who still use it and too many young people who can't deliver a letter!
But why should we teach cursive to our children? In my book Life in the Trenches, I address the development of the right and left sides of the brain. As I have said in previous "Old-Fashioned Lessons", the more you stretch your brain, the more it can do. The more you use both sides of your brain, the faster it can work because you have laid pathways across the divide between them. Cursive does this astoundingly.
We usually think of writing as being on the left side of the brain, the verbal side. However, the left brain doesn't just do words; it does details, it does trees. The right brain does forests, global thinking, and spatial skills. How does cursive work? It writes words, spelling them out letter by letter, which are left brain skills; but it forms them spatially, with the pen changing direction, more drawing the word than writing it, and it forms the entire word, not letter. letter. letter. And don't get me going on crossing your T's and dotting your I's!
Nothing works like cursive to train the brain every day to work holistically, to stretch the ability of the brain to jump from one side to the other. While it is a strain to learn, it actually changes the brain in a way that is more effective than any other everyday activity.
The Bible says in I Corinthians 12 that the church is the body of Christ, made up of a whole bunch of parts that all need each other to function. Each part does its part to take care of parts that need it and weak parts are just as necessary as strong parts. In these past weeks, I have seen how the Christian family can be a mini body of Christ.
In Ephesians, the Bible says we are all to submit to one another. Wives are to submit to husbands as the church submits to Christ; husbands submit to wives by loving them to the point of death as Christ did for the church; children submit to their parents by obeying their parents in the Lord.
If we parents are in the Lord, what are we teaching our children? Of course, there are the verses in Deuteronomy 6:6-9 about teaching your children about the word of God at every moment of the day. In addition, having sifted through all the verses in Proverbs, I have found that we are to teach our children to 1)respect authority, and 2)work.
Our little body of Christ submitted to each other over these past weeks. I listened when my husband told me to go lie down. He did chores he never does--laundry and cooking dinner. The kids didn't complain about their regular kitchen chores and went the extra mile. The week I couldn't lead music in church, my twelve-year-old son led with the guitar and his sister home from her internship led singing.
What really warmed me and tore me apart in humility was the kids' spiritual leading. You may have heard of icky-c brain; I got it. I couldn't think. I would wake and pray and the only thing I could say was, "Jesus!" Speaking has been exhausting. Dad was still leading prayers in the evening, but in the morning, the kids took turn reading the Bible, leading our scripture memory and everyone prayed, a change from our practice of one child praying a day. They prayed when I couldn't. I wanted to, but I couldn't and all of them praying filled up my prayer cup when I couldn't pray for myself.
For you moms and dads out there, this is what you see after twenty-nine years of teaching your children diligently. I was fortunate to see the fruit vividly. I didn't do it all; their dad told me what he wanted and helped when he was there; grandmas and grandpas put in their oar when we needed it; but above all, we filled our family up with the Bible so they knew what God wanted from us all and what He would give us: our own little segment of the body of Christ.
My first blog in a long time, isn't it? I have been busy. After our daughter Sarah died in a car accident during COVID, I was confronted with the opportunity to publish my book, Life In the Trenches: A Homeschooling Mom's Theory of Everything. It has been a busy year. Aside from the aftermath of Sarah's death, I have been editing and re-editing my book and it will be out by the end of November if not before. I'll let you know when it is out!
What is a homeschooling Mom's theory of everything? Whenever you have to make a decision about what to choose or how to live your life, you simply ask yourself, "What does the Bible say?" In my book are the answers to many of those questions about what the Bible says about your relationship with God, your relationship with your husband, how to organize your home, how to discipline your children, why to teach different school subjects, why knowledge of nature and science are important to you children and how to give them a vision for purity. My prayer for the book is that it will help families to not only be delightful homeschools but will bring all of their members closer to God.
Why is time in nature beneficial? Really?
Simply unplugging your children has tremendous benefits. If you get them away from cell phones, computers, video games and television, they move from a flat world to a layered world. Nature, whether it is the observation of an animal, a forest, or the constellations, has layers. If one layer becomes too overwhelming, you can escape into another. You can move closer or further away. At the same time, there is so much out there, nature can take a child out of himself. Both sides of this have untold benefits for children with learning disabilities, autism or behavioral disabilities, who tend to be wrapped up inside themselves and have a difficult time getting a wider perspective. Technology exacerbates that focus. Nature diffuses it.
A young boy at the turn of the 20th century was so hyperactive he was permanently expelled from school – at the age of 7! His parents discovered he calmed down when he spent time in nature, so they got him out as often as possible. He grew up to become a nature photographer. His name was Ansel Adams, the most famous art photographer of the 20th century.1
1 Louv, Richard; Last Child in the Woods; pp. 102-103.
