Unequipped to homeschool?

We ALL feel some days like we can't homeschool. But we do it... by God's grace. The character issues and trials in our lives are enough to cause us to doubt our abilities. We homeschool because we know the Lord has called us to do this and because He has, He will work it out when we trust Him to do so.

No homeschooling family is going to tell you that it will all be easy or every day will be easy, but we are here to lift each other up during the hard times. This why homeschool support groups are essential.

There is a saying in homeschool circles and I do not know where it started or who said it first: The worst day home educating is better than than the best day in government school.

Your children are sure to have bad days whether they are in gov't school or private school or at home. That is just fact. It has nothing to do with where they are at physically. All people have bad days. You will and do have bad days! The character issues we each deal with within our families are worked out when we are together not separated- and on our bad days the heat gets turned up on those issues.


My family has grown so much in the Lord because of this type of testing and refining! Because of this process, we actually care about each other in deep ways and seek to keep our family unit serving the Lord in every area of our lives. We are far from perfect or harmonious! But we seek to truly love our neighbor by beginning within our own family. The opportunities (a.k.a. trials!!) for this to happen are abundant when you home educate (or as some say "family discipleship" )

Remember, that is one of the main reasons for a homeschool group! To encourage each other! Share! Support!

Burnt Cake

The beginning of another year for education usually brings thoughts of direction, focus and introspection. We take stock of our energy and time and evaluate where we should spend these valuable assets. For all intents and purposes, a good thing to do. This process begins with pictures in our minds of what we perceive to be either failure or success and then we measure our efforts against that.
We may have success personally defined as anything from a strict schedule and well kept house- to boys with combed hair & girls wearing dresses and baking with your own ground wheat all day- or children all snuggled in bed with you reading books together- or going to BSF together as a family and spending your budget on your children’s latest passion. Success may be what you see in your friend at the support group who has her children practice piano, and goes to some homeschool academy classes and seems to have a million friends.


If you fail to meet that ideal you have in your mind, you
feel depressed and guilty. How can you ever measure up? You struggle with fears you have been told over and over not to have: What if your in-laws were right? What if your husband tells you that your time for trying out your new hobby “Homeschooling” is over? What if your homeschool friends figure out you are not all you pretend to be? And horror of horrors, what if your children do not test as well as government school kids typically do?

Was this ever fair to ask you or your family to try to attain? This perfect life, this ideal that does not exist? Home educating is not the answer to achieve a flawless family. There is no flawless family. There is no perfect homeschool.
We look through the proverbial window into another home educating family’s life and we see beautiful frosting- but we cannot see the cake underneath is probably burned.

Only your closest friends may reveal to you they have burnt cake. You stare in disbelief at them as they detail a morning of unruly children, school that did not start until after lunch, little Joey stole $2 from her purse and her husband is thinking of making her go back to work. She cries and says she keeps thinking of putting her children in public school, it would be better for them to have a “real” teacher.
-- Hold it. Wait a minute. Did she say she was just like you? Yes. She did.

Put your arm around her. Cry with her. Tell her it is not easy, but it is the best thing she could be doing with her life. Pray with her right then. Offer to take her kids tomorrow so she can regroup and pray.

When you go home, stop and take a fresh look around and say, “Gee, I guess I am not a failure. We all have life struggles and Homeschooling is hard, but worth every drop of sweat and every tear.”

Ode To The Post-it

Where would I be without the glorious Post-It? What words could adequately pay honor to such a humble, yet worthy hero? A fresh pad represents an infinite stack of possibilties. Clever scribbles, informative notations, don't-forgets, gee-there's-that-page and other endless multitasking. Quick in a pinch. My cup overfloweth.

Where would you, the SuperHomeschoolMom, be without the Post-It? Lost. Just lost.

(Personally, I do use lots of post-it notes around the house, but not even close to like these gals do! LOL!)

Photos courtesy of Google.

FREE CURRICULUM! All Subjects

There are hundreds of textbooks, worksheets, crafts, printables, databases, games, ideas, methods, unit studies, lapbooks, literature, ebooks and plenty more. Every subject, even Bible.

Inspiring To Learn
http://inspiringtolearn.blogspot.com/

Great for any homeschool!

Honor Defined in Practical Terms

"Children need to know what Godly character looks like in practical terms. We love the character quality of honor, not just because God commands it, but also because it has so much rich meaning for parents and children. It can give direction in many of the frustrating moments we experience in family life. In fact, every form of selfishness has an honor-based solution.

Honor means…

Treating people as special,

Doing more than what's expected,

And having a good attitude.


Use our honor definition or make up your own. The point is that honor changes people. It changes the way that parents relate to their children, the way children relate to each other, and the way children relate to their parents. We all need it.


You can use the concept of honor in correction or when things are going well. You can use it when you teach your children about money, time, and other resources, and you can teach it when conflict comes around. One of the best ways to teach it is on special occasions when someone wins a contest or earns a certificate. You may show honor by giving that person a fancy place at the table or by decorating his or her bedroom door.


Honor is fun. It's like oil in a machine. It gets work done with less friction and less heat. Every family needs honor. It's great when things are going well and essential when family relationships are strained. You can work on honor whether your kids are preschoolers or teens. It will change the way your family relates."


For more practical ideas on developing honor in your family listen to the CD series with your kids or buy the book, "Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining, and Bad Attitudes, In You and Your Kids," and read it with them. Learn more at www.biblicalparenting.org.

Teaching using a BOOK AS A SPINE

 This is a subject I have taught workshops on to help the homeschool community home educate for free.


In this post I have some "overviews" that can be used as a guide for you to use to teach from. Like a spine. These are just guides, as all curricula and teacher manuals are only a tool for us to use.(See my other post on this subject.)

The one from Heart Of Wisdom is very good. I say that especially because it also incorporates science. A nice blessing!

All overviews and especially chronological teaching should, in my opinion, use a timeline. Some families will post one along their hallway or make a big long fold up one (accordian style).

These are mostly based on a four year rotation, as is popular in current education.

Four Year plan

http://heartofwisdom.com/homeschoollinks/four-year-plan/

Four Year plan

http://www.highlanddove.org/history.htm

http://myhomeschool101.blogspot.com/2007/11/rc-history.html

Four year plan

http://www.pennywiselearning.com/The-Weaver-Curriculum-Scope-and-Sequence.html

Four Year plan for high school

http://www.janice-campbell.com/2008/09/09/high-school-a-four-year-plan-for-homeschoolers/

Four Year living book list sequence

http://homescool-ed.blogspot.com/2007/04/sonlight-books-arranged-by-well-trained.html

Overview plan

http://www.konos.com/quickoverview/scope.htm

Overview plan

http://www.sonlight.com/scope-and-sequence.html

Overview plan

http://www.triviumpursuit.com/articles/suggested_course_of_study.htm

Overview plan year by year

http://www.bjupress.com/catalog_pdfs/scope_sequence09.pdf

Overview

http://www.anchorchurchresources.com/scope_sequence.pdf

Overview – editable

http://www.bjupress.com/resources/christian-school/curriculum-guides/word-format.php

* * * * If you like these kinds of posts, please check out my other blog that focuses just on homeschooling on a dime:

Inspired To Learn 

http://inspiringtolearn.blogspot.com/

 

Edited to add: I get a ton of "hits" on this post. An unbelievable amount! But no comments?

Spine Book teaching – making your own curriculum the easy way

Maybe you have heard of teaching using a book as a spine? 

I am surprised at how easy this is and love it. 

Teaching this way can open up your homeschool to develop a real love of learning and save you plenty of money at the same time. 
Unfortunately, there is not really any information on "how" to use a book as a spine. I've taught how to do this in person to groups and conferences but maybe I need to do a video to share with the world.
 
I did find this link here below. Hopefully it will shed some light. It is a little like mind mapping (an abstract way of doing an outline) and inspires creativity… even if you are not the creative type.

My own post on the subject:
Teaching Using A Book As A Spine ... awesome homeschooling on the cheap!

Another writer on the subject:
Teaching Using A Spine




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