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Seasons of a Mother’s Heart ~ Chapter 10

November 4, 2011 in Books, Homeschooling with 2 Comments

Seasons of a Mother's Heart Book Cover 

I’m linking up with Home with the Boys and reading Seasons of a Mother’s Heart by Sally Clarkson.   If you’d like to join in, here is the original post from Erin with the details and reading schedule.

Some of my favorite quotes from Chapter 10:

  • How they turn out will depend more on how much I prayed for them, how much I depended on God, rather than on how much I did for them. pg. 196
  • I cannot do it without God’s grace. pg. 196
  • Prayer is a means by which God releases more of his grace into my life.  Without prayer, I cut myself off from a major source of the grace of God. pg. 197
  • Only prayer that is “in the Spirit” will have power to defeat the enemy against whom I pray. pg. 198
  • My children need me to pray for them as they engage in their own spiritual battles. pg. 199
  • But prayer… it is never really finished. pg. 200

Sally’s words in this book have come to me like they are words straight from God… and it happened again this week.

Being a perfectionistic type A personality, I think I can do anything and that checking things off my to-do list is the top thing on my list of priorities.  {Want a wake up call on that one?  Read this from my friend Rebecca at Moms Mustard Seeds.}  I check off one thing just in time to have to do it again.  So many things to DO that I forget about what I need BE.  What my children need most from me is prayer, not all my running around doing.

First they need me to simply be praying so that I’m connected to God.  When I’m connected to God in prayer, I’m more understanding and gracious.  God gives me the grace I need to make it through each day.

Second, they need me praying for them.  Praying for their todays and their tomorrows.  It is my responsibility to be praying for their growth and protection.  No one else can pray like for them like their momma.  No one else can have that kind of understanding and determination in prayer for them except me.  Me.  Only me.

Stop making check marks.  Put the to do list down.  Make praying for your kids a priority.

How do you pray for your kids?  How do you make it a priority?

Book Review and Giveaway: I Used to Know That Geography

November 3, 2011 in Books, Giveaways with 10 Comments

 

Here’s another great book for your reference library: I Used to Know That Geography

It begins with a review of the planet basics like:

  • Latitude and longitude
  • Climate
  • Basic composition of the earth

The next chapter is about oceans and then there is one chapter for each of the continents.  Each chapter gives information such as:

  • List of nations with capitals, size, and population
  • Historical facts
  • Terrain and climate facts
  • Cultural tidbits

This is great reference book like the grammar books that I previously reviewed from Reader’s Digest.  It would be a great companion to any curriculum.

And one of you will get your very own copy!  Use the Rafflecopter form below to enter.  {No need to leave a comment for each entry; just the first one.}  Giveaway ends at 12:01am on Friday, November 11.  The winner will be announced and notified on Saturday, November 12, 2011.  The winner has 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.  Official rules for giveaways can be read here.

 


 

Can’t see the Rafflecopter form in your email or RSS?

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.  No other compensation was received.

Giveaway Day

Seasons of a Mother’s Heart ~ Chapter 9

October 28, 2011 in Books, Faith, Homeschooling with 0 Comments

Seasons of a Mother's Heart Book Cover 

I’m linking up with Home with the Boys and reading Seasons of a Mother’s Heart by Sally Clarkson.   If you’d like to join in, here is the original post from Erin with the details and reading schedule.

Some of my favorite quotes from this chapter:

  • Discipleship is not just a formal, step-by-step procedure that our children that our children must perform; it is a natural, relational learning process.  pg. 167
  • {Personal relationship is…} a relationship that can move easily from facts and details to faith and feelings. pg. 169
  • Loving personal relationship would be the mark of true discipleship. pg. 169
  • I am convinced that God has built into the mother-child relationship much of the same dynamic seen in the relationship between Jesus and his disciples.  By God’s design, your children are meant to be with you. pg. 169
  • {Jesus’ three spiritual priorities with his disciples…} training them to minister, teaching them his truth, and modeling his life.  pg. 171
  • They need me to be there during the many teachable moments of each day, transforming them into discipling moments because of my spiritual inent for their lives. pg. 171
  • Discipleship is  life, not a lesson. pg. 174

The idea of discipling our children can seem overwhelming.  Many moms think that they aren’t qualified to disciple their children and try to turn that responsibility over to the church or try to use too many systems and curriculum to disciple their kids.

Discipleship is so much more simple than that.  It starts with being with your kids.  Simply loving them and having a relationship with them.  Then add turning the everyday things into spiritual lessons.  Then, live out your faith in front of them.

I don’t know about you, but I want to be the primary influence on my boys, along with Josh.  We want to be with them and teaching them rather than turning that over to someone else.  I’m so glad that I have the opportunity to be with them each day!

How do you disciple your kids?

Educating the Wholehearted Child ~ Chapter 13

October 24, 2011 in Books, Educating the Wholehearted Child Discussion Group, Homeschooling with 0 Comments

how to homeschool discussion group

Chapter 13 is about Discovery Studies and helping your child move into independent learning.

The purpose of Discovery Studies is to provide methods of learning that allow and encourage our children to begin to direct their own learning experiences, to build confidence in gaining knowledge and insight, and to learn the freedom and fulfillment of discovery. pg. 243

Discovery Studies include:

  • Creative Arts: music, drama, etc
  • Drawing and Coloring
  • Science and Nature Studies
  • Foreign Language
  • Computer
  • Audio/Video Production

Allow your children to explore these areas as time and their interests allows.  There are many, many suggestions in this chapter for areas to consider and resources to help.

Here are some of the things that we’re doing right now in these areas:

  • Piano – We have a simple piano lesson book.  It’s so simple that Jonathan can teach himself in many ways.  He pulls it off the shelf whenever he feels like it and uses it with his keyboard.
  • Drawing: Jonathan is not a fan of coloring or crayons.  We bought him some nicer colored pencils recently and now he loves to draw.  Sometimes he draws pictures in reaction to stories that we’ve read.
  • Astronomy: Our science this year is Astronomy, by Jonathan’s choice.  He loves going out with his telescope {which we got for free off freecycle} to see what he can find in the sky with Daddy.
  • Foreign Language:  We’ve been using Hooked on Phonics French.  We don’t use it regularly, but Jonathan pulls it up on the computer and works through the lessons when he is interested.
  • Video:  Jonathan isn’t quite ready to do any editing himself, but he enjoys being recorded and watching himself.  I have a feeling that we’ll do more with this as he gets older.

How do you include Discovery Studies in your homeschooling?

Seasons of a Mother’s Heart ~ Chapter 8

October 23, 2011 in Books, Faith with 0 Comments

Seasons of a Mother's Heart Book Cover 

I’m linking up with Home with the Boys and reading Seasons of a Mother’s Heart by Sally Clarkson.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from this chapter:

  • God never insists on our obedience. (Oswald Chambers) pg, 150
  • I had judged myself guilty by someone else’s standard. pg. 154
  • … I worry that the freedom and grace that we have in the Lord is being subtly supplanted by man-made rules and regulations. pg. 154
  • Legalism is the practice of creating external standards of belief or behavior to judge whether or not a person is righteous or mature. pg. 157
  • Either we live by grace, or we live by law. pg. 158
  • There is no law that can create God’s spiritual fruit in our lives.  It comes only from the Spirit of God in our hearts, as we let him live through us.  pg. 158
  • God wants us to live by faith in Christ, instructed by his Word, guided by his Holy Spirit, not in an immature dependence upon others to tell us how to live.  He wants us to live by faith, in mature dependence on him for the wisdom he “gives generously to all without finding fault” (James 1:5). pg. 158
  • Homeschooling should be a blessing to us, not an unbearable burden.  If it has become such a burden, then perhaps we have required things of ourselves that the Lord never asked us to do.  Perhaps the standards we are trying to follow are not God’s standards but man’s. pg. 160

It is so easy to judge ourselves by someone else’s standars.  What is this mom doing?  What is that mom doing?  How do I measure up?

I pray that no one does that to themselves with my blog.  I write about our homeschooling adventures first as a journal for us.  I want to remember the things that we’re doing and the milestones as my children reach them.  Second, I write hoping to inspire other moms.  I like to share things that work and don’t work for us in hopes that it will give ideas to other homeschoolers.

Don’t get caught up in comparing yourself to other homeschoolers or other moms in general.  Do what God has called you to do.  Do what works best for you and your family.  This is beauty of homeschooling: there are as many ways to homeschool as there are moms, dads, and children to be taught.

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