As promised...

I said in a previous post I would share links to some sites we have been researching as we prepare to move and/or face a disaster. Like I said before I am so not a sky is falling person. Well, I might be but Dh is not. :) We both agree however that there is nothing wrong with trying to be prepared if anything where to happen. What have we hurt if we have extra food, supplies, water.. whatever?
Here are two of our favorite resources right now.
You don't have to agree with everything they say to glean some wisdom from these people. :)

Survival Blog this is one DH loves. Click around on some of the links for more information. DH says he can take or leave the blog postings.

Mrs. Survival this one is a particular favorite of mine. I like the wisdom from many people.

Be Blessed!

Homeschooling: How do I do it?

Proverbs 2:1-5, "My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God."

When I first started researching homeschooling I read the book the Well Trained Mind. I still love that book and find myself referring to it often. I agree 100% with the educational style of three stages. We follow that pattern. We also follow the Science and History cycles. The Well Trained Mind deals with something called Classical Education. In Classical Education there are three levels.
The Grammar level which is younger children up to around 4th or 5th grade. In this stage we saturate our children with knowledge and the little sponges soak it all up. We memorize all sorts of things here. We memorize the books of the Bible, whole chapters of Proverbs, poems, math facts, science facts, history dates, songs...whatever. We soak it all in.
Level two is the logic stage. It is geared towards children 5th grade through about 8th grade. This is where we take all of the stuff we have memorized and learn to discover the whys. We learn logic. We learn why this happened or that happened. We learned why we believe this or that.
Level three is the rhetoric stage. This is more for your high school students. Here is where we take everything we have learned up to this point and learn to tell others the why. They will learn to express their beliefs and things they have learned. To have conversations with grace and intelligence.
We also follow the history and science cycles. I will talk about those in another post about our science and history education.

I started out 100% on board with WTM. I was going to do it just like that. Veteran homeschool moms everywhere are giggling. It's ok. I do that sometimes to. So, before we even adopted our children I bought all my books. Asked all my highly intelligent questions on the WTM message boards and got my paper, pencils, notebooks, colored pencils, ect... ready.
We adopted on a Friday. I started school on Monday. I reenrolled my children in school on Friday. No! Just kidding. I still pushed through the year making my kids and myself miserable. Both of my girls were behind in their supposed grades. Instead of spending some time figuring out where they need help, I pushed. I yelled, they cried. I bribed, they dug in their heels.
This was not going to work.


I stopped for about a week. I regrouped. I saw that Karly needed some reading help. That Kelsie needed a little bit of review of her Kindergarten. I decided to start them over in the grades I pulled them out of. Kelsie in Kindergarten and Karly in 2nd grade. We breezed through the stuff they knew and took extra time on the stuff they were not sure about. Sounds a lot easier, right? It was for the most part. But then I discovered something else essential to homeschooling.

Discipline. Not just for the children but for me as well. There were so many days I just wanted to stay in bed. So many days I did not want to tackle schoolwork. My kids were still whining about being taken out of school. Karly was trying everything she could think of to not do her schoolwork. Kelsie was lazy somedays and acted like she did not know how to do the simplest things. I had to make myself work with them through all of that. I scaled most of our work down to the bare basics. Reading, math, spelling, and handwriting. I found ways to motivate them to do their work. Kelsie improved a lot. Karly, I'm happy to say, is just now coming to a place where she understands that she is going to do the work, like it or not. It's been a long journey for both of us.

The basics are great. I still use the same math program. I switched grammar programs three times. I decided to go back to the last one we used next year. I dropped spelling and added copywork. I think I will have to pick up some spelling though. Karly is done with handwriting so I started something else with her. I finally have Tamara and Adrian included. They are doing math, handwriting, and learning to read better.

Tomorrow I will talk about the curriculum's I have tried and the ones I am still using.

Be Blessed!

Homeschooling: Why do I do it? Part 3

Deuteronomy is clear that we are to teach our children. Voddie Baucham (my hero) explained these passages perfectly. He basically pointed out that these children were going to be raised in an ungodly foreign land. God was admonishing the parents to make sure their children understood the ways of God and the Law. May I ask you my friends, do you think our children are being raised in a godly world? This is not about whether you should homeschool or not. That's a decision made by your family. This is about why we homeschool.

Click on "Homeschooling Quotes" in my sidebar to read some very interesting humanistic views. There are two worldviews competing with one another. A Biblical worldview and a humanistic worldview. Government schools teach the humanistic worldview and our children eat it up with both hands. We are actively fighting that with our children. We want them to embrace a Biblical worldview. All people will choose one or the other for the most part.

My friend Voddie Baucham says something that I love. He says, "We can't continue to send our children to Caesar and be surprised when they come home acting like Romans." Hmm.

God gave me these children for a reason. I believe with every ounce of my being that dh and I are responsible for raising them up to be godly men and women. If I send them to a school that teaches evolution, selfishness (read: no personal responsibility), humanism, no absolute truth... then should I be surprised that when they grow up they denounce God and turn their backs on Him? I'm not saying this is going to happen, but as for me and my family we are not willing to take that risk.

When Kelsie, who'd only been in school less than a year, came home, I already had to deprogram her from the view that whatever her teacher said was golden and that what the other kids were doing is what she should be doing. It broke my heart that first year of homeschooling as she acted out and defied me for pulling her out of school.

Karly, argued everything with me for her first few months home. "NO, thats not how we did it at school." She also rebelled over the fact that she could not get away with as much because I was now with her 24/7. Those first few months were tougher than I like to admit.

Now say, Kelsie has an atheist teacher. Someone who says there is no God. How long would it take for Kelsie to begin questioning the absoluteness of God? She is with this teacher a good portion of the day 5 days a week. When she gets home we do homework, have dinner, and go to bed. I only have a few minutes every day to combat her atheist teacher who could have her for 6-8 hours five days a week. That's another reason we homeschool.

As I watched the election coverage this year I was appalled. APPALLED at the number of people who had no idea *who* Barrack Obama was. They were just paying lip service to everything I heard on the news. They could not tell you anything about his time in the Senate. When people were asked about him these are two of the main things I heard. "He's African American." "He wants to help people!" Ok... neither one of those things qualifies anyone to be President. I came to a shocking realization that people have lost the ability to think. To research. To know. Rush Limbaugh, yesterday, called it creepy the way the masses are worshiping (YES WORSHIPING) this human being. This man.

I am not disrespecting him. He is the President Elect of my country and I will not show disrespect for someone God has allowed to be in leadership. I am merely pointing out another reason we homeschool.

We homeschool so our children will know how to think, research and learn.

Mostly, we homeschool because we get to be a family more often. I know my kids, my kids know me. I get to be the one to mold and shape these beautiful people into godly adults. We get to pass on our values, goals, and convictions.

Will it all work out in the end? I don't know, but I sure like the odds. :)

Next, I will tell you all about how we went from Gung Ho Well Trained Mind to... well, stay tuned!

Be Blessed!

Homeschooling: Why do I do it? Part 2

As I said in the last post those few months of school were horrible for me. I had at anytime 4 or 5 other children at home so I could not be at the school all the time. I went in the first day of school and told Karly's teacher that I knew that Karly was not a perfect little angel and that I wanted to help the teacher however I could. I asked her to let me know if there were any problems so that we could work on them at home. I asked Kelsie's teacher if there was anything I could do to help her from my home since I had about 4 small children at home. She assured me she would let me know.

A few months after school started Karly's teacher called me in to tell me she could not read. I knew this was not true because we read the Bible (KJV) at home together at night. We had family read alouds with other books. She was always talking about a book she was reading. I told the teacher that and she said for whatever reason Karly was acting like she could not read. I later found out that the teacher was putting a lot of pressure on the kids to read fast. When Karly gets overwhelmed she has two settings. Shutdown and overreact. She was doing both in the classroom.

She was stealing from other children, lying, being disruptive. I knew none of this because surprise, surprise, the teacher was not telling me and Karly was not bringing home notes from the teacher. The teacher was sending them, but I was not getting them. Huh! I talked to the teacher every day in the carpool lane and she said nothing. After, she'd let the behavior problems escalate for MONTHS! she called to tell me about all the problems she was having. Not only that, but I found out her extreme dislike for Karly. I understand the frustration. BELIEVE ME, I understand the frustration, but it could have been helped a lot had I known she was not behaving at school. I told the teacher that and she told me I needed to take responsibility for my child. Hmm... I thought I was doing that by talking to her everyday. By sending notes to school inquiring about certain things Karly was telling me, and by telling her to PLEASE let me know about any behavior problems. I was counting the days until I could bring my daughter home where she belonged. This teacher was causing more harm than good!

Kelsie had a young beautiful teacher. She and I met and I thought things would be great. Kelsie and I worked on her Kindergarten homework every night. We read together and played games where we added, subtracted, learned sounds... everything.

When the first report card came out Kelsie got a U in reading (unsatisfactory), the teacher also wrote that she was being sneaky and rude to the other kids. I set up a conference. The teacher and I talked. It was not that Kelsie was not doing great at the first 9 weeks of reading, but she had to be past a first grade level to pass Kindergarten and she was not on track for that at the end of the first 9 weeks. The teacher also told me that Kelsie had befriended two girls in the class who were destined to grow up as the "mean girls" of middle school and highschool. She said she did not think that Kelsie was acting on her own just doing what the other two girls were doing.

I told the teacher everything we were doing at home to help Kelsie and she said it was more than enough. She said they hold back quiet a few Kindergartners because of the reading thing. Why should she be reading on a 2nd grade level at the end of kindergarten? Because of something here in FL called the FCAT. Its a standardized test. I think it starts in the third grade, I homeschool so I don't know. :) Anyways, they try not to advance any struggling student into an FCAT grade because if the child fails the FCAT it makes the school look bad. Cute, huh?

Then, then, THEN, there was the soul incident. Kelsie (age 5) came home from school in tears. Some girl on the playground had stolen her soul and now she could not go to heaven. I went to the teacher to ask and was told it was a childish game. Of course I then asked if Kelsie told the kids they were going to hell because they did not know Jesus, would that be ok? Well, of course not. Hmmm... yeah.

We waited and waited for the adoption. Finally almost one month before school got out our adoption was finalized. We went straight from the courthouse to the school board. My children became homeschoolers that day! They have not stepped foot back into the classroom.

The journey officially begins....

Be Blessed!

Homeschooling: Why do I do it?

I have had a lot of people approaching me lately about homeschooling. I see fear and panic in the eyes of some of these people or I read it in their emails. I know that a lot of people are fearful but this verse is so perfect:
Hebrews 13:1-8, "Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body. Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."

I am not perfect. Sometimes people ask me about homeschooling and I don't even know where to begin. Recently, I talked with someone who did not really want to hear the bad and the ugly with homeschooling, she only wanted the good. I don't think her homeschool is going to be very successful. Not just for the reason I listed above. There are many other reasons. I just committed to pray for her and encourage her wherever I can. As I spoke with her I found myself really talking about my failures in homeschooling. I really could not figure out why, as I told her about being a month behind. About yelling at my kids and fighting with them. Then later it hit me. She does not need the rosy picture right now, she needs the reality. I think that's why God spoke those words through me.

I thought I would take some time over the next few days to share about our homeschooling journey. I know that I have not arrived. I still learn something new everyday. I pray that my words will be full of wisdom, seasoned with grace. That you will be able to take something away from here. I am happy to share whatever I have learned at the feet of others.

Today I thought I would share a little about why we homeschool. How we started.

It was something I'd wanted to do for awhile. When I first started dating Dh, I told him, I wanted lots of kids and I wanted to homeschool them. I figured, hey, why not just get it out in the open. Some guys I'd dated were not ready for that so I cut the time with them short. I was dating to find a husband not just for fun.

When we were unable to have children, for whatever reason, we decided to be foster parents. As foster parents we were soon the parents of quiet a few children. Some of whom we would be able to adopt. I started that day planning my homeschooling. LOL

I started with the book The Well Trained Mind. Oh, the wisdom I gleaned from that book was amazing. I knew that's what I wanted to do whole hog. I planned and prepared for the day I would get to adopt. I knew I would have to suffer through a few months of school for my oldest daughter and my middle daughter. I dreaded it, but the state still owned my children.

Karly was in the second grade. Kelsie starting Kindergarten. Those were the worst 9 months for me. Kelsie went from a sweet, fairly obedient child to a manipulative mean, sneaky little girl. Karly came home with horrible tales of some of the kids in her class I found through a phone call months later from her teacher that she was the instigator of most of those things....

To be continued.

Preparation

Lots of thoughts today, this week, this month, this year. I don't know. Prayers being said, plans being made, stuff being researched. Are we fearful? No.
Genesis 41:15-37, "And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it. And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river: And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow: And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness: And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine: And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke. And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good: And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them: And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told this unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me. And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one. And the seven thin and ill favoured kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine. This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh. Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt: And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land; And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous. And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years. And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine."
Genesis 41:47-49, "And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls. And he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same. And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number."
Genesis 41:53-57, "And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt, were ended. And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do. And the famine was over all the face of the earth: And Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt. And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all lands."

I have a family to take care of, I have friends who are coming alongside me so that we can help one another out. I have a call to take care of others during the years of "feminine". It's not fear. It's resourcefulness. :)

I am going to teach my children that God will supply all of our needs. I am also going to teach them something that America seems to have forgotten.

2 Thessalonians 3:10-12, "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread."

This is a rule in my house. Let me catch you not helping to pick up before lunch. OH, poor hungry you.

It is so much more serious when you live a lifestyle of growing and raising your own food. If you don't work hard at it, your initial labor is in vain because things not taken care of die. Gardens not tended rot and whither.

Dh and I are researching so many things that my head is full. Steady DH has given the go ahead for so many projects that he always used to just kind of smile and pat my head when I asked about. Humoring me. I am not a "sky is falling person". I don't think the results of the election Tuesday night are indicative of the whole world coming to an end.

I do think there will be natural consequences to millions of Americans who think not they can live a fat and happy life with minimal effort. I'd rather live the opposite life. A simple, content life with hard work and perseverance.

For others who want to prepare I will share some links that we have been reading about the survivalist lifestyle. Not so much because we agree with their theories but because we think it's not going to hurt to learn as much as we can.

We want to be able to continue working for God and serving Him. That will be a lot easier with confidence in our abilities. Using the resources God has given us. Also, with extra resources available we will be able to share with others. That is so, so important to us. What better way to lead people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ then by offering them a cup of water, a meal, a coat, a place to sleep? What better way then just by showing them actively who Jesus is?

I know it sounds crazy and paranoid. I promise I'm not... well mostly. :)

If you knew my husband you would know that when he is concerned then there is reason to start preparing. He is the ultimate Mr. Steady. LOL

We are not panicking, just preparing.

Do you guys do any prep in case of emergency?

Christian Revolution

See the kids above? Those are my kids. Those are the kids that are going to grow up in this world. It's up to my husband and I to teach them the Word. To teach them to serve God and love Him with all their heart, soul, mind, and body.

The other day DH and I were talking about what our forefathers would have done if they were alive today. Dh summed it up in one word. He said they would start a Revolution. These men knew what it was to be persecuted for their beliefs. To be willing to put their lives on the line for future generations.

True heroes. What are we willing to fight for? What are we willing to take on the powers of darkness for? It's not about an election. It's not about economy. It's about hitting the streets to tell others about Jesus. It's about raising up children who know the TRUTH. It's about saying, "No!" to apathy and compromise of our beliefs.

Some fear the persecution Christians might face under Obama.

Romans 5:3-5, "And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."

Would persecution not get the fat, lazy, apathetic Christians up and moving?

Before someone shows up at my door thinking I want to overthrow the government let me clarify. I believe we as Christians need to hit our knees and pray. If Tuesday night I find out Barak Obama is my President I will pray for him every night. I will respect him. I might not agree with him, but you won't (I pray) hear me badmouthing him.

I also believe we need to take responsibility for raising our kids. If you must send them to public school and you think youth group is great, fine. Please just make sure you spend as much time at home teaching them the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Teach them about true heroes, of the faith and our country. Don't just assume they are getting all of their education at these other places.
Husbands and wives come together and unite. Stand up for families and marriage by being the example.

Wives, allow your husband to lead your family. When you give up control it's such a refreshing change. It's still SO hard some days, but in the end it all works out. :)

Teach your children to be respectful, obedient and strong.

Know the Bible. Read the Bible. Soak in it. If you have small children, place your open Bible somewhere you spend a lot of time. The kitchen, the bathroom, the schoolroom... catch glimpses of the Word throughout the day. Write scriptures on index cards and carry them around. Soaking up God's word and memorizing.

Read the Bible with and to your children. Memorize scriptures together.

Let's revolt against this world. Let's say "No!" to anything that goes against God's Word. Let's be different.