Summertime Lessons

Just about everyone makes the statement, "Kids are like sponges." Children soak up the world around them. Parents most certainly want their children to absorb appropriate moral principles and beliefs and develop a friendship with their Creator.
The Little Boy attended overnight summer camp for the first time. His conduct at camp surely pleased his Heavenly Father, as the Little Boy was rewarded for honesty, respect, and for being the best camper of the group by his counselor. Learning Bible principles is certainly helping the children to become appreciative, respectful, and empathetic.
Summer camp was another experience in learning about God through creation. Romans 1:20 states: "[God's] invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world's creation onward, because they are perceived by the things made, even his eternal power and Godship." It was wonderful to hear the Little Boy speak of the activities he enjoyed and just as wonderful to remind him that it is possible to survive and have fun without Nickelodeon and the Wii.
Promoting faith is the most beneficial thing parents can do for their children. Summertime affords so many opportunities to draw lessons from creation. Happy learning...and teaching! 8)
*¤•~*CrystalLynn*~•¤*
¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•` ¤ Never miss an
opportunity to make others happy,
even if you have to leave them alone
in order to do it.*´¨)

Learning Throughout the Summer

Learning does not stop just because the calendar tells us it's summertime. We may not do as much of the "formal" stuff, but every experience in life is a learning experience.
We are planning a trip to the zoo in a couple of weeks. Not only is it a fun day out, but the children learn about animals and their habitats and often get excited about at least one exhibit which inspires them to want to learn more.
The Little Boy will be attending his first overnight camp this summer. That is going to be a wonderful adventure for him. He is not one to be away from home a lot and is usually hesitant to do things with other children whom he does not know very well. Going to camp will promote new friendships and exploring activities he may not have tried otherwise.
The Young Lady has already had some wonderful new experiences. I am intrigued with her bravery. She certainly proves herself to be very strong-willed. Her summertime is usually booked up with equestrian activities, which is a very good thing for her. Not only does she have a drive and passion for all things equine, she has a goal of a life-long career working with horses. She is well on her way, too. I often write about all the things there are to learn on a farm and I stand behind that. The more she and the Little Boy work around the farm, the more well-rounded they become. There is nothing like a farm to teach children the value of hard work.
We have had some very nasty weather and the Little Boy loves learning about science and weather. He still checks the weather report daily and updates his weather chart. He has been fascinated by the severe weather in the United States lately, as well as the thunderstorms we have been having in our own state. He wants to know the cause of weather events and really likes learning about the water cycle that God has insititued to replenish the earth's supply.
We are coming up on the one-year anniversary of the accident that changed our family's life last summer. This summer will undoubtedly be a better one for us, but we will surely be discussing the amazing ability of the body to heal. That accident has given us a year-long lesson on biology and anatomy, only now it's not as scary as it was in months past.
So, everything from having the right amount of money and getting back correct change at the ice cream truck, to executing equestrian abilities and sportsmanship in the horse show ring gives the children fantastic learning lessons all summer long. They may not realize it, but I do. ;)

Misguided

I saw on the news this morning that there is a family in Canada who has chosen to keep the gender of their baby a secret. The baby is a few months old and it was reported that only six people in the world know the gender of this child. The controversial part of this is that this baby's parents have decided that they would like to allow their child the freedom to eventually make its own choice as to what sex it would like to be.
I am appalled. However, that is my opinion.
Here is God's. At 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10, the apostle Paul wrote under divine inspiration to the congregation in Corinth: "Do you not know that unrighteous persons will not inherit God's kingdom? Do not be misled. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men kept for unnatural purposes, nor men who lie with men, nor thieves, nor greedy persons, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit God's kingdom."
My spiritual conscience tells me that this is a situation of an innocent child being kept for unnatural purposes. I form that opinion based on the fact that God created a man and then made a "helper as a complement of him," a woman. (Genesis 2:20) God did not ask Adam if he wanted to be male. He likewise gave no choice in the matter to Eve.
It is a natural occurrence based on chromosomes whether we are born male or female. This amazing procedure of reproduction was instituted by God. The moment we are conceived the Bible tells us at Psalm 139:16 that God sees "the embryo" of us, "and in [his] book all its parts were down in writing." God has such a loving interest in each and every one of us that he records who we are from the moment we begin forming. To afford a child the choice of potentially going against the gender it was created to be is a gross unnappreciation of the wonderful works of God in the fear-inspiring way we are wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14)
Why would loving parents place such a monumental decision on their young child? This child is going to have to "pick" an identity as a toddler, really. There is a reason we don't receive certain privelages as citizens until we reach a specific age. We simply are not mature enough to make relatively well informed choices until we are grown. Are these parents prepared for the possibility of raising a very confused member of society?
I also find this to be an act of greed on the part of the parents. What if this child is humiliated because its parents have put this burden on him or her? They have not gotten a measure of noteriety at their child's expense.
There are ways to provide our children freedom to make choices for themselves while we "keep on making sure of what is acceptable to the Lord." (Ephesians 5:10)
What does this example teach people? What's next?
What I love about homeschooling is that we are free to look to God's Word for the principals we need in order to make good decisions and to base our education on what we know about our Creator. This world is beyond corupt. "All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16) I am grateful to be able to assist my children in looking to our Grand Creator for guidance and direction amidst this very misguided world.

Mom As Teacher

As a parent, you have some pretty high expectations for your children. You want the best for them. You want them to be challenged. You want to see them conquer challenges successfully.
When you take responsibility for providing your children their education, you realize that their degree of intelligence directly reflects your ability to teach them. Perhaps you push them a little too hard, knowing there are those who continually seek to criticize your decision to educate your children at home. Should measuring up to other people's expectations affect the way your children are taught, though?
I learned something from my dog trainer that has weighed heavily on my mind. She said that it is important not to let your puppy fail. If your puppy will only hold a sit for 15 seconds, keep the hold at 12 seconds and release him. Don't let him fail.
Why am I associating this concept with homeschooling? Because of the enormous amount of desire parents have to see their children perform above and beyond and excel in everything. We parents naturally feel disappointed when our children do not live up to the standards we expect of them. Most of the time, we tend to reprimand for substandard performance and neglect to praise them for what they are achieving. And, we set a mark for them that we only become satisfied when they reach.
As parents and more importantly as homeschooling parents, we should not let our children fail.
Homeschooling is a wonderful provision which allows parents to take control of tailoring our children's education to be specific to them. Therefore, our children need only measure up to their own potential. When we try to force our children to go beyond their potential, we make them feel like they have failed. Homeschooling is not about failure.
Sometimes children need a creative approach to learning. This is a great way for parents to use some imagination. Instead of pushing a subject until our children become frustrated and upset that they just can not understand it, take the opportunity to explore fun ways to reinforce the main idea behind the lesson. Use our world! When we have practical, hands-on examples, things become clearer and easier to make sense out of.
So, push your children to reach their potential. Recognize that everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Build upon, praise, and encourage strengths. Find creative ways to work with weaknesses while praising good efforts. Don't let your children feel as though they have failed.

Agricultural Education

There is so much to learn on a farm. Not only will children be able to appreciate how animals grow, they have the opportunity to learn about conservation, geography, business, and health.



Children have the chance to develop confidence and responsibility while doing chores at a farm. This work teaches them the value of being good, productive citizens. They learn that animals have needs and those which live on a farm rely on people to meet their needs. By working on a farm, children get to experience the hard work and dedication involved in maintaining a farm. On the business end, they realize that the farmer must make money to keep the farm running and they learn the different ways the farm brings money in.
An important lesson learned on a farm is safety. A farm poses several dangers and practicing good safety precautions is essential to the well-being of both people and animals on the farm. In addition to safety, children learn how important it is to be in good physical shape in order to handle the variety of duties there are to fulfill. A history discussion comes about when modern conveniences show the children how the physical work around a farm has changed throughout the years.
Children can learn about why animals have to eat the feed they are fed, what happens if an animal eats too much, and can get a real life sense of just how much an animal has to eat in a day in order to be healthy.
Farm chores a fantastic way to incoporate physical activity into the children's day, and presents an amazing wealth of opportunities to learn. 8)

Going a Different Route

I have to say that I really enjoyed the ease of having the Little Boy's curriculum all planned out for me through the Calvert School program. However, this program is not working well for him and it's not the approach I wanted to take for educating my children at home. We gave it a try and Calvert School certainly does offer a magnificent curriculum and support system, but I am planning a different route for the Little Boy's fifth grade education.
I still want to have him enrolled in a program that offers some organization with regard to basic academic curriculum. I also like the idea of being able to keep records through an online system offered by certain programs.
The biggest change I am looking to make going forward is reintegrating spirituality. When Suaemoc did not follow a structured program, we focused a great deal on spirituality. That aspect was extremely enjoyable for me and the children. Neither of the children's programs offer any spirituality in their education and sometimes even deviates from what we know of our Creator.
The Young Lady will continue with The American Academy because I chose that program for her based on its electives and career focus. She will earn an accredited high school diploma through American and I like that the course has a level of difficulty that provides a challenging curriculum for her.
The Little Boy, though, will be switching over to Pear Blossom School in the fall. One area I have been trying to work on with the Little Boy is doing his own research. Pear Blossom promotes self-directed learning and making use of technology to enhance learning options, including internet research, computer aided instruction, multimedia presentation, and communicating with others. Pear Blossom also encourages being responsible, active citizens demonstrating involvement in the local community. In higher grades, Pear Blossom will afford the Little Boy the opportunity to get credits from his participation in the Theocratic Ministry School and in field service. Being graded by submitting his assignments and receiving a transcript from Pear Blossom School is another perk to enrollment. Calvert School offers the same, though the service is not included in his general enrollment in their program and costs extra. Based on the extra cost for that service through Calvert, I opted out this year.
In the younger grades I was against the traditional grading system. I believe that both children are at a point where they understand the importance of achieving high standards and are able to accept that grades received reflect their effort. What's nice about education at home is that they don't have anyone else to compete with. Neither one of them need feel bad about receiving a "lower grade" on an assignment. Rather, they may simply see these as opportunities to increase their efforts. 8)

Iowa eagles about to hatch!

Watch: Iowa eagles about to hatch - CTnow This is an amazing live stream of baby eaglets about to hatch. We've been watching the momma eagle sit on her eggs and continually prep her nest for the arrival of her babies. Every so often, the daddy eagle flies into the nest, bearing gifts of nest materials for momma to use. There are three eggs that momma eagle is sitting on and the video is being shot in a resolution high enough that the cracks in the eggs will be visible. Really, this is a fascinating thing to witness! 8)