Encouraging Moms Who Homeschool

This is the month we celebrate love, watch for a groundhog's shadow, and place more focus on black history. All great things to occupy the short but dreary winter month of February. But in our homeschool, I don't like to limit the study of black history to one month of the year. It really is simple to incorporate black history (or the study of Native Americans, those of Asian descent, or any other race for that matter) into your normal homeschool routine. As a woman of Irish ethnicity, I find it important to openly and honestly discuss the good, bad, and ugly of my family history ~ even if some of the details aren't all that flattering to the Irish as a whole. And as an Irish woman who has studied the life of her people during the dark days of Queen Victoria's rule, I have found my heart to be very tender toward those who have struggled to find their place in this world, no matter their race. Whenever we study history, or read literature with a "real life" s...

Homespun School is an online learning site that offers a variety of options, including literature, history and web design. My daughter, who is in the 9th grade, took their 6-week Digital Learning course. I could not be more pleased with the end result! The Digital Learning course teaches via hands-on student work. Over the course of six weeks, students create a digital portfolio (which can be improved upon if the Digi-Designs course is taken at a later time) and covers website building basics, creating bumper stickers, embed codes, Web 2.0, and a fun online shopping spree (using imaginary money, of course!) Digital Learning is described as a "foundational course to help get you the web-savvy you need" ~ and it really does live up to this promise. Classes are held in an online classroom at Edmodo, which is a safe, members-only site. No one outside the class with have contact with your child. Parents are provided with access to the classroom, with one exception; they a...

Whether you have been homeschooling for a month, a year, or a decade, you've inevitably faced the "questions". Questions about socialization, college, athletics, driver's ed, high-school biology, etc. etc. etc. and so on..... It seems as if homeschoolers are ripe for questions from day one; but the flip side seems to be that there really is no flip side. We are expected to patiently answer any and all questions, smiling politely and pretending we've never heard this line of questioning before. But when we try to ask a few questions about, say, public schools as a whole or the issue of private schools being used as a last-ditch landing spot for students expelled from public school, well...ahem...we're pretty much told to keep quiet. No one wants to hear our questions, and often times no one really wants to hear our answers to their questions. They just kind of want us to....go....away. I'm not planning on going away any time soon. And neither are my fiv...

Right off the bat, let me just say, this is, after all, a book by John Piper . It isn't exactly light reading, and Piper most certainly is not interested in babying you along in your walk with Christ. Desiring God will touch every raw nerve you have, provided you allow it to penetrate your heart as well as your mind, and will remind you that God is, indeed, sovereign and is very much indeed the only place in which we can find our happiness. In Desiring God , John Piper covers the topics of worship, love, marriage, money, missions, suffering, prayer and more. And he does so in a manner that is uniquely his. If you have ever read anything by Piper, then you know exactly what I mean by that. And if you have not read any of Piper's works, then Desiring God is a good place to start. He will make you think, even while he makes you sweat a little. But he will encourage you to find out for yourself if it is really true that "God is most glorified in us when we are most...

Everyone seems to be talking about Les Mise'rables right now, with the recent release of the latest movie adaptation. So it was natural for me to review the audio drama from Focus on the Family. This set consists of 3 Cd's, and each is about one hour in length. And as it is an audio drama, there aren't any songs in this version of Victor Hugo's work. That may or may not appeal to you, depending on your preferred way of enjoying Les Mise'rables ! I'm a homeschooling mom, so of course I decided to make Les Mise'rables a part of our curriculum. I had my sophomore and my senior listen to these Cd's. They both enjoyed it immensely, and as each disc is about one hour long it was easy to divide it up over a few days. I think this particular performance would make a nice addition for anyone reading the book, and could make the movie easier to understand if it is the first time seeing it. The acting is good, the sound effects aren't too cheesy ...

The book Everything by Mary DeMuth became a "keeper" for me almost as soon as I began reading. Mary sugarcoats nothing in her attempt to make Jesus' gospel what it rightly is ~ and as you probably guessed from the title of her book, it rightly is about everything. Eighteen chapters, three sections, one-hundred and ninety-eight pages...if you take the time to delve into them you will grow exponentially in your walk with the Lord. In Everything Mary calls us out, calls us higher, and admonishes us with honesty and openness. Sharing from her heart and relying heavily on the truth that is God's Word, she sets things straight. There aren't just one or two things about this book that I have taken to heart; and there aren't just a couple of quotes I could share here. The book in it's entirety is a game-changer! Please buy this book, read this book, apply the truths in this book to your life, and let the Lord become your everything! HERE is a dire...

I have to say, this winter has been rough on our family in terms of illness. Rather than try and figure out all the many ills that have plagued us, I'll just refer to the whole lot in general as "the crud". From late November until, well, now, we've been relying on Lysol spray, Kleenex, Clorox wipes and a whole lot of prayer as we battle "the crud". How have things been for your family this winter? Hopefully you have been blessed and avoided all the illness going around. But if you haven't been able to dodge the sickness bullet, be encouraged that the time spent "trapped and sick" at home doesn't have to be wasted time. Given to the Lord, it can actually become a time of refreshing and blessing. After all, nothing is wasted in God's economy. Spend time resting, talking, playing board games, reading as a family, and accomplishing your daily school work at a more relaxed pace. When everyone is well, we tend to do too much ~ rushing fr...

The book Unstoppable by Nick Vujicic is a follow-up to his first book, Life Without Limits . Nick was born without limbs, and has lived a life that most of us could not possibly imagine. His daily struggles dwarf the type of things we typically face, and this book is meant to share his heart for living a rich and full life in spite of his situation. And really, all of us have to choose how we are going to face each day, don't we? I really am impressed with Nick's character and attitude, especially his unwillingness to simply give up and depend on others to help him get through life. He seems very bent on encouraging others during their trials - and I'm all about encouraging people! - and he doesn't take for granted the platform available to him. The book Unstoppable is easy to read, and Nick openly shares his struggles and his heart. He doesn't hide anything, good or bad, and I'm glad he doesn't. This book is probably a terrific read for most pe...

If you know me (that is, know me in real life versus the blogging world) then you probably know that I am none too fond of the self-help mentality. It's not that I have anything at all against people in need of help; I put myself at the top of the list of people I know who need help. But the notion that I can somehow fix myself ~ let alone fix anyone else! ~ is a complete misnomer.  It's a continual cycle of "work harder" followed by gut-wrenching disappointment. And there's a reason this is the cycle of self-help...it's because we cannot fix ourselves! That's God's job, and He's exceptionally good at it . Having said all that, I'd like to share about something that we moms do have the ability to change for the better. Our attitudes. I'll go so far as to say that I feel many homeschool mamas could benefit from an attitude adjustment (me included!). We're often so tired, over-worked, and spread thin that we succumb to a bad attitude w...

The book Real Life Real Miracles (by James L. Garlow & Keith Wall) is an easy-to-read, fast-paced and enormously interesting book that kept me reading "just one more chapter" late into the night. Each person's story is shared with enough detail to keep the reader engaged, but not so much that it seems watered down. And the authors' have done a first-rate job of honing in on the main points of each miracle story while maintaining the individuality of those who experienced the miracles. From finding a lost diamond to the crushing weight of a semi-truck, those raised from the dead to a woman who lived through a plane that came apart in the air, electrocution to deadly cancer, the miracles you will read about in Real Life Real Miracles point toward the love, mercy, compassion and awe-inspiring power of God. The same Jesus who walked the earth over 2000 years ago performing miracles to those in need still works in miraculous ways today. It's good to paus...