#9-1 part 1: The Heart of Home Schooling
Posted by: homenews <homenews@...>
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Hope Chest Home School News
with Virginia Knowles
February 1, 2006
#9-1 part 1: The Heart of Home Schooling
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Dear Hope Chest friends,
February is sweet and special in the Knowles family because three of our children have birthdays this month, but its also sweet and special because of Valentines Day! So here is a special Valentines issue, filled with ideas for getting to the HEART of home schooling. Please feel free to forward this newsletter to your friends and family. I have put detailed contact information at the end of this message for those who wish to send me a note, visit my web site, or order books.
Yesterday on my way home from dropping Julia at church for basketball practice, another driver (an 18 year old boy) pulled out in front of me from the Sams Club parking lot. I hit the brakes as fast and firmly as I could, but I still smacked him pretty hard enough to deeply dent his drivers side in front of the tires. If he had pulled out any further, he could have been badly hurt, instead of not at all. Fortunately, my huge Dodge Ram van wasnt damaged at all, none of my kids were in it, and Im only a little stiff and sore. The young man apologized profusely. His dad, who is in the ministry, was driving another car right next to him and knew what to do, and my husband came quickly from home only a mile away, so we got things worked out pretty easily without calling the police. The moral of the story is: WEAR YOUR SEATBELTS, EVEN IF YOU ARE ONLY GOING A FEW MILES!
Im looking forward to seeing my parents, Phil and Mary Quarrier, this afternoon! They are driving in from Maryland. My dad will be here for only a few days before flying home, but my mom will be here off and on for up to a couple of weeks, less time spent with her own parents in south Florida. Dad and Mom, I LOVE YOU!
In His Sovereign Grace,
Virginia Knowles
In this issue you will find:
© Caring For Your Childs Heart
© Romantic Ideas That Cost Very Little
© Homespun Gifts and Homespun Memories -- Books by Karen Ehman
In a separate e-mail, I will send:
© Valentine Unit Study
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Caring For Your Childs Heart
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As home school parents, we have been given the awesome privilege and responsibility of caring for something infinitely precious: our childrens hearts. With Gods help, we must faithfully know, encourage, nurture, guard, mend, guide, train, and woo and love their hearts. This doesnt happen naturally. It takes attention and effort.
If we want to minister to our childrens hearts, we must know our childrens hearts. And if we want to know them, we need to listen strategically. We need loving and calm one-on-one time enjoying each other and ministering to each other, not just reacting to discipline issues. I want to notice all of the evidences of grace where God is working in my childrens lives, but I also want to be aware of anything that might be bothering them before it gets out of control. I think that parents often breathe easy when everything looks halfway normal and there arent any major crises going on. But beneath the surface, there might be a child facing any number of situations, such as bitterness over conflicts, jealousy about not getting as much attention as wanted, lack of trust for Gods care, a guilty conscience, a superiority attitude, feelings of depression or inadequacy, lack of motivation, peer pressure, spiritual apathy, etc..
Our children are changing constantly. They are not where they were or where they will be. We cant make assumptions that all is well just because we are a Christian family and we home school our children. Some of our friends have been in complete shock to discover what is going on in their childrens lives when they thought things were going just fine. I grieve for these families and I realize no one is immune, and it could just as well be me and mine.
We also need to be very alert about spiritual warfare. The enemy is whispering in our childrens ears. We need to constantly bring forth the truth of Scripture, be aware of where they are spiritually, what they are thinking, any deception going on in their minds, and PRAY, PRAY, PRAY! The devil wants to bring dissension and doubt, and make us fight each other. Dont fight with your child fight FOR your child! Teach your child to put on his spiritual armor as described in Ephesians 6! It may help to write out some short phrases on an index card, such as, I am a Christian. I love the Lord Jesus. I believe the Word of God. I have authority when I pray.
Another thing to ponder is that little ones may respond in a childlike faith to the Gospel message, but not really truly understand it until much later. Is it wise to assume that they are saved just because they repeated the sinners prayer after you or were baptized? How will you deal with doubts later on? At some point in time, our children need to consciously affirm the faith as being their very own. This may not happen until the teen years, even with faithful teaching and example from the parents and church. Many pastors we have known have told us this is true even in their own families, so dont feel like you are unspiritual. It is better for this to come to light, rather than for a child to dwell in the false assurance that he is a Christian just because his parents are. This is actually a great opportunity for teaching your teen in a very purposeful and positive (non-judgmental) way what the Christian message is all about. There are all sorts of great apologetics books out there that explain the truth for young people, such as the youth editions of Lee Strobels books The Case for Faith, The Case for Christ and The Case for the Creator. One book that clearly addresses the issue of making the faith your own is Growing Up Christian by Karl Graustein. Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, Know Why You Believe by Paul Little, Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ by John Piper and any books by Jerry Bridges will also be helpful. I think every teen should read these books! Along with Bible reading and some essay writing, these can count towards a semester high school course in Bible. All of these books are available from http://www.ChristianBook.com. You may also wish to read this article by Grant Layman: http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/sgo/v20no3/parents_and_teens.html
Finally, in order to care for our childrens hearts, we need to care for our own. Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. (Proverbs 4:23, NIV). What is in our hearts will flow forth as rivers to impact those around us -- our children, our church, our neighbors, and the world. Will our wellsprings be pure or polluted? Guard against bitterness, guard against apathy, guard against self-righteousness, guard against discouragement, guard against impurity, guard against deception, GUARD YOUR HEART! Dont skip your quiet times to get on with the school day. Feed on Scripture. Persevere in prayer. Confess and repent when you sin. Pursue righteousness, peace and humility in your relationships.
May God bless you richly as you care for your childs heart!
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Romantic Ideas That Cost Very Little
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Our church, Metro Life (http://www.metrolife.org) has a monthly brunch for younger mommies. (All are welcome! Its at 9:30 on the third Thursday morning of each month in Casselberry, Florida.) In January, the theme was Romancing Your Husband. The following idea list is based on a handout from this meeting, with a few additions and changes from me!
© Find out what he likes you to have finished around the house when he comes home from work, and then make it a regular practice to please him by doing this. Or do one of his chores for him as a surprise.
© Go for a walk and hold hands. Or lie on a blanket in the backyard and look at the stars. Or take a picnic to the park.
© Have a friend keep the children at their house and fix his favorite dinner, served by candle light. If your children are home, you can always set this up on a card table in your bedroom. Break out the table cloth, china and crystal, candles, the pot pourri burner, fresh cut flowers from your garden, and whatever else will make the table pretty and inviting! Also, play some soft romantic music on your CD player.
© Keep your bedroom tidy and orderly, so it will be a haven of rest for him. If you can, set up two comfortable chairs so the two of you can sit and talk in privacy whenever you want.
© Wash and massage his feet after a long day on them, or draw him a hot bath.
© Ask if you can plan Valentines Day this year, and let him plan your anniversary.
© Buy a special treat for him at the grocery store, and make sure your kids dont break into it! You could buy candy to complete a love letter youve written to him. For example, I have the RED HOTS for you.
© Keep a secret stash of his favorite candies, and bring one out once in a while! (Thad hands me a chocolate truffle every now and then when Ive done a great job at something or when I look like I need a little lift. I dont know where he hides them!)
© Take time to write him a letter specifically telling him what you love and respect about him.
© Always have your romantic feelers out and pay attention to special events happening in the community, such as free concerts, art festivals, popcorn flicks in the park, etc.
© Hide a small cooler in his car with his favorite drink and snack to enjoy on his ride home. (Just remember to tell him it is there sometime during the day!)
© Burn a CD with some of his favorite songs, or ones that are special to you as a couple. Put it in his cars CD player.
© Cut out lots of hearts and pink and red construction paper. Write a reason you love him on each one and tape them all over the house. (The kids can do this too!)
© Pray for ideas God will answer you!
Back in 1984, when Thad and I were first getting to know each other, he asked his father for ideas about where to take me for our first date. We went to the Bachs Lunch program at St. Lukes Cathedral in downtown Orlando. I think they still have these! First there was a concert in the sanctuary, and then a Box Lunch (get the pun?) in the fellowship hall. We had a wonderful time! A few weeks later, we visited Leu Gardens (a local botanical park), ate apples and cheese by the lake, and strolled through the Orchid House (which is no longer there). What a guy!
Recently, Thad offered to take me out for dessert. However, as the evening progressed, we realized we werent going to break away from the house as planned. So he snuck into the kitchen, made sandwiches of cherry vanilla yogurt spread on cinnamon graham crackers, and then froze them. (Yummy!) In return, I asked Joanna and Lydia to help me set up a card table in our bedroom and make it all pretty. Lydia also made us two large mugs of hot chocolate. After the younger kids went to bed, Thad and I had our quiet just-for-two dessert date after all!
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Homespun Gifts and Homespun Memories
Books by Karen Ehman
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A few months ago, I included a review of a book called For the Write Reason (by Marybeth Whalen), which features the stories of several Christian authors. The excerpt I chose was about a lady named Karen Ehman. I thought you might like to hear about her two books, so heres a blurb!
Homespun Gifts from the Heart offers over 200 creative ideas for homemade gifts from layered soup, cookie and muffin jar mixes to book basket and theme basket ideas to flavored coffee and cocoa mixes. It also gives over 250 photo-ready instructional and decorative tags to copy and include with your gift. Easy! (The book basket ideas are especially a hit with home school families. They take a work of literature - say Little House in the Big Woods and round out a gift basket by including all of the items Laura Ingalls Wilder received on Christmas morning 1867 - a rag doll, a tin cup, a shiny penny, a peppermint stick, red mittens and a heart shaped cookie sprinkled with white sugar. Book and theme basket ideas for girls, boys and adults are given.)
Homespun Memories from the Heart showcases over 200 ways to make fond memories with your kids, whether it is a holiday, a Holy Day or just a daily day of life. From the loss of the first tooth, to rainy days and celebrations that pass on your faith, simple, doable ideas are presented along with photo-ready certificates and helps. This is a book to refer to again and again when planning a birthday party, family gathering or just to celebrate the blessed everyday.
You can order these books for $15 each (tax and shipping included) by sending a check to Karen Ehman, 1155 West Maple Rapids Road, Saint Johns, MI 48879. Her web site at http://www.karenehman.com will be ready soon but until then you can e-mail her at [email protected]. Please tell Karen that you heard about her books in the Hope Chest!
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Hope Chest Contact Information
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Visit my web site at http://www.TheHopeChest.net
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