Words penned by Debbie Strayer ~ The Homeschool Minute ~ May 25, 2011

Home education is the education that comes with being a part of your home. Some years are much more about life and its adjustments than about what comes from books. You may want to broaden your view when you think about how things have gone.

When you review your year, make sure you look for all the types of growth that have taken place, for both you and the children. Ask yourself these questions: What challenges did we face as a family this year? (Finances, family illness, new babies, toddlers or teens, moves, stresses, etc.) What adjustments have we made this year? (What did we do to continue in spite of our challenges?) What growth have I seen? (In attitudes, actions, service, etc.)

Once you have considered these questions, take these next steps:

~ Give your year to the Lord. Scripture is clear. God is near to those who come to Him humbly.

~ Get some rest. Take time to seek the Lord for the lessons of this year and His plan for the next. Give yourself and the children a break of whatever length you feel is best. It may be a day, a week, a month, or a summer. Pray and listen to the voice of the Lord, wise counselors, and your husband.

~ Look forward to His grace and direction for the future. He is faithful to provide for those He calls, and homeschooling is a calling (I Thessalonians 5:24.) It is on His shoulders, not yours, to get this done.

From many years in the classroom, I know there were children who were there in body while their hearts were elsewhere. I don't think those days of school amounted to much for them. From many years of homeschooling, I know that there were days when my children were there in their hearts while their minds may have been elsewhere. With my eyes fixed on Jesus and His plan, those days at home were never losses.

More encouraging words from both Debbie Strayer and Ruth Beechick can be found here: Articles to Inspire

Teaching Tip Tuesday ~ Creating a Home for Learning

The phone rings.  The toddler cries.  Someone is hungry and the postman is at the door.

The breakfast dishes huddle in and around the sink and it is 10:13 AM.  Morning work folders have not yet begun.  With no thankful journals written, phonics practice completed, or precision copywork penned, the morning seems a complete learning failure.

I push down the stress by remembering thankfulness, forcing a smile, and speaking honeycomb words.

I pause to look around at the wee ones.  The five year old is at the wooden table set creating a surprise work of art for daddy.  She's using the new felt pens and forming words and images and colourful patterns to show her love with art.

The seven year old is curled up in the arm chair listening to  "Charlotte's Web" audio book, delighted by Wilbur and Charlotte and smiling slightly as each page turns. 

The three year old has pulled out the wooden house puzzle and pieces it together again and again, cheering each time a new piece fits.  The five year old, done with her art, joins the cheering preschooler and starts on the bear puzzle and the fish puzzle and the cat puzzle.

Without one formal lesson taught, somehow the children are still learning, experiencing and building relationships.  I see them creating, problem solving, exploring and comprehending all within the comforts of their home. 

I ask myself, "Is it possible to fill a home with spaces of learning so that the mind is continually being filled with beautiful words and experiences simply because we are alive, embracing the gifts that sit on the shelves and hang on the walls and sound through the air around us?"

Is it possible to learn rich by simply living full in a home filled with growing relationships, excellent things (books, music, art, nature) and a presence of Him?


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Following is a less than extensive list of suggestions to encourage rich learning within your home.  Some suggestions are linked to a corresponding resource of my own personal preference:

Books ~ Bible stories, missionary stories, autobiographies of historical figures, poetry, classic literature, science books, audio books

Music ~ listening exposure ~ instrumental, classical, hymns, worship; musical instruments, singing, dancing

Art ~  "How-to" books, posters, post cards, art prints

Maps ~ world maps, Canada map, Bible maps, historical maps, globes

Games ~ geography, math, strategy, reading, drawing

Scripture/ Devotionals ~ scripture calligraphy, scripture posted on fridge, scripture memorized over lunch, devotional read after dinner

Videos ~ classic stories, Bible stories, nature exploration

Creative Materials ~ paper, felt pens, crayons, watercolour paint pad, rubber stamps, pipecleaners, felt, feathers, googly eyes

Life Journaling

Journal Entry #12:

Marking the moments of childhood with prints of hands and feet.

Praying blessings upon tiny hands for all that they will do, and hold, and carry.

Gathering hopes for the feet that will go, and stand, and run the race.

Etching syllables that are spoken from their mouths, a reflection of them at this time.

A copy of the "I Am Poem" can be printed here: I Am Poem

A homeschooling mom of four encourages here with "Homeschooling with Purpose ~ A Purposeful Home" . An insightful reminder for those of us who struggle with balancing the cleanliness of our home with the reality of our family.

To watch and listen to in the quiet ...

So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. ~ Psalm 90:12