Praying Romans 12

We have been studying Romans 12 for Lent. At TTD, I was reminded to pray the Scriptures. So I thought I'd write a prayer I can pray these last few days before Easter (and beyond).

Merciful God, I present my body, my whole self as a living and holy sacrifice to you. I pray I will be acceptable to you, God. Help me to be transformed by the renewing of my mind through the study of your word, so that in all things I may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect for my life.
Help me not to think more highly of myself than I ought to think. Give me your eyes to see me with sound judgment. Give me the faith to see my role in your body. Help me to remember that the members do not have the same function. Help me not to judge others for not being like me, and not to think bad of myself when I am not like someone else.  Instead, help me to use my giftedness along with others so that we can work together to do your will - to bring the nations to you. 
God, you have given me the gift of teaching. Help me to teach. Help me to be a fantastic teacher, showing faith in you, showing your goodness, showing your mercy, your love. Help me to glorify you in my teaching. 
And God, if there is another gift you have given me, help me to see it and begin to use it.
Let my love be without hypocrisy. Teach me to abhor what is evil and cling to what is good. Our society isn't good at even knowing the difference, and oh, how I long to fit in sometimes. Help me to stand firm on your word. Teach me what is good so I can cling to it. Teach me what is evil so I can run from it instead of embracing it. 
Help me to be devoted to others in brotherly love, to give preference to one another in honor. Help me to show respect as a matter to you, not the other person, based on what you have done for me, not what they have done to me.
Help me to rejoice in hope, and not be like Jonah who resented your kindness to the Ninevites. As this world (and our society in particular) turns ever against your standards, help me be prepared to persevere in all kinds of pressure and persecution. As people criticize me and talk bad about me, help me bless them instead of returning unkind words. Tie up my tongue if I want to say ugly things. Keep me devoted to prayer instead of finding witty comebacks. Remind me of its power and calming effect on my soul. 
Give me opportunities to practice hospitality. Give me the strength and diligence to keep my house ready. Help me in this area of weakness, Lord. Give me wisdom into what I need to cut out or do differently in order to be more hospitable to others.

Lord, I love to rejoice with those who rejoice, but I confess I do not like to be sad. I do not like to weep with those who weep. Soften my heart and help me not be afraid to show those emotions of sadness and grief.
Help me keep my pride in check. Help me associate with everyone. Don't let me be put off by smells, looks or social status. 
God, I admit that I look wise to some, like my children, but apart from you, I am so lost. I am not wise without your word. I am not good without your spirit living inside me. Help anyone who thinks I'm special to know it all comes from you. Help me not to rely on my own strength - whether in good or bad situations, help me to rely on you. In doing that, I know I will overcome the evil around me with good.
Amen

Teach Them Diligently

Over the weekend I attended the Teach Them Diligently homeschool convention. I've been to more than a dozen homeschool conventions over the years. Probably more than two dozen. I've been to workshops and conventions for ministry. If you go to things like that you know it is like drinking from a fire hydrant.

So. Much. Information! So much to process. So much growth potential.

What I love about Teach Them Diligently is that it is geared toward Christian homeschoolers. Every class is steeped in prayer. The curriculum choices are biblical. Speakers talk about homeschooling as a ministry.

This convention has offered fantastic practical courses teaching practical nuts and bolts of homeschooling at classes like "The 5 Flavors of Homeschooling" and "How to Use an LMS and Reap the Benefits" (taught by ME!) and one I went to on dual enrollment. I love that it teaches the whole person.

I'm on information overload.

It is easy to try to start everything you've learned right away. It is like the New Year's Eve of homeschooling.

We go, we buy new curriculum, we learn about new ideas, new habits, new perspectives. It is hard to know where to start implementing. I'm still praying over all of that, recuperating from Spring Break lag, which is like jet-lag, but longer and coming down from the high of teaching a class.

Right before we left, my mentor and friend, Lou Peeks passed away. Talk about teaching diligently! She was not a homeschool mom. She was a Christian mom. She was faithful to God her entire life. She and her husband Jack raised three strong, smart and beautiful daughters and took in something like 5 other girls over the years. Raising them as their own for whatever time they had with them.

And Lou was a genius. Like, really. She worked for NASA right out of college. She was on the team that made a computer screen output the very first letter for the very first time. Totally awe-inspiring for my kids. She is this real person who rocked them to sleep as babies. She taught Bible classes. She taught at VBS. She went on mission trips with us. She shared her heart for Jesus and her wisdom. She taught math classes and was awesome, and was REAL. She was "Nanna" Lou to all my kids.

My heart breaks for her family, though, I know they know she is waiting for them. She will see them in Heaven. This separation is not forever. But it is for now. It is for real.

And it brings me back to my time this past weekend. What will I do with the knowledge I have? How will I raise up my children? What will they say of me when I am gone? What will people remember? Will I remain faithful? Will I be one described as diligent? Will I be described as a passionate follower of Christ? Will my children know they are loved?

Inspired Soup

I made this really great soup today. Seriously, I LOVE it. And I threw it together by the seat of my pants. I'm looking for new recipes to try because one of the kids just developed some allergies that have thrown out several of our family favorites like Lasagne Soup and Chicken Tikka Masala and Taco Soup and Football Soup and Mexican Fudge.

We still have Tatertot Casserole, but I have to have special ingredients to make Tatertot casserole now. None of which I have today.

You know how you do that thing, you look at recipes and see all the things you DON'T have. Then, you look around at what you DO have, and you wing it?

You know, you make up your own recipe INSPIRED by something you saw online?

(NO? That's just me? Surely not.)

I put a pot on the stove, opened a package of steamable Mediterranean Quinoa (frozen, from Aldi) and threw it in with enough water to cover it. (I know that isn't how you are supposed to cook it.)
I added chicken breast (already cooked - leftovers or just cooked ahead of time). We have 5 people, so I added 5 portions. I cubed (really small cubes) sweet potato and threw it in.

[Totally off topic, but cubing vegetables like that makes me think of the base-10 set I was just using with my youngest. And I really want to do edible base-10 sets. How fun would that be? Maybe not sweet potato, but chocolate bars or something.]

OK, so I made sure there was enough water to cover the sweet potato and turned it on high heat to bring it to a boil.

Doing it again, I'd do the sweet potatoes alone first, then when they were soft, I'd add the rest. Once it got to a rolling boil, I turned it down a bit.

I minced a clove of garlic and threw it in with a packet of onion soup mix. (The one from Aldi is the only one I know to be gluten-free.) I sat down to grade a few assignments while it simmered.

At this point, the aroma was making me heady. One of my teens came in to "help me stir" the soup. She was in agreement that it was pretty much done. I turned off the stove to let it cool and she went to get the others. When it stopped bubbling, I added a bit of coconut milk and stirred in some potato flakes to thicken it.

It was great. Really great.

The coconut and sweet potato were perfect pairings. [One of our kids has lactose intolerance, so we have almond milk and coconut milk on hand, but you can get it in cans to keep long-term.)

It almost had an exotic flavor to it, but it is very mild and not spicy. Great for children.

Did I mention how great I thought it was?

I had two bowls. Not gonna lie. I loved it. Gonna add this puppy to the regular menu. I made up a new recipe and the kids will eat it!

Teen one devoured it. "This is great, mom!"

Teen two liked it too!

I am on a roll!

Teen three says he doesn't really like it, but he'd eat it if he had to. Hey, I'll take that!

Eight-year-old says, "Nah, I don't really like it."

"Let it cool a little and try it again, honey."

"No, I don't like it."

"Well, it is dinner, so eat it anyway."

"No, thank you. I just don't like it. You can have mine."

Of course.

I WANTED to say, "Well, I don't really like YOU!"

But I DID NOT! It isn't true. I actually like my kids as well as love them. They are wonderful.

But feeding them is so disappointing sometimes.

I tried to encourage her to eat it. She tried a few bites.

She didn't eat it.

Her bowl sits on the counter - ever hopeful.

But we all know she won't be back.

She won't get to eat junk food instead.

She isn't being obstinate.

But the battle is over.

Sigh.

Three of our five family members at home all the time are gluten-free. One is lactose intolerant, has a sensitive stomach, and is probably allergic to shellfish (allergy testing next week). I'm supposed to do low sodium (but I don't all the time). And they will only barely tolerate beans, but that is a preference, not an allergy so they have to eat them sometimes!

No gluten, no cheese or other dairy, no tomatoes, no shrimp, nothing spicy.

Cooking for us can be hard. Going out to eat is hard. Food is hard.

There are few, very few meals we all really like. Shepherd's Pie is one I can count on. One. I need another favorite meal.

What does your family eat well?

Spring Cleaning for Missions

(Saturday, March 17) I wouldn't say that I exactly have spring fever but it is the first weekend of spring break and there is a lot that needs to be cleaned here at Camp Woodruff

When our first child moved out we turned the spare room into a storage room. We have no garage and previously, everything was stored in the schoolroom, which made the schoolroom not very conducive to doing school!

But as the days went by, we had a tendency to just pile things up in that room. My daughter and I like to craft, and our craft stuff got piled up. As each holiday rolled by, holiday stuff got piled around until it looked like this:

YIKES!

Taking a cue from some organizer/anti-hoarding shows, we have pulled everything out of that room. We piled it outside the basement door.

I sorted until dusk, then we piled it all back (organized, but not completely gone through) in on the shelves.

No messy table! No boxes on the floor! YAY!

And, possibly, more importantly, we found quite a bit of stuff for the church garage sale.

My girls are going to Guyana on a medical mission trip. The garage sale is going to help pay for their trip.

I'm so proud of them! One is a CNA, working full time and going to nursing school full time. She has been to Guyana on these trips before and the summer after graduation she went as the intern for two months. She knows the ins and outs of the trip! She can't wait to go back!

The other is in high school. She wants to go into ministry. She volunteers to watch the kids during small groups and helps me with Kids' Praise. I have no doubt that they both will be a great help on the trip. I am so excited for them!

And a little nervous.

We raised them for this. But letting them go is still just a little hard.

Can you relate?

Will you join me in prayer for them?

And, if you feel moved to, please donate to their fund. It sure would mean a lot to me. Thanks, friends!

Why Following Your Dreams or Your Heart Isn't the Best Policy

I just watched the last 15 minutes or so of a movie with my daughter. She was watching it when I came into the room where she was. She navigates Netflix better than I do. Because we set up her own profile, I don't worry about her getting age-inappropriate content like nudity or cussing. But what I as a parent wish I could filter for is themes explored in movies. Or messages promoted by this move. Or worldview. But then, I doubt she'd have anything to watch at all.

Have you watched kids' shows lately? Maybe they are not that much different than our shows. But as a mom, I watch them with new eyes. In this article, Eric Metaxas reminds us that "every film has a worldview message, for good or ill." It is true. Every book, every show, every movie, every person has a worldview. And it shows. It comes out in the words we write, the scenes we film. And of course, we see them, take the messages in, and lodge them in our memory. Shows (both on TV and the silver screen) have the ability to influence the culture.

Some of you scoff. Check out these 10 movies that changed the world.

TV shows have messages for their viewers. They do not just reflect the culture. And what messages are we telling our young children? What was the message the sages behind this particular show wanted to tell my daughter? Just follow your heart. Nothing new there. This was the major theme of Romanticism.

Not ROMANCE, Romanticism. The Movement. Romanticism was started in the second half of the 18th century (AKA Age of Enlightenment) along with a host of other -isms. It was kind of a reaction against the stoic Rationalism and Aristocratic ideals. In a nutshell, it placed enormous value on strong emotions. Like Naturalism, it idealized untamed nature and all things "natural." If you followed your heart and your passions, you would find your true self and your true path.

Does that sound like every kids' movie to come out in the last 20 years or what?

But, when we look at the reality of life, we understand that choices have consequences. And our hearts are fickle. Our emotions play tricks on us.

In this movie, the young protagonist, an orphan, wished to be a dancer. She failed to practice, failed auditions yet because she had heart she ended up getting the lead in the ballet. With little to no instruction, she could dance and complete jumps others more experienced had tried, but could not do. She danced on rooftops, on the tops of chairs. And of course, she got the boy, and a family too.

From what I saw of it, it was a cute movie. But like everything else, it should cause pause. I needed to talk to my daughter and remind her that we don't follow our hearts, we follow God's plan regardless of what our heart says.

I don't cheat on my husband when I see some handsome guy. My heart may say I want to, but that doesn't make it the right thing to do. The Bible calls that emotion lust and tells us to run from it, not give in to it.

I don't hit my neighbor or my children when my heart is super angry at them. We have laws about that and the Bible says "in your anger, do not sin."

There are days when I am overwhelmed and tired of bringing in firewood. I don't want to cook a meal and I have no desire to homeschool. Since my heart isn't in those things, should I just skip it? If a new momma misses her old life of partying and staying out with friends if her heart isn't really into motherhood today, should she just go do whatever her heart desires?

Yes, I am being absurd, but that is the essence of what we are saying to kids over and over again in these movies. Don't ask your parents. Don't ask any adult for advice. Just follow your heart! Don't worry about laws or consequences, it will all work out if you just follow your heart. You can travel for days up an ice-covered mountain all alone to find your sister. You can talk sense into her because you care so much for her. You can break all of your parents' rules and do your own thing - and in the end, if you just stay true to your heart, it will all work out and your bumbling parents will figure out that you were right all along.

Blech!

I'm not saying all kids' movies are crap.

I'm not even saying we need to stop watching the movies and TV shows.

I'm just saying we need to talk to our kids about this stuff. They need to know that not only are the stories not real, the messages are bunk, too! Some of the messages they are bombarded with do not hold water in real life and they do not live up to God's standards.

Teaching to the Test

We study all history as world history. We put it all in the context of other events going on around the world. We also include church history as we go. I glean from many sources. Online and offline. We even have a textbook or two as well as actual curriculum and lots of beautifully written books.

As you can probably imagine, it takes us longer than a typical history class takes to cover a certain time period. So this week, it is very apparent that we do not have enough material to last through the school year. Rather than finish early, I got to looking around for other resources and ran across this website: https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/apcourse/ap-united-states-history/course-details

I have used it in the past because it links to some good primary sources. I like primary sources better than textbooks. But it is very easy to get bogged down in the reading and never move past the major events. There is just SO much to study! (A-hem. I did not spend an entire year on WW2, really! It just SEEMED like it!)

Anyway, this site has a very nice feature: a sample AP History Exam.

So in two weeks, for the rest of the school year, we are teaching to the test. I am currently adding the sample test questions into Schoology.

This is a LOT of work. Seriously, many, many hours of work. FOR ME. Not them. They will not spend near as much time on it as I do. BUT, once it is there, all of my kids will be able to use it. And, I can set completion rules so that they must pass it with an 80% or better to be able to move on, or in this case, complete the class. Or whatever. I love that about Schoology! I have not decided whether to let them see the correct answers after they take it once or not. I kind of want them to have to look this information up. I have a couple of weeks to decide.

But, here's the deal. I really do not like these test questions. There have already been a couple of instances where I not only didn't know the correct answer but when I looked it up, I was really shocked at how they came to that conclusion.

In one such case, the test-taker was to read a selection from a well-known text and make inferences from the text, and I seriously would not have made ANY of the inferences they listed. It was simply not supported by the text. And it was obscure enough that unless a teacher had taught to the test from the beginning, I'm not sure this would be something gleaned from the excerpted text. We've actually read the book. I didn't get that at all. Hmmm...

I taught history. Everything I taught really happened. It is all history. It was all significant enough to have primary sources and biographies and other written accounts of the events and people involved. I taught the social and cultural things as well. We listened to Jazz and looked at art from the Old West. We crooned with Elvis and swooned over Beethoven. We've studied maps and learned states. History at our house is fun and amazing.

But much of what I taught won't be on the test. And I sure didn't teach all of this stuff that IS on the test. Some of it *I* have not even heard of.

I have no regrets. No one can teach (or learn everything) in history. So we choose. Public schools choose, textbook writers choose, colleges choose, we all choose. No regrets. At all.

I get why it is said (and I have no idea if it is really true) that teachers teach to the test. If I were teaching an AP World History class, and I wanted my students to pass it, I would feel I had to. That is the point -- to get kids to be able to pass the test. I would have to be a student of the test and I would choose a curriculum that taught the things on (and the agenda of) the test.

But that isn't the point of my History classes. The point in our homeschool history class is to create a sense of wonder and amazement and to cultivate discernment. To see that actions have consequences on a very large scale, and also to see that individuals can change the world!

That is the beauty of homeschooling, but also one of the potential drawbacks. Something to think about if you are considering homeschooling. You will have to teach to the test to some extent if you want your students to pass it.

Chaos

I have several things I am passionate about in this life. My kids - what mother isn't? My husband, and marriage in general. The divorce rate scares, horrifies and saddens me beyond measure. (Oh there are so many other posts there!)

I've been a homeschool mom for 18 years, so that is something I am really passionate about. It is one of those no-brainers. I can't help being passionate about it, and it exudes out of my pores. Being a Christian is the same. I want you to see it in every conversation. I want to be someone others know and think - "Hey, Christians are cool people."

Homeschooling and Christianity go together for me like pb & j. We are in a Christian homeschool co-op. Our curriculum glorifies our Creator. On and on the two are tied together.

Through homeschooling I get to be around a lot of younger women. I see their struggles, their victories, their doubts and their questions. I have been there. I've been around this block more than once, ya know? We've homeschooled for 18 years. I've graduated two very different students. I've got 4 more coming up. I don't know everything about homeschooling, but I am on the other side of a lot of experiences that are common to homeschooling.

Thursday started out as a ride on the crazy train. It started Wednesday afternoon. I am on the board of a 24 family (this year) homeschool co-op. By Wednesday night 5 people were confirmed out. We were scrambling around finding subs, got it settled, went to bed before 1 a. m. for once.

I am beyond thankful that hubby is working from home this week. He helped us get out the door for co-op relatively on-time. We have over an hour drive each way. As Thursday dawned we were down 7 moms/teachers. We, the board members, were trying to figure out who should go where. It was crazy. I was driving, so my personal secretary (aka whichever kid is in the front seat) was trying to keep up and type texts for me. We were all lost in the chaos. I can't remember who is in which class. I'm asking my kids: who are your teachers? Um... the one with the yellow hair... (yeah, that helped!)

I decided to have classes sit with their teachers instead of their moms for our opening assembly - so we could see who needed a sub and who didn't.

Breathe a sigh of relief, at least we've got a plan.

I get to the church building where we meet and learn the water is off. Road construction. So while trying to figure out who is here and who is gone, who needs to go where, which moms can do what to fill in, I'm thinking about my first class, Biology. We are supposed to dissect. Yeah, that is not going to happen with no water to clean up. I have nothing else planned. The preschool teacher is doing the same thing - working her mind around her class with no water - wiping hands with wet wipes, etc. It was like a gut punch. One wave of chaos crashing after another.

It was comical, making announcements you think you will never have to make. Like about how to handle toilet paper so we don't clog the toilets when the water comes on and we DO get to flush.

From the front of the room, I'm telling my co-teacher to look up stuff while I do announcements and sort out teachers who, in the end, didn't need sorting. So many were gone that the classes each had enough teachers. Big sigh of relief!

We do our birthdays and it is time to pray and head to class. I love our morning time. I love the noise and the energy of the kids. I love the women in our group, especially. They are all strong. They adapt and handle everything thrown at them. It is seriously a joy to lead this co-op. These things go through my mind. We've disrupted their morning routine. We are facing a day without water with almost a third of our teachers gone.

It is time to pray and I'm there in the chaos and I am so thankful for how easily things worked out so far. And I'm thinking about why our numbers are so low. Moms are dealing with sickness and mental health issues and family struggles and moving. The big world is in chaos.

I am overwhelmed with thankfulness for that group. I am overwhelmed with the idea that I am there to encourage them, and to lead by example as I give up my worry and fears and chaos and live in God's peace. So that is what I prayed for. I never script my prayers, and I have no idea exactly what I said, but I knew God was with us and that he would carry us through. He always does.

After co-op someone came up to me and commented to me that I was such a good example to other moms.

I had no idea what to say. Didn't she HEAR that prayer? I was crying out because I NEED God. I am no good without him. I get flustered and my heart (and voice) breaks when I pray for what the mommas are going through. I feel weak and ineffective. I want to help, but I don't know what to do for them. What was I a good example of? Helplessness?

Oh, wait, yes, that is the point.

That - crying out and letting God's peace take over - that is what these women need to see sometimes. I'm sure they need to see confidence and strength. Had we had a plan when we walked in the door and if I'd have just given directions from the board at the beginning, we would have looked like we had it all together. Maybe.

But perhaps it is OK to show weakness. To cry out to God in front of the ones you are striving to mentor. To confess that we are flying by the seat of our pants sometimes, held up by Jesus and coffee. It is OK to be vulnerable in front of them and to show them that we need Christ.

Because they do too. And they need that example. The NOT Pinterest-ready, canned faith, Facebook and Twitter post, perfectly worded, real-life example.

I'm still struggling with how to take a compliment like that. But that is a post for tomorrow or another day.

Do you mentor other women? Do you have great mentors? Tell me about it.

Biology and the Creator

I teach Biology in a homeschool co-op. Teaching this class is one of my favorite things. There are many reasons, but one is that this class like Human Anatomy and Physiology draws me closer to God. I do not how anyone can study Biology and not believe in Intelligent Design, a benevolent Creator. To see the amazing creatures and think it all came from "chance" or by accident - it takes greater faith than I can muster.

Today we dissected perch.

We observed gills and different types of fins. We magnified scales and saw the growth rings. We scraped away the skull and saw the lobes of their brains and found their tiny two-chambered hearts. We saw air bladders and funky livers. We determined male and female. Fun stuff!

The students are doing very well in the class. We have eight students. All are making As or Bs. They are keeping up and they are making good comments. They are super smart. And they are getting somewhat attached to their specimens each time we dissect. In a way, this is nice. It helps them not take it too lightly that an animal had to die to give them the opportunity to study in this manner. But it also makes them a bit squeamish to make the cuts and pull out the upper parts so lower organs can be seen. And we are SO LOUD. Today we needed to stop in the middle of the dissection. I was losing control of the class. They were talking over me, they were pushing back against the steps of the dissection.

So we stopped. And did something I have never done in the middle of a co-op class before. We stopped and prayed.

We asked God to quiet us. Asked for his guidance. But mostly, I thanked him for the opportunity to dissect these fish. You see, it all came washing over me at that moment. Earth could have existed with mankind and one kind of plant. It could be very, very different. Very, VERY boring!

But God chose to put his creativity on display. He put a myriad of color all around us. Even within species, there is an abundance of differences and beauty. In the tiniest of insects, we see miniature perfection. In the longest necks of the giraffes, we see design so intelligent it is astounding.

Dissection is just a tiny, fleeting glimpse into the absolute genius of our glorious Creator. The fact that we have such immense diversity and it all works together to keep each other going. Really, it blows my mind!!

How AWESOME is our GOD!!

"What is man that you are mindful of him?"

And yet he - the Great One - who created everything we study, everything we see - he knows us, loves us, cares for us. He wants to bless us and be close to us.

Oh, may I forever be thankful!

How can anyone study Biology and not love God?! I find it hard to believe that there are atheists in the world of science. Really. (Yes, I know there are, it is just hard to fathom.)

What part of creation brings you closer to God?

What I Could Learn from a Public School Teacher

If you are a public school teacher reading this, my hat's off too you! Especially if you are in early elementary school.

A friend from homeschool co-op called me one day last summer. She is one of my mentors. I just love her heart, and cherish her wisdom. As we spoke, God blew my mind. He reminded me of something so important and so (I believe) inherent in the public school system that I don't think we notice it. Oh some people do. [Montessori anyone?!]

So my friend called to get my husband's number from me so her son can chat with my husband about the IT world. My husband has worked in the IT world for over two decades. He was a programmer, and now he is an Infrastructure Architect. (Ha! I even know what that means!)

He is a consultant now, but he has worked a "regular" job in IT as well. He's an in-the-office guy AND he regularly telecommutes. And he has experience coordinating efforts of and working with all kinds of IT professionals.

She is so smart to have her son ask his questions of a real-life IT guy. But that is Homeschool101. I mean, every. single. college seminar tells you that.

It is a great idea. My daughter 'shadowed' a doctor, and now she wants to be a doctor (thanks, Shon!). Great idea, but nothing new. Not earth-shaking.

But you know how it is when you get a call from a good friend whom you haven't seen in a few weeks, right?! You get a little, shall we say, chatty. [Oh, is that just me?]

So once we got the reason for the call out of the way, we were able to just be friends talking and catching up.

We got to talking about real life stuff. About our kids. It always comes back to that, doesn't it?

And through the course of our chat she mentioned how routine is important for kids. [OK, we ALL know this, right?]

But we were talking about how she put two of her kids in public school this past year, and how hard it is missing routines when it is summer. [Click! PIeces begin to fall into place...]

And then she blows my mind by saying that the routines of public school give kids certain life skills. Skills they don't necessarily get in homeschool. [And I knew EXACTLY what she was talking about!]

Those little routines are great! I'm not even talking about big, life-altering routines, just simple things: at 8:23 we go to this room first and put our backpacks here, then we sit here to do this and at noon we sit there to do that.
You have seen the pictures of the day's routine in preschool classes. You have heard about or experienced the daily routine of high school. Every day is pretty much like every other day. [Bueller, Bueller... Bueller...]

You know, the drudgery of school. The stuff I hated in school. Oh! The monotony! Jobs are often like that too. MOST people have a schedule they keep. And most days are like the other days. We call it the "routine" and complain about it being "hum-drum" and a "rat race" -- our daily grind stuff.

If you think about it, it is the structure of routine that helps kids be organized. If they have to have shoes for going to school every single day, they eventually get into the habit of putting on shoes before they walk out the door. The routine makes learning the days of the week almost effortless.

I know, you are like, well, yes, um... people wear shoes. And Friday comes after Thursday, every week. But those things are so much easier to learn in a structured, routine environment! And although we do all of our subjects all week, we do not have much of what would be called structured routine. I used to, but it is so against my nature that I have forgotten about it. And I have forgotten the rewards of that as well because we are no longer reaping those rewards.

What rewards? [Perhaps you are like me, and out of routine, so you have forgotten.]

Daily routines and structure helps kids to be organized. They remember that we work first, eat lunch and then, after more schoolwork, we go outside to play with the neighbors. [Or at least they remember that the neighbors don't get home until after 3.]

It also helps them to be self-reliant. Even if you are a super-helicopter parent who brings all the forgotten homework/lunch money/etc. to your child, there are still unwanted consequences  to forgetful behavior like forced waiting and embarrassment at having to call mommy to bail me out. Kids do eventually stop wanting to call home. But a homeschooled kid just goes to the other room to get a pencil or the homework page. No. Big. Deal. No embarrassment, no uncomfortable waiting. And no feelings of I'm too old to be relying on mom. So those lessons are a little harder to learn.

And scheduling - schools can't be as loose on homework deadlines as homeschools. I can't tell you how many times we've skipped a subject to do a field trip or put off an assignment to go do other things. That is the BEAUTY of homeschooling. But it comes with a price. My kids have not learned time management skills until much later in life. [Maybe that isn't true of other homeschoolers?]

So, thank you public school teachers for all the lessons you teach - the ones in books and the ones that are not in the books.

Homeschool moms, how do YOU put routine in your homeschool? How do you teach these valuable life skills?

[Oh, and Oklahoma, fix the budget mess and give them raises. Cut the administration, cut your OWN salaries, take a bigger chunk from casinos - whatever it takes.]

New Beginnings

I keep starting and restarting this blog. I want to blog. I feel led to blog. To offer hope to other moms. People that know me are not surprised that I have not kept this up well.

I have three unpublished blog posts. I'm not sure what I was waiting for. This is no way to run a blog. I'll try again.

It is the Easter season. Sort of. In liturgical calendars, it is the season of Lent. We've studied Lent a little in our homeschool. It isn't really something that we do in our faith heritage, so I am not by any means an expert or even experienced. But for the second year in a row, we have participated in Lent. We don't fast on Sundays. Not sure why I feel compelled to say that. It is funny what we will bicker and debate about. Does it matter? So many things we argue over don't really matter.

So there is that. We are giving up all drinks except water. I don't drink coffee every day, but I really, really enjoy it or hot spiced tea when it is cold. I hardly ever drink soda/pop (another thing we can argue about that doesn't matter at all!). Hubby is addicted to Diet Coke, though. The kids are more apt to drink chocolate milk or lemonade. We let the kids decide what we gave up this year. After much debate, they chose to give up all drinks except water. Chosen because it is easier than sugar, flour, eggs or chocolate. (We still celebrated Pancake Day!)

We did the same thing last year. Same discussion - which things are harder for which people. Drinks are equally hard for us all (except for daddy, who they are sure never drinks water!), but not too hard.

We THINK it is going to be easy. We THINK we don't normally drink much else besides water. The first few days we forget and remind each other. Then we go along and we all remember and we all accept it. We hardly even want anything except water. We get the hang of it and it goes smoothly. Then a Thursday comes and all of a sudden we don't get drinks when I get gas. We USUALLY get drinks. Someone asks before they remember. Oh! The misery. We don't even have water bottles in the car! ahhhh!

And then we go to Grandma's and they have juice or tea or ANYTHING but water.

And we finally, really, feel it. It isn't as easy as we thought. Again.

I teach children's worship (kids' praise is what we call it sometimes). We studied Jesus' Temptation in the Wilderness for a few weeks this year. Did you know that time in Jesus' life is what Lent symbolizes/celebrates/emulates? I tend to think of it as a kids' story, in simple terms. But there is SO MUCH in that story. Jesus would have been weak from hunger. He was way past hangry. I don't like to think of Jesus as desperate. But in reality, he was physically deprived. Literally starving. And then, he faced huge personal temptations from Satan. He went out into the desert to be tempted. Like Rocky heading into the fight of his life. Only his training was to make himself as physically weak as possible. I have heard this was to strengthen him later - he knew he had overcome before his earthly ministry began, so he knew he would overcome as his ministry on earth came to an end.

I don't pretend to understand why the Holy Spirit led him into the desert to be tempted by the devil. But, I do understand that Lent leads to Easter. My favorite holiday. Hands down. Better than Christmas, better than my birthday.

Easter is so significant.

In children's worship, we are using the month of March to look at Jesus' last days on earth. The kids don't know what Passion Week means, so we don't use that term. We stood with the crowds and shouted "Hosanna" yesterday. We inked their bare feet with stamp pads and they stepped on a large roll of brown craft paper - our path. We glued down palm leaves and wrote words of praise on the path.

This coming week we will talk about Jesus in the temple. When we arrive the classroom will be in disarray. We will go to another room to begin making recycled paper then come back to see what my helper has discovered about the room (it was in disarray to remind us how Jesus threw the salesmen and animals out of the temple). Then we will hear Jesus' prophecy about rebuilding the temple in three days. We will tear up construction paper temples and go back to our paper that has been drip-drying. We will add torn up construction paper fro the temples and seeds and beads to make a reminder of the temple on our paper. We will leave it to dry until next week.

The second week we will look at our (now dry) paper and see how beautiful our designs turned out. We will use the paper to make a Jesus paper doll. We will cut out circles for Jesus' face and glue them to a popsicle stick with a small stick across that one for the arms. One side will be a happy face and one side will be a sad face. As we talk about the events leading up to the Crucifixion, we will talk about which things made him happy and which made him sad. We will leave our Jesus paper dolls in class until the next week.

The third week we will talk about the Crucifixion, how Jesus knew he was going to his death, but he did it anyway. We will talk about death and how it makes us feel, and heaven. We will bury our Jesus paper dolls upside down in some beautiful copper-looking planters. This will leave the popsicle sticks upside down in the dirt, looking like a cross. We will leave them at the church until the next week, Easter. Over the week, I will water the pots and put them in a sunny spot. (I will have others water them when I am not in the building.) Hopefully, the seeds will sprout and we will have some new life to look at on Easter Sunday!

On Easter, we will celebrate the Resurrection and new life. We will talk about the promises Jesus made and how we can be with him forever.

Are you participating in Lent?
What will you be teaching this Easter?