What to do When the Educating To Do List Becomes a Bit Too Long ...

"Reading one of the articles about education in one of the magazines my sister-in-law gave me has provided me with a new goal.  Presently I aim to give the children three opportunities in our little homeschool every day as I am able: 1) something or someone to love, 2) something to do, and 3) something to think about.  The article simply stated that this is what education is all about. ... I've tried to lead them to respect the elderly in their neighbourhood and give gifts to those who are struggling with hard times.  The reading of good books as well as their nature study provides them with something to think about.  As far as something to do, last ironing day I showed them how to make window decorations by ironing colorful leaves between wax paper.  Another day I showed them how to save the seeds from the marigold flowers that had finished blooming.  The children folded paper to make their own seed packets, and before these homemade envelopes were filled with the little black marigold seeds, they were decorated on the front with a drawing of the flower.  Certain elderly neighbors on the block were happy to receive these packets  when we came to call." 

~ Taken from Pocketful of Pinecones: Nature Study with the Gentle Art of Learning, authored by Karen Andreola

Lately, the goal presented in the words above, I've found myself thinking about over and over again, pondering how to make it more of a central part of our homeschool day.  I decided to turn to a fresh page of my home journal and pen a list.

Three Opportunities Each Day 

1) Something or Someone to Love

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ~ Matthew 7:37-39

Love Family
~ helping
~ sharing
~ encouraging
~ giving
~ spending time with

Love Community
~ volunteering ...
~ practical giving to neighbours
~ encouraging notes, cards, gifts
~ being prepared to give to the poor ... always
~ visiting animal shelters

Love the World
~ Compassion, World Vision, Relief and Support Services Canada
~ Global Prayer Digest
~ Voice of the Martyrs
~ jar for "Love Money"

2) Something to Do

And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. ~ Colossians 3:17

~ art
~ food preparation
~ chores
~ self chosen project
~ gardening
~ handiworks
~ gift making
~ physical activity practice
~ drawing nature

3) Something to Think About

[W]hatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these things. ~ Phillipians 4:8

~ good books
~ table talk discussion questions
~ missionary stories
~ current events
~ news articles
~ science
~ nature study
~ artist study
~ composer study

What goals do you have for your homeschool day?

Lessons Learned When You are the Teacher

Some words penned a year ago, but seem to be fitting into my thoughts again ...

It’s been four summers since I first approached a learning year with much trembling. I remember feeling very much alone, uncertain of choosing a different way. Friends and dear family members nodded heads and smiled as I shared thoughts of keeping my oldest one at home, instead of placing her in the local kindergarten class.

Within my sweet circle of relationships, I was the single one, who rarely felt confident that the educational choice that I was making was the best choice, comparatively. I usually kept silent and rarely shared the celebrations of our learning successes.

As four summers have passed, my insecurities have faded along the way, and in their absence my confidence has grown. This growth is not due to my children’s talent, intelligence, or athletic ability. It is not credited to their excellent character or amazing obedience {we still have a long way to go}. And it is certainly not a result of me having figured it all out.

No, my confidence exists simply because Someone much greater than I has carried me and has instructed me through lessons and laundry.

He has taught me that my ways, and the ways of those around me, are not necessarily His ways.

He has shown me that all is like withering grass, but that which is built on His Word.

He has taught me that the heart of the child is entrusted to me to cherish and to train.

He has revealed to me that the grandest lessons are often learned through the deepest failures.

He is my strength ~ daily. And He is my joy song.

Sally Clarkson writes in her book Seasons of a Mother’s Heart, “God's will is not something hidden that needs to be found but, rather, something revealed that needs to be done."

And so again, I gather the children for one more year.

We’ll sit together and laugh together. We’ll share our frustrations and failures, and then we’ll encourage and pray each other through. We’ll learn more about Him and live more beside Him. We’ll make one more year of memories and learn to grow from each one of them. And above all, we’ll remember, with humble gratitude, that we are blessed.

So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.  May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thank to the Father ~ Colossians 1: 10~12

A few word thoughts to encourage us as we go through these final weeks of this learning year together ...

How to End Your Homeschool Year ~ "So, how to end this homeschooling year? Ask questions that lead you to celebrate, and not just evaluate the year."


Beautiful Things ~ "But today, could I suggest another way of evaluation?  Instead of relying on externals of achievement test scores or the affirmation of family & friends ... Pause, and review how you did beautiful things this year."

Some word thoughts from Rachel Jankovic:

Mothering is a Calling {And Where Your Children Rank}

  A Sneak Peek:

Christian mothers carry their children in hostile territory. When you are in public with them, you are standing with, and defending, the objects of cultural dislike. You are publicly testifying that you value what God values, and that you refuse to value what the world values. You stand with the defenseless and in front of the needy. You represent everything that our culture hates, because you represent laying down your life for another—and laying down your life for another represents the gospel.

Motherhood as a Mission Field 

  A Sneak Peek:

At the very heart of the gospel is sacrifice, and there is perhaps no occupation in the world so intrinsically sacrificial as motherhood. Motherhood is a wonderful opportunity to live the gospel. Jim Elliot famously said, “He is no fool who gives up that which he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” Motherhood provides you with an opportunity to lay down the things that you cannot keep on behalf of the people that you cannot lose. They are eternal souls, they are your children, they are your mission field.

Motherhood is Application 

  A Sneak Peek:

The good news is, you don’t need to have been through some elite mother’s training camp to apply the gospel in your life. You need to believe. Trust God, give thanks. Laugh. Believe — and that will feed your children.

Aaah sweet moms, it's that time of year again when thoughts of curriculum choices begin to flood our minds.  As homeschooling conventions approach, can I share some words with you, to help us to breathe deep, to remind us of the grander goal?  ~ Blessings.


Choosing a Homeschool Curriculum @ The Happy Housewife

Choosing Homeschool Curriculum @ The Homeschool Classroom

A free e-book with excellent insights into the goals of education:
Education is An Atmosphere, A Discipline, A Life @ Simply Charlotte Mason

An interesting website set up for families to figure out which curriculum may fit them best:
Design Your Homeschooling Approach to Suit Your Family @ Design Your Homeshool

Meeting With Him All Day Long

I rarely wake early to read His Word.  The babes wake up too early and I turn in too late for this to be a joyful routine.  I've tried laying scripture out before me at the breakfast table and sometimes it is devoured, but all too often it is interrupted and left unread.  I have found, through years of trying to figure it out, that once the day has rolled by, and the quiet of the evening arrives, this is the time for me to truly rest, one on One, with the Word, with a journal, in prayer.   But still there is a  fear of compartmentalizing God into a quiet time.  For if my only time communing with the Great I Am is after the babes are asleep, then their young hearts would never see their mama seeking Him in all their growing up years.  I want to meet with Him in all the moments of the day, not necessarily setting a specific time and place, but meeting with Him at any time and place.

You see, I am desperate to be filled up.   For how can I pour into the hearts of my children if I am running on empty? 

I have wondered how do this, this meeting with Him throughout the day, for this was not the pattern of my growing up home.  And so little by little, I have been learning ...

I started to post scripture on the walls and the fridge door where I'd see it and choose to read in the margin moments of the day.  I started speaking prayers in the shower and over steaming soup and at bedsides when saddened girls rest quiet. I started memorizing His Word during time at the kitchen sink, murmuring through rinsing water and bursting suds.  I started going back to my roots, to the hymns that speak gospel, and I play them loud  and sing them louder so that I don't forget where I came from or what has been accomplished for me.  I started to read snippets of inspired words from across the blogosphere that challenge and spur me on.  I started to listen to sermons, not just on Sundays, because they are only a click away all of the time...

What about you?  How does God infiltrate the moments of your day, so that your home and life is breathing His rhythm all day long?

Some Resources to Help Us Meet With Him Often in Little Ways:


Steph at Everyday Awe has designed some amazing printable resources to help us God-focus more easily.  


Good Morning Girls is an online accountability group and Bible Study that you can do with a group of your own old friends or with a group of some online new friends.  


Shawna Haak, a sweet friend and coworker, penned a beautiful post with a wonder of tips for filling yourself up with Him.

The turn of the year always beckons me to reflect and reconsider how I have been doing this one life that I have been given. In the reflection there's a clarity that it is not about a single moment that has changed me, grown me over the past 365 days, but it is a thousand single moments that have shaped and framed me to be alive for today. A thousand conversations, a thousand words read, a thousands prayers whispered, a thousand hugs shared. When all the moments add up, I am changed.

Last fall, Sally Clarkson did a series on encouraging moms. She is all about being intentional with your family in the single moments. A thousand intentional moments speaking into the lives and hearts of our children, changes not only their lives, but ours as well. Below are several links to individual posts related to being intentional with our children. Blessings as you read.

Close Every Day With a Blessing

Be Sure to Remind Them

If You Really Love Your Children, Turn Off Your Computer, Cell Phone, and TV, and Read!

Beauty: The Bridge to Awaken Hidden Places of the Soul

A Heritage of Loving Words Aimed at the Heart

Creating Spaces of Personal Time, Focused on Hearing Hearts

Selfish, Self-Absorbed Children are Never Happy - Train it Out of Your Children!

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

Simply CHRISTmas

Here in the great, big city where everything seems larger than life, where glitz and glamour is just around the corner, we're keeping it simple this year.

The Legend of the Candy Cane ~ Lori Walburg

Simple Homemade Christmas Cards ~ The children paint the art and then Mama gets it coloured photocopied for a refined finish. Always special.

Our Jesse Tree ornaments this year. A tradition started last year.

Our gift for Jesus this year. The children earn money towards Jesus' gift by showing a "servant heart" during the weeks leading up to Christmas. Our gift will be given to Imara and Uwizeymana {the oldest girls' Compassion sister-friends} and to the dear lady who sleeps on the street down from our home.

And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ ~ Matthew 25:40

Good old-fashioned popcorn and cranberry garland to hang along the window with gingerbread.

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey ~ Susan Wojciechowski

Words to remind us ~ Love, Joy and Peace.

Warm sips of eggnog.

For unto us a Child is born, 

Unto us a Son is given; 

And the government will be upon His shoulder. 

And His name will be called 

Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, 

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

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May your home be filled with blessed traditions and warm memories this year! 

Love, Jessica and family 

PS  ~ A couple of wonderful reads for December:
Treasuring God in Our Traditions
No Holly for Miss Quinn ~ A Novel by Miss Read

You may have seen this article before - it's been linked around the Christian homeschooling blogosphere a fair bit recently. In case you haven't, it's worth the read.

It's long. You may need time to pause and ponder throughout.

Maybe early in the morning before little feet scamper, or later in the quiet of the evening after babes' eyelids rest, pour a cup of tea, invest a few moments, and glean some wisdom from someone who has gone before us.

Exposing Major Blind Spots of Homeschoolers by Reb Bradley

In the last couple of years, I have heard from multitudes of troubled homeschool parents around the country, a good many of whom were leaders. These parents have graduated their first batch of kids, only to discover that their children didn't turn out the way they thought they would. Many of these children were model homeschoolers while growing up, but sometime after their 18th birthday they began to reveal that they didn't hold to their parents' values. {Read more here: Homeschool Blindspots}

Sometimes when surrounded by the walls of our homes, and up to our knees in laundry, with dishes from breakfast still sitting in the sink at noon, we can feel a bit overwhelmed - a little alone.  Thoughts of inadequacy and insecurity can invade our minds, convincing us that the homeschooling mom down the road has it all together, with children who are eager to learn and home routines that transpire like clock-work. 

It is on days like these when we need to allow ourselves to Stop.    Rest.     Reflect.

Sometimes a phone call to a fellow homeschooling mom, or an email to a godly mentor, can help put our anxieties into perspective.   Other times, an intentional appointment with Him over a cup of tea and His scripture can help to soothe the spirit.

I've found for myself, reading insights from veteran homeschooling moms has always been an encouragement.  

May I share a collection of insights with you here?:  Encouraging Articles by Jeannie Fulbright . 

A couple of personal favourite are:
How Long Should a Homeschool Day Be?
Quiet Time 101
Who's Character is Being Shaped Anyways?
Feeling Weak and Weary

May you be refreshed this week as you find rest in Him.

 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
 He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake. 

Psalm 23: 2, 3  

A Book I'm Reading This Summer ...

In my wandering days when beginning to consider learning from home, I randomly selected books from the library and found the first edition of Educating a WholeHearted Child in my hands.

It was a gift.

How excited I was to see the third edition of this book of much homeschooling wisdom come out this summer.

Read some excerpts from Educating the WholeHearted Child along with some of Sally and Clay's thoughts at: I Take Joy

Books, Books Everywhere ~ The Foundation to Learning to Love to Learn

If You Give a Man a Fish, He'll Eat for a Day

Learning ~ Naturally

Here's the link at Amazon: Educating the WholeHearted Child -3rd Edition

Teaching Tip Tuesday ~ Learning Straight Through the Summer - Top 10 Things to Do

They sit there giggling as they share their summer aspirations. Thoughts of star gazing and mud squelching make smiles spread. And so the lists are made, numbered with ice cream expeditions, circuses and parades.

Mama makes one too:

1. Nourish the soul ~ begin memorizing Genesis chapter 1.

2. Nourish the mind ~ hide away the portable DVD player, keep the computer turned off, read about Laura and Almanzo on picnic blankets, and visit the library often.

3. Nourish the body ~ make a smoothie recipe book.

4. Nourish the heart ~ spend more time painting toe nails, and visiting farmers markets, and making sand castles, and swinging high.

5. Nourish the senses ~ write in our gratitude journals for rainbows seen, and campfires smelled, and homemade popsicles tasted, and sprinklers felt, and doorbells ringing with friends eager to play.

6. Nourish the passing moments ~ choose a gem out of the jar to focus our attentions on.

7. Nourish the neighbours ~ take raspberry muffins and notes to make their day.

8. Nourish our delight in creation ~ plan ahead to explore and discover more on our little nature outings.

9. Nourish our family ~ send card creations and fanciful letters to cousins and aunties and uncles and grandparents and sweet distant friends...

10. Nourish our joy ~ celebrate the first day of summer and the days when growing girls were born, and the fact that the sun is shining. Rejoice in the new day and in the breath that we have to celebrate.

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

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.

“For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.


For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.


For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.


For beautiful hair, let a child run their fingers through it once a day.


For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.


People, more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed.


Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.


As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself and the other for helping others.”


~ Audrey Hepburn

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May I share a couple of sweet ministries of some young ones with you?  The hands and feet and mouths of these youth are doing until the least of these. 

Braided Tresses   ~ Twelve year old Sharaya, is raising money for an orphanage in China from where friends of hers are adopting a baby.  She is a blessing!

Shoes for Kids ~ After a trip to Kenya, eleven year old Isabel, decided to start collecting shoes for the barefooted children in Kenya.  She has an amazing heart!

Matthew 25:34~40

Is it True, Kind, Necessary?

~ An article by Erica Foss describing how the words we speak within our home can "contribute to the holiness and happiness" of our community.

Came across these words in my inbox recently:

When we ask ourselves, “Is my child learning enough?,” Charlotte would gently remind us that we are asking the wrong question.

“The question is not,”how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education” but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him?” (Vol. 3, pp. 170, 171).

And the interesting part of this process is that as our children form those personal relations and begin to care about a variety of interests, they will learn the facts about those interests along the way. But the facts are not the focus.

Read more about these thoughts here: Is My Child Learning Enough?

Need some thoughtful inspiration?

Simply Charlotte Mason.com has several free e-books available for download. Click on the titles below to link to your free e-book. Blessings.

Education is an Atmosphere, a Discipline, A Life


Smooth and Easy Days


Getting Started in Homeschooling

Taken from The Homeschool Minute

Written by ~ Debbie Strayer, Homeschool Consultant and guest columnist

Going back to homeschooling after the holidays is like starting a car after it has sat for a while in cold temperatures. You can do it the easy way, or you can do it the hard way (which may damage the car or not even work). As a veteran homeschooling mom, I recommend the easy way.

First, take warm water out to defrost the windshield. Pouring that water over the windshield a time or two definitely speeds up the process of being able to see where you are going. The homeschooling parallel is to bathe your return to school with prayer. Pray for grace for all involved, and then be sure to give grace to those you are around.

Next, start the car and allow it to warm up. The homeschooling equivalent is to start by reviewing work done before you stopped schooling. Again, mercy is the byword here. Gradually review each topic by looking over notes, activities, or texts, and play a few educational games. We usually took at least the first week to review and get our brains going--mine was rusty as well!

And last, turn on the heat. Warm up the inside of the car by speaking encouraging words to your children. We would often recount the successes we achieved before the break to remember that the Lord was with us then, that He still had a plan for us, and that He had not left us to do it on our own now. Resist the urge to start schooling in a rush. Remember, we reap what we sow, so start back to school by sowing grace, mercy, and encouragement. The harvest will be bountiful!

*** A repost from the archives that is a good read for me at this time of the year.