The Homeschool Corner

Indoctrination: Public Schools and the Decline of Christianity in America

2012-01-23T09:40:00.000-08:00

Have you watched this movie?

Creative Homeschooling in December

2011-12-05T07:55:00.000-08:00

December can be a busy time for most homeschooling mothers. Many mothers have much more on their plate this time of year especially with extra events, commitments, shopping for gifts, sometimes sick children, etc. Often times mothers feel overwhelmed, thinking they can't do it all and are struggling to keep up with homeschooling. They look around at the whirwind of things that need to be done and ultimately feel like a failure.

Read the rest HERE.

SUPER Homeschool Sale at Vision Forum!

2011-11-28T12:08:00.000-08:00

Vision Forum is having a SUPER homeschool sale

with EVERYTHING 30%+ off

and FREE shipping using discount code:

NOSHIPPING at checkout.

Also, everything else is up to 50% off too!

Get all your favorites while you can!

The Young Ladies’ Study Course for Proper Writing

2011-11-22T08:22:00.000-08:00

Have you wanted to teach your daughters how to write and write well? Well look no further, Becky Morecraft has created a writing course that will just bless your heart--it is The Young Ladies' Study Course for Proper Writing.

Here is a description:

Do you know the difference between a metaphor and a simile? Are you able to avoid common mistakes in grammar and composition? Have you learned to properly express your emotions and feelings in a way that elevates your listeners and honors God?
As a practiced word-crafter and poetess extraordinaire, Mrs. Rebecca Morecraft has constructed a study course that will give ladies the wherewithal to master these ideas — to write with verve and speak with passion and persuasion. Presenting The Young Ladies’ Study Course for Proper Writing!
Drawn from Mrs. Rebecca Morecraft’s highly-popular School of Elocution and Composition online webinar series, this fully-integrated and interactive writing and communication course will teach your daughter how to:

Accurately report a true story and tell a funny tale
Write grammatically correct sentences
Compose a poem and read it aloud
Access tools and resources for richer writing
Speak gracefully and express herself with nobility as a woman of God
And much more!

What This Course Includes
This boxed-set study course comes with 15 audio lectures on 17 CDs, totaling 16.5 hours. Each lecture includes its own PowerPoint presentation on PDF, and the accompanying 320-page study guide features a course syllabus that you can use to plan your lessons. Also included with the study guide is Q&A for each lecture, writing exercises and other assignment suggestions, recommended reading lists, poems, vocabulary lists, and more. When your student finishes the course, present her with an official Certificate of Completion — it comes with the boxed set!

Yes, that is 17 CD's and now it is on SALE at 75% off---it's regular price is $79 and today it is just $19.75!!!!

Wow!

The sale lasts only until midnight so get it while you can!

Famous Homeschoolers

2011-11-11T07:26:00.001-08:00

Our Favorite Homeschool Family--the Duggars Expect Blessing #20

2011-11-08T08:23:00.000-08:00

This morning our favorite family--the Duggars, announced the special news that they are expecting their 20th blessing on the Today Show:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

(Scroll down to the bottom if you need to turn off the music)

"We are so excited," Michelle Duggar told TODAY Moms before the broadcast. Now three and a half months pregnant, the mom of 19 says she was actually surprised to discover that she's expecting again at 45. "I was not thinking that God would give us another one, and we are just so grateful."

See her personal interview here at her home

and the latest one HERE.

Congratulations, Duggars! And thank you for bringing joy to so many over the years by your great example of Christ of loving your family, children and the world around you!

(My daughter and Jill Duggar are online "pen pals" ---Jill, if you read this Janai is sending a big hug and congratulations to your family!)

Get their latest book here!
Pssst---it's on SALE!

Family movie nights are a great learning experience and kept wholesome when watching the Duggar family in action in their hit TV show 19 Children and Counting.

You can watch their movies instantly here
starting from ONLY $1.99!

These movies also make perfect Christmas gifts!

Have a blessed day!

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Do you feel you have your hands full with mothering?
Get True Christian Motherhood
my new Amazon best selling ebook!

The Modest Mom

2011-09-29T14:33:00.000-07:00

Have you checked out The Modest Mom lately? She has added new items to her wonderful website. Love the pink blouse above!

And this pretty skirt will go with anything and looks oh-so comfortable!

Here is a description from the website:

Do you desire to dress in fashionable, feminine, yet modest clothing? Consider your search over! At The Modest Mom, we provide the solution for a woman's changing wardrobe throughout the seasons of life.

Has pregnancy left you with a clothing problem? We offer long maternity skirts in a variety of stylish and attractive fabrics. At The Modest Mom, we strive to provide you with affordable, quality maternity clothes for that special time in your life.

At The Modest Mom you will find long skirts that are beautiful, and fashionable. Be assured, wearing lovely clothes is still an option for moms and moms to be. Your satisfaction is our desire.

Be sure to visit The Modest Mom today!

True Christian Motherhood Now Available!

2011-09-12T07:07:00.000-07:00

We are SUPER EXCITED to announce that our NEW ebook, True Christian Motherhood, is finally HERE!

Here is the description:

Women everywhere are looking for guidance, encouragement and vision. Gone are the days when we would have support from our community, friends and family. Being a mother in the 21st century can be a challenge for a Christian woman and many are looking for help...

Come be encouraged, and learn all that you would need to know about Christian motherhood. Here, you will be given life-changing vision that will change the way you view motherhood, your life, and the way you engage with your children forever.

Watch the video:

DOWNLOAD IT NOW for only $7.00!

Pay by PayPal or credit card--Instant digital download
PDF version

or get it on

KINDLE or NOOK!

And in celebration of the release of our new eBook, we are celebrating with a super bundle giveaway to win a free copy and some super amazing prizes!

Click here to join the party!

New Book For Mothers--True Christian Motherhood

2011-09-07T14:36:00.000-07:00

We are excited to announce the news of our soon to-be-released NEW ebook!

The topic?

Christian Motherhood!

The goal?

To give encouragement, guidance, support, and vision!

Read more about the details HERE and HERE.

You can keep up with the latest details of this ebook and when it will be launched on Facebook, we will also have a super mega bundle giveaway!

Also, join the True Christian Motherhood Discussion Group, to discuss the questions at the end of the book with a group of amazing women when the book is released.

(You can join early!)

What a wonderful way to start out the new school year!

Have a blessed day!

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Labor Day Crafts

2011-09-05T05:36:00.000-07:00

Happy Labor Day to all our readers!

Looking for suggestions on how to celebrate this day with your children?

Click HERE to find some great Labor Day crafts--from puppet making, to games, to cookies, it is all there!

Have a great day celebrating!

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Back-to-School Crafts

2011-08-29T06:02:00.000-07:00

This colorful chalkboard and clipboard combination is perfect way to set up a child's homework center for his/her desk!

Be sure to visit all of our back-to-school ideas including back-to-school crafts, school lunch recipes and great printable activities.

What you'll need:

Wooden chalkboard
Yellow paint
School themed scrapbook paper
3 wooden clothespins
White craft glue
Scissors

How to make it:

Paint the frame of the chalkboard yellow and set aside to dry. (See photo.)
Cut scrapbook paper to fit on the clothespins and glue in place. (See photo.)
Glue the clothespins to the bottom section of the chalkboard frame. (See photo.)
Decorate the top of the frame with school themed shapes cut from the scrapbook paper. (See photo.)

Tips:

Look for themed scrapbook paper at your local craft supply store.
Chalk can be purchased from discount department stores and dollar stores.
While you can purchase wooden clothespins at the craft store, it's less expensive to get them in the laundry aisle of discount department stores. You can get them at dollar stores, but sometimes they fall apart easily.

Craft by Amanda Formaro

Find more great back-to-school projects at KABOOSE!

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48 Hour Homeschool Sale Ends Today!

2011-08-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I spent a fabulous day shopping for fall clothes, planning out the school year, and ordering art supplies online from Amazon (yes, they have that and great stuff like manipulatives, puzzles, dry eraser boards, supplies, etc.). I also registered the children up for some local classes that they are excited about attending. I'm feeling like I am wrapping up the strings to being fully prepared next week when we start and that we are finally ready.

I still had to pick up a few last things last week and was so happy when I ran across this sale at Vision Forum. Today is the last day for this 48 hour sale, so if any of you are like me and need to pick up a few good resources today is a great day to do it! They have really expanded their line this past year and have some great NEW homeschooling resources, click HERE to take a peek.

(They even sell fun things like this Windpower Kit!)

The sale is for all homeschool items 25%-50% off--PLUS FREE SHIPPING!

(You can't beat that! And if you don't homeschool these still make great educational resources.) They also sell microscopes, sketching sets, calligraphy sets, Science DVD sets, readers, and so much more.

Remember, this sale ends at midnight tonight--so don't delay!

Have a blessed day!

Ideas for Your Homeschool Room

2011-08-20T05:34:00.000-07:00

Every year I like to get new ideas for my homeschool room. While the majority of our homeschooling is done at the kitchen table, sofas and even bedrooms we do have a room downstairs that we use for storing crafts, displaying and making our many projects, painting and sewing, etc.

This year we purchased a black Labrador puppy for my son's birthday and the puppy wreaked havoc on my school room. So this year I will be repainting and replanning this room and attempt to make it a happy space once again. I love some of the ideas below:

Isn't this tent adorable? What little boy would not want this?
By Magical Hands

I like how this uses a small space but makes it feel alive, bright and fun all at the same time.

If you didn't have a lot of room, you could always just use one of these as workspace.

I like this kids alcove from house to home,
a place for little ones to have their own creative space.

This room is bright and sunny and I love how the students are faced AWAY from eachother, although I think my students would get distracted looking outside those windows! LOL!
BHG.com

What a lovely art room,

I like the art work lovingly displayed in the background. I had a friend once who would display her children's art work on twine hanging from one end of the room to another using clothespins! It was quite charming!

The globes in this room beckon one to learn...
Pottery Barn

This brilliant mom has a beautiful reading/library room with rain gutter bookshelves. I love the colors in this one and the energy it gives! I am thinking about repainting with these colors...

Reading nook for the kids....

This little escape from Pinterest makes me want to curl up and escape with a good book (especially after a long day of homeschooling!) This could be called the Homeschool Mom's Recharging Nook!

Now, I know most of us just like to do school at the table or all over the house, which is just fine! Don't feel pressured to have to have a beautiful school room in order to teach your children! You can make homeschooling special whether you have a room or not--remember it is the learning and the memories that counts! Learning is LIFE---and can be done anywhere from the couch, outdoors, at the museum, zoo, etc. My homeschool room is used basically as a storage room for craft supplies, a place to CREATE and do major sewing or painting projects, displaying projects, etc.

You also do not need a big budget to make a nice homeschool space for your children. Look around your home to see what you already have and be creative. You might even be able to repurpose something old and make it something you love for this room.

Pray and ask God to show you!

If you need more inspiration, nearly 300 moms have shared their homeschool rooms HERE.

If you have not seen my past posts of school rooms--click below:

Homeschool Rooms of 2010

Homeschool Rooms of 2009

Homeschool Room Virtual Tour

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Hot Homeschooling Tips

2011-08-13T05:41:00.000-07:00

I am sharing some of my favorite homeschooling tips today at

A Wise Woman Builds Her Home

Please stop by and visit!

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Summer Beach Crafts

2011-07-27T20:39:00.000-07:00

Summer is the perfect time to make crafts from items we find at the beach!

Check out how to make these Cockleshell Critters

Aren't they cute?

Click HERE for more beach crafts.

Enjoy!

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Need Curriculum?

2011-07-12T07:34:00.000-07:00

Summer is the time where many of us moms are browsing through the homeschool catalogs and picking out what curriculum we will use the following year. One of my favorite places to get wholesome, Christian curriculum is HERE. You can also click the beautiful image above to visit.

I will soon share a post of other places I recommend.

This is also a great book to consider:

Until then, have fun browsing!

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Top Secrets for Having a Successful Homeschool

2011-07-12T07:25:00.000-07:00

This week I am going to spend a little time talking about homeschooling.

As a veteran homeschool mom and over 13 years of experience, I thought I would share with you some tips I have learned along the way. As a family, we have chosen to homeschool to provide a Christian education and worldview to our children as we shepherd and disciple them. I know many of you are planning and preparing for the next school year or will be starting soon so I wanted to give a few words of encouragement as reminders, so let's begin:

1. Jesus Christ must be center. We need to know that the purpose of educating is not to gain accolades from the world or gaining riches or honors to impress but instead the most important thing--educating our children as godly seed that will one day bring glory to Him. He is the center of why we learn and all education stems out from there. He also is the head of our school and we bring all our needs and desires to His feet.

2. Pray, pray, pray. What curriculum should we use? How do we schedule their day? What outside activities will we participate in? Prayer covers all this and with this we can receive true answers that are best for our own family.

3. Be flexible. We all love to plan and buy curriculum but we must remember to stay flexible. When I first started out I thought I had to complete workbooks from beginning to end while doing every problem--that was a rigid one-way track to burn out (and all the homeschool mothers said--amen!). Now I know better and will design a lesson around what we need to know, not what the book curriculum designers dictate that I do with my children. Also, if a book is not working for you, don't ever be afraid to toss it and replace it--you'll be glad you did!

4. Stop comparing. It is so easy to look around at other homeschooling families and compare (everything from homeschool methods, to instruments children play, or even what the children wear!) Try not to compare! I have seen moms get discouraged feeling as though they couldn't handle homeschooling and then eventually throwing in the towel for this very reason. The comparison game will only get you feeling down and putting more stress and pressure on your homeschool that God did not intend or perhaps feeling smug that you have it more together than another mom.

5. Plan and yet be willing to throw your plans out the window. I always recommend planning---and while I used be a fierce list planner as a young mom, I have since learned to plan loosely and allow God to direct our days. If a days schedule gets thrown out the window because of life--then as moms we need to truly be okay with that. Remember, there is always tomorrow. Homeschool moms need not to be so hard on themselves.

6. Laugh, cherish and have fun. I cannot emphasize this enough. Sometimes we get so serious about homeschooling that we can forget about experiencing the joy that comes with it (wouldn't Satan just love to rob us of this?). Your children need to know they have a happy mom who is willing to have fun and laugh with her children (and sometimes at herself!). I know we will not always be joyous all the time, but we do need to remember that a smile will bless our children and encourage them. We also need to view the broader spectrum of homeschooling and enjoy the blessing of each day and each lesson.

7. Take a break. Sometimes we need to step back and evaluate. Are we doing too much? Too little? Do we need to get back our focus and perspective? Add some fun into our school? Wise mamas need to know it is okay to take a break sometimes. It is perfectly okay to take a step back and refocus if the end result is moving several steps forward.

8. Choose the best. Don't outdo yourself by joining every sport, club, homeschool group event, etc. Slow down! If we are always on the go, we cannot effectively homeschool or shepherd our children. Be wise were you invest your best energies or your homeschool will suffer. Our family places a special emphasis on family time at home so we can strengthen and build the relationships there. We know that with more things pulling at our schedule will mean less time for the things that really matter to us.

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Homeschool Curriculum SALE!

2011-06-23T12:06:00.000-07:00

So many of you are already planning out the next school year pulling together homeschool curriculum, attending conferences and sales, and collecting what they will need for your school. I am excited to share that Vision Forum has marked down over 300 homeschool resources to 60% off until June 25th!

I found this new CD by Doug Phillips:

How Important Are Educational Choices-on sale now for only $4.50

Here is the description:

Are educators or teaching methods neutral? Are academic concepts void of context or presuppositions? Or should the Scriptures direct our educational philosophy? Whether you are 5, 15, 25, or 75 years old, God’s Word applies to us all equally. Psalm 1 proclaims that the man who does not counsel with the ungodly, or commune with sinners, or enjoy the company of those who scorn the will and pleasure of God will be blessed! The truth of what we learn is important to God, but the environments in which we are educated, and the hearts of those who teach us, are critical to Him as well. In How Important Are Educational Choices?, join Doug Phillips for a one-hour examination of educational philosophies, their consequences, and what the Bible has to say to us regarding our choices.

I often get this asked this question and glad there are resources to point to!

Check what else they marked down HERE.

We love a super great sale and being able to share it with you---

now I am off to order a few things...

Happy shopping!

Fun In the Summer

2011-06-07T06:48:00.000-07:00

Are you looking for fun things to do in the summer?

Whether you are on summer break or not, consider trying one of these creative ideas to inspire your child:

101 Things To Do This Summer

Enjoy the season!

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Quote of the Week

2011-05-10T22:27:00.000-07:00

The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.

-Albert Einstein

Giveaways Galore!

2011-04-26T16:58:00.000-07:00

If you love getting something for free and love giveaways--there are three that I want to share with you right now at A Wise Woman Builds Her Home from:

31 Days to Clean

Shaklee

Cozy Tea Treasures

Hurry and enter!

California to Teach Gay History in Schools

2011-04-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

I was really surprised (but then not) to see this article on Facebook the other day:

California Set To Teach Gay History and Rights in Schools

I think with the ranking of American schools and lack of performance, this would not be at the top of their priority list.

I also can NOT imagine having strangers teach this topic to my children
--and neither should you.

Rachel Ramm Fine Art Giveaway!

2011-04-16T09:48:00.000-07:00

Rachel Ramm Fine Art is generously giving away a 8x10 photo print of the winner's choice over at our sister site-

A Wise Woman Builds Her Home!

Inspire family and friends with her lovely artwork

(can you believe she is a homeschool grad too?)

Visit her at Rachel Ramm Fine Art.

Seattle School Renames Easter Eggs to Spring Spheres

2011-04-12T11:31:00.000-07:00

Baskets in hand, children run to collect plastic eggs (or spring spheres) during the annual Easter (or Spring) egg hunt. (AP Photo)

Listen: Easter eggs renamed spring spheres at Seattle school

Jessica, a sophomore at a private Seattle school, says while volunteering at a public school, she was required to call 'Easter eggs' 'Spring Spheres.'

A sophomore at a local private high school thinks an effort to make Easter politically correct is ridiculous.

Jessica, 16, told KIRO Radio's Dori Monson Show that a week before spring break, the students commit to a week-long community service project. She decided to volunteer in a third grade class at a public school, which she would like to remain nameless.

"At the end of the week I had an idea to fill little plastic eggs with treats and jelly beans and other candy, but I was kind of unsure how the teacher would feel about that," Jessica said.

She was concerned how the teacher might react to the eggs after of a meeting earlier in the week where she learned about "their abstract behavior rules."

"I went to the teacher to get her approval and she wanted to ask the administration to see if it was okay," Jessica explained. "She said that I could do it as long as I called this treat 'spring spheres.' I couldn't call them Easter eggs."

Rather than question the decision, Jessica opted to "roll with it." But the third graders had other ideas.

"When I took them out of the bag, the teacher said, 'Oh look, spring spheres' and all the kids were like 'Wow, Easter eggs.' So they knew," Jessica said.

The Seattle elementary school isn't the only government organization using spring over Easter. The city's parks department has removed Easter from all of its advertised egg hunts.

Story from here.

Excellent Deals for Your Homeschool Library!

2011-03-31T07:19:00.000-07:00

Homeschoolers love filling up their libraries with great bargains, don't we? Well, Vision Forum is having an amazing blowout sale right now that will really bless you, your families and homeschool!

These excellent movies are on sale right now
only until April 2nd.

I highly recommend these for teaching biblical womanhood and godly character:

This is one of my all time favorites and chock full of wisdom. When I first watched this I was overwhelmed with all the wonderful information that I watched it again the next night and wisely took notes. What Is Biblical Femininity? is now on sale at 55% off and only $6.80! So is Training Dominion -Oriented Daughters!

Here is one for mom:

Tea with Michelle Duggar only $3.00 (80% off)

you can click the link to view the trailer.

....psssst--get your Mother's Day shopping checked off early this year!

Yes, it's only a few weeks away! And at this low price you can pick up several

and encourage that mom you have been meaning to bless~

And while you are busy cleaning your home for company, our family tends to like to listen to good music or a good sermon. Here are some GREAT deals-- SM Davis CD's for only $2.80 each!

I still love to have my children listen to What to Expect From a 12 Year Old when they are washing the dishes--it is SO convicting even to me as a mother of how I should raise them and the ones below. You can click on any of these images to listen to a sample.

Why Satan Wants Your Firstborn and What To Do About It--Is your oldest a rebel or a servant? This wonderful teaching on how the firstborn affects and influences the household and younger siblings. I love SM Davis and know many others who do as well.

And who doesn't need more wisdom in developing character in their children?

At only $2.80 these CD's are a steal--I paid much more for mine!

**Click here to see more phenomenal deals under $5.**

Happy shopping!

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Exciting Spring Scentsy Giveaway!

2011-03-29T13:05:00.000-07:00

Scentsy is having a spring giveaway over at our sister site,

A Wise Woman Builds Her Home.

They have some great new looks for spring--like the Dotty Warmer pictured above (on sale now for $27).

Be sure to stop by and enter!

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Ken Ham's Special Offer to Cincinatti's Homeschool Convention Attendees

2011-03-24T16:13:00.000-07:00

In light of all the controversy that has surrounded Ken Ham the President and founder of Answers in Genesis and The Creation Museum, Dr. Enns and the Cincinnati Homeschool Convention--Mr. Ham is generously giving all paid attendees of the conference a free special offer at The Creation Museum:

Offer valid March 31–April 3, 2011. One free Creation Museum admission per paid registration to the Cincinnati Homeschool Convention (two tickets per paid family registration), and a free MP3 (one per family) of four of Ken Ham’s major talks (must show proof of paid registration).

There will also be special discounts on books and curricula in the museum’s Dragon Hall Bookstore.

-From The Creation Museum blog

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Answers In Genesis carries excellent Christian products for your library or homeschool
and I highly recommend them.
My daughter is using their Astronomy course kit and loves it.

Wise Woman Tip:
All orders over $100 get 1 cent shipping!

Spring Crafts: Spring Bouqet!

2011-03-23T07:02:00.000-07:00

It's SPRING!

Jump-start the season by making your own colorful blooms with this flower-dyeing project!

Materials:

White flowers
Food coloring

Vase

Instructions:

Start with white flowers. We found that roses, carnations, and daisies work well. If none are growing in your area, pick some up at your local florist.
Prepare a colored solution: we used 20 drops of food coloring for each 1/2 cup of warm water.
Cut the stems to fit your vase, removing at least 2 inches, then set them in the tinted water. You'll start to see results in less than 24 hours.

How it works. Freshly cut flowers continuously draw water up through their stems, as through a straw. When the water reaches the petals, it evaporates through tiny pores, leaving the dye behind (dye cannot evaporate). Over time, it builds up, coloring the tips of the petals.

Have fun!

This post is originally featured at Family Fun, please visit there for more great ideas!

Subscribe to The Homeschool Corner and never miss a post!

Beautify Your Home: A Great Impression Giveaway!

2011-03-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

It's spring and it's time to give your home a fresh new look!

I want to introduce you to A Great Impression, it is a Christian company that makes these amazingly beautiful and easy to apply vinyl decals to beautify your home and just perfect for the new season-just take a look at all their loveliness:

They have something special for every room in your home! Hop on over to our sister site,

A Wise Woman Builds Her Home

and enter the fabulous giveaway we are having over there!

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Subscribe to this blog and never miss a post!

Homeschooling Through High School

2011-03-19T07:07:00.000-07:00

Are you homeschooling a high schooler or just have some questions about it?

Find everything you need to know here, from curriculum to transcripts and more! I was able to glean alot from this site and have gained valuable advice from Lee Binz personally.

(click on image to visit the site)

The Cart Before the Horse

2011-03-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

Do you ever just get really weary of wondering what everyone else thinks about what you are doing? Do you ever just want to throw the towel in because your family does not look “right” to others?

It helps to know that we only need look “right” to God—Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Author and Finisher.

He is the One who has begun this work, He is its Originator, its Creative Expert, its Catalyst, Director and Refiner.

Lately this means we have a different sort of “curriculum”. Our days are all about how to run a “life”—how to conserve energy, clean a toilet, understand how food works and how to cut costs, how to iron clothes, etc.

Now I know we have been taught that these subjects should be relegated to the “home economics” category when we are trying to explain homeschooling to someone else, but I believe we have been conditioned to seeing our lives in an unnatural manner.

I love the enriching parts of education; the arts and sciences that enhance our lives. But every day living should be the focus of a good education, not erroneous information that is memorized and then forgotten.

John Taylor Gatto related how after speaking to a group of educated folks a young man asked him why, after years and years of formal education, was he never taught how to change a tire?

I remember well how my counselors in high school puffed me up—how I scored so high on my SAT’s I was told I could skip my freshman year—and yet when I moved out on my own I felt so inept! Dealing with a home, a husband and a new baby wanted to totally overwhelm me. I was like a rabbit, wanting to run at any noise or disturbance.

I was an educated ignoramus.

But my children are not going to be! They will know about how real life works, foremost! It is funny, but I have found that doing just such a thing causes all of the other educational disciplines to be worked in, like history (voting, citizenship, laws, etc.), science (electricity, bacteria, chemistry of baking, etc.), Music (creating an atmosphere, enjoying the Lord together as a family), art (setting a table, garnishing a meal, decorating a house), math (calculating how much money and paint we will need to recover the interior walls, how much rice for chicken teriyaki, doubling and quadrupling a recipe), reading and writing (researching how to build a shed including zoning laws, writing a convincing email or letter to a zoning official) and the list goes on and on.

If you are feeling stressed because of a messy, disorganized house, older children who bicker and fight, and younger children who scream and beg due to neglect, and it seems as if it is all due to your commitment to homeschooling, can I make a suggestion?

Take a few minutes and allow yourself to relax—it’s not supposed to be this hard, and if it is making you and your family miserable, it probably isn’t the right thing at the right time.

Change your focus, at least for a few weeks, and concentrate on all the areas of deficit. If it takes you an hour every day just to hunt up pencils for everyone, things are way out of focus. Clean up and organize. Build respect and discipline into your daily routine. Prayerfully format a plan for meals, laundry, etc. and work that plan until your house hums and purrs. Get your children intimately involved and trained to know what they should be doing and when.

Then throw in some basic reading, writing and math, but even these in small doses. All the while don’t forget the focus on making life hum and purr, and then add some extras that are simply creative and fun.

Don’t forget to consult with Daddy—he can see things you may miss and give you further insight and direction. I have benefited greatly from the leadership of this great man in our lives.

And here’s just a little caution: don’t pattern your life after someone else’s. While you can glean some nifty ideas from what others are doing, don’t forget that your home and your life are totally unique, and that only the Holy Spirit has the right balance and plan for you and your family.

When you do things this way you will find the peace and purposefulness most only claim to enjoy.

-Sherry Hayes is a homeschool mother to 15 children and you can find her wisdom and experience over at her blog, Large Family Mothering.

It's A Blessing Giveaway!

2011-03-08T08:02:00.000-08:00

It's a Blessing is having a giveaway over at our sister site- A Wise Woman Builds Her Home!

And the items pictured in this post are the beautiful gifts they are giving away:

Each charm has a special biblical meaning and this gorgeous bookmark would be great for the bookworm in your homeschool--even if that happens to be you!

So be sure to stop by and enter!

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Join HSLDA For Free!

2011-03-05T21:38:00.000-08:00

The Homeschool Legal Defense Association is now giving away a FREE trial membership for a few months.

Click here to join!

Also, if you are already a HSLDA member and get five people to sign up for the free membership under you

you will get one year free!

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Christian Preschool Craft Video: Creation Bean Bags

2011-03-03T16:28:00.000-08:00

Here is a great craft idea for mothers to teach their young children the 7 days of creation.

Enjoy!

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Would you like more fun crafting ideas for the future?
Subscribe and don't miss a single one!

Teaching Your Child to Read

2011-03-02T05:53:00.000-08:00

This post is by one of our new contributors--

Jaime from Like A Bubbling Brook:

As a child, I can remember taking weekly trips to the library with my mother and sister. We’d return home with bags full of books. Lots and lots of books. So many books, in fact, that it seemed preposterous to think that we would actually read them all in one week.

It wasn’t unusual for us to read through a novel in one sitting. We read some rather lengthy ones, too; I can remember reading Gone With the Wind as well as it’s sequel, Scarlett. We read Jane Eyre. We read the Nancy Drew series. We read countless books! We still love to read.

As a mama now myself, beginning to teach Gentry to read has been a joy. No, he’s not picking up any novels; he’s only five! But being here, leaning over him, finger under letter, as he slowly sounds out “cat” and “hat” and “dad” and “mom” is a treasure now buried deep in my heart.

We’ve enjoyed integrating the book Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, though we don’t use it every day. Our local homeschool co-op participated in a pre-owned curriculum sale last year and I found this gem for only a couple of dollars. Each lesson is explained well, and it moves at a good pace. It helps give us structure.

These little index cards have been handy, too, as we work at stringing words together to form simple sentences. I cut rectangles out of card stock paper, then printed (by hand) some short words we’ve been working on. After verbally giving him a short sentence to make, he must hunt for the words by sounding them out, then put them in order to form the sentence.

Teaching him to read, and read well, is very important to us. All future learning is largely determined by our ability to read. To understand the Bible, science, history, and rest of the world, we must have a hook on which to hang the information that is to follow. Reading is that hook.

Did you teach your child to read? What worked for you?

Jaime is a daughter of the King, minister's wife, and homeschooling mother. She writes about biblical womanhood, homemaking, and whole foods at Like a Bubbling Brook.
Be sure to pop by and say hello!

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Attention All Bloggers! Get Ready to Get Relevant!

2011-03-01T08:22:00.000-08:00

Have you heard about The Relevant Conference?

Relevant is a Christian blogging conference for women-- and I will be a keynote speaker this year!

You can read more about it here.

And I would love to meet you if you can come...

Tickets just went on sale last night a midnight last night

and early bird tickets SOLD OUT!

So be sure to get yours here while you can!

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Vision Forum Giveaway! New Family Strategies 20 Week Series on Building Family Culture

2011-02-24T06:47:00.000-08:00

Our favorite company, Vision Forum, is giving away their new resource-Family Strategies, a $95 dollar value over at our sister site

A Wise Woman Builds Her Home

we are so excited to see families encouraged by these new downloadable teachings

click here to view a list of what topics are offered and a video

AND

hurry over there to enter!!!

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If You Serve a Child...

2011-02-24T06:33:00.000-08:00

If you serve a child a rotten hamburger in America, federal, state, and local agencies will investigate you, summon you, close you down, whatever. But if you provide a child with a rotten education, nothing happens, except that you’re liable to be given more money to do it with.

Well, we’ve discovered that money alone isn’t the answer.

-Ronald Reagan

Building Healthy Family Culture

2011-02-23T11:45:00.000-08:00

I am so excited to see this brand new resource to help us build up strong homes:

To Survive and Prosper: It’s Time to Think Strategically
About Your Children, Your Household, and Your Family Culture!

strat-e-gies: The art of devising or employing plans or stratagems toward a goal.

If you are a Christian parent living in the twenty-first century, you need to think strategically about your family. Settling for the priorities and practices of the world is a proven formula for disaster. As parents, we must do more than settle. We must self-consciously choose. This requires strategic biblical thinking. It means self-consciously building your family culture. And whether the subject is entertainment choices, home décor, travel, music in the home, or dealing with antagonistic relatives, it means that wise, Scripturally-informed parents must think creatively as they aggressively engage impediments and obstacles to success.

A 20-Week Energy Boost of Strategic Thinking and Encouragement from Doug and Beall Phillips

Family Strategies: An Invitation from Doug and Beall from Douglas Phillips on Vimeo.

These are the weekly messages from Doug and Beall that are included:

How to Organize Your Home to Promote Family Unity
How to Cultivate a Love of Reading with Your Children
How to Make Mealtime Meaningful
How to Prepare for a Year of Home Education
How to Take Children Safely Through an Airport
How to Involve the Whole Family in Family Worship
How to Address the Plague of “Jive Talk” in Your Home
How to Encourage Masculinity in Sons
How to Encourage Femininity in Daughters
How to Handle a Social Worker Visit
How to Wage War on Sibling Rivalry
How to Use Household Decorations to Teach Character
How to Talk to Your Children about Miscarriage
How to Involve the Whole Family in Hospitality
How to Build an Entrepreneurial Spirit in Your Children
How to Watch a Movie As a Family
How to Cultivate a Love of Meaningful Poetry with Your Children, and Why Doing So Is Important
How to Prepare Your Children to Listen to a Symphony
How to Take a Road Trip with Your Family
How to Select the Best Locations for Family Vacations

As the parents of eight children and the founders of Vision Forum Ministries, Doug and Beall Phillips have spent the last decade collecting and implementing helpful strategies for building a strong, safe, and visionary family culture.

Now, beginning Tuesday, February 28, they will be sharing some of the most practical and proven strategies for building a vibrant family culture through their new 20-week, 30-minute episodes audio series called Family Strategies.

Listen to the new Audio Samples here.

If you order by February 28 you will save $10, plus receive two bonus messages as a free gift.
This is a 20-message series sent directly to your inbox each week for less than $5 per message. But make sure you order by February 28, as that price will go up! With your order confirmation email, they will also send you coupons to download two important, family-affirming bonus messages for FREE:

Victories: Moments Small and Large Which Define Christian Parenting,
and How to Evaluate a Suitor.

For about the price of a fancy cup of coffee, you can get real, weekly encouragement from Doug and Beall in which they share their favorite and best strategies for building family unity.

Click here to order Family Strategies.

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Dear Readers, it is an honor to share valuable resources on this blog to help you build stronger homes to the glory of God! I thought I would also mention that Vision Forum also has godly resources for children:

V is for Von Trapp: A Musical Family Alphabet

and
Teach Them to Your Children: An Alphabet of Biblical Poems, Verses and Stories

Priced at $17.00 but is now on sale at only $8.50
and you can click here to browse more.

Charming Lilla Rose Giveaway!

2011-02-22T09:00:00.000-08:00

Feminine hairstyles are highly desirable for many women, but many of us think that it takes a professional, time and money to acquire the look that we want. Most of us want to be able to create a beautiful look with our hair, but we also want it quick, easy and affordable.

Enter Lilla Rose!

Lilla Rose has beautiful and feminine hair clips called The Flexi-Clip that comes in all sorts of classy and elegant styles and colors. They truly have something for everyone!

Hop on over to our sister site, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, to enter the giveaway to win a Lilla Rose flexiclip or other item up to $15!

See you there!

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What Could I Do With $4,700?

2011-02-19T06:14:00.000-08:00

That's the reported cost per student that our local school district spends each year. I read that in the paper today. The article was about how districts in our state are locked into their budgets from 2005 due to a cap placed by the state. With gas prices, property taxes and a number of things on the rise, the districts are in real trouble.

So, basically they only have $4,700 to spend on each student this year. Well, I realize that each child does not actually get that amount of money spent on them personally. There are teacher salaries to pay, new buildings to build, gas to buy for buses, and any other number of places the money goes.

But what if each child actually did have that amount of money spent on their personal education each year? Would that improve the quality of education? Would that ensure that each child would be successful? Would our schools then be so phenomenal that our students would graduate early and be extremely successful?

I think we all know that would not be the case. I realize that school districts must have money to do the task that they do, but there is so much more to a child's education than money. I know as homeschoolers we sometimes drool over curriculum fairs and sweat while walking through teacher supply stores or used book stores. OH the wonderful things we could do if only we owned x, y, or z. Imagine if you were given a check for $4,700 PER CHILD in your home this year earmarked purely for their education (and, OK lunch too). Imagine that! What would you run off and buy? What field trips would you plan? What extra-curricular things would you sign up for?

But today I am reminded of what matters most.

This year, we will buy what we need (used if possible). We will be creative and frugal and our children will learn. Because we know that money is not what creates a quality education. We have a library card. We have paper and pencils. We have Bibles. We have internet access. We have a few textbooks and workbooks. Most of all, we have time together at home.

No district, no budget, no amount of money spent....could invest in our children the way we do. Anyone agree?

But if I did have that money...I promise I would spend it very wisely! :) What would you do for your homeschool with that money?

Brenda, a former public school teacher, is now a stay at homeschooling mom to her two beautiful daughters. She is also one of our new fabulous contributors! You can find her humorous and encouraging writings over at

The Family Revised

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Large Family Mothering Homeschool Planner

2011-02-12T08:21:00.000-08:00

One of our new contributors to The Homeschool Corner is a happy mom of 15 children

-- welcome Sherri!

Sherri blogs over at Large Family Mothering and she has recently come out with a pretty planner to help us moms:

You can read how she came up with the idea here

and what is included in the planner here.

The price is great--only $7.50.
That is alot cheaper than you can find at the stores!
And it is from an experienced homeschool mom who understands your needs.

If you need help organizing the planning of your school

and managing your home

this planner could be the answer to your prayers!

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New Vlog: How to Teach Small Children Bible Memory Verses

2011-02-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

Today we are having a guest post by Caroline Allen of The Modest Mom, she is going to share with us in a vlog how she gently teaches her little ones to learn Bible verses:

I feel so extremely blessed to have not just one daughter, but two to raise up as handmaidens for the Lord. My hope is that they will be virtuous young women who fear the Lord, and who will seek to serve Him.

My oldest little girl is two and she is such a delight! I have started teaching her the scripture verses from Proverbs 31:10-31. It's my goal for her to have it all memorized, but for now we are just working on the first two verses :-) She normally recites it louder than this but she realized that the camera was going, so it made her get soft at times.

I found it so easy to teach her these verses. I didn't make it a scheduled time in my day, rather I would say the verses to her when I changed her diaper, while everyone was sitting around the table waiting for the food to get served (it's a good way to keep the children quiet!), or when she would be in the kitchen "helping" Mama!

(Excuse the background mess! It was the end of the day, and that's just real life around here with four little ones!)

P.S. Notice my flexi clip in my hair? I love discovering new ways to fix my hair using a clip!

Thank you, Caroline!

You can find Caroline at The Modest Mom blog and be sure to check out her online store--The Modest Mom for feminine skirts and clothing.

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Sweet Scentsy Giveaway!

2011-02-09T06:17:00.000-08:00

Our sister site, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home is having a sweet giveaway from Scentsy Wickless Candles (take a peek above at their elegant new look).

Be sure to stop by and enter!

Valentine's Day Easy Craft

2011-02-06T07:05:00.000-08:00

As a mom of 8, I am always on the lookout for easy and simple crafts that our whole family can do and enjoy afterwards!

Here is a Valentines Day Homemade Heart Tic Tac Toe Game

to make some special memories with your little ones.

And be sure to check out these great Valentine's Day craft books
while your at it---

Enjoy!

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Join us if you'd like more great craft ideas for your homeschool.

Also, stay tuned to hear from our
fabulous new contributors!

Why a Schoolteacher is Quitting Her Job and Homeschooling

2011-02-02T09:32:00.000-08:00

Here is an interesting read from Tess Bomac at Ladies Against Feminism:

"I can say that every school I went to was exceptionally damaging to my sense of self-worth and my education. Being the socially clueless kid with a bad hair cut (and, later, with train wreck acne) did me no favors in a system where being pretty and hip is a prerequisite to being accepted. Each of my schools had a different system of education where the focus seemed to be on new methods and rearranging the desks every few months. None of the schools focused on assessing student learning. One could know nothing about the subject being tested, fail the test, and get a B because of homework and participation. That kind of grade reflects docility, not knowledge. Nobody seems to care if students actually learn anything, so long as it looks like the teacher is teaching. That’s an important distinction."

Read the rest here.

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ALSO-- expect some fresh new perspectives in the future on
The Homeschool Corner
as we bring new contributors on!
And pardon our dust as we work on new graphics--thank you.

Mrs. Morecraft is Back! Special Writing Course Webinar

2011-01-28T16:58:00.000-08:00

I hear many mothers lamenting over how they do not know how to teach their children to write.

Well here is an answer to prayer:

Mrs. Becky Morecraft is teaching an online webinar in February that you might want to sign your students, or yourself, up for ---

I have heard rave reviews about it!

A Public School Student's Story

2011-01-08T06:42:00.000-08:00

This is from the movie Indoctrination that I am looking forward to watching once it comes out:

Definitely brought back some old memories of the real pressures in school. While I know that some students might 'escape' some of these pressures and still end up Christian after they graduate (I have friends whose children have), the statistics show that it is a very, very small minority and most are lost when they are in college. This makes me so sad.

Would anyone like to share their thoughts?

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P.S. I have some great tips to help with your homeschooling coming up next week so stay tuned!

It's a Blessing Giveaway!

2011-01-04T10:10:00.000-08:00

We are having a fabulous giveaway over at our sister blog, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, from It's a Blessing Etsy store.

It's a Blessing is generously giving away their gorgeous "Flowers Fall Picture Scarf" and matching charming "Fall Flowers Blessing Bracelet" a $38 value as pictured below:

Go and enter now while you can!

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Planning and Preparing for the New Year

2010-12-28T15:12:00.001-08:00

This week I am busy preparing and planning for the New Year as I know many of you are. There is much that needs to be organized and simplified in the Fuentes household since the onslaught of the holidays and the whirlwind of birthdays in the last few weeks. I carefully wrote out a managing plan for the week of what needs to be done---tree and decorations down, goal planning, reorganizing school supplies, straightening up the school room (that we use mainly for crafts and projects) and reevaluating our school plan.

I try to reevaluate what is working in our school this year and what is not, since every school year is different and has different demands and sometimes different students. I ask some basic questions such as:

1. What is not working and why? What needs to change?

2. What methods work best with my family?

3. How can this run better-more efficiently?

4. How am I feeling about school? Am I looking forward to it? Do I need inspiring? What do I need to do to refresh my vision, strength and stamina?

A couple of things I am planning is devotionals for the children in having a plan of them reading through the Bible for the year. It is different for each child, sometimes they read through a year plan or a yearly Bible or sometimes with the younger ones I will have them work through a book at a time.

I am also working on book lists for the winter. There are some books on character, theology and classics that I would like my children to read but I need to be intentional in typing out this list and ordering books online or from the library.These things just don't happen on their own! I also need to remember to add in movies we would like to see and sermons we need to listen to.

I am also going to loosely plan in for the next six months some crafts, experiments, cooking, art and projects into their year.We are going to watch some of the new Homestead Blessings videos and acquire ourselves some new skills!

I am also thinking about music. A goal for us is that each child will learn an instrument--so my oldest daughter has in the past volunteered to teach her siblings piano. We also do some violin and recorder on the side. All of this is wonderful, but I am reminded that today I need to print out our daily schedule from last year where we have allotted times for these goals so that they would be met and not fall to the wayside. We also learn hymns as a family and sing them together so I also try to purposely plan that in but not all the time since we listen to hymns in our home. Without a good schedule in our home it is easy to let time get away from you and overlook all valuable skills that could be gained in the day.

Since it is winter we like to get everyone into exercising since in the winter months since we can't be outside much. We like to use video tapes or workout plans or use our indoor mini trampoline. I even have a children's workout video for the little ones that I am planning into their day so that they can get all that energy out that can accumulate.

A couple of my children need work with their speech--so I am going to plan that into my day about 15 minutes, along with my Bible verse binder that I need to update for memorizing after we do our morning devotinal ! I am also thinking of multiple ways to get more reading out loud in this year. I don't try to plan this all at once or I will get overwhelmed. Instead I try to plan in categories. This way I am only planning a bit at a time---what I can handle and really focus on what I would like to see done in that category. If I don't do everything that I planned, that is fine because there is always next year and the next.

Today I will be a busy mother printing off all these lists today to order my home and school more efficiently so that we all know what to expect and the home can run more like a well oiled machine (sure, there will be glitches---but a plan is INVALUABLE!) Like I've said before and have written as a reminder on my calendar, the schedule is there to work for us, not US for the schedule! There is much freedom in knowing that and not becoming enslaved to thinking that you have to get every little thing done on your 'to-do list'. Life has to take place and is much more important than what we perceive needs to get done. Everyday I just ask the Lord to help me get done what He wants done and for me to be content with that. (Also note that this is what I am doing now that my children are older, when my children were younger it was different, maybe I will post about that later.)

I actually try to evaluate things often in our school. I am not afraid to stop things that don't work or switch curriculum in the middle of the year. I have also learned that scope and sequences vary from curriculum according to the different publishers so I shouldn't feel locked into what they are dictating. Remember we are homeschoolers and most of us have alot of freedom to operate our schools how we want them and are free from being told how to do it.

I am so grateful also to be home today and plan. I LOVE planning! Whenever I have to run errands and be away from the home it takes me awhile to get back into the rhythm of being at home and to get assimilated back into the flow of it all. I love being at home and being able to focus on what is needed there--it is my calling, I know I am needed here and am blessed to be able to fulfill it.

Are you doing any preparing or planning?

Also, what do you do to refresh your stamina for the school year?

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What About Socialization?

2010-12-14T05:33:00.000-08:00

I found this funny video over at Generation Cedar:

Enjoy!

Invest In Your Family This Christmas

2010-12-10T12:21:00.000-08:00

Every year when we buy gifts we try to make sure we include gifts that will sharpen the character of our children, teach them something new or grow in their spiritual walk with the Lord. I love Vision Forum because their products are family centered and help me to accomplish many of my goals in strengthening my marriage, family, and homeschool. I love what they have out this year for our daughters:

Heroines of Christ's Kingdom Paper Doll Set (Set of 6) now 50% off
That is the ENTIRE set that is regularly priced at $78
--is NOW ONLY $39!!!!
We own these and my daughter's absolutely love them!

“Daughters of His Story” is a new series of beautiful, full-color paper dolls that will entertain your girls and strengthen them in biblical femininity, character, and love for history. The women of God featured in these collections were dedicated to serving the Lord through their missions as wives and mothers. Each set comes with two women from history, along with a short biography and three outfits, two dolls inside a keepsake folder, two stands, and six dresses.

The Sewing Answer Book -on sale for $13
A great way for our daughter's (or ourselves) to learn the domestic skills they will need one day for their future homes.They also have books for baking, knitting, crocheting and beading that you may find here.

What Our Father Taught Us About Boys-$10

How can young ladies keep their hearts pure? What responsibilities do they have toward young men? Is it possible to be “just friends?” Listen to practical advice on navigating the tricky waters of relationships with boys, and how these relationships—properly conducted—can be edifying and strengthening to a civilization that honors marriage and family life.

My daughter really enjoyed this one and so did I! Believe me, I am very picky about teaching regarding the opposite sex, and this was worth the investment! Listen to a sample here.

The Godly Woman's Adornment Collection-50% off-
now only $22!!
This accessible and hard hitting series addresses four Biblical fruits which are not some fleeting ideal, but a reality that God enables women to live out daily. Perfect to meditate upon throughout the day, each short devotional looks to Scripture for words of encouragement, correction, wisdom, and guidance to help direct women toward a true, enduring satisfaction in Christ. Books include the virtuous topics of Joy, Contentment, Trust and Purity.

For the dads:

Fathers and Daughters: Why Every Father is Leaving a Legacy-$10
Every father leaves a legacy for his daughter whether good or bad, whether by design or by default. Daughters watch carefully what dads prioritize as well as what they neglect, and then form their own ideals—including the kind of man they look for in a mate—in response to this. Dr. Voddie Baucham explains this powerful influence that fathers have on their girls as well as the destructiveness of male abdication. His charge: Dads must set aside selfish pursuits and lovingly lead their daughters. Listen to a sample here.

Feminine by Design- only $9
Feminine by Design - The Twelve Pillars of Biblical Womanhood, is written for teenage girls to help them understand biblical femininity. Here, Scott Brown explores some of the major passages of Scripture that explain it. You will find the biblical texts that he used to teach his own daughters as he sought to “bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).

Oh, I couldn't help but throw this cutie-pie in! Isn't she adorable?

Lady Jocelyn Leigh Dress now 19% off

and we can't forget the lace parasol:

and I will throw this one in here for me---I mean for the moms! :)

Building a Winning Curriculum-only $10!

Written by a homeschool mom with twenty years of experience teaching her three children, this handy guide combines the majority of Vision Forum’s resources into a single, easy-to-use handbook. Each product is placed into overarching categories, such as Creationism and Science, the History of Christianity, Western Civilization, etc., and recommendations are provided on how you can use Vision Forum’s resources to develop and enhance your own unit studies. Also included are tips on ways to use these materials to encourage your children's growth in the Lord.

And for 48 Hours Only: They Are Offering Free Shipping

AND You Will Get A Free $50 Gift Certificate to Blue Behemoth.com With $75+ Order!!!

Put gifts under the tree that will help strengthen your family this year and have a wonderful day searching out wise investments for building up your home!

(What are you waiting for??? Go there now and see what other goodies they have!)

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Note: Dear readers, I am affiliate for Vision Forum--if you decide to make a purchase from them please consider making them through this site through any of the links above or the catalog in the sidebar. It would greatly bless our family and we would truly appreciate it! I love Vision Forum and am happy and honored to be able to introduce you to their fabulous resources! They also have sales everyday until Christmas!

Parents Pull Son Out of New Hampshire School Over Assigned Book That Refers to Jesus as 'Wine Guzzling Vagrant and Socialist'

2010-12-08T14:09:00.000-08:00

("Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America," by Barbara Ehrenreich pictured above)

A New Hampshire couple has pulled their son out of his local high school after the teen was assigned a book that refers to Jesus Christ as a "wine-guzzling vagrant and precocious socialist."Aimee Taylor says her oldest son, 16-year-old Jordan Henderson, was required to read "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America," this fall for Bedford High School's personal finance class.

The book is a first-person account of author Barbara Ehrenreich's attempts to make ends meet while working minimum wage jobs in Florida, Maine and Minnesota.But in addition to taking aim at the idea of the American Dream, and arguing for a higher minimum wage, Taylor says Ehrenreich also takes aim at Christians and other groups in the book and uses foul language -- all of which made Jordan unhappy.

"He started making some comments about the book and I said, ‘Well, just read it. You know you have to read it for school,'" Taylor told FoxNews.com. "But finally he came home one day and said ‘I'm not reading this book, I'm done reading this book, I am not reading any more of this book,' and he slammed it down and said, ‘This is junk!'"

Taylor asked her son to show her what was so bad about the book and after he pointed out a few controversial excerpts she decided to read it in full.

"I finished the book that night, I could not put it down because I was just mortified by the take on this book as well as the language, and the Jesus Christian bashing was unbelievable to me, and that it was in our school was just amazing to me," she said.

One of the excerpts, Taylor points to is Ehrenreich's description of a Christian service she attended in Maine.

"It would be nice if someone would read this sad-eyed crowd the Sermon on the Mount, accompanied by a rousing commentary on income inequality and the need for a hike in the minimum wage. But Jesus makes his appearance here only as a corpse; the living man, the wine-guzzling vagrant and precocious socialist, is never once mentioned, nor anything he ever had to say. Christ crucified rules, and it may be that the true business of modern Christianity is to crucify him again and again so that he can never get a word out of his mouth," Ehrenreich writes.

Still, wanting a second opinion, Taylor says she asked her "more lenient" husband Dennis to read the book, assuming he would tell her she was making a big deal out of nothing.

"Actually in the end he said, ‘This is a piece of junk, this book is garbage and does not belong in the school. No matter what you believe politically, this book should not belong in the classroom, it's really inappropriate for their age,' he was really upset that we weren't given notice about the book either," Taylor said.

The Taylors contacted the principal with their concerns. But roughly three weeks later a review committee assembled by the school district ruled that despite its shortcomings, "the book provided valuable insight into the circumstances of the working poor and an opportunity for students to demonstrate mastery of the 'Financial Impact' competency," it said in a report...

..."We've eliminated Christmas, we've eliminated all these things because we don't want to step on anyone's toes but here we're going to hand out this book? … This is anti-God, anti-religion, it's racial, I mean it crosses a wide spectrum of very touchy and very insulting issues to most human beings and I think that even with a parental consent it's not enough. They need to boot that book out of there," Taylor said.

The Taylors, who have since begun home schooling their son at his request, plan to attend the Dec. 13 Bedford School Board meeting to ask that the book be yanked entirely so taxpayers are no longer forced to pay for it. They have five other children, including a freshman at Bedford High School.

Bedford High School Principal William Hagen and Barbara Ehrenreich did not respond to requests for comment.

Music In Your Homeschool

2010-12-07T07:18:00.000-08:00

One of the greatest parts of being able to homeschool is being able to share our faith with our children and raise them up in the ways of the Lord. One of the ways I like to do this is by sharing great hymns of the faith with them, throughout the course of the day. Not only will they learn deep theological truths through many of these songs but they will also learn of the great heritage that has been left to them.

Now with all this talk about hymns, I would love to introduce you to--Steve and Danny Thompson!

Steve and Danny Thompson are two brothers who grew up in a missionary family in Honduras and Chile and wanted to share with their generation the rich hymns of our heritage. The result is a wonderful debut CD entitled How Firm a Foundation which includes a soothing blend of vocals, classical guitar, cello, violin and piano combined to give you an uplifting moment of quiet contemplation of biblical truth. "Our ultimate desire is that our music would serve to bring biblical truth to bear on the listener's mind in order to encourage godliness."

I am having a giveaway to win THREE of their CD's for free today--head on over to A Wise Woman Builds Her Home to view their video and enter to win these great CD's that make an awesome resource for your school!

The Schoolroom

2010-12-07T07:08:00.000-08:00

“The philosophy of the schoolroom in one generation

will be the philosophy of the government

in the next.”

-Abraham Lincoln

Are You a Mother of Sweet Little Blessings?

2010-12-03T06:56:00.000-08:00

If you are, I would also like to take a minute to share with you if you are a blessed mother to one or many small ones, a wonderful cloth diaper company called Sweet Little Blessings. If you are looking for an alternative to disposable diapers for your sweet bundle of joy be sure to visit them!

They are also having a great giveaway at our sister blog today, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, be sure to come and enter!

Are You a Fun Mom?

2010-12-03T06:31:00.000-08:00

I have found a new site that I am checking out that I wanted to share with you:

Funmoms.org

It has loads of great ideas for those of us who are naturally not on the crafty or creative side!

Enjoy!

The Family Daughter: Becoming Pillars of Strength In Our Father's House Giveaway!

2010-11-30T10:41:00.000-08:00

I am having a fabulous giveaway at my other blog, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, on a wonderful book to encourage your daughters called The Family Daughter: Becoming Pillars of Strength In Our Father's House.

If you are looking for godly resources for you daughter, this is it. Be sure to check it out---the giveaway will end in a week on 12/6/10!

History Meets Science: Making a Chicken Mummy

2010-11-14T20:08:00.000-08:00

Want a new and cool project to do with the kids?

Lori, at A Lifetime of Learning, teaches us all how to make-----

A CHICKEN MUMMY!!!.....

Two of my favorite subjects are history and science. Needless to say, when I acquired the activity guide to our history curriculum and found a project called: Make a Chicken Mummy---I was intrigued! For the adventurous lot of you out there, I am including detailed instructions on how to make your own chicken mummy. We named ours "Cluck-O-Patra."

I used to think that it took hundreds or thousands of years to make a mummy. When I would look at the dehydrated remains of bodies, I naturally thought that it was just time that had dried them to a crispy crunch. As it turns out, there was much more to it. For older children, here is where the biology part comes in. You know how people associate salt with water retention? Well, it is a fact that water follows salt. So, if there is a lot of sodium, there will surely be a lot of retained water. If you put a human cell into a dish of salt water, the salt will pull all of the water out of the cell and the cell crenates, or shrinks. Water will follow the salt in order to balance out the concentrations both inside and outside the cell. This is one of the reasons why you can't just preserve a drop of blood on a microscope slide in a drop of water. Pure water is hypotonic, meaning that the concentration is less than that of the blood cell, therefore, water is pulled into the cell and it ruptures. But with the higher concentration of sodium and other particles outside the cell, water is pulled from the cell and it shrinks. This principle was used in preservation of mummies.

Here is what you will need for your experiment:

Several boxes of cheap baking soda
Several cans of baking powder
One small whole fryer
Large freezer bags
Plastic gloves
Rubbing alcohol
Several boxes of salt---I found that canning salt was the cheapest.
Spices

You may want to finish off your mummy and keep it for a while. If so you will need:

Various spices (cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg..)
Scented oil (recipe follows)
White glue and water
White linen strips (or any other fabric you have on hand)

1. WEAR GLOVES!
2. Remove the neck and packet with the liver, heart, gizzard, etc... You can mummify these, but they smell!
3. Wash your chicken in hot water. Dry with paper towels. Make sure you wash the inside of the bird too. Wash the entire bird with rubbing alcohol, including the inside. This will decrease the amount of bacteria on the bird . Dry as much as possible with paper towels before continuing.

4. Mix 1/2 box of baking soda with 1/2 can of baking powder and 2 boxes of salt. The baking soda and powder increase the acidity of the mix and decrease the amount of bacterial growth. Next I recommend that you add a teaspoon of a good-smelling spice, like cinnamon. It helps combat the smell. The mixture is very close to the Egyptian natron that was used in large tubs to preserve bodies.

Hannah smelling the cinnamon scented natron.

5. Pour some of the mix into the cavity of the chicken until it is full. Then pour some into a large freezer bag. Put the chicken in the bag and add the rest of the mixture. If the chicken isn't completely covered add more salt until it is. Seal the bag. Place into another freezer bag and seal that one too.


Ready for her journey into the afterlife

6. Week 1: Check the chicken every day. If the salt is wet, PUT SOME GLOVES ON and remove chicken from the bag. Dust off the bird and repeat step 4. You will probably have to do this after day 1, 3, 5, so on.
7. After week one : Check the chicken once per week. If the salt is wet repeat step four.
8. At the end of week 6, PUT ON YOUR GLOVES, remove the chicken from the bag dust off salt as completely as you can. Wet a paper towel and wipe the remaining salt off of the bird. Dry immediately and thoroughly with paper towels.

After one week, Cluck-O-Patra is pretty dehydrated.

At this point, you can see the major difference in your chicken. The tissues will be dehydrated and the bird will be much lighter than when you started. We actually saw dramatic differences in the first week. The bird goes from that mushy feeling to a hard feeling quickly. We stopped here and threw the bird away, but if you want to go that extra mile, you can continue to rub and wrap your bird as follows:

SCENTED OIL
A jar with a lid
oil (cooking oil is cheapest)
Spices-any combination of 3-4 good smelling spices

You might want to hit the dollar racks for your spices. Fill the jar to the top with the spice mixture, then pour oil over the top. Set in a sunny location for a week, shaking the jar 2-3 time per day. Drain the oil.

Rub the fragrance all over the chicken, inside and out. Stuff the inside of the bird with fabric or sawdust. Cut your fabric into 1- inch strips. Mix glue and water 1-2 parts water to 1 part glue. Dip your strips into the glue and begin wrapping. Wrap wings and legs separately. The body should be wrapped in 2-3 layers. Let dry completely.

Mummies were not always made with the same technique. It varied according to the time period. Here is a good link that provides a short read of the differences:

http://www.mummytombs.com/egypt/methods.htm

separate canopic jars and keep them with your chicken.

I have a feeling that this is one of those experiments my kids will not soon forget! :)

Lori is a wife of 14 years to a wonderful man. She home educates her three children ages 8, 6, & 3. Lori loves both history and science and has an Associates Degree of Science in Nursing from Purdue University. Lori works 1-2 days per week in the ICU at St. Anthony's tending to the critically ill. She teaches science in the home school co-op that she is a member of. In her spare time, she loves to read, blog, decorate her home, and works in the AWANA program at her church.

The Modest Mom

2010-11-10T11:05:00.000-08:00

The Modest Mom is over at our sister site--A Wise Woman Builds Her Home-and giving away a fabulous maternity or regular skirt! These are great for the homeschooling mom and just about anyone! Hop on over and enter while you can! Here is a peek of some of her lovely products:

See you over there!

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Some Reasons Why It's Good to Take a Week Off

2010-11-06T14:05:00.000-07:00

Next week is our week off on our "Sabbath schedule" that we are using for school this year. (6 weeks on, one week of rest) This is our second week off since we started the school year and I have found many good reasons to take this time off:

1. We have lost all the pencils by now. Last time I gathered up pencils from all over the house during our week off--most of them from the girls' bedroom. Then I sharpened them all and had them ready to go for the next 6 weeks.

It's that time again. The pencils have all gone missing.

2. The house needs to be reigned in. Yes, I clean every day and we've gotten the house good and cleaned up for company several times in the last 6 weeks, but there are SO many jobs that get neglected....and mostly, that I DON'T HAVE TIME TO DO DURING SCHOOL. Like, for example, bag up giveaway items for the truck coming next week. Next week is my time to really dive into housework first thing in the morning instead of after school.

3. Lesson plans. In the past when I only taught Sweetheart, I didn't really make lesson plans. Maybe I was rebelling because I hated making them when I was a teacher? Maybe I wanted to fly by the seat of my pants and enjoy the freedom of homeschooling? Most likely it was because I knew what I wanted to do and really didn't need to write it down for ONE CHILD. But with 2? Yeah....I need lesson plans. Last time I planned out the whole 6 weeks and it was SO loverly to walk in the school room each day knowing what we were going to do. I devoted 2 days to school stuff last time and it was very worth it.

4. Avoiding burn out. The girls are ready for a break. I'm ready for a break. It comes just in time. Actually this week we were ready for a break but we pressed on, knowing we only had one more week to go. These rests really are important.

5. Permission to do frivolous things. I try to take off from all activities the week we are off. If there is a field trip or homeschool event, I try to say, "sorry, we're off of school next week" and not go. That way I have time to sew, work on Christmas presents, plan a birthday party (this time) or whatever seems to be at the bottom of the list under laundry, cooking, bills, and school.

6. Rest. I know I almost missed talking about this one, but there really needs to be time for rest, not just "no school." I don't sleep any later, but I find time to sit down and sew, etc. The girls have lots of time to relax, watch some movies, and play outside.

7. Time to implement changes. I have realized that Little Bit's growing list of sight words taped to the wall is not working. I have them written on index cards and taped to our mirrored closet doors. But, the list is so long that she can't reach the tops ones! So, I decided I need to make a word wall with the cards put up in alphabetical order. I'll have time to do that next week.
Also, their binders we keep work in are a mess and need to be organized. And I need to write descriptors in Little Bit's timeline for Mystery of History. Little things that get overlooked and I get behind on during the regular days...I have time for these on our week off. And so we start back feeling all caught up and clean and shiny.

I am sure I'll think of more later, but suffice it to say: I LOVE our new schedule.

Brenda, a former school teacher, is now a stay at homeschooling mom to two beautiful daughters. You can find her humorous and encouraging writings over at
The Family Revised.

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Homeschooling: Discipleship

2010-11-03T09:53:00.000-07:00

This post is by my dear friend, Rhonda Devine, of Walking With Sarah and fellow Raising Homemaker. She is a veteran homeschooler of 22 years and shares her wise advice and experience with us:

We began home educating about 22 years ago. Many times through the years we've been asked why we home school our children. Though there are many reasons we chose to home school, there is one that stands far above the rest: Discipleship of our children.

Homeschooling is nothing new, it began with the Israelites when God commanded them to walk through life with their children, teaching them when they woke up, when they walked by the way, when they lied down at night. They were to be available when their children asked, "Daddy, why do we do this?" "Mommy, why are those stones in the sea?" The call that began in Deuteronomy 6 continues with Ephesians 5 where Paul admonished fathers to not exasperate their children, but rather to train them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

When this country was founded, most families worshipped, worked, and ate together. It was normal for parents to be the primary caregivers and teachers of their children. It was not thought odd or abnormal, as it is today, for children to be educated at home or in the company of their parents in daily activities.

I could not begin to list all the benefits we have reaped due to homeschooling. We, as parents, have grown in knowledge, discipline, and wisdom as we've dug in the Word and other great books. We've benefitted from working as a team. We've enjoyed countless field trips, traveling to great places to learn. We've read hundreds of classics together. We've missed very little monumental steps in our children's development. We've seen them increase their learning capacities and excel in academics.

All these are wonderful beneifts, BUT none of them are good enough reasons to continue homeschooling. We home school because we believe in order to fulfill Psalm 1, our children must be educated in a Christian worldview. We do not believe we can produce disciples of Jesus Christ any other way. And nothing else I can think of will motivate you everyday to stick with it.

There are days you'll want to quit and you don't feel adequate to get the job done. There will be times you feel so much peer pressure to just be "normal" and get with the program. There'll be days your kids will drive you nuts! That is the real world of home education. And on those days, the only thing that will keep you at it is the end goal of producing a disciple that loves Jesus. You can't have a higher goal than that!

Yes, God has to do the work in their hearts, yes you cry out to the Lord that they will come to Him, but as parents, we have a part to play if we are to be obedient to the scriptures. Both are important, it's not one without the other.

Homeschooling is not the answer, it is only a means to an end. It is a vehicle on the road to discipleship. It is not the only vehicle to get you there, but one that has blessed our family tremendously. After 22 years, we can honestly say we would do it all over again. I have no regrets for choosing this path. It's not the easy path, but the blessings and the results are worth far more than any sacrifice it has called for. Oh, that we as parents would see past the hard work and ease in our day for the sake of the next generation!

Homeschooling Is a Cup of Tea

2010-11-02T05:39:00.000-07:00

Now you know that I love tea.

Not only that but my children will even tell you that I drink my morning coffee from my favorite teacup before I begin school!

That is why I am so excited to share this beautiful shop that I have found with you called Cozy Tea Treasures...take a peek...you are going to LOVE this:

I am having a giveaway of these beautiful cozies over at our sister site:

A Wise Woman Builds Her Home

Hope to see you there!

Beautifully Feminine Lilla Rose Giveaway!

2010-11-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love Lilla Rose for their beautiful and feminine hair jewelry. All you need to do is take a look at the pictures below to know that company absolutely sells charming products great for the homeschooling mom with beauty in mind:

But don't believe me--many of you have already bought from Lilla Rose so I will let you hear directly from their happy customers. Here are some Wise Woman readers who have rave reviews about Lilla Rose:

"It arrived yesterday and I am wearing it today...I love it! No pulling like my old hair clip (or claw should I say) and so easy to use. I had many headaches in the summer from wearing my hair up with a clip..:( I can't even feel the flexi at all and it makes a simple style look so elegant. :) I'm never going back to the old plastic clips again!" -Ellen

(pictured above is their small size Flexi-Clip, they also have larger sizes)

"Thank *you* so much for providing these *adorable* hair pieces! To be honest, I was really skeptical about them really staying in and holding my hair tight and all...they have definitely exceeded my expectations! We bought the small one for my (almost) four year old sister and she just loves it! And not just the flexipieces, but the freestyle headband is amazing! It's like my head is shaped strangely or something because I have never been able to wear these types of bands, just ones that look like they are...they always just slipped off...but this one stays in so nicely and I can even tighten it once it's on my head! (Not to mention the beads are adorable and just go with any outfit I'm wearing!)

So, yes! We love, love, love your products and will keep spreading the word!"
-Kaitlin

"Thank you! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the hair clip I ordered and plan to come back for Christmas gifts. It is the prettiest, most practical hair piece I have ever purchased.

I'm so happy I found you!"

-Natalie

And if that is not enough to convince you--take a look at this:

Aren't they oh-so pretty? They also sell fabulous orings, hairsticks, eyeglass lanyards, badge holders, headbands and earrings and necklaces to match:

I am also excited to announce that Lilla Rose is once again generously giving away to one of my readers a Flexi-Clip or any other item up to $15 of their choice!

All you have to do is leave a comment at A Wise Woman Builds Her Home at this link with your email address (if you don't have a blog.) It's so simple! DO NOT LEAVE YOUR ENTRY HERE!

Hope you win!

Thank you Lilla Rose!

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Exciting Patriot's Club Almanac Giveaway!

2010-10-12T10:38:00.000-07:00

"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ." -Patrick Henry

Here at A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, we strongly believe it is essential to raise up a new generation for the Lord in order to ensure multi-generational faithfulness from our progeny. We know it is critically important to raise godly seed that will take their stand in the day of testing and in order to not make future mistakes we must be knowledgeable of the past.

That's why I would like to introduce a new and exciting way to learn history, using Patriot's Club!

Mothers, if your history curriculum is not working for you, if you just want to add some spice to your school day or just would like an exciting new way to learn history then the Patriot's Club is for you!

Patriot's Club's goal is "to help prevent the triumph of evil by helping parents raise a new generation of True American Patriots. A new generation of young American Patriots who will stand up for Truth, a new generation of young American Patriots who will stand up for Freedom, and a new generation of young American Patriots who will honor God in all they do and say."

Patriot's Club is a convenient program designed for your children (ages 8 and up) to learn about history, through a series of step-by-step cards they print out online. They move up in rank as recruit, private, private first class, corporal , sergeant, and all the way up to patriot, as they complete each card! Cards include such tasks as memory verses, memory quotes, core value lessons, history quizzes (crosswords, word searches, fill in the blank), survival skills points and more. And the best part is the affordable price---a one time membership fee of only $12!

This is a great program for all--homeschoolers, parents with busy schedules and grandparents who would like to sit down and spend quality time with their grandchildren and for those of us who need help in knowing just where to begin teaching history in an exciting and fun way.

They ALSO are now offering a free weekly history challenge with a new and different prize every week!

Now for the FUN--Patriot's Club is generously offering to one of my readers a brand new copy of American Patriot's Almanac: Daily Readings on America as pictured below:

All you need to do to win this fabulous book is leave a comment here with your email at our sister blog, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, so we can contact you if you are the winner---IT'S THAT SIMPLE!

See you over there!

Hope you win!

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Encouragement From An Ex-Public School Teacher

2010-10-11T12:01:00.000-07:00

"I taught in a public school for two decades before coming home to teach my own children (God blessed me with children a little late by my estimation, but I'm pretty sure it was perfect timing in His). I NEVER, ever finished a textbook in a year.

To do so...to get all that information crammed into their little heads in a shallow way...would have meant never exploring ANY subject in depth and NEVER doing any hands-on activities or reading ANY related literature. I prefer depth of understanding over a buffet of memorized facts.

Don't stress if you cannot finish in a year.

Get your math and spelling in every day. Make sure you read and write every week (daily reading for little ones). And explore science and social studies as they unfold.

And if you don't finish...know that you did just fine."

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Thank you, dear reader, for sharing these words with us!

-Are you encouraged here? Then subscribe and get free email updates and never miss a post!

Being Michelangelo

2010-10-05T15:32:00.000-07:00

Today I would like to welcome Brenda from The Family Revised, who had posted an excellent idea from her curriculum earlier this week. I asked if she would share with it with us and here it is:

We are learning about many artists of the Renaissance in History lately.

Today I let the kids paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Or, you know, the underneath of the school table.

I love this one.

See the tubs of clothes to be tried on this weekend? And the vacuum cleaner. Real life baby.

Sweetheart chose to paint Jesus' baptism. The Holy Spirit descending like a dove looked just a bit like a chicken. She laughed.

Little Bit chose to paint Pharaoh watching the Nile River turn to blood. I was pretty impressed as all I said was they "had to paint something from the Bible like Michelangelo did."

Now they are trying engraving and sculpture with homemade play dough.

I'm trying laundry but that doesn't have anything to do with art.

**Our history curriculum has this and many other ideas in it!**

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Where to Get Great Homeschool Resources

2010-10-03T18:29:00.000-07:00

Vision Forum is one of my favorite sources for homeschool products:

They are currently running an online write course featured by Mrs. Becky Morecraft:

That you can join at anytime and still get the past courses on downloaded.

And they have books that children will just love:

Click any of the above banners to take you into their catalog--I am now an affiliate for them and I highly, HIGHLY recommend them!

Mom Says Homeschooling is a Blessing...

2010-09-28T09:43:00.000-07:00

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Homeschool Year

2010-09-27T19:30:00.000-07:00

This calender accurately depicts how a homeschooling mom feels on a month-by-month basis.

Wouldn't you agree?

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Five days a Week

2010-09-25T17:04:00.000-07:00

"Too many parents who would never send their children to a church on Sunday

that taught doctrines they believed to be wrong,

have had no problem placing them in state schools five days a week

where they are taught conflicting doctrines and ideas."

- Cal Thomas

Industrious, Homeschooled Daughters--Meet Olde Angora

2010-09-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

I love hearing about how women are being industrious in their homes by helping to make money to help their families like we see modeled by the Proverbs 31 woman. I especially love when I get to hear stories of daughters who use the talents and gifts that God has given them to bless others with an entrepreneurial focus, I find it truly so inspiring!

I would like to introduce you to Olde Angora. Olde Angora is an Etsy shop started by a godly, homeschooled daughter who loves to knit and crochet, and now she has started a shop to sell her wares. It reminds me of this verse in Proverbs 31:24--

"She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes."

Miss Miriam, owner of the shop and homeschool graduate, has a nice variety of quality hand-knitted items--she sells shawls, baby blankets, mini-quilts, hand crocheted bookmarks, scarves, slippers, hand spun yarn and headbands at very affordable prices. Many are hand-cleaned, hand-carded and hand-spun. Here are a few pictures:

(Cute scarves, as pictured above, that can also be worn as a headband-$11)

(Lovely baby blanket-$10)

Any one of these items would also make a wonderful gift for a birthday, Christmas or just because!

Stop by and visit Olde Angora today!

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This Is an Outrage...

2010-09-20T06:03:00.000-07:00

Public-schooled children are taken to a mosque for a field trip and taught how to pray to Allah:

Valuable Homeschool Tip

2010-09-17T05:56:00.000-07:00

A tip that I like to share with mothers when I see them getting stressed or burned out is this:

Teachers in public schools do not cover every page in their books or have their students complete every single page.

We should NOT feel that we have to do every single problem,

workbook page

or suggested activity

that is recommended.

Do not let the public schools or your memory of them dictate what you do in your school!

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Then check out our advertising options here.

Proctecting Our Children By Staying On Our Knees

2010-09-01T05:20:00.000-07:00

This excellent article is by Jaime of Like A Bubbling Brook...enjoy!

A three-step strategy for raising our children and rescuing them from rampant sex and drug issues in today's school systems:

"Step one is to pull them from government schools that serve as hothouses for this kind of behavior and thinking.

Step two is to reduce lavish lifestyles so that parents work less and invest more time in their children, with one parent actually staying home to make the home a safe haven.

Step three is no television in the home. Television has become hostile to the things most parents want their children to believe and embrace. It is deadly to their moral development; it encourages disrespect for fathers and undermines those things that used to make families a strong, positive cultural force.

The government schools and the sex and entertainment industries aren't about to fix the problem. The responsibility to properly raise children belongs to parents. The state and various interest groups have no right to develop the moral fiber of a child and, in fact, they are speedily undermining that development."

-- An excerpt from a 2005 article written by a nationally syndicated columnist, Cal Thomas.

Mr. Thomas opens a very necessary dialogue here, doesn't he?

Remember, we cannot send our children to Caesar for their education and be surprised when they come back as Romans.

What are you doing to raise your children so that they bring glory to the Lord? What is the world doing? What does the Bible say we are to do? Search the Scriptures and see how He directs you.

There may be some wonderful teachers at your child's school (I know some amazing teachers and count it a blessing), but if the system is run by the government and there is no room for God, then that system is broken and in need of a divine healing.

Surely there will never be a consensus on this issue, but it is a conversation that desparately needs to be had among conservative Christian families. We cannot blindly continue sending our children to public schools as they are. We must do something drastic, something different, if we are to effectively disciple our children.

This is a time for training our children, discipling them, preparing them. They are not ready to face such extreme tactics of Satan at such a young age.... boot camp is not over, yet we send them out to battle, and they are being massacred right in front of our eyes. Don't believe me? Research finds that 88% of children raised in evangelical homes now leave the church by the age of 18.

I refuse to sit back and allow my children to be one of these statistics. My face is on the floor as I seek God's direction in every area of their growth and discipleship. People may laugh, we may be thought of as strange, we may even be ostracized, but God has given us children so that we would raise them to be godly (Malachi 2:15). We intend to do our absolute best.

Please pray with me that there is a greater burden for Christian, biblical education among our families, children, and churches.

I am on my knees. Will you join me?

Passionately Pursuing,

Charles Stanley on Public Education

2010-08-26T15:48:00.000-07:00

One of the most popular and respected pastor in America shares strong words on public education as he addresses Christians in his congregations and around the world.

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High School Teacher Asks Class To Plan Terror Attack

2010-08-26T15:37:00.000-07:00

Do you know what's being taught to your children?

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Using Government Curriculum at Home a Trojan Horse?

2010-08-20T19:56:00.000-07:00

Voddie Baucham, Kevin Swanson and Brian Ray speak out about using government curriculum at home...

For the record, I personally have never used government curriculum at home but know several who do. These godly men bring up some great points for discussion about a topic that I was concerned about.

MORE Homeschool Rooms

2010-08-11T05:10:00.001-07:00

Heart of the Matter is showcasing homeschool rooms this week, check it out to get inspiration, ideas and the creative juices flowing for a new and exciting school year!

This pretty one is from The Homeschool Journal.

Click below to view school rooms around America, and if you have a schoolroom post be sure to add it to share with the rest of us!

Not Back To School Blog Hop--School Rooms

If you'd like to receive free email updates of The Homeschool Corner, subscribe here.

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Indoctrination

2010-08-06T15:38:00.000-07:00

I found this over at Resolved to Be, thanks for sharing Robin!

IndoctriNation Trailer from IndoctriNation on Vimeo.

This will be out soon--let me know what you think of the trailer!

Planning the School Year

2010-08-03T06:06:00.000-07:00

As the year is about to begin and the planning stages has begun, I find myself asking some key questions of evaluation as I pray over curriculum choices and as a veteran homeschooler of 13 years teaching 6 out of 8 children. These questions are:

1. What does the Lord want me to teach them?

2. How would I like to have been taught in school?

3. What did I like in school/ what did I not like?

4. What will I look back and regret not doing?

5. What is the most effective way to teach the material at hand for this specific child?

6. Will my children want to homeschool their children as a result of their homeschool experiences?

7. Am I thinking out of 'the box' so that I can better suit our families needs?

8. What did the children like/did not like last year?

9. What would they like to do/see more of this year?

These are tough questions and require so much prayer, thought and time. The only way I can efficiently plan the school year is crying out to my Father in heaven. He see's what I don't, He is my Help, He is my ever faithful Guide.

My daughter, who is a senior this year, has her eye on some entrepreneurial goals. How exciting! We will tailor her senior year to these goals and throw in some fun for her such as mission trips (God-willing) and volunteer work (she loves people) and perhaps a college course. There is so much anticipation I have for her last year because I am looking forward to it being the best, where she will learn much.

My other daughter is having her history 'come alive' through living books. It is a pleasure to use great literature,bibliographies, and autobiographies from the library. Over the years, we have been moving away from some of our textbooks and adding in a plethora of unit studies, mini studies, alternative methods, etc. This year promises to be great fun.

For a season when I kept having baby after baby, traditional textbooks with a healthy supply of library books kept us afloat. Now I have more time to be able to add more fun in and move away from the traditional methods we had used in the past. This include more games, plays, arts and crafts, board games, experiments, science notebooks, journals, lapbooks, encyclopedia days, etc.

A few of my favorite all time picks are:

Teaching Textbooks--When you get to the higher maths, this is the way you want to go. I love their product because when I got to Algebra this is the curriculum that saved me. It teaches your students through CD-Roms AND gives them step-by-step instructions on every single problem in the book!!! I'm telling you, it is a homeschooling mom's dream come true! And the best part was that my daughter loved it and felt she learned alot with it! In my opinion, this curriculum (made by homeschoolers) beats Saxon hands down!

How to Read in 100 Easy Lessons--This is a very popular book in the homeschool community to teach your young children how to read. This book also gives step-by-step instructions (in fact, exactly what you say to your child) and each lesson takes about 15 minutes or so, depending on the child. I've used it with most of my children and they were all reading by around lesson 30 or so.

Story Starters-I just got this last year and just love it! Karen Andreola did a fantastic job of making a book that has the beginning of exciting stories in it with pictures and your child has to finish the story! Let me tell you why I think this is so ingenious--it forces them to use their imaginations and the stories are so good it really gets the creative juices flowing!!! I have not seen anything like this one in a while that appeals to both girls and boys. This one is a keeper and I highly recommend it! If you have children who want to learn how to write and like doing it, this is the answer.

I can't list everything here since I use an eclectic approach and have so many children, you would literally be here all day. Also, I do not feel that I have to use one curriculum from just one source, but I do like Abeka's books as a foundation have used them for quite some time. I don't use everything in the books but do what I feel the child needs to learn. I like the shiny, glossy pages full of color for science, etc. especially for younger grades.

Homeschool Tip: I like to reevaluate how we are doing every few months. If something is not working out for us I am not afraid to ditch it and start new. If you paid alot for your book(s) just remind yourself that you can always sell it on Ebay, homeschool book sale or trade with another mom. To me there is nothing worse than trudging out the year with curriculum that student and teacher just both don't care for!

Whatever the Lord shows you to do, be sure to follow His guiding hand !

Hope this helps with some of your planning!

Have a blessed school-planning week!

Back to School Blog Hop

2010-08-03T05:50:00.000-07:00

Heart of the Matter has taken over the Not Back to School Blog Hop, I enjoyed following it last year and found it to be a much of it to be a great source of information and motivation hearing what other mom's were doing to start out the year.

The above calendar shows what they do each week and you can link up too, if you'd like.

May your homeschool year be blessed by the Lord as you seek his guidance!

Homeschool Rooms of 2010

2010-07-31T20:02:00.001-07:00

Is August really around the corner? Did half the summer just go by in a blink of an eye? I've been having visions of homeschooling rooms dancing around in my mind. Here is what I see...

This one from Molding Minds is oh-so pretty and organized:

This set-up from DIY Ideas is great for conserving space:

Love this reading nook from Homeschooling in the Rose Garden

and her space saving idea above the organizers...

Imagine what your children could create on this chalk paint wall from These Are The Days:

The Homeschool Channel was a great source:

This 3 in 1 computer desk was made from clearance kitchen cabinets from Lowes on the lower part and plain lumber for the table. The chairs were from target $30 each.

I snuck this one in because I have always wanted to have learning centers for the children but wasn't to keen on the space that was required of them. Here is a brilliant solution as seen as on the above shelf (click to enlarge)---just put what you would like in your plastic bin for your history, science or listening center and pull it out when you need it. You could even use bins bigger than these if you like bigger displays. Just make a note to update them every few weeks if you want to change the theme or make them could be fresh and new.

This room is a preschoolers mom's dream! What is NOT here? See the table in the back by the easle? So cute!

This looked so comfy I just had to post it. Aren't these chairs just beckoning your name? Love how organized the books behind them look too. The only thing that is missing is a cup of hot tea!

And last but not least, here is a homey-feeling schoolroom. It is comfortable and inviting so opposite of that sterile, cold environment we grew up in!!

My homeschool room definitely is a far cry from any of these rooms right now--it has been empty, neglected and played in by preschoolers pretending to "do" school. I am viewing much of August as my time to makeover the room, purchase the remainder of their curriculum, research great teaching ideas, and loosely plan out all the learning and fun we will have this year.

Have you started your planning yet?

What new ideas/methods will you incorporate this year?

(Need more inspiration? Check out my showcase of homeschool rooms from 2009.)

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20/20 Exposes Public Schools

2010-07-19T13:53:00.000-07:00

I just watched this and found it rather eye opening--it is worth the time and actually found this encouraging as a homeschooler...

Kindergarten Sex Ed Refused By Parents

2010-07-19T13:30:00.000-07:00

This is pretty scary:

Read the article here.

The Five Day Program

2010-06-22T15:37:00.000-07:00

"Education is thus a most powerful ally of humanism, and every American school is a school of humanism. What can a theistic Sunday school's meeting for an hour once a week and teaching only a fraction of the children do to stem the tide of the five-day program of humanistic teaching?"

-- Charles F. Potter, "Humanism: A New Religion," 1930

The Battle for Minds

2010-06-15T05:51:00.000-07:00

The Nehemiah Institute's worldview PEERS test shows that 83% of the children from committed Christian families in public schools adopt a secular humanist or Marxist socialist worldview by the time they graduate. In addition, the SBC's 2002 annual meeting, the Southern Baptist Council on Family Life reported that 88% of... the children raised in evangelical homes who attend public school, leave church at age 18.

A Former Public School Teacher Speaks

2010-06-15T05:50:00.000-07:00

A former public school teacher commented on 'The Battle for Minds' post:

"I'm a former public school teacher, and I can tell you firsthand that those statistics are dead on. The Christian children are usually not "beacons of light" for the others. They usually end up conforming to their peers, to the utter exasperation of their parents. I can think of only a few examples of Christian kids not caving to peer pressure in all of the 5th through 8th graders that I have taught. I will be home-schooling my daughter and any other children the Lord blesses us with. Going to a Christian high school might be a possibility depending on the circumstances, but she and any other children I have will never see the inside of a public school classroom unless it's on the news or something. I don't care what sacrifices I have to make to make that happen."

This is not the first time I have heard this from a public school teacher either. In fact, I know some personally and it is true--they homeschool because they witness all the horror stories we only get to read about in the paper!

Bulletproof Backpack

2010-06-15T05:41:00.000-07:00

How much is your child's safety worth?

Instructions: Hold pack between yourself and the shooter using the shoulder straps as handles. Use as a shield to provide cover for upper torso and head whenever possible. While taking shelter use pack to protect yourself in the direction of the threat. While running away, hold pack high on your back or in the direction of the threat to protect your head and upper torso (vital organs).

--The Bullet Blocker Website

This scared me when I saw this. I was in shock and disbelief.

But I know this is a reality for so many parents.

And it just made me sad.

State Institutions

2010-06-15T05:36:00.000-07:00

"The education of all children,

from the moment that they can get along without a mother's care,

shall be in state institutions

at state expense."

-- Karl Marx,

author of The Communist Manifesto

The Socialization Theory

2010-06-15T05:19:00.000-07:00

"I have seen kids dismantle one another,

while parents and teachers stood passively by and observed the 'socialization' process.

I've seen the socialization theory in action,

and it doesn't hold much water."

- Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family

Arrows Not Trained by Christians

2010-06-14T06:53:00.000-07:00

"You don't give your arrows to the enemy.

And if you do,

you are surprised when they come back

and they are

against you."

--gleaned from Voddie Baucham this weekend at the ICHE homeschool conference.

Excellent!

Prom Queen and... Queen?

2010-06-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

I think a huge misunderstanding is that many people think that most Christians hate homosexuals, when in fact they are praying for them to turn away from their sinful lifestyles. They are trying to pray them into the kingdom. They hate the SIN but not the sinner--because they are sinners themselves in need of a Savior
--Jesus Christ.

Homosexuality is a huge problem in schools today...and should not be advocated. Recently a "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer" prom was held and applaused at a Hamilton high school...

Rainbow Prom a First for Hamilton School

An Abortion During School Hours

2010-03-25T06:42:00.001-07:00

This is unbelievably true story about a girl from Seattle, Washington who was allowed to have an abortion during school hours without her mother knowing has outraged many:

Mother Furious After In School Clinic Sets Up Teen Abortion

Read Spunky Homeschoolers thoughts on the story here:

Abortion During School Hours?

It is a terribly horrific thing when the public schools can step in without the full consent or awareness of the parent and assist a mere child in killing an unborn life.

Where are the lines being drawn?

Do our children belong to the state or to us?

Would you be okay with this?

Christian Mother Blog Button

2010-03-13T07:28:00.000-08:00

Last year I did a series called 'The Christian Mother Series' and many women were very blessed by what they learned and used them in Bible studies at churches and printed them out for their own private study.

Alas, I have finally created a blog button for this special series for my readers to put on their blog or website to share with other mothers and daughters as well. This will also fit nicely on your sidebar.

Just copy and paste the code below:

Once you copy and paste this onto your site, you can view the posts in order by scrolling all the way down and click 'older posts' and then going up.

I will also add this to my sidebar for you to copy there as well.

And if you haven't read the series yet, I highly encourage you to.

You will be challenged and inspired!

Just click on the picture above and *remember* to scroll all the way down to read the first post and work your way up.

Have a blessed day building up your sacred homes!

Reformation Unit Study

2009-10-09T21:35:00.000-07:00

I like to plan Unit studies into our school year and our first one this year was on the Reformation! We had loads of fun and learned alot. Here are some things we did:

1. We went on a heretic...er, book hunt at our library and found as many books and videos as we could on the subject.

2.We colored pictures, solved crosswords and wordsearches.

3. We researched and printed up valuable information online.

4. We watched an insightful PBS special that narrated the life of Martin Luther.

5. We had spelling and vocabulary words that included words like indulgences, Protestantism, martyr, recant

6. We learned the Five Sola's of the Reformation, what the Diet of Worms were (my children just loved this) and what a papal bull was.

7. We used timelines to do math.

8. We had a creative writing assignment on what the Reformation was about, what they liked about it and how they would change the world in the spirit of 'Semper Reformanda' which in Latin means 'always reforming' the cry of the Reformers.

9. We chose who we wanted to be for a Reformation celebration we are attending.

10. We created lapbooks. This involved all the cutting, gluing, taping, tracing, handwriting practice, art and creativity that we could muster.

Here are some of our pictures:

This was the cover for most of the lapbooks.

When you open them they had extra pages that could fold out

Coloring map of Europe

The Cry of the Reformers: Hidden inside this square is----Semper Reformanda!

Mini books made about Martin Luther's life

Facts about Katharina Von Bora Luther in a circle that folds open

We pasted 'A Mighty Fortress is Our God' inside this fold out, we sang the song and had it playing while working on these books

Here are the Five Sola's

Look inside for the indulgences

We printed indulgences off the internet and stuck them in this envelope

All of this studying led us to desiring to celebrate this wonderful event in history as a tradition in our home annually as a Reformation Celebration. Click here to read about how we are going to celebrate. We will be spending the rest of our week preparing our costumes for a Reformation Faire, and we have all already handpicked a reformer that we will be dressing up as.

Our next unit study will be in November on Pilgrims and Explorers.

Happy learning!

Spiritual Warfare In Schools

2009-09-15T08:12:00.000-07:00

"Many Christian parents are concerned that homeschooling would not allow their children to fulfill the great commission of sharing the gospel with non-believers. They often cite Matthew 5:14-16 about being the light of the world.

Some Christian homeschool parents argue that even though young believers are to reach out to the lost, they are not called to immerse themselves daily in a hostile setting that constantly works to influence them in the ways of the world. They recognize that those with strong Christian upbringings are still vulnerable to the ungodly climate of the schools.

In Proverbs 4:11-15, King Solomon realized the vulnerability of his son, proclaiming his responsibility to train him in godly teachings and keep him from stumbling over the vices of this world.

Just as parents know that children are not prepared for war, many Christians believe that youth are not equipped to fend for themselves in the spiritual warfare taking place within schools.

A nationwide survey conducted by The Barna Group shows that 80 percent of Christian families send their children to public schools where their faith is attacked. Based on the study's findings, it appears that their kids are the ones being "evangelized" by the religion of secular humanism. More than half of their Christian teens believe Jesus actually sinned and only nine percent hold to moral absolutes, while 83 percent of children from committed Christian families attending public schools adopt a Marxist-Socialist worldview, reports the group.

For more statistics on Christians in education, click on The Barna Group.

Consistent with these figures, Christian producer and occult expert Caryl Matrisciana reports that 75 percent of public-schooled American youth brought up in Christian households disown their Christian faith by the first year of college. NHERI finds that this is only true for less than four percent of homeschooled youth.

Most home educators would not trade the blessings that homeschooling brings their families and society for the world."

Read the whole article here.

If adults have a hard time holding their own and staying true to what they believe in the face of adversity...how much harder is it for our children who have not yet had a firm foundation built for them? I think, for the majority, the statistic above is clearly our evidence...

they CAN'T.

My Favorite Homeschool Website

2009-09-15T07:53:00.000-07:00

I am pretty picky when it comes to websites that I will visit since I am a mom to 8 and time is of the essence! There is one website that I have found myself drawn to over and over again for the great pictures (I'm a very visual person) and valuable information and that is:

Heart of the Matter Online

It is written by several homeschool moms and full of practical help---that even I find useful as a veteran homeschooler. I am enjoying especially Amy Bayliss, one of the contributing writers--here are a few of her practical articles:

15 Homemade Math Manipulatives

Creative Homeschooling: Mini Offices

Creative Homeschooling: Lapbooking/Notebooking

Are You A 'Real Homeschool' Mom? (all homeschool moms can appreciate the honesty in this article!)

What homeschool website do you visit to find encouragement?

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The Case For Christian Education

2009-09-15T05:14:00.000-07:00

I am convinced that Christians desperately need to reevaluate their choices of educating their children. Here are a few reasons why:

This article is a must read--

Five Reasons Not to Send Your Children to Government Schools

I was shocked (but then not really) to see what is going on in some American public schools today:

We Are Going To Rape You -----*do not read this unless you are 18 or older*

Student Suspended For Exposing Classroom Chaos

Teacher Molesting Student

Children Banned from Saying Pledge of Allegiance to Not Offend Muslims

I did a little research on the educators who are in charge of public educating the children and it only got me upset:

Chicago Public Schools Give Their Students 'Birthday Sex' ---*do not read this unless 18 or older*

Govt. Education and the Deliberate Dumbing Down of America

Is homeschooling a viable option?:

Homeschoolers Score 34-39 Percentile Higher Than Norm on Standardized Tests

Homeschoolers Score High on ACT

Homeschoolers Rank in 83 Percentile in All Subjects

Homeschool Socialization Resembles Real World/Combating Being a Light In Schools

Homeschoolers Accepted At Ivy League Schools

Homeschool Hall of Fame (do you recognize these famous people?)

John Wesley on education:

" Let it be remembered, that I do not speak to the wild, giddy, thoughtless world, but to those that fear God. I ask, then, for what end do you send you children to school? “Why, that they may be fit to live in the world.” In which world do you mean, — this or the next? Perhaps you thought of this world only; and had forgot that there is a world to come; yea, and one that will last for ever! Pray take this into your account, and send them to such masters as will keep it always before their eyes. Otherwise, to send them to school (permit me to speak plainly) is little better than sending them to the devil. At all events, then, send your boys, if you have any concern for their souls, not to any of the large public schools, (for they are nurseries of all manner of wickedness,) but private school, kept by some pious man, who endeavours to instruct a small number of children in religion and learning together."

John Wesley actually thought this back then...
I wonder what he would say today?

And as if there weren't enough links here already, I thought I would add this last one in. While I don't agree with everything in this following article, it certainly left some powerfully interesting food for thought:

The Christian Education Manifesto

(Note: Pull up a chair and pour a cup of tea while you skim through these links. You are also welcome to use these posts on homeschooling to link to on your blogs or on Facebook to help others gain a better understanding of Christian homeschooling/education as long as used in a favorable light.)

Choosing A Christian Education

2009-09-14T08:17:00.000-07:00

I believe it is vital to give our children a Christian education---not only is it superior to public education in teaching wisdom, character and the Word of God, as commanded in scripture, but it also avoids the godless teaching that is rampantly and unashamedly taught in American schoolrooms today .

I believe you can go through life having attained much knowledge but will not get very far if you have not attained the wisdom that comes from God's Word. Pastor Voddie Baucham has always been a staunch supporter powerfully defending Christian education, as many of you know if you have watched these videos in the past:

Public schools reject God's wisdom. They oppose God's word by teaching Darwinism, humanism, atheism and secularism.

There is not neutral ground.

If we are commanded to teach our children about the Word of God so that they will not forget Him, and we take this command seriously--why do we put our children under teachers who will mentor and disciple them for 14,000 seat hours and teach the exact opposite of God's Word?