Encouraging Moms Who Homeschool

This post will be short and sweet - well, hopefully sweet and not sour :) I'm simply going to share something from God's Word that blessed me today in regard to this blog and it's end goal of encouraging moms who homeschool. So, here it is! 1 Chronicles 16:24 says - "Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does." - New Living Translation Those few words pretty much sum up all I desire to do via this little blog...publish His glorious deed & tell everyone who'll listen about the amazing things He does. What could possibly be more encouraging to a homeschooling mom than that?! Lord bless & be encouraged today! Day 39 done :) Jan L. Burt

Today I am reviewing a product called "MY Access! Edition" - a product geared at improving the student's critical thinking skills in all subjects through increased writing skills. The product I received to review (free of charge - as always with items I review as a part of The Old Schoolhouse Crew) do not contain any "physical" items; the home edition I have been using is available online at VantageLearning.com . There are multiple options available for purchase at the website, including the At School, International, Corporate, and At Home online versions; in the Vantage Online Store they offer resources to improve usage of the English language, graduate courses, assessment and training tools, police and fire practice exams, Excelsior college exams, and much more. My children's use of the "At Home" edition has been as a supplement to our language arts curriculum; this program is not meant to stand alone, but works best when coupled with a more comp...

I took my 5 wonderful kiddos on a super-fun trip to Orlando. With some awesome military appreciation deals & a long but fun drive to and from Florida from Kansas, we were able to pull off a really great vacation on short notice for minimal cost. The real bummer was that my hubby wasn't able to come with us; he began a new position at work the day we left to drive South & he just couldn't get away at this time. We missed him terribly! This trip was, for me, something of a "start the good-byes" vacation. This year is the 13th year of homeschooling for me. My oldest is 17 & is taking all of his courses at Friends University during his senior year, in addition to studying like mad for his SAT II subject tests coming up this fall. Next summer he will leave for college (somewhere in the Northeast, most likely). My next oldest child turns 16 in a few weeks - she will get a car soon & starts her new job next week; she's a sophomore in high school this year...

Four weeks and 3 days ago, on July 3, 2010, we began the painful process of saying "good-bye for now" to our dear Austin Wayne Burt. Today I just want to take a few moments to share some memories of Austin. The year 2010 came in with a "baby boom" for the Burt families - first our daughter Avery was born in January; my husband's sister gave birth to her daughter Cheyenne in February; and in March Wes and Lisa Burt welcomed their fourth child, Austin. They were born close together and remained close - our Avery always looked forward to spending time with her cousin & she has many happy memories. In August of 2000, our house was full of family, all here to celebrate my husband's graduation from Officer Candidate School. I remember a bunch of cousins playing and laughing - and I remember Austin as a solid, bouncy toeheaded baby. Always smiling, never fussy, doted on by his older brother and 2 older sisters. When Avery and Austin were about 2 my husband'...

Ever wonder about what you would do differenly if given the chance? Would you be kinder to the kid going through an awkward phase in your high school gym class? Maybe you would spend less time tidying your house and more time rocking your baby. Would you save more for retirement? Or give more to those in need? Major in the majors of life instead of majoring in the minors? Worry less and laugh more? Since we can't go back and do things over again, the only good that comes from thinking about what we would change if we were able is allowing our "wish-I-coulda's" to alter our reality right now. And that is easier said than done, right? We have all experienced epic moments in life that cause us to pause and think about what's most important. Every one of us has watched others live their lives in ways that matter - and we've seen people miss the most important stuff by a mile. Human nature lends itself to the envy of those who are getting it right and the urge to k...

Today's post is a review of an e-book I have recently read entitled, "Travel Kits; A Simple Way to Bless Others", written by Donna Rees. This e-book contains 14 chapters contained neatly in 93 pages & also includes some very nice "Bonus Features"...and let's be honest, EVERY homeschool mom likes "Bonus Features"!! The topic of this e-book struck a chord with me, probably due to the fact that our large family drives pretty much everywhere we go; but also because I remember receiving a lovely gift from some dear friends a few years ago. Reading Donna's heartfelt words and seeing the pictures of some of her travel kit ideas brought back memories of the special "travel kit" we were blessed to receive. So, my review may be tainted with some personal bias as I can honestly say, it truly is a simple way to bless someone! In the introduction, Donna discusses the advent of her travel kits: "Car Time"! Homeschool families really d...

So, what do we know about Solomon? He was the wisest man who ever lived, he wrote much of what is contained in Proverbs, his Song of Solomon (or Song of Songs) contains a wealth of "marital" advice, and Ecclesiastes is loaded with wisdom he desired to share as he neared the end of his life. What don't we know about Solomon? Hmmm... He was King David's son (okay, you knew that already!) and his mother was Bathsheba. Yup, the wife of Uriah (one of David' mighty men) whom David had killed after his sin with Bathsheba. Solomon was born to her after the death of her first child. Since David had so many wives, and so many sons with his many wives, and since Solomon was not King David's firstborn son, I think we can safely assume that Solomon was not anticipating inheriting his father's throne from the time he was a wee lad. And by the time David named his successor, so much had happened between the many sons of King David that it may have been doubtful that any ...

Today I'm going to post a psalm of David, Psalm 37. I think this psalm can speak encouragement into the heart of all Believers, whether they happen to be homeschoolers or not :) Psalm 37 ~ New Living Translation ~(theme: trust in the Lord and wait patiently for Him to act) Don't worry about the wicked. Don't envy those who do wrong. For like grass, they soon fade away. Like springtime flowers, they soon wither. Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart's desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and He will help you. He will make your innocence as clear as the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun. Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for Him to act. Don't worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. Stop your anger! Turn from your rage! Do not envy others - it only leads to ha...

It's officially summer break for the Burt Family! I must say, it feels pretty good to have made it to the finish line. Although it's not exactly like running a marathon (my husband and oldest daughter are runners - so I've seen what a marathon does to a person!) homeschooling does require copious amounts of endurance, patience, perseverance, determination and plain old hard work. Despite all of my "research" and reading which have informed me that homeschooling can be easy (whatever that means!) I have come to the conclusion that it requires quite a bit of effort. I mean, sure, there are tools we can employ and methods we might utilize to make our homeschooling days run more smoothly...but I don't think I could honestly describe my 12 years of homeschooling as truly easy. That does not mean I never have days that are filled with ease; I can relax and enjoy living in the moment while homeschooling.But perhaps my definition of the word "easy" is incor...

Well, it's Monday again! Here we are, back at it for another week. But this week is different than other weeks. Not just because it is the last week of "school" around our house before we take some time off over the summer months. This Monday is different because it is the only time in all of my life I will be able to live this day (Monday, May 17th, 2010). I'll never have this time again. Likewise, this week is the only time I'll ever have this week with my husband, with my children, with my friends and neighbors and extended family members. No matter what I do, I can never regain this time in my life once it has passed. I suspect that's why moms and dads tear up a little bit when watching old family movies. They can look back and see exactly how precious that time was...and sometimes they can watch themselves "waste" that time right there on the big screen in front of their very eyes. We really can't afford to be discouraged today because of lo...