Educators At Home

I found this  humorous  piece at  Gramma’s Thoughts.  My friend who recently had her 8th child seems to have the happiest babies.  Maybe this is because she does not jump at their every whimper.  Enjoy!

Yes, parenthood changes everything. But parenthood also changes with each baby. Here, some of the ways having a second and third child differs from having your first:

Your Clothes
-1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.
-2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.
-3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.

The Baby’s Name
-1st baby: You pour over baby-name books and practice pronouncing and writing combinations of all your favorites.
-2nd baby: Someone has to name his or her kid after your great-aunt Mavis, right? It might as well be you.
-3rd baby: You open a name book, close your eyes, and see where your finger points.

Preparing for the Birth
-1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.
-2nd baby: You don’t bother practicing because you remember that last time, breathing didn’t do a thing.
-3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your 8th month.

The Layette
-1st baby: You pre-wash your newborn’s clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby’s little bureau.
-2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and discard only the ones with the darkest stains.
-3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can’t they?  Read more...

Elizabeth Elliot’s words “Just do the next thing” still ring in my ears even after many years.  “And if you don’t know what to do, do the thing in front of you,” she reminds us.   In my world the “next thing” is often to simply  clean the kitchen, prepare dinner or get the laundry started. For the homeschool mom the next thing is often a reading or math lesson.  At times, it may be something more meaningful like a profound discussion or worldview lesson. These talks are often the best part of homeschooling because we have the opportunity to pass down our values and worldview to our precious children.  We are mentoring the next generation. How amazing is that!  Today my boys and I talked about the meaning behind the wonderful hymn Down From His Glory.

Instead of holding down a “real” job  we homemakers do manage to keep busy doing the next thing…everyday. Instead of giving our time to a company, office job or personal career our investment is in our home and family.  Our time is devoted to teaching our children and building a happy family life.

A list to reference can be  helpful when overwhelmed by all the details of a daily life. I hope you enjoy reading over this list.  Perhaps your list would look completely different than mine.  I’m curious…what would you have on your list?  ~Anne

A .  Adore God (Worship Him in all you do)  Read more...

It is  strange how one may live for years never knowing about a certain great person, and then upon becoming aware of him, realizing everyone else seems to have already known about him!  I was talking to my boys science teacher about the pediatric brain surgeon,  Benjamin Carson, and asked if he had ever seen the film about his life, “The Gifted Hands.”  He mentioned that he had read the biography of his life.  Others who I talked to said that their homeschooled children had read about him years ago. Why hadn’t anyone told me about this remarkable role model?

I first became aware of Dr. Carson  when I saw him on television  speaking at the Presidential Prayer breakfast.  My ears perked up and I fixated upon him as he spoke just a few feet away from our President.  Did he actually have the audacity to stand up to political correctness, boldly sharing his thoughts about the national debt and Obamacare? This is simply not done now-a-days.  Folks shy away from sharing their real thoughts about what is going on in our country because if their opinion is different from that of the elitists in academia, Hollywood, and main stream media they will face ridicule.  Sadly, our America has become a nation of copy-cats instead of free-thinkers.  Read more...

1 Corinthians 13

King James Version (KJV)

13 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.  Read more...

This notion that the children belong to the state, that their education must be provided for by the state … is inimical at every step to liberty.” – J. Gresham Machen

Bill Flax~Forbes Magazine

The swelling legions of homeschoolers poke a subtle rebuke at America’s ever expanding nanny state. Under both parties, Washington has systematically invaded private spheres and co-opted public services historically performed by local bodies. But a spontaneous groundswell of freedom minded folks has continued America’s rich inheritance of rugged individualism.

The God-fearing, flag-waiving, gun-toting homeschool crowd embodies the American spirit of mutual self-reliance. You won’t encounter a more neighborly bunch. Their children thrive without government “help.” Their support networks blossom sans the state’s sanction. Meanwhile, taxpayers waste a fortune securing abysmal academic results. In 2012, SAT scores fell to their lowest level since tracking began. As spending soars, assessment scores plummet.

The modern homeschool movement comes largely by Christians aghast over an academic establishment overrun by progressives. Schools long ago became laboratories for instilling statism and distilling politically correct groupthink. Values clarification anyone? With public education increasingly geared toward multicultural agitation against America’s godly heritage, many parents resolved to safeguard the hearts, souls and minds of their young.

At least 1.5 million students receive home-based academic instruction. The ranks of homeschoolers are rising rapidly across every social strata, faith and ethnicity. While many families lack sufficient means for someone to stay home, it’s not generally those affluent enough to afford exclusive parochial education. The highest homeschool participation appears in households with incomes ranging from $25,000 to $75,000. The homeschool community reflects a cross-section of Americans; the children of truck drivers and lawyers, whites and blacks, rich and poor, Christians and unbelievers.  Read more...

There isn’t any known way to bulk-educate; it’s all custom work.
~ John Taylor Gatto
An English writer telephoned me from London, asking questions. One was, ‘What’s your alma mater?’ I told him, ‘Books.’

Nobody rises to low expectations ~Calvin Lloyd

I suppose it is because nearly all children go to school nowadays and have things arranged for them that they seem so forlornly unable to produce their own ideas.
~ Agatha Christie

He is educated who knows how to find out what he doesn’t know.
~ George Simmel

A house is not a home unless it contains fire and food for the mind as well as the body. ~ Margaret Fuller

I don’t see homeschooling as some kind of answer to badness of schools. I think that the home is the proper base for the exploration of the world which we call learning or education. Home would be the best base no matter how good the schools were. The proper relationship of the schools to home is the relationship of the library to home, or the skating rink to home. It is a supplementary resource. ~ John Holt

I believe that school makes complete fools of our young men, because they see and hear nothing of ordinary life there.
~ Petronius

 

A farmer needed an extra hand to help on his farm. One young man came to interview for the job. “What are your qualifications?” the farmer asked. “I can sleep when the wind blows,” the young man said. This simple reply confused the farmer, but he was desperate for help and the young man was hired.

The young man was a diligent worker through the harvest season, but the farmer still questioned his answer.

Autumn ended and the first cold storm of winter came late one night. The farmer panicked as the winds began to blow. Calling the young man for help, the farmer grabbed his coat and pulled heavy boots on his feet. He was disappointed to find the young man asleep in bed at a time like this. Grudgingly he ventured out alone planning to shuffle all of the animals in the barn and then fix that last hole in the roof. He mumbled about the young man sleeping and was sure all the farm equipment was left standing in the field, collecting rust from the snow.

However, when the farmer reached the barn all the animals were tucked safely inside. In fact, clean hay had already been set out for the new day. Not a single hole could be found in the roof, and the tractor was parked perfectly in the shed.

“Who could have done it?” the farmer wondered. And then, he realized what the young man’s answer meant, “I can sleep when the wind blows.”  Read more...

Wouldn’t  it be wonderful to have the opportunity to share the gospel message with someone this year?  My prayer is that our family will be able to do this and we plan to have the scriptures easily available in our Bibles. These verses are taken from the Four Spiritual Laws pamphlet.

1. God Loves You!  John 3:16  For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.

2. Man is sinful and separated from God.  Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death,” Isaiah 59:2 “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God.”

3. Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for man’s sin.  John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.” Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

4. We must individually receive Jesus as Savior and Lord.  John 1:12 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,” Romans 10:9 If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved,” Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”  Read more...

David & Shirley Quine have so much knowledge and experience and it is a blessing to have the opportunity to hear them. You will be encouraged and inspired to choose the homeschooling lifestyle for your family.

youtu.be/XNQKVTtfhCI

My dear Mother who’s with the Lord now, had this Psalm marked in her Bible. I can still see her  sitting on her couch for hours reading God’s word.  Her face was often filled with joy and her cheeks moist with tears. She loved spending time with the Lord…..her favorite activity  on this earth.  My prayer is that our family would follow in her footsteps and relish time with the Lord as she did. This morning as I read this psalm it filled my heart with thanksgiving, and reminded me of my dear mom. Today is her Birthday and becauase of God’s mercy and grace…because of his sacrifice, she is celebrating in heaven. Our God is a good God. Praise His name forever!

Psalm 103 (NKJ)
Bless the Lord, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
3 Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

6 The Lord executes righteousness
And justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the children of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9 He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.  Read more...