Author: esther7dancing

Trust

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As a homeschooler I can sometimes be worried about if I am teaching the right things or fearing that I am not getting enough done in a day.  In our family life, we have gone through different storms that have caused me to worry or fear.  God has been walking with me on a journey of having peace in the midst of a storm and trust in Him.

During our “Bible” time yesterday with the kids I was reading Hebrews chapter 4 and 5.  It talked about trusting God even when things seem like they are not going well.  I am sure you have those times when you are teaching your kids and God uses that opportunity to speak to your heart.  I was sharing with the kids that when we worry or fear in our lives, we are not trusting God.  God desires to have us never worry or fear and to live in peace no matter what is happening around us.  I heard a speaker once give a great picture of what having peace in the storm might look like.  He was describing how there is a place in the Spirit where you can make the enemy grow tired because he can’t seem to move you from your place of peace.  We do not fight against flesh and blood but our true battle for peace is with Satan.  I want to make the enemy grow weary from trying to take my peace.

I remember a couple of years ago with my daughter in Children’s Hospital and having to trust God for a miracle.  I remember having this peace that I couldn’t explain.  People asked me how I was able to not go crazy with worry or how I made it through that time.  I couldn’t explain why, but I had an amazing peace that God was going to take care of everything.  He did take care of everything and my daughter is a walking miracle.  I am still on a journey of having peace.  I want to trust God at all times no matter the results or no matter what I am walking through in life.  It is a process but I am learning to enjoy the adventure of it.

You are an amazing educator for your children.  No one can teach or educate them the way you do.  You know your child best.  God desires for you to live without worry or fear.  I love that we can give those things to Him and do not have to take them back.

God’s World News

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I want my kids to be aware of current events.  I think its important for them to be able to discuss what is happening in our world and how to see it through a biblical perspective.  God’s World News is an excellent resource for current events.  Its a magazine that is geared towards your child’s age that gets sent to you through the mail every couple of months.  The magazine’s that are available range from preschool age to post high school.  What I like about GWN magazines is how they are written from a biblical perspective.  The kids look forward to getting them in the mail and want to read them right away.

For my older children, I need more current events than what GWN’s magazine can provide.  I still use GWN  but I add on other sources for current events.  Another source that I found was dogonews.com.  This is a website that has set up current events for kids in various categories.  Dogonews.com does not represent a biblical perspective with its news articles but because it is geared towards kids, I have not found objectionable content.  This is another great resource for my older kids to do more current event reports during the week.

Cocoa Fridays

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Developing a relationship with Jesus Christ is the most important gift that I want my children to learn and receive from their experience of being homeschooled.  The different important subjects like Math, Reading, Writing and other various subjects are tools that they will need to fulfill the adventure that they will be walking out with God but the key to enjoying and experiencing the ultimate adventure is to have them develop a relationship with Jesus Christ.

I, of course, cannot make this happen in their lives.  Each of my children has their own journey to God that they get to walk out. But I do believe as parents we are called to disciple our children and encourage them in the things of God.  You are the ultimate teacher, mentor and prayer warrior for your child.  No one knows or loves your child like you do.  I believe God desires to give us creative ideas on different ways to disciple our children.

We try to have Bible time daily.  If I don’t get anything else done in homeschooling but Bible time, I have viewed my day as a success.  I used to have the kids sit and listen quietly while we read the Bible and different various character training books.  This worked but the attention span of my kids were lost quite quickly.  Out of my 5 children, I only have one kid who is an auditory learner.  He was getting the most out of our time because it was geared toward his learning style.  I needed creative ideas to reach all the kids during our Bible time.  I wanted it to be an enjoyable time for everybody and an opportunity to facilitate discussions.

I ended up making some simple changes that have helped our Bible time be more effective.  One of the fun things that my kids look forward to is “Cocoa Fridays”.  This was a really simple change but it was something the kids still enjoy today.  On Fridays, we serve hot cocoa during our Bible time.  On Friday, they will pester me, asking me if its “Cocoa Friday” time yet.  Another small change that made even a bigger impact on our Bible time was allowing the kids that wanted to, to draw or paint or color during out Bible time.  As long as they were able to still focus on the lesson, they could be creative in whatever they felt like doing.  This helped a couple of my kids actually be more focused and retain much more than they used to.  I am the type of learner that I have to listen and not do anything else during a lesson or I won’t get what the teacher is trying to teach.  I am realizing as I work with all my children, how creative God is in making all kinds of different learners and the opportunity I have as a homeschooler to teach in many different ways.  God is brilliant and He can give us all the creative ideas we will ever need to teach and encourage our children.

Fine Arts Credit Anyone?

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In Washington State there is a resource that is a great way for kids to get their Fine Arts credits.  We are the type of family, so far, that will have an abundance of Fine Art credits because our 3 older kids love music, drama and other various art classes.  Our younger 2 kids are too young to know what direction they will go.  I know there are parents that have kids, like mine, who will have no problem fulfilling their Fine Arts credit in homeschooling high school.  I know there are other homeschool parents out there that cringe at the thought of how to fulfill that same Fine Arts credit.  This resource is an easy way to start contributing hours to that credit.

Its called Teentix.org.  This is a website that offers $5 dollar tickets to teens for most of the theatre, symphony and other performing arts productions in Washington.  The way it works is that any teenager ages 13-19 gets a Teentix pass.  You can get this on their website.  This pass allows your teenager to purchase same day tickets for $5.  The tickets are not purchased online but at the box office or some performances will let you pay over the phone.  No credit or debit can be used for purchase, you must use cash.  Also, some performances are sold out so there are not any Teentix tickets available.  To make sure that there are tickets available, you can call the Box Office number on the Teentix website. You must have your Teentix pass with you and a student ID or Driver’s License to purchase your ticket. They also have specials on certain performances that allow your teen to purchase a 2nd ticket for $10 for a friend of any age to go with them. Even if your student has an abundance of Fine Art credits, this resource is still an awesome way for your teen to enjoy the Arts.

Museum of Flight-Seattle. WA

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We just went on a field trip to the Museum of Flight yesterday in Seattle.  I have lived my whole life in Washington but this is only the 2nd time that I have been to the Museum of Flight. I went a couple of weeks ago with my hubby on his day off and then decided to go with our homeschool group on this trip. This is a great field trip for kids.  They gave the kids each a booklet that explained the different planes and then had them go on a scavenger hunt to find and learn about them.  They also had fun activities like flight simulators that were of high interest to my older kids.  Another fun thing for the younger kids was the “FlightZone” area where it was an indoor playground made out of different airplanes or helicopters for the little ones to play in.  I especially like the building that held the World War I and World War II planes and how they taught about the different people that fought for our country.  The differences between the World War I planes and World War II planes was interesting.  It really showed how we had progressed in flight even during that time period. The Museum not only had airplanes but also had an entire section on NASA.   After our trip to the Museum of Flight my 12 year old son was talking to me about what it takes to be a fighter pilot.

The most economical way to see the Museum of Flight is to go with a homeschool group.  If you have 10 students you can create a homeschool group tour.  The cost is discounted for students and chaperones go free, you also get discounted on the different documentaries and even the flight simulators.  If you want to be even more thrifty, the Museum of Flight is one of the many museums that have a free day once a month for the public.  Most museums in our area have a free day the first Thursday of the month.  The last time I checked for the Museum of Flight’s free day it was a Thursday evening in the beginning of the month.  This is a great way for the whole family to enjoy a field trip.

A New Way of Hearing

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“Can You Hear Me?”  by Brad Jersak is a book that focuses on teaching people how to hear the voice of God and the different ways that He speaks to us.  He also wrote a kids version that is an amazing tool to use in discipling kids on hearing the voice of God.  It explains to kids in a clear way the different ways that God speaks to us.  For example, He can speak through the Word of God or through dreams and visions.  I have loved Jesus since I was four years old but it took awhile to learn how to be in relationship with Him and hear Him speaking to me.  That is why I think books like this are a fantastic tool to show kids at a young age how they can interact with God.  The back of the book also give parents ideas on teaching kids to hear the voice of God.  Each page of the book is colorfully illustrated and talks to kids about a different characteristic of God.  When I use this book with my kids, I usually only read one page a day and have a discussion with my kids on what it was about.  Kids are amazing at hearing the voice of God and they can be used powerfully to change the world.  I have seen kids be so excited when they recognize the voice of God in their lives.  I have also seen kids be used powerfully by God to change people’s hearts towards Him.  I never really thought about having to teach my kids to hear the voice of God.  When I found this resource, I was excited to see how this could help kids have a deeper relationship with Jesus at a young age.  God is amazing and desires to speak to the young and the old.

Young Scientist Club

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I have a 7 year old son who loves science.  It is the first thing he asks to do for school daily.  He wants to do experiments and hands-on activities all the time.  I was looking for a science curriculum that was easy to use and supplied the materials for the experiments.  I do not like to hunt down materials for science experiments.  It is so much easier if it all come in a kit or package.  The Young Scientist Club is a great science curriculum for ages 5-12 years old.  They even have some science kits that are for the preschool age kids.  Each kit comes with all the materials you will need to do the experiments.  Sometimes there are common materials from your kitchen or home that they require, but rarely do I need to go buy something. They do an excellent job of explaining different science concepts to young children and each kit has 4 or 5 experiments per subject that they are teaching.   When you order the young scientist club sets you get 3 kits per box that they send you.  The cost is $24.99 per set that you buy which includes 3 kits and up to a dozen or more experiments.  This is ideal for my son who can’t seem to get enough of the hands-on activities.  This is a great curriculum to develop a love of science in the elementary grades.  You can find the Young Scientist Club at theyoungscientistclub.com.

Highschool Social Studies/Study Skills

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I have been researching more about homeschooling high school.  I recently took a webinar class about homeschooling high school that had some new information for me. Interesting information that I didn’t know with regards to Social Studies.  Colleges are looking for 4 different types of Social Studies on your students transcripts.  These are U.S. History, World History, Economics and Government.  If you student loves Social Studies, then they can definitely do more than this but these are the classes that colleges look for on a transcript when looking for your Social Studies credits.

Another interesting tidbit of information was on teaching your child Study Skills.  Institute of Excellence of Writing gives a class called, “Advanced Communications Series” which teaches you note taking and other communication skills.  The homeschool mom then had the creative idea of using the teaching company courses which are college level lectures to allow her children to practice their note taking skills.  Awesome idea!  This would help them not be freaked out when they get into a real college situation.

The webinar class I took was “Keys to Highschool Success” by Lee Binz.  Worth your time and money to check it out.  It had some interesting insights and facts that I did not know for homeschooling high school.  The webinar class is found at thehomescholar.com.

Knights Kingdom- Audio Books

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Audio books are a great tool that I have used for teaching, enjoyment or building character in my kids as we drive to places.  “Knights Kingdom” by Chuck Black is an excellent audio  series that helps develop character training in kids in a creative way.  Chuck Black is a homeschool dad who told amazing bedtime stories to his kids, which he turned into fiction books for kids.  His first series is an allegory of the Bible using knights and swords.  They are very well done and my kids loved the audio versions of the books. They use multiple voices for the audio version which makes the story even more enjoyable.

His second series features different knights that are part of the kingdom.  I loved his second series even better because it focused on character training.  For example, one of the books addressed greed and another talked about overcoming fear.  Each main character was a knight that would have a journey and lesson that they needed to learn.  My favorite one was “Lady Carliss” who set people free from the lies of the enemy that were keeping them in prison and helped them see the truth and their need for the Prince, who represents Jesus. My kids enjoyed them at a young age but I want them to listen to all of them again as teens because of the powerful lessons that are portrayed by the author.  The only caution I have with these books is that the sword fights can be detailed, so I would say that age 10 and older is probably the best age to listen to the audio books.  My younger children listened and had no problems but you know your child best and what age would be appropriate.  You can find “Knights Kingdom” by Chuck Black on Amazon or Christianbook.com.  He also has is own site kingdomseries.com where you can purchase his products and learn more about the series.

How do I teach my child to read?

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I love reading and I prefer books to any movie any day.  I am one of those people that think the book is usually better than the movie.  As parents we get the amazing privilege of developing a love of reading in our children.  The easiest way to get your kids to love reading is to read to them when they are young and keep reading to them even after they learn to read.  My teens still enjoy our read aloud time and we go on many different adventures through books.

I have a few favorite curriculum choices on teaching kids how to read.  The first reading curriculum that I like is “How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Lessons”.  I like this curriculum because it is easy to use.  It writes out a script for the parents for each lesson and it works.  At the end of 100 lessons or even before you are done, your child is reading.  This curriculum is contained in one book and all you have to do is buy the one book and nothing else.  There are not any bells or whistles in this curriculum, so if you have a kinesthetic learner, this may not be the choice for you.  Each child has a certain learning style that fits them the best.  The most challenging thing for me is when it doesn’t match my own learning style and I have to step out of my comfort zone.  I have one child who did amazing on “Teaching Your Child to Read…” and another child who was miserable with it because it didn’t have hands-on activities.  He was a more kinesthetic and visual learner.

If you child is more hands-on and like games and other activities to motivate them to learn to read, then I would recommend the “Primary Arts of Language:  Reading and Writing” by Jill Pike.  You can find this curriculum on the website of Institute of Excellence for Writing.  It has games and other activities to reinforce reading.  I really like how it combines whole language with phonics to teach reading.  I also like the “Phonics Museum” by Veritas Press.  This is a fun curriculum because it uses “real” books to teach the kids how to read.  For example, the first reader is a story about St. Patrick and his life as a missionary.  The language is simple for them to read but connected to someone in history.  On the back of each book is the moment of history that the book is about.  These both are more expensive options then the first one, but definitely more hands-on.  You can find “Primary Art of Language” at iew.com and you can find “Phonics Museum” at veritaspress.com.

Hopefully, this gives you a little bit of a starting point for teaching your child how to read.  Delight in the journey.