Thankful Thursday ~ Thankful for the Valley

Last month, I  mentioned that I was struggling and couldn't figure out why. I am still struggling, but I believe the answer was revealed to me today. 

Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords indeed! He is the Savior of the world; the Lamb Who was slain for our sins. So why on earth am I struggling so bad?

I have asked the Lord repeatedly to humble me, to crucify this pride that is so monstrously HUGE within me. I hate this arrogance terribly. I am grieved every time I realize that I have let conceit and selfishness take control.... again. 

So I have come to a place that I am just ready to be rid of it entirely. My prayer has been for the Lord to lay me low and grow me in faith, love and grace. 

John Newton's song, I asked the Lord That I Might Grow, describes perfectly what has been going on in my life lately: 

I asked the Lord that I might grow

In faith and love and every grace

Might more of His salvation know

And seek more earnestly His face

I hoped that in some favored hour

At once He'd answer my request

And by His love's constraining power

Subdue my sins and give me rest

Instead of this He made me feel

The hidden evils of my heart

And let the angry powers of hell

Assault my soul in every part.

Yes, He is answering my prayer, but not in an easy way. He is taking me through the valley and emptying me so He can fill me. The trouble is, my flesh if fighting HARD; so powerfully.  The only thing I can do is to pray, asking the Lord to help me surrender, and then surrender indeed. 

Grueling, exhausting and severe as this is, I am thankful for this valley. 

Missionary Stories: He Wasn't Crazy

We are reading through the Millers Series for our read alouds this year, as I have previously mentioned.  One of the things I like about this book is that the kids are getting a small taste of some ways God moves and shows His power around the world. Some are stories of how God has protected his missionaries while others talk about how some missionaries have given their lives for Jesus' name sake. I have not read all the stories yet, but I have not found one that was too graphic for my elementary aged children, 2nd and 4th grade, but that is my own opinion.

I need to let you know that I am not being paid or rewarded by the author nor the publisher of the book in sharing this with you. I simply want to share how awesome God is in the lives of real people and encourage everyone to put their trust in Him. 

So today I wanted to share one of my favorite stories from this book.

Ludlow Walker

     Ludlow Walker was a wealthy man who lived in Hattieville, Belize in 1980. He was obsessed with making more and more money. Someday he believed he would be one of the world's richest men! But one day, Ludlow realized that money wasn't bringing him happiness, only greed and fear. In his torment and disappointment, he reached for his father's old Bible, where he found the answer.
     He was the owner of a local motel and bar. One day, he was reading that Bible behind the bar while his customers looked on in uneasiness and disbelief. "That's a Bible!" muttered someone. "He's crazy, for true!"
     The crowd offered him a cigarette, begged him to turn on some dance music and even offered him to take a drink of liquor. "Here, man," said a customer dressed in an expensive suit. "Drink this quickly; you need it worse than I do!"
     Ludlow Walker raised his head and looked full in the face of his friend. "No," he spoke deliberatley. "I won't drink that. I will never drink liquor again."
     "Crazy," someone muttered. "What's going on? Let's get out of here!" He headed for the door and one by one the other drinkers followed him.
     Alone at the bar, Ludlow prayed. Lord, help me! I want Your power to change me! I've had enough of sin and darkness. He sought out a couple of missionaries to talk to and they led him to the pastor of the church, Brother Gilbert Stevens, who explained more to Ludlow about the way of salvation. His life was never the same after that. How the Christians rejoiced as they spoke with this new brother in the Lord!
     Ludlow's motel and bar was famous throughout the country. His friends and customers were disappointed and angry about this change in his life. Many people laughed and mocked at Ludlow. "He won't last long," they scoffed. "He loves money too much. He can't give up that nice business. Surely not!"
     One afternoon a rowdy group of men came and demanded rooms in the motel. They were drunken and dangerous and their leader began to threaten Ludlow. "I'm going to get you if you don't give up your crazy idea of being a Christian and closing this place!"
     Ludlow shuddered, This was serious! "Lord," he prayed. "I'm scared. Help me! Show me some sign that you are with me."
     The evening sky had been perfectly clear before Ludlow prayed, but suddenly it was full of black clouds. Thunder boomed and lightening struck down close by.
     The hostile man was astonished and frightened. "You did that, man!" he gasped, looking at Ludlow with eyes full of superstitious fear. "I saw you pray!" Picking up his liquor bottle, he backed away.
     Ludlow laughed triumphantly. "No, I didn't do it," he replied. "God did!" Crack! Lightning struck again and huge drops of rain began to fall. The angry man suddenly seemed quite sober. Turning away, he ran to his room and slammed the door. He and his friends switched off their lights and huddled fearfully in the darkness together.
     Ludlow knelt alone and gave thanks to God. At once, the rain and thunder stopped! All the black clouds slipped away, revealing a fresh, beautiful moonlit sky. Rejoicing at the way God had protected him, Ludlow went home to his bed.
     The next day, Ludlow asked the Lord what he should do with all of the property and everything he owned. He didn't want to keep it nor did he want to sell or give it away; it would cause other people to sin. Even before he was done praying, he knew what to do.
     He began to dump all the expensive liquor out. As hundreds of dollars worth of expensive liquors  gurgled out onto the ground, a crowd of curious people gathered to watch. "What is he doing?" "He's crazy!" they muttered. Ludlow Walker laughed happily. "We are getting rid of the devil's poison," he explained to everyone. "It will kill the weeds, so what do you think it does to the folks that drink it?"
     A few days later, the people came back to stare again at the strange sight of Ludlow and some workmen tearing down the whole building, brick by brick, board by board, piece by piece! "We will sell it all for scrap," the owner said with a satisfied smile. "Poor folks may use the pieces to build houses, but no one will ever drink liquor here again."
     A few years later, the villagers learned that Ludlow Walker was now a minister. "We all said he was crazy," said one man, "but I guess God changed him." Wistfully he added, "Wouldn't you sort of like to have what he has?"
     Today (as of 1993 anyway), Ludlow Walker is the pastor of a church in Southern Florida. He also runs a mission called "Ship Watch" in the great seaport of Miami, where merchant ships come from all over the world. Brother Ludlow and groups of volunteers preach, sing, witness and give away Bibles and tracts in many languages to the sailors.


Note: Some parts of this are directly taken from the story in the book and some parts are summarized. 

Virtual Homeschool Co-Op #2: Handling Negative Comments

The second assignment in the VHC is to share how we handle negative comments or questions about homeschooling. 

The questions are:

• Who are the naysayers in your life?
• What are the comments that you get told or asked?
• How do you handle all of these comments and questions?

In our 5 or 6 years of homeschooling, I can't say that I have encountered very much negativity towards homeschooling. My family has been pretty supportive as well as my in-laws. If any of those people have any negative thoughts or ideas, they've never expressed them to us. 

I have had various people ask us questions about homeschooling, like, why do we homeschool, how long do we plan to homeschool, how do I teach this or that, etc.... When I have encountered these curiosities, I never detected any animosity towards our decision to homeschool. If anyone was asking questions out of deviousness, I never picked up on it, which may be a good thing b/c I may have handled the inquiries differently. 

I am glad that I haven't had to deal with negativity because I am terribly hard on myself in the first place. When I hear that homeschoolers are generally smarter than the rest, I doubt that my own kids are smarter than anyone, but that's not really my goal anyway. 

I plan to check out what other VHC members have to say on this topic, because I'm sure I will experience negativity as some point. 

Hey, my fellow homeschool friends! Check out the Virtual Homeschool Co-op. I bet you'll find ideas and encouragement.  :-D

Virtual Homeschool Co-Op: Introduction

An introduction is the next VHC assignment. It's mainly to introduce myself to the VHC community, but just in case you don't know who I am......

*WINK*

Introduce yourself: Tell where you are, Who you homeschool and How long you've been homeschooling:

My given name is Cynthia Renee', but everyone calls me Cyndi. Cynthia is only for formalities. My husband and I moved from my hometown to a small city in the same state and I was planning to go by my middle name. That didn't work out as I kept forgetting to put Renee' on everything. I guess I'm sticking to Cyndi.  :-P

I am a city girl from the "Heart of America" (Missouri.), but I was transferred to the South several years ago; Mississippi to be exact. This is definitely not my kind of place to live, especially with all this horrid humidity. Nonetheless, God is good!   :-)

I am homeschooling my 2 little lovelies: Adelle (aka Sugar Bear), 4th grade,  and Jonathan (aka Little Man), 2nd grade. Last year, I was helping a friend from church and homeschooled her grandson for K5. I also had my neighbor's 2-yr old tot for a couple of hours a day. Several years before that, I was babysitting my best friend's little boy and he got the benefits of homeschool while I gave Adelle her lessons. I am glad to say that this year, I am teaching only my 2. Whew!  

If you count K4, we are in our 6th year of homeschooling. I don't really count that very first year, b/c I mean, come on, that was a bunch of play and crafts and so much fun! Yes, learning happened in all of that, but I was not very intentional at all about it. Adelle's K5 year is when we actually "hit the books". 

Mission statement

I really never developed a mission statement. I know, 5 years in and I don't have a mission statement? I know why I'm homeschooling, which we will go into detail on that in a different post, but really, the bottom line is that the Lord of hosts led me here. I fought Him for 2 years on it before I said "yes".  Maybe I should develop a mission statement and jot down our goals, that way I can go back to it and remind myself why I'm doing this when I have those days where I want to pull my hair out and holler, "Why am I doing this?!?"

Yes, holler.

Let's just be honest... and my kids have seen me break down. It's not pretty. Hopefully (and prayerfully), the Lord is opening their eyes to see that Mama needs Jesus too and He helps her along the way.

What's your teaching approach?

I lean very much to the Charlotte Mason method of teaching, but my traditional side needs structure and some work sheets. I do love living books though.

We started out with a "box curriculum" for Adelle's kindergarten year, switched "boxes" for 1st grade, went back to "box A" for 2nd grade, complete with tears all year long. We're NOT going to go through that again so I decided to pick and choose from various "boxes" this year.

Poor Adelle... having to deal while this Mama was trying to figure all this out and Jonathan was just along for the ride!  LOL

You can read about our curriculum choices here. 

How has social media helped you (youtube, blogs, etc....)?
If you know me, you've heard me joke on several occasions about how YouTube is my best friend. There are a few homeschool families I peek at consistently, Just Sew Trish being one of them.

*Hey Trish!*

It's very encouraging to see that other homeschool families go through similar situations and even better to see how those situations are handled... and not only on youtube. I enjoy reading other people's blogs too.

I love to get ideas on how to organize everything, from books and toys to even how to organize one's time. I have really enjoyed learning how Andrea Mills organizes everything in her normal size house with a large family living in it.

And don't think for one second that I'm sitting on youtube looking only at homeschool videos. When I need to figure out how to do something, youtube is my go-to for help and instruction. I have learned many new skills watching youtube videos.

Now, I'm not sitting on the computer all day looking at videos and reading blogs. I do have children to raise and a house to run, but I have had to completely ban being on FaceBook or any of those types of social media, b/c then I am on the computer all day and everything else is neglected.

What are you excited about getting from the VHC this year?
I guess I hadn't really thought too much about that part. Like I mentioned above, I do enjoy getting ideas and being encouraged by other people being open and honest about life. So, I guess I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone in this community is doing.

And as I share and try to be as real as possible here, I hope and pray that I can be an encouragement to those who would read this little open journal of mine.


The purpose for the Virtual Homeschool Co-op is to collaborate with other homeschool families to broaden the body of community of knowledge. Learn more at http://virtualhomeschoolcoop.com.

Virtual Homeschool Co-Op #1 - Structured or Relaxed?

I mentioned the Virtual Homeschool Co-op in this blog back in June, which was the last assignment for last school year. This video series has started up again for this school year and I am going to try participate in each assignment. 

The purpose for this virtual co-op is to "collaborate with other homeschool families to broaden the body of community of knowledge", as Just Sew Trish on Youtube put it. :-)

So the first assignment is to answer this: Are you structured or relaxed? In your curriculum, your space and your time. Where would you put yourself on a scale of 0-10, 0 is relaxed, 10 is structured. How does this work in your home and why does it work for you. 

That is a mouthful of a question! 

I have been thinking about how to answer this question as I paid closer attention to how we roll over here.  

1. Curriculum - 8

When it comes to curriculum, I like to have everything planned out with the supplies organized and ready. Having a plan in place is my sanity. If I don't have written down what we need to do every day, then I am all over the place and forgetful of what needs to happen each day. The curriculum itself is a bit on the structured side as well, but we don't have tons of worksheets. I do like to try to keep the worksheets and hands-on activities balanced, that way we're getting the best of both worlds.  :-)   

2. Space - 6

The space where we do the brunt of our learning is in the dining room. This is the one and only area of our house that is the most organized and tidy, except for the little ledge. I simply cannot have or give my kids a stress-free and complete school day unless our books and supplies are in their places. Now, that's not to say that we always put away everything we pull out after each subject, but we certainly get it all back in its place before we have lunch and then again at the end of the school day. Having the space organized and tidy helps us know where to find our things and where to put back. Clean up is a breeze when our space is structured. Now, if I can apply that principle to the rest of the house....

*ah hem*

Moving right along. 

3. Time - 2

Ok, time is where I am a bit relaxed. I do have a routine that we try to stick to, but I am way more flexible with the time. I like for us to be up and ready to go by a certain time, but if the kids got to bed late the night before, or if I didn't sleep well, then I accommodate according to our needs. So some days we are up before 7am and others, not until after 7am (but usually by 8am at the very latest). 

I have heard about the whole not spending more than 15-20 minutes on a subject, but we are still working on behavioral issues here (which we really should be past that) but that fact will take us past 20 minutes. When we have written work to do after I teach a lesson I'll turn the timer on so we can go on to the next thing. 

After we complete a lesson, I let the kids take a 3-5 minute breather, taking a lap around the back yard or down the hall a few times. If I get a crazy hair to switch the laundry over or put away clean dishes, then of course, I'm letting us take a longer break. Some days I am wanting us to really work diligently on school and worry about the house work afterwards. Some days I'm just more relaxed about it.

Now, being so relaxed with the time certainly has its pros and cons. Being lax in this area gets us behind on our work, whether its the house or the school, then I get overwhelmed b/c of it. Then I throw up my hands b/c I think I don't have time to clean, or no time to blog, or no time to practice music, etc.... When really, if I was more structured in my time, then that wouldn't happen. 

So, overall, I rank 5.3 on the structured-relaxed scale. 

I knew I was right in the middle.  :-D

If you're interested, you can hop over to The Virtual Homeschool Co-op website to see how other homeschool families have answered this question. 

The Homeschool Mother's Journal ~ August 31, 2016

IN MY LIFE

I don't even know where to begin or what to say. I am finding myself in a big struggle, in a deep valley. I don't understand why I am struggling so badly because I know Who is King of kings. I know Who is in control.

I will learn from this and I will trust in Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the world, Redeemer and Lord. 

IN OUR HOMESCHOOL

This is our 4th week of school (16 days), easing ourselves back into the school routine. We started with review in language arts and math, having added handwriting, spelling and history. Adelle keeps asking when we're going to start science. The plan is to begin that next week.

I've also signed the kids up for a bi-weekly co-op that begins on Tuesday. They will be in a class called World Travel for the first hour and then go to PE for the second hour, after a fifteen minute snack break in between.

CHANGES THIS YEAR

Last year, I had a couple of extra children in our homeschool routine. I am very glad to report that Mr. K5 went on to first grade in public school and is doing very well. The Tiny Tot I had off and on last year is in head start and also doing well. I was also co-leading our small homeschool group last year, but am not this year. Most of that is because of the extracurricular activities Sugar Bear and Little Man are involved in this year.

Adelle is in Grace Notes Girl Choir again this year (formally known as Cantabile Girls Choir) as well as American Heritage Girls, in which she has moved up to the Explorers level. Both of those are on Monday evenings. Choir is every Monday and AHG is every other Monday, right after choir. Adelle is still taking piano lessons but with a new teacher. She is adjusting well and seems to be more motivated to practice.

Jonathan has dropped piano (via Mama's doing), but he still plays around on it. He has joined Mississippi Boychoir though, which meets on Tuesday evenings for rehearsal. He was so excited after his first practice that he ran to me, giving me a big hug and saying "Yes! Yes! Yes!" I believe this will be a goof fit. This is an opportunity for him to grow, not only in music, but also in character. He will learn how to be respectful, responsible and how to work with others outside of the dynamics of our home.

Um, I don't see where the concern of homeschool kids being "unsocialized" comes from.  *SHRUG*

WHAT'S WORKING/NOT WORKING

What's working is having a lesson plan set. I guess I knew this before, but this is the first year I've had to make my own lesson plans. I don't think I have quite enough hands-on activities, but I have the basics. As long as I have that, I can wing activities... I think. Having at least a plan always works for us. 

What's not working is not having get-the-chores-done plan. Over the summer I tried to have a chore/work chart check list thing and it just didn't work out. Right now I don't have anything and I'm having to assess the cleaning situation every day and just verbally give instructions. I really do think that having a plan in place and a visual for the kids will help us to keep the house running smoothly without getting so far behind. I am still trying to figure this part out, even in our 5th year of homeschooling. (Maybe I need to train myself??)

GOALS
I would like for the kids to memorize the books of the Bible so they can turn to the passages more quickly, especially while listening to sermons. So far they know Genesis to Esther.

We have also set the goal to read through the 4 gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) this school year. I have a cute little check list of how much to read each day. We'll read the short passage in our morning devotion time and have a little discussion about it.  We finished up Matthew chapter 5 yesterday and will begin chapter 6 tomorrow.

A QUOTE/PHOTO/VIDEO TO SHARE
Ok. I just recently logged back onto FB... not sure that was a smart thing to do, but my sister posted this there for my brother and myself. I busted out laughing... and I laugh every single time I see it.

I don't know much about the movie these little minion guys are from, but they always make me laugh!

Our 2016-17 Curriculum

Our 2016-17 school year is on it's way and I thought I'd share what curriculum we are using this year.

I did lots of research and praying before choosing what curriculum to use this school year and we are going in a different direction this time 'round. I did not purchase a box set as I have done in all our previous years of homeschooling. I selected different books for each subject from various curriculum companies, hopefully choosing what will best fit for us.

I'm so glad I am past the decision making and ordering part. Whew!

I need to mention that I lean towards the Charlotte Mason method of teaching. I am not capable to implement her concept entirely, but her theory greatly influences my teaching approach.

So here is what we're going to use for the 2016-2017 school year:

Bible

• A Sure Foundation - from Christian Liberty Press. The preface in the book explains perfectly why I choose this particular program: The primary goal of A Sure Foundation, is to enable young students to obtain a solid understanding of and appreciation for the essential teachings of the Holy Scriptures. For this reason, the entire focus of the study material contained in this book is centered upon the teachings of the Bible, rather than the opinions of men. Young people within the Christian community, more than ever before, need to be equipped with the whole armor of God's Word so they can stand firm in the faith.   Each unit in this Bible study text contains multiple readings directly from the Word of God that speak to the topic or theme that is being presented. The topic for each unit is driven by a series of questions that are taken largely from the Catechism for Young Children [originally written by Joseph P. Engels in 1840]. Yes, I need help in this area of teaching. I am learning myself to trust the Lord and know what His Word says for myself. I am going to be learning too! I am glad there are tools available out there that will help me to teach my children God's Word. 
• Hymn Study - We're going to learn a few hymns one by one. We'll take several weeks to read the words, sing the song and learn the background of the song. I don't have a particular book on this. I saw the idea on the Simply Charlotte Mason website and just learn on our own via internet or other resources. Our goal is to learn 5 hymns this school year. 

Language Arts

• Language Lessons for Today 2nd grade & 4th grade. Sugar Bear is in the end of the 3rd grade book since she didn't finish it last year. We stopped using it to try out Switched on Schoolhouse last January. 
• A Reason for Spelling Level B and C. We have concentrated on handwriting for Little Man the last couple of years, so this is the first year he will begin a spelling program. After researching and getting to actually look at the product now that I have it, I believe ARF approach will be fun for both children.
• A Reason for Handwriting Level B. I have taught both children to write in cursive from the very beginning. They have both found ways on their own to begin writing in manuscript and insist on doing so. Jonathan also has a difficult time writing in cursive. With those reasons, we are finishing up the cursive handwriting books from last year and then I'll begin to show them how to write in manuscript correctly using this book.  
• Copywork for Little Boys and Copywork for Little Girls. Copy work is for learning grammar. This is not a penmanship program. Children will learn the mechanics of the English language without having to worry about whether they have formed every letter to exact perfection. This sounds very simple and maybe even too lax, but I have seen the Charlotte Mason method in action and I believe this will work. I may to give you a little peek at the letter to parents in the front of these books to give you the full idea in another post. 
• Reading - I am just using some books we already have on hand. I think I got almost all these books from other homeschool moms in times past. Adelle will read through A Beka Book's 3rd grade readers, just to make sure she is reading fluently and A Beka tends to be a little bit ahead of the grade. Jonathan will read through Horizons 2nd grade readers. Depending on how far he gets, he'll start on the A Beka Book 2nd grade readers, which are more advanced. While we are using a different language program this year, I will still use A Beka's Handbook for Reading to help him further his reading skills, especially while finishing up the 1st grade Handwriting w/Phonics book.  
• Read Alouds - We're reading through the Millers Series books (I'm only short 1 book in this series). Each chapter is a separate story, so instead of reading through one book at a time, I'm reading one chapter from one book one day, then I'll read a chapter from another book the next day and so on.... When we finish with those, I'm going to start reading to them from the Christian Heroes: Then and Now series. We don't have this entire series, but we have enough to get us started. I'm only having difficulty choosing which one to begin with! 

Math

• Math-U-See Alpha/Beta - We started Alpha last year and didn't quite make it through, so we'll review, pick up where we left off then move on to Beta. Both of them are working this together. Adelle had such a difficult time with math in 2nd grade that I thought putting her back with Jonathan would be good for her. This has been a good fit.
• Easy Peasy - I'm going to supplement a little with Easy Peasy, reviewing some info they already know in Math 1 and move on to Math 2 a little later on.  I believe MUS will hit on everything the children need to know, eventually. Because, you know, I do worry that they're not learning everything they're supposed to be....  and they do have fun with the learning games on EP.  :-)

Science

• A Reason for Science Level C- I liked what I saw with ARF Handwriting so I wasn't surprised by what ARF Science had to offer. Cathy Duff Reviews explains ARFS best. "This is an "inquiry" based program that engages children in the learning process through activities and experiments, followed by questions, discussion and written activity. It stresses conceptual understanding rather than memorization of science information. For example, one objective of a lesson in the third grade book is to explore the movement of blood in the human body. Students begin by learning how to take their pulse at rest and after exercise. After the activity, the teacher leads a discussion about the heart and blood movement. Students answer questions in their worktext that require an understanding of the discussion and activity results."

History

• Our Nation Under God - This is from Christian Liberty Press. I was able to see a sample of this book. I was immediately impressed that the first chapter begins with God. Chapter 1 introduces students to the concept of God's governance over all of creation, and the means He has established to govern society. In Chapter 2, students are introduced to the concept of the Providence of God and is titled God Made the Nations. We'll move into American history after that. While reviewing other history programs, I just kept coming back to this one, which might be my most difficult subject to teach, but it's so important. I'm going to have to rely heavily on the Lord to help me with it.
• Geography - The kids had a little bit of geography last year as they were learning American history, looking to find the different countries and states that we mentioned throughout the year.  I wanted to have a more focus on geography, so again we'll rely on Easy Peasy to help us out with that. I have a gigantic world map and U.S. map that was given to me. I have yet to get them mounted and up, but we are going to get some good use out of them. 

So there we have it. 

No matter what books and curriculum we are using each school year, I want to always remember that character comes before curriculum. So, if we have "heart issues" that need to be worked on any given day, we will most certainly make that the priority. The goal here is to raise lovers of the Lord, not just good academic minds. 

P.S.

After I decided on what curriculum we were going to use this year, I looked to purchase the teacher's manuals from other homeschool moms. I didn't have any luck there, so I compare prices and purchased curriculum from Amazon, Christian Book Distributor and Rainbow Resource Distributor. I saved a few hundred dollars. It was a lot of work, but well worth the money that was saved. 

Just a little F.Y.I....

I came across this little blog that gives a list of FREE homeschool curriculum and resources.

I can most certainly afford free!