New Beginnings.....Turning away from Epypt, looking ahead to the promised land.

Leaving Egypt Behind!

Having had a break for the summer ( that long wet thing with a couple of baking hot days chucked in for good measure), I am now in the throws of preparing for a new school year.
I have had some what of a simplification in terms of curriculum. Over the last year we have skipped about  and dabbled in all sorts of methods and materials, and it has left me feeling some what 'over wrought' there are so many 'good' materials, curriculums, plans etc I end up feeling like I have to do them all or else we'll be missing out, but in trying to encapsulate it all we do little of any! I also found my original 'vision' for the boys home schooling was slowly being lost and sacrificed to these 'ways that seem right',

There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Proverbs 14:12

So after a break from the school mindset, and a crying out to God, My answer came as I read my 2yo his bedtime story from the lions story teller bible. I read the story of Gideon. He came before the Lord with his thousands of men ready for battle, and God said to him (remember this is a childs bible!),

"Gideon, you have far too many men, send some away.""There are more Midianites than I can count!" Gideon stammered. "I need all the help I can get.".... God answers, "I am all the help you need". (After purging the troops twice, Gideon is left with 300 men against the thousands of the Midianite army.)'But, how can we win?" stammers Gideon, "You can't," God said,"Not without my help. And that's what I want you to see. Here's my plan...."

As I read that, it was like God speaking into my heart.
"You have too much, get rid of some,  you can't do it on your own, seek my way."

As I dwelt on that the next day, different quotes came to mind, like,
 "God can do little with much, much with little and everything with nothing."
"Your children shall be taught of the Lord." Isaiah 54:13
"Don't despise small beginnings"
 "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD." Isaiah 55:8
 "The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God." 1 Cor 3 :19
"But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;" 1 Cor 1:27.

 If Gideon had fought with his army of thousands, the people would have boasted in Gideon and themselves, but this way, God revealed himself to his people - mighty to save, He got the glory, the people got to see Gods loving protection, and mighty power working on their behalf. Little is much with God - look at the loaves and fishes that fed the five thousand.

Ok Lord, I'm thinking, but  I NEED this stuff else I can't do the job. (So full of faith aren't I! Just like Gideon said, "but Lord I need all the help I can get!")

 The following day, we are on one of our canal walks with a friend and her 2 children, the big children (my 2 boys and my friends daughter) are throwing stones and rocks at a branch that has got stuck in the middle of the canal, they are trying to free it to watch it float down the canal, some time  and some huge rocks later, it hasn't budged. Along comes my 2 yo with a little stone in his hands and on his very first throw, the little stone bounces off the branch, and half a second later the branch drops a bit and then floats off down stream. My friend and I both cheered, my 2yo looked very pleased, and I said to my friend,  "after all those big rocks, splashes and attempts by the big children,  it just took that little stone in the hands of Smith!" and that's when I remembered, Gideon, and it was like God was saying "Exactly!" "what seems like little, or insufficient isn't when I'm involved." and the scripture came to mind too about having the faith of a little child....

Your Father knoweth the things you have need of,
before you ask him. Mt 6:8

And one more witness of confirmation - as if  I needed it! The 'Raising Olives' blog that I like to read, sent a post to my e-mail entitled 'pursuing academic wood, hay and stubble' (click the link to have a look - it's well worth the time). The title says it all.

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. ! Cor 3:11-13 (again!)

So After all this and some struggling on my part to relinquish my 'crutches' of what I thought was the best  - I feel God has led me to use something  which does not have all the bells and whistles but there is a sense of freedom and excitement in the simplicity.

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness, for His name's sake.
Ps 23

I will be posting on specifics soon enough as it all takes shape.It's exciting and freeing when you just accept the fact that looking back to Egypt for the way to live in the promised land is bondage, not freedom. More than that - it is lack of Faith in the God who has brought us so far. I am not saying that all the materials I tried beforehand (which were all Christian) are wrong (they are still on the shelf as research tools for the children if they should be needed), just that they were wrong for me - because of how I was using them  in my old  school 'egyptian' mindset. So we are on a journey of faith, being led (hopefully!) by the Lord into our 'promised land' of the home school God designed for us.

How about you?
Do you still find yourself looking back to Egypts standards and ways?
Or is your mind a lot more renewed than mine!?!
 Thank God he is a God of Grace - but also loves us so much He is prepared to discipline us when we need it - to keep us close to Him.

I love you Lord!.I Believe, help my unbelief.

Jo xx

Salt Dough Map of Egypt

For our History we are looking at Ancient Civilizations including ancient Egypt and we incorporate Geography into that rather than do it as a seperate lesson. Here is our first foray into the world of salt dough.

First we looked at where Egypt was in the world in our atlas and on the globe.  Next we found an outline map of Egypt courtesy of google and printed it out. This was traced on to the base of a pizza box ( makes storage so much easier!)

Next we made the dough

2 cups of plain flour, 

1 cup of table salt,

 1 cup of water, 

1 tbsp oil Mixed in a bowl.

And moulded it on to the map.

It looks a mess at the moment - I know. By looking at a contour map on the internet, we tried to mould the dough to represent mountain ranges, rivers, we also, for interests sake, added a 'not to scale' pair of pyramids to mark where Giza is. Also we made sure Northern Egypt (lower Egypt)  was shallow and southern Egypt  (upper Egypt)  was thicker - to show why each is named as it is. Eventually little flags are put in on the map to mark main places so using a cocktail stick we pushed in little holes for the flags to stand in once it is finished.

The map was left to dry for a week or so.

Next the children painted the seas, and the land, they labelled the name of the seas, and made their flags.

I labelled the spine of the pizza box so we know in future which map is inside (the plan is to make one of these maps for each new country we look into and keep them to look at for future reference).

And here is the finished product:

Thanks for stopping by! God bless x

Charlotte Mason Style: Nature study and Journals.

The Canal walk in Tavistock.

We use Charlotte Mason methods for our home schooling. (please do some research on this amazing lady and her insights and methods of educating children (do a google search or try simplycharlottemason.com).

One of the things a CM education includes is Nature Study- and again - there are many ways you can do this depending on the age and interests of your kids etc (again - a google search is great to see how others do it). You can simply go to your garden or hedgerow, your park or local area and you can usually spot something of interest - be it animal, plant, insect, weather. The point is for the child to notice something he hasn't before, sketch it and then write about it - something new he has found out - by researching it when you get home (how much you do is age relevant - it might be simply 'a plant' or its colour for a wee one and as they get older it might be the veins on the leaf and what they do). The Nature journal grows with the child. The boys have an a4 sketch book each.  I like the boys to date the sketch and include in their information what it is, where they spotted the subject, observations about it (i.e. behaviour, pattern, how many etc  maybe also what the weather was like if it is relevant). The sketch itself should be as detailed as they can manage  - and should be from observation - actually what they can see - not what they think it should be like. Then we look it up in a book or on the internet at home to add something new about it that they have discovered.  I tend to carry my digital camera with me whenever we head out in general, in case we spot something on the way (we do a lot of walking!),  the photos can be used in the journal, or for them to sketch from (especially if they want to sketch a bird or animal that won't oblige us by sitting still for us for 10 minutes!)
Here is something we happened upon by chance on a walk with some friends - it was not a planned nature walk, just an outing with friends along what I call the canal walk. The canal starts in Tavistock town centre and heads out through woods along side the River Tavy, and on (if you could go far enough), to Morwellham Quay - however the public only have access so far today and the rest has been fenced off. Anyway - we enjoyed lovely company, a packed lunch, the boys built dens in the woods with their friend whilst us pair of mums sat with a flask of tea and fed the toddlers. On the way the boys spotted this bunch....

.....they were not in the canal but in a little trickle of a stream at one of the entrance paths to the wood. The children stood for a very long time spotting them, counting them (how many can you spot?), just enjoying them - and that was all they wanted to talk about all the way home! You see....education can happen anywhere at any time.

Nature journaling encourages the child to observe (a skill that children don't often have time to hone) and make connections and relationships with his surroundings and to see the Creator behind it.  It incorporates regular practise of sketching and art skills, it is a platform for teaching referencing and research skills, reading (to learn - not reading for readings sake), new vocabulary is learned and understood, writing skills are used,  and you get exercise thrown into the deal too - so in a traditional 'school mindset' you can say that english, p.e., reading, writing, art and science are all being done in one hit! 

Nature walks are supposed to be regular - may be once or twice a week - though i confess we haven't managed it that frequently - but i think - especially for little ones - it can be much more frequent than that, relaxed and opportunistic,  I believe I read that Charlotte would have her students get out for a walk every afternoon, all other studies were to be finished by the afternoon so it was free for going  outside - however I am not Charlotte Mason - she seems to have been a force to be reckoned with! 

In theory then: For Little ones i would suggest a little sketch pad and even if they only manage a blob (for a snail) with a wiggly line behind it (for the trail) , they have achieved an observation (excellent!) ask what it is (they are telling you what they already know, excellent!) if they say - it's a snail with slime - read something together about it and ask them  for one new thing they  heard, and maybe from what you read they may say - the slime is called a trail (excellent - something new has been learned ask them to label this new word on the sketch) Job done! As the child grows so will the skill of drawing and observing, researching etc. I have for my boys a ringbinder each , they have the sketch book to take out and about - then when it is done they take the page and hole punch it, and it is stored in the nature study folder. As this grows - the hope is they will start to categorise where each page needs to go - maybe the folder will be divided into animals, plants, weather, skys, or maybe it will be dividied by type of area - town, country, seaside etc. The point is it is personal, relational and individual to each child. They may like to take samples of leaves, flowers, feathers, learn the tracks animals make, etc - all can be put in there. At first for little ones it is anything that catches their eye or interest - as they get older you can 'plan' a theme depending on the time of year - maybe birds for the winter as you can attract them to your garden and observe them without leaving the house, or winter tree buds / winter tree silhouettes - can you learn which tree is which when it has no leaves? the list goes on and on. Currently Nathan is desperate to make a wormery, whist Jake is absorbed by rocks/gems. 

Whilst it is good to let them explore their interests - it is also important that they follow your plan - they need to develope a good habit of applying themselves to a task - even if it's not their favourite, after all we all have to do things in life we find less than exciting. Plus, they will never find and discover new interests if they are allowed to only follow what they already like. 

Having said that all - I must lead you to this page fpr a quick, funny and encouraging read. We can all get too tied up with our high expectations of what our home schooling should be like, and we pour so much into 'our' plans - and it is right that we be responsible and plan so that the dear children are not running wild and illiterate - to make sure we are covering the essentials etc - but  God has told us

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.

 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55 v 8-9

 And as this dear lady writes in the link I gave you,

"..homeschooling is, at any rate, God's plan to bring the self-sufficient woman into dependence upon Him."

My experience so far certainly causes me to shout a big "Amen!" to that, and I wouldn't have it any other way!

What about you...... How do you implement nature study (if at all)? What things have you come across that have stood out? Do your kids keep a journal - is it different to how we do ours? What about you seasoned home educators out there - any tips or inspiration you can share? Please share....

In Him

Jo

xxx

 

Without a vision.....

"Where there is no vision the people perish" Proverbs 29 v 18

 "Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it"           Habakkuk 2v2

It's important to have something to aim for - to keep you on track when you get a little bogged down, to inspire you on the bad days, to focus you when there seems to be so many different options available to you.

Our goals for home educating are
laying down the rails that our childrens
lives will run on - what a responsibility!
All the more reason to lean on
the wisdom of Gods word rather than  our
own understanding..

Here is our home educating family vision, the big picture if you like.....

1. That the boys will find Christ as their personal saviour and to cultivate a relationship with Him through prayer and the study of the Bible. Jesus said,

 "The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment" Mark 12 v29-30

"For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the world, and lose his own soul?" Matthew 16 v 24-26 

     If we succeed in giving our children a high standard of education academically, so that they can go any where and do anything they aspire to do in their future careers, but we neglect to instill in them a knowledge of the truth (that one day they can make their own decision  whether to  accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, to personally know and love Him, or not). Then I would consider that as a failure on our part as parents. Please  Note!  We are NOT trying to brainwash them - but to make the truth known, that they can make their choice - God doesn't want religious robots, he made us all with free will, he wants man to know him and love him through their own choice, and we cannot 'make' our children christians, anymore than we can make them like brussel sprouts! But we can instill in them biblical truth that will help them to judge right from wrong, truth from lie, which will serve them well in life on it's own, but more importantly,  it is also sowing seeds into their hearts and minds for the Holy Spirit to water and cultivate, drawing them into their own exciting walk with the Lord should they chose to follow it. And as we as parents seek to discharge our responsibiltiy to our children in this way and through prayer, we can be encouraged by Proverbs 22v6 which promises us,

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

2. After telling us the greatest commandment, Jesus went on to give the second,

"And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these." Mark 12 v 31

Cultivating right relationships, and a serving heart, be it in the home,family, friends or society,   and character training/ good habits  in the boys. The emphasis is on character and relationships. This is something which is done day in , day out, every day of the year - it is life. Living with them,' walking' with them in the nitty gritty, day to day life. The greatest way they learn is by example - now there's a challenge! These first 2 goals go right back to Deuteronomy 6:4-9.

3.To give them the skills they need to become life long learners, that they would enjoy learning. To provide a solid education (there will be a seperate post on 'what education is' at a future date), that they may work in what ever field they are led to. Including instilling in them a good work ethic, in their studies, their extra curricular activities, and responsibilties within the family.  (Luke 10v7 the labourer is worthy of his wage).
.

So there is the 'Big Picture', the 'vision' we are running with as a family.

What's yours?

Jo x

Home School? How could you?! Part 2.

Last time I started to answer the question I am often asked which is 'How could you home school?' when it is being asked in a way implying it's too hard, difficult, or 'too much'. And using Psalm 127 I started with,

 "Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it..." 

And my aim was to encourage you that if you will trust in the Lord with all your heart and in all your ways acknowledge Him then He will direct your paths, and that He will not lead you to a place where His grace cannot keep you.  He will provide you with the means to do it - what ever you need, wisdom, strength, finance - That is 'The LORD building the house' - not you... but the flip side to that is You building the house, not the Lord -  i.e. If you try to do something for God in your own ability and understanding instead of being led by His Holy Spirit and working in His power and strength which He gives to you by grace through faith, then you will more than likely not manage it, and burn out, and more than that it will be a fruitless building of wood, hay and straw, that will one day be burned away. How much better to do it the way He suggests -  when we humble ourselves to do it His way, we end up building with precious stones which last for ever.

The second key I wanted to highlight is this,

2."Lo children are an heritage of the LORD; and the fruit of the womb is His reward." Psalm 127

We all leave an impression  - but none so
important as that which we
leave in our children - it determines the
one they in turn will make on the world.

It comes down to how I view my children,( and also how I define education but that is for another time).
Not trusting my own take on things I would much rather see how God views this. Here He is saying that children are a BLESSING and a REWARD. (Really? those little terrors that sap all my energy, don't do as they're told, need to be told 3 times before they listen etc etc etc, are a blessing? YES!)

Our children are a gift from God.

 That's right,  they are HIS creation and He gives them to us for a while.What a privilege! Each one is skillfully and wonderfully made in secret and then given to us, entrusted to us, for a short time...Why? To love, nourish, nurture and train them up in the way they should go, equipping them for service (hopefully in the plan God has for them - but that is their decision when they are old enough to make it).
Parenting is a job with huge responsibility and your employer is God! ( Going back to point 1 : God isn't going to give you a job without the tools to do it!) Yes it is hard work at times, but God says in His word that children are a blessing, and they really are.
Look at your child, see who he is inside, see his potential, remember the joy of the babe in your arms. We have them for such a short time, why would I want to leave them with other people for 5 days a week, being influenced by people i don't know, their characters being trained by peers in the playground, and  being taught things in class that I may or may not agree with. For example - do I really want my primary school child being taught about sex education by a teacher or by his friends in the playground? Do I want them to know at 5, 6 or 7 yrs of age about the gay lifestyle how to have sex, etc? If  you don't think this is happening look at this report released March last year which lists the councils (including Devon County Council) and what materials they have for use in sex education in primary schools Click here and then on the word 'report' at the beginning of the 2nd paragraph to see the actual list of councils and their materials. once made compulsory (if it isn't already - i haven't been keeping up with government legislature since i removed the boys from school)- you will not be allowed to have your child removed from the lesson.

 We teach them from when they are 1 day old till 3yrs and then put them into nursery and then school, and each step of the way I feel like we lose a little bit more of them, then we wonder why the teen age years arrive and we don't know them anymore? - these young informative years are brief and what they are exposed to now, determines who they become later. I would much rather my children get their sense of who they are,  from a loving family environment, so they are free to learn and enjoy learning, instead of worrying about fitting in and  keeping up (socially in the playground and academically in the class room), I want to keep getting to know my boys as they grow up, as they change, as they develop into young men, because it won't be long and the boys will be men, striding out into the world to make their mark. What sort of men will they be? Only God knows - hence it's a good idea to keep seeking Him as to the best way to teach and raise them!

Whilst there were a few reasons for us chosing to homeschool what i have discussed today was the main drive behind it - I believe it is the best for our children - that doesn't mean I think everyone should do it - I believe we are all responsible for our own walk through this life - and as I said last time we are all individuals and God deals with us as such.

What do you think.....Any thoughts?

 Any comments or questions are gratefully received - if you disagree with anything I have written please remember this is my opinion or belief and I am entitled to it, as you are to yours  - you may comment but please be polite - or the comment will be removed. Opinions are like noses - we all have one,  but they are all different, with a couple of holes in!

Home school? How could you?! Part 1.

The short answer? By the grace of God!

Beautiful Lydford Forest, Devon.
This was taken before son number 3 came along.

      We have been homeschooling for little under a year, its a beautiful sometimes challenging pathway we are on and  have received wonderful encouragement, information and inspiration through reading other peoples blogs as they forge their way in the world of home educating.By starting this blog  I wanted to make our mark both in cyberspace and here in Devon, UK- to hopefully give a little back to the home educating blogging community, and to encourage others as we go on our way.

     Let me interject at this point - I am in no way suggesting I have all the answers or that our way is the only way, we are in the very early stages of this journey but I would like to share what we learn as we go, not just from a faith point of view but also practical activities, recipes, information etc. 

     I am especially hopeful to make a noise for those in England to hear, as I have found that the blogs I tend to read and enjoy the most, originate from America, which is wonderful but I am left wondering - why is it not so common over here? Maybe there are many Christian home educators here, but I feel we are a minority?  Any way - I have certainly found myself to be somewhat of an 'oddity' where I live in Devon, and even within the church.

      When the inevitable question is raised, "And where do your children go to school?", I take my breath, give my answer, "Actually, we home educate", and the general response is a look of surprise, and dare I say, horror even, as they take a step back and seem lost for words, "Oh." Then when they recover, "oh, well, I could never do that," "Doesn't it drive you mad?" "Why would you do such a thing?" "that's too much." (The common follow up question is "why?" and I will deal with that in another post, maybe it would make sense to do that first but hey, I'm new to blogging.)

To these people I would like to be able to say the following :

"Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it:......Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward."  Psalm 127

There are 2 keys here for me. I will share one now and the next post will cover the second.
 The first is this:


1. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it:

We are all individuals, and God deals with us as such. He has a perfect plan for you, and your loved ones. His plan for me will be different than his plan for you -regardless of whether we are both home educating or not. What does He want you to do? Two people may hear the same sermon, or bible passage but each will respond differently as the Holy Spirit ministers to each where they are. If you try to home educate in your own strength instead of by His leading, you will not be enough, you will be building in vain. But if you put your trust in Him with your whole heart and acknowledge Him in all your ways, He promises to direct your path (Proverbs 3:5-6). And if you're worried about your capabilities in obeying his leading bear this in mind,

"God's Spirit won't lead you where His  grace can't keep you" *

Because He promises us,

"My grace is sufficient for you, my strength is made perfect in your weakness" 2 Cor 12:9

    Great is His faithfulness, His mercies are new every morning. (Lamentations 3:22-25). Just like the children of Israel  with manna in the desert (Exodus 16) - He supplies all our needs, of every sort,  for each day, as it arrives. And Jesus told us the Father knows what we need before we ask it, but we have not because we ask not. He is the good shepherd, He knows what He's doing, He merely asks us to trust and obey,

"He has shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God." Micah 6:8

"and the life I live, I live by faith in the Son of God....." Galatians 2:20

"the just shall live by faith" Hebrews 10:38

Q. Home School! How could you?
A. By the grace of God, and the power of His spirit at work within me.

I pray God blesses you and leads you  as you seek Him  in the way He has for you.

Next time I will move on to point number 2.........

Grace and peace,
Jo x    


                                   

  * I have heard this quote at some point and it really spoke to me but i do not know who spoke it.