Views from My Rearview Mirror - Part Five

And what about you, the homeschooling parent – what happens to you when you work yourself out of a job? So often I hear parents lamenting over eventual empty nest syndrome—what to do when the kids graduate and move on—and I am amazed. Through the homeschool years, we have not only developed a wonderful understanding of our children and developed priceless relationships; we’ve also been given the perfect opportunity to explore our own gifts and talents, discovering new areas of interest to pursue in the coming years. Blessed to be a blessing—that describes our homeschool adventure in a nutshell.

Homeschooling has provided the opportunity for each of us to become who we were meant to be. For example, I obtained a degree in engineering because I was good at math and science, not because I had a burning passion to pursue that course of study or profession. Given some encouragement to follow my dreams, I would probably have chosen art or perhaps journalism or writing. Homeschooling has given me a second chance in that area of my life.  As a result, we build the future together, with the freedom to pursue all of our interests and help others along the way. According to Albert Einstein:

"The only rational way of educating is to be an example."

 

You keep learning as they learn. Be the example that gives them the courage to follow their dreams and do what the LORD created them to do! Pray for direction, wisdom, and a clear path – He’s there just ahead, waiting to lead.

Blessings,

Amanda B.

Did you miss Part One or Part Two , Part Three , Part Four?  You can read them now.

Views from My Rearview Mirror - Part Four

 

It’s been great to share and talk about homeschooling helps and perspectives over these past few weeks. Now, try to relax, take a deep breath, and remember that you are not alone. To better focus your efforts, consider:

·         Where are you starting from and where are you going?

·         What would you like to do with this opportunity?

·         What would you like the finished product, your educated child, to be like?

·         What should they know?

·         What should they value?

·         What should they think of themselves and of others?

How can you reach your educational goals? I don’t know about you, but I don’t remember much of anything that I learned from textbooks used in my many years of education. Instead, I remember the people who took time to help me grow and wonder and question, stretching my imagination and challenging my abilities.

Our children are going to remember the time we spend with them—the time we listen, the time we encourage, and the moral support we offer as they test their wings and ideas, and begin moving on their dreams. Now that’s an education!

Enjoy this great adventure, and thanks for being a part of this series!

Blessings,

Amanda B.

Did you miss Part One or Part Two , Part Three  - you can read them now.

Views from My Rearview Mirror - Part Three

Today, let’s look ahead for this upcoming year at your house. Here are a few ideas for your homeschool efforts from our experiences as a homeschool family—I hope they are helpful:

1.    I wish I had known to relax and enjoy the time together as a family more. In the beginning, we were so nervous about covering everything, using all of the workbook pages, filling up the plan book ahead of time and sticking with it rigidly; so much stress, so little long-time learning, and so little enjoyment of the educational process.

2.    Buy plenty of world globes at garage sales—put the world in their hands. For under $1 each, I purchased several globes this way, and everyone had their own globe to study and spin when learning about a new country or perhaps listening to the evening news. The world is “getting smaller” with advanced communications these days, and it is a leap ahead to be able to hold the world in your hands as you learn where a missionary in Cambodia is, how far they are from home, and where the special friend is currently stationed in the military. Hands-on learning at its best—expand their horizons and concepts of the world.

3.    Put the ideas, Scripture, or passages that you would like for them to learn right where they can see it. For years, I printed these items and posted them on the doors of the kitchen cupboards, over the kitchen telephone, and in other conspicuous places that the children faced several times a day. Exposure is key—curiosity takes care of the rest.

4.    The more we homeschooled, the broader our interests became. No longer pursuing narrow, society-defined topics alone, we enjoyed the freedom to investigate topics like horticulture, sports fitness, glass painting, business and economic concepts for kids, personalized pursuits of art, music, and so much more.

5.    Read classic literature with a new eye—finally having the time and curiosity to “see” what the author was saying, and how it fits in with the big picture. When we read The Swiss Family Robinson aloud, and what an eye-opener it was after living out here in the middle of nowhere. While studying lighthouses, we learned that Rudyard Kipling wrote Captains Courageous while living in a lighthouse off the New England coast. This classic took on a whole new meaning with this knowledge.

6.    You will never be able to completely fill their minds with absolutely every bit of available information—but you can teach them or learn with them about how to find all kinds of information that they might need to know—research skills are vital for this next generation. The overabundance of information on the Internet is so overwhelming, and at the same time, provides priceless access to things that we could never have found through a local library. Give them the gifts of thinking skills and research ability.

What one idea are you going to implement this coming year?

Blessings,

Amanda B.

Did you miss Part One or Part Two - you can read them now.

Views from My Rearview Mirror - Part Two

When we made the decision to homeschool, we were considered to be very “different” and unconventional, by both family and neighbors alike. Things are a bit easier in that department these days. Thankfully, we had an exciting time of exploration and adventure, and there isn’t much that we would change if we had it to do all over again. The changes might come along these lines:

1.    Have more individualized focus on each child, they are so very different and unique.

2.    Focus more on the child, not the “information they need to know” kinds of lists.

3.    Expand the family’s horizons—as individuals and as a family.

4.    Listen more, talk less—avoiding the “transmit only” mode.

5.    Encourage more often, instead of being judgmental or comparative.

6.    Keep reminding ourselves that they are learning by watching what we do more than what we say.

 

Remember, homeschooling is not just about learning academic material. It is about opening the envelope of each child’s imagination with wonder and awe—feeding their desire to learn more, to investigate, to discover and pursue their unique God-given gifts and talents. Enjoy these days!

Looking back now, what one change would you have made last year that might have helped?

Blessings,

Amanda B.


PS - Did you miss it?  Read Part One now.

Views from My Rearview Mirror - Part One

Over the past eighteen years, our family has experienced a circus of life-changing events—actually, just life itself. We moved twice, launched our homeschooling adventure, survived raising three toddlers, wrote over 90 books, survived teaching three teenagers to drive, traveled across the country encouraging homeschooling families, launched three children off on college pursuits, and experienced farm life firsthand—and we have loved it. Through it all, we have homeschooled, and are blessed to have been able to pursue this course.

People ask me how I can stay so calm and upbeat through it all and I respond that I have learned three very important lessons. First and foremost, my faith has never failed me—never. Second, always stay flexible and expect the unexpected. Third, this day is a gift—and I will never, ever, have this time to spend again—I must use it wisely.

What do I know now that I wish we had known when we first started homeschooling?

The things that count can’t be counted.

1. Time goes by too quickly to worry about or obsess over small things, like whether or not my child can read by the time they are five years old, etc.
2. Keep the big picture in the forefront—getting from point A (beginning homeschooling) to point B (finish homeschooling)—remember that perspective is key to success. While we might miss algebra for this week due to family illness, we will still focus on the desired outcome, a well-rounded and enthusiastic learner by the time high school is complete.
3. Homeschooling is a marathon, not a sprint. Keep your eye on the big picture, not what happened or did not happen today or this week.

What would you add to my list?

Blessings,

Amanda B.

A Reason to Study Geography!

This great big wide world—what a place to roam and explore! When God created earth, He created a place that is custom made for us, filling it with all kinds of plants and animals living in amazingly different places. As we homeschool, we have the perfect opportunity to explore His world and its geography through the lens of faith and the Great Commission.

Geography can be such an exciting part of learning. By studying the many places of the world, students can get to know the power and creativity of our heavenly Father. From the top of Mount Everest to the depths of the Mariana Trench, they will begin to understand the astounding variety of people, places, climates, and cultures around the world.

Before launching into geography, take time to help your students develop an understanding of the Great Commission, where Jesus instructs His disciples to go to ALL nations:

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

(Matthew 28:18–20 NIV)

This passage captures the heart of His will for Christians around the world, and it is important for your children to understand what it means. When you are teaching them this passage, and you get to the “all nations” part, take a moment to show them where ALL the nations are on the world map or globe. They need to see just how big the world is and how many nations there are that need to be reached!

 

Blessings,

 

Amanda B.

 

PS - Our Classic Geography Collection is a great way to introduce your children to the World!

 

 

Taking Care of You - Part Eight

Welcome back to our “Taking Care of YOU” series. This is the final installment in this series.  If you missed any parts please click on these links—Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7—to read those posts before continuing here.

   Find ways to help others.

Along with hobbies, it is important to many of us to give back to our community. Can you read to the elderly, sew nap quilts for the abused children's home, or help out at the library from time to time? You will find that time spent in service to others not only improves your community, but also your own outlook.

I hope that these last few weeks’ suggestions have helped you to see the importance of taking care of YOU, the caretaker! When you get some time to continue your own personal growth, you will find more patience with your family and your homeschooling efforts.

As you begin to take care of your needs, your children will learn a valuable lesson—that everyone has needs that are very important. As parents, our needs tend to get pushed to the background and set aside, and this isn't healthy for the individual or the family.

Remember to seek help and support when you are feeling stressed. You are not alone, and your needs are very important! As they say around our house, "When Mama ain't happy, ain't NOBODY happy!"

Take care of YOU, and God bless!

Amanda B.

Taking Care of You - Part Seven

Welcome back to our “Taking Care of YOU” series. This is part 6. . If you missed Part 1, 2, 3 or 4 please click on these links—Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6—to read those posts before continuing here.

      

         Make time to see just how far you have come!

Go back through photo albums and scrapbooks occasionally. Look back over goals from years past. See just how far your family has come. You may also notice some new directions that need to be taken.

Stay tuned right here for the final “Taking Care of YOU” post in just a few days!

Blessings,

Amanda B.

 

Taking Care of You - Part Six

Welcome back to our “Taking Care of YOU” series. This is part 6. . If you missed Part 1, 2, 3 or 4 please click on these links—Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5—to read those posts before continuing here.

6.      Keep a journal, and write in it every day.

Not only does journaling help you see all that has been accomplished and record the daily happenings, but the simple act of journaling provides a constant, steady reminder of the passing of time. As homeschoolers, we tend to get wrapped up in marking time by years until graduation instead of enjoying the value of each and every day. Keeping a journal is a wonderful way to help you cherish every precious day.

Stay tuned right here for the next “Taking Care of YOU” post in just a few days!




PS - Have you RSVP'd for the Olympics 2012 Facebook Co-op?  It begins Monday, July 30th! Don't miss the chance to share this International Celebration with us!

Taking Care of You - Part Five

Welcome back to our “Taking Care of YOU” series. This is part 5. . If you missed Part 1, 2, 3 or 4  please click on these links—Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4—to read those posts before continuing here.

5.    Try to get up early every morning to have some quiet time before everyone wakes up. Read, pray, listen to the silence—whatever refreshes you.

I know it seems impossible to even consider finding time for yourself with soccer practice, ballet lessons, and support group events, not to mention the orthodontist and pediatrician! A friend once told me that her mother had taught her to write a check into her savings account every payday, even for a small amount, before paying any other bills. This way, she would get her priorities in order and build a good habit early in life. Well, this idea can also apply to our own personal daily and weekly schedules.

This time is so important, yet so easily sacrificed, when other "more important" things crop up. Just as you try not to interfere or make demands on a working spouse's daily work routine, protect this time for yourself as part of your "work" schedule. Block off your time on the calendar FIRST, and then add all of the other appointments and demands later. Preserve your appointments for yourself. Protect this time and use it for your own well-being.

When I was young, I remember my mother getting up before daylight, quietly going to the kitchen, and making coffee. She would sit at the kitchen table with her coffee, looking out the back window into the woods, enjoying the silence for a while before all of the children woke up and broke into her quiet time. I never understood just how important this time was until we had our own children, and now I appreciate her exasperated look when one of us would awaken early and wander out before daylight!

Stay tuned right here for the next “Taking Care of YOU” post in just a few days!

Blessings,

Amanda B.

Taking Care of You - Part Four

Welcome back to our “Taking Care of YOU” series. This is part 4. If you missed Part 1, 2, or 3, please click on these links—Part 1, Part 2, Part 3—to read those posts before continuing here.


4.       Read or listen to audio books to help broaden your horizons, add some perspective to your daily life, and open new areas of interest.

You say, “I don't have time to read.” Consider getting some audio books from the library or through online sources such as Audible.

Perhaps you aren't sure of audio books that you can listen to while driving the children back and forth to various activities. We have thoroughly enjoyed some great audiobooks in the car: Cheaper By the Dozen, The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, The Hobbit, Danger to Windward, the Mitford series, and so many more. Try to get the unabridged versions so that you can hear the author's words in whole, without losing any of them in the editing process.


Stay tuned right here for the next “Taking Care of YOU” post in just a few days!


Blessings,
Amanda B.

Taking Care of You - Part Three

Welcome back to our Taking Care of You series. This is part 3, if you missed Parts 1 and 2 please click on these links, Part 1, Part 2, to read those posts before continuing here.

 Today I’m going to expand on the idea from hint #2:


3. Check out videos from the library that interest YOU--travel videos for places that you have dreamed of visiting (Scotland, Australia, Great Britain, Africa, etc.), or perhaps videos that teach things like painting, quilting, cooking, and more.
Here's some travel inspiration for you from our Passport Geography  & Download N Go Expedition Series:

 Ah, fascinating Leaning Tower of Pisa—what a sight to see! Did you know this tilting tower was intended as a bell tower for the nearby cathedral, and it started leaning shortly after construction began in 1173?









Stretching nearly 1,000 feet into the sky, the Eiffel tower is an impressive landmark in the heart of beautiful Paris!










The rocky coastline of western France sure is beautiful, isn't it? This is one of those places that shows us just how amazing God's creation can be, and it reminds me that “...God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise.” Psalm 47:7





As soon as you see it, Mont-Saint-Michel in France is a place that captures your attention!



 From castles and cliffs to busy waterfront cities, Germany is a marvelous place to explore.















A beautiful sky, a stunning sunrise, and treetops that stretch as far as the eye can see. Ah, now that's a gorgeous view from the land down under—beam me there!


You might be surprised how refreshing something so simple can be! Stay tuned right here for the next Taking Care of YOU post in just a few days!

Blessings,

Amanda B.


PS - Have you RSVP'd for the Olympics 2012 Facebook Co-op yet?  Join us on July 30th for the International Celebration!

Taking Care of You - Part Two

Welcome back to our “Taking Care of YOU” series.

If you missed Part 1, please click HERE to read that post before continuing with Part 2.

 Today I’m going to jump right in with hint #2:

     2.      Use your “you time” for your needs, not others’. What makes you feel better? Hobbies such as reading, sewing, quilting, walking?

“Who has time?” you say? Most of us don't have time for hobbies, but we need to try to make time. Doing something recreational, relaxing your mind, taking it off all the other worries and stresses of the day—that is what I'm talking about in a hobby. Granted, most of us don't have time to take up golf or tennis, but we can probably find time to take an evening pottery class once a week or join a quilting group that meets twice a month.

Someone mentioned the idea of volunteering as a docent at a local museum, or finding a ceramics shop where you can go and paint ceramic figures for fun and gift giving. Just find a fun activity, no matter how small, that will take your mind off of your day-to-day cares.

Stay tuned right here for the next “Taking Care of YOU” post in just a few days!

Blessings,

Amanda B.

Taking Care of You - Part One

We hug them, love them, teach them, and share with them, wiping away tears, assuring them that monsters are not in the closet or under the bed, even helping them through algebra. We are our children's caretakers, and we care for them so deeply and completely that we sometimes forget to care for ourselves. If we get too stretched out and burned out, we aren't as effective at taking care of others.

One of the things that I learned through my early years of homeschooling and being a full-time mom was that I had to take care of MOM first. One of the best analogies for this is the statement that is made when you are going through the safety talk before takeoff on an airplane: when the oxygen masks drop in an emergency, the adult should put her mask on first, then assist the child with his. We can't help our child if we are incapacitated—that's my interpretation. And this holds true in all that we do, particularly when it comes to parental well-being and the individual feeling of fulfillment.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be posting ideas for keeping you—the wife, the mom, the teacher—fresh and at your best. Here we go:

1.      Take time to make time. Begin by blocking off an hour each week that is YOUR time, no exceptions. Even if you go and sit in the library and read a magazine, just go!

 I learned early in my adventures at home that I had to make time for myself. I would have one night a week that I would go to the library, without the children, to read and enjoy the silence! It can be so difficult to make time for ourselves; there are so many other pressing needs that get in line ahead of our own. Just as in days gone by when folks would talk about having to "prime the pump" to get it working, we parents are the same way. We have to read, rest, relax, and get some “alone time.” We have to refill our own wells from time to time, re-priming the pump so that we are at our best.

Stay tuned right here for the next “Taking Care of YOU” post in just a few days!

Blessings,

Amanda B.

Unit Studies - Help is on the Way!

Unit Studies.  Need help getting started...Help is on the way! 

One of the most amazing discoveries that I made as a homeschooling mom was realizing that one of our children was an over-the-top auditory learner. He could remember ANYTHING that he heard, which can be good AND bad. J He was a good reader, but if he could listen to whatever he was studying, he had an amazing level of retention. I hadn’t realized it, but I had been adjusting the way that I interacted with him accordingly over the years. In other words, I had figured out that if I wanted him to remember something, writing it on a note and sticking it on his breakfast plate had no lasting impact. However, if I made him look me in the eye as I told him what I needed him to do—bingo!

Take a moment and think about what type of learner you are, and then which type of learner each of your children might be. Interesting, isn’t it? At our house, we are all quite different in our learning styles. One child loves to take notes, another hates to take notes but has complete recall of spoken words, and still another learns best if he is actively in motion and involved in the process of creating something. I had to teach to several types of learners at the same time, and unit studies certainly made that possible.

I’ve tried to cover much of what I’ve learned in my book Unit Studies 101, and it’s on sale right now through April 13. If you want to know how to use unit studies, what I know about unit studies, or even how to create your own unit studies, this is the book. The special also includes the ever-popular Unit Study Journal, so that you can have a reusable recordkeeping tool for study after study.

Check it out, and let me know if you have any questions along the way!

Blessings,

Amanda B.