Ten Tips for a Successful Year of Homeschooling

Many families fail in their goals for homeschooling simply because of a lack of planning. Beginning a school year with inadequate planning is a recipe for a stressful, and ineffective year of homeschooling. I have homeschooled our children for fourteen years and people often ask "how I do it?" There's really a very simple answer to that question. The answer is that I do it 1. very prayerfully and 2. very carefully (with about two weeks of my summer given to planning for the coming school year.) Here are ten of my favorite ideas for having a successful school year.

My Homeschooling Picks of the Year

This is our fourteenth year of homeschooling, and over the years, I would say that I have learned many of the advantages and disadvantages of homeschooling. One of the best things I have loved over the years is the variety of materials available so that each child can have a unique learning experience. One of the yearly events that I enjoy the most is going to our state convention and choosing the year's curriculum with each child in mind. While we usually have a few favorites that we stick with year after year, I also usually find some exciting new texts to try. Here are some of this year's top picks for our family.

Used Homeschool Curriculum Needed

We are collecting used Abeka curriculum that is still in good condition for a foreign homeschooling family that we met this past summer. It can be very difficult and expensive for these families to get the curriculum they need. If you have some to sell or donate, please contact me. We are looking for Abeka grades 5-9. Thanks!

Pudgy Motherhood

Recently I read a news article that reminded me of what true motherhood is all about. Now, I don't read the popular women's magazines nor do I watch television; however, apparently Jillian Michaels seems to be a very popular professional body trainer these days. It seems that a lot of women look up to her so I thought I would give my thoughts about a statement she recently made.

In a recent magazine article, Jillian Michaels said that she has no plans to get pregnant or deliver a baby because doing so would "mar" her body and cause her to lose her figure. Currently, she says she is involved in a program where she "stays with a different family each week with the aim of getting to the bottom of each person’s issues and helping them make life-altering changes to better their health and happiness." (Please note the quote marks around this last statement because they are not my words.)

When I read about her current mission of staying with families,
I thought of a place where I would like her to stay and a family I would like her to meet. If anyone out there personally knows Jillian, please let her know that she is welcome to stop by and help us work out some of our "issues." No doubt, she would think we have a lot of issues! I have no doubt also that when it comes to perfect body figures, we wouldn't even be in the same competition since I have delivered ten babies and been pregnant with twelve. However, when it comes to her helping us to "make life-altering changes to better their health and happiness" I believe I would have a few lessons to teach her myself.

Perhaps she hasn't yet learned that seeing an expectant mother waddle around with an obviously unshapely body is one of the most beautiful sights that one can ever see. If you don't believe me, ask the man who waited for years for his wife to conceive and she finally did.

Perhaps she hasn't yet learned that the sight of a one month postpartum woman with a big bulge around her middle is one that will bring a smile to the face of men who see her coming. If you don't believe me, aske the grandfathers who are arguing over who gets to hold the baby first.

Perhaps she hasn't yet learned that when a woman with various bumps, bulges, scars, and sagging features walks in and the room fills with "Welcome Home!" that there are better things than having a perfect body at 36 years old. If you don't believe me, ask the woman who is coming home to her family after a difficult labor and delivery.

Apparently one thing that she hasn't learned yet is that in just a few years, the best of age defying techinques and treatments will be rendered fairly useless on her formerly ideal body. Age will take its toll and her body will also begin to tell its story.

In the mean time, those of us who chose the scars and bulges will have something to show for it. After all, treasured family portraits aren't made with models surrounded by men. Treasured family portraits are made of slightly pudgy, but smiling grandmothers surrounded by children and grandchildren with just a few cookie crumbs and smeared peanut butter in the background. Perhaps the words of my favorite five year old would clarify things a little. Snuggling up to my "baby-marred" body, he said, "You are so beautiful."

Now as for Jillian, no doubt I haven't heard those words from as many people as she has, but I guarantee you that she doesn't have anything over on me. As a matter of fact, is she truly wants to visit families and talk about "issues" that affect "health and happiness" I can recommend a good place to start.

Happy Mother's Day to all the slightly pudgy, saggy mothers out there! Kiss those babies and don't look in the mirror too often and I think those "issues" will just go away.

If you are prolife, you need a baby bottle!

For years, I thought I was prolife. After all, I'm here today because my mother didn't follow the advice of her doctor to abort me. I was supposed to have some major health issues that made my birth inadvisable. (Maybe this explains my oddities to those of you that wonder about me!) However, he was wrong, and I'm glad my mom did what was right.

So, I've always been prolife--or so I thought--until this past summer when I had an experience that has already begun to change my life.

This past summer we were very busy as my husband presented his seminars all over Europe. Many of our evenings were taken as he spoke in churches, but during the day, we often visited historical places. One day in Poland, we decided to visit Auschwitz.

Although I have read a lot of history, nothing prepared me for that day in the infamous World War II death camp. The camp is left much as it was then, and is a dark, depressing reminder of the millions of Jews that were slaughtered just because of their race.

After we left Auschwitz, I blogged about our day there, (see June 2009) especially as I remembered the large rooms stuffed full of shoes and purses and the display of broken toys taken from the children. A very grim room was full of the human hair taken from those unfortunate to have been taken there.

I blogged about the tragedy that I saw there and wondered about how it could have happened. After all, there are houses around the perimeter of the fences and surely lots of people knew what was happening at least in some measure. After all, how can one hide the deaths of at least 11 million people?

As I pondered about how this had been allowed to happen, another blogger posted a comment that made me question the whole idea that I really was pro life. He ended his comment by saying,
"I would also say that I cannot think of the holocaust without thinking of the American Holocaust, the genocide of the unborn which is continuous and ongoing and for which we all bear great shame. May God forgive us for our silence and may He strengthen us for the fight."

My heart was struck that although I claimed to be prolife, I had done almost nothing to show it. While condemning those of a previous generation, I had been showing the same general attitude of carelessness and resignation. After all, it's the law in our land as it was the law back in the days of Hitler that certain classes of humanity can be extinguished.

Since that time, I have begun volunteering at our local Pregnancy Support Center. While I have to live under laws that allow for the destruction of unwanted babies, I can do all within my power to convince their mothers of the value of their child and to support them through this crisis in their lives.

This is where the baby bottle comes in. If you say you are pro life, then you need to get a baby bottle. The baby bottle campaign in a fund raising campaign that runs from Mother's Day to Father's Day every year. Baby bottles are distributed to the churches in our county and are filled with change (and hopefully quite a few bills!). The funds are used to do everything from providing free pregnancy tests and ultrasounds, to providing diapers and infant formula to needy mothers who have chosen life for their children.

If you live in Rowan County, let me know if your church has not yet received baby bottles for this year's campaign. If your church is not involved, we'll supply you with all the baby bottles you can use on your own. If you are not in Rowan County, but wish to be involved, let me know, and we will certainly find a way. After all, faith without works is dead. There are mothers out there who have chosen life and they need us to come along beside them and support them in their choice. Let's all remember the words of I John 3:17, "But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?"

Is Gardening Redeeming the Time?

Since this blog is supposed to be about Redeeming the Time, I would like some comments about whether you think gardening in today's world is redeeming the time.

Today, I finished planting my garden for the year. After 250 strawberry plants, over 100 tomato plants and multitudes of seeds, I was happy to be finished to say the least. It's always nice to see a big job finished as long as I don't think about how much work it is going to be maintaining a garden and doing something with everything that comes from it.

Now the big question...With vegetables relatively inexpensive at places like Aldis, do you think it is worth the time to raise a garden considering all the time that has to be given to it? Also, if you have a garden how well do you keep it up? Is it redeeming the time to have a weed free garden or does your garden resemble my "jungle patch" by the end of the season?

Post your comments or email me with what you think. Let me know if I cannot use your comments on an article for our website on this topic. Otherwise, I'll assume you don't mind being published!

Cows are Messy (and so are kids)

Recently I met a man that reminded me of this verse in Proverbs 14:4. "Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox."

We were walking together as a family and as is usual when people see us all together, this man stopped us and asked if the children were all ours. As we began to speak with the man, he told us about a family that he knew that had a large number of children and how clean their house always was. He said that this family always had a spotless house with sparkling windows. To top it off, he said their floor was clean enough to eat off of.

This was quite impressive to say the least, especially since it reminded me of our house--at least a little. It's true that our windows rarely sparkle because they usually have quite a few fingerprints on them. It's also true that it certainly doesn't rate spotless--at least since we moved in. One thing he said,though, made me really relate to this amazing family that I have never met. This gentleman remarked that one could even eat off the floor in this house. I laughed to myself when he said this because people can often eat off the floor at my house also. Yep, there could even be a few cheerios there right now. Maybe even a Pepperidge Farm goldfish or two. If you get here at just the right time, you'll probably score some leftover birthday cake since we have so many birthdays around our home!

Over the years, I have discovered that each one of us has the same amount of time allotted to us. Some people use their time making their home spotless, others surf the internet or chat on facebook (shouldn't have said that one I guess...), and never take time to clean up the home. Others realize what this verse in Proverbs 14 says brings valuable insight into a proper perspective. If you don't have cows around, you will have a clean barn. However, remember that cows are valuable, so take your choice!

Children are like cows. They're messy and sometimes it even gets smellly; however, I would rather have a house full of priceless children than have a spotless house and none to be seen. Now back to the big family that had the spotless house. My best guess is that the gentleman had failing eyesight. Other than that, I would say that there could have been some misplaced priorities.

Today I took my children fishing with their grandparents. I had plans to get a lot of household things done, but grandparents won't always be around and neither will my kids. In the last few weeks, we have gone fishing three times and caught about 250 fish. Nothing will ever replace the memories we have made standing on the creek bank and watching my daughter continually yank her fish into the tree top while eagerly reeling it in. I also had time to have a picnic with my daughter back in the woods--just the two of us.

Friday, we enjoyed one of the privileges of homeschooling and cancelled school to go to the Discovery Place in Charlotte. On the way back we enjoyed 99 cent meals at IKEA (hint: families watching their budget should watch the restaurant specials at IKEA--we got 12 full size meals for 99 cents each).

Yes, you can probably find a snack on my floor tonight, but you can also see some smiling kids around my table. We don't have a spotless house, but we do have children and as of last week, we also have a cow, but that's another story for another day. Thanks to my sister in law, for keeping my cow at her house. I hope she remembers how valuable it is when she sees the mess it is making!
For other thoughts on children and time, visit our site for ladies.