Quote from Forum Archives on April 9, 2003, 12:35 pm

Posted by: homenews <homenews@...>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE HOPE CHEST:
Ideas and Inspiration for Home Education 
April 2003
Issue #55: The Creative Family
Part 2: Inspiration from Others
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is part 2 of the Hope Chest Home School News, published by Virginia Knowles.
Web site: www.hopechest.homestead.com/welcome.html
Personal e-mail: [email protected]
Subscriptions: [email protected]
Unsubscriptions: [email protected]

 

Part 2: Inspiration from Others

• Review of the The Guidance Manual for the Christian Home School by
  David and Laurie Callahan
• Encouraging Creative Kids by Angie Payne
• Creative Giving on a Budget by Tasha Brickhouse

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Review of the
The Guidance Manual for the Christian Home School:
A Parent’s Guide for Preparing Home School Students
for College or Career
Book by David and Laurie Callahan
Review by Virginia Knowles
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had seen this book in catalogs, and from the description, it looked
like it might be helpful to me in home schooling my teenagers. When I got
my hands on an actual copy, that impression was certainly verified.
I most appreciated these aspects:

• The book, 264 pages long, is pretty complete. (See below for chapter
  titles.) It is also very readable and well organized, making it easy to
  find and process the information.
• While the book is obviously most applicable for those with children in
  or approaching the high school years, it is also suitable for those with
  younger children.
• There are lots of practical and specific details, such as contact
  information for suppliers, comparisons of different standardized tests,
  scholarship web sites, etc.
• It was written by a husband and wife team; the father’s perspective is
  valuable.
• The authors don’t see just one right way of home schooling teens --
  they list lots of options! They also share what they did with their own
  five children (most of whom have finished their high school work early),
  but not excessively. So, this makes the book very applicable to a wide
  range of readers.
• The Christian perspective takes character training into full
  consideration.

Chapter titles:

1. Inspiring Your Children to Love Learning
2. Focusing on the Heart
3. Guiding Toward a Christian World View
4. Planning for Long-Range Goals
5. Basic Training
6. Looking Ahead to a Successful and Fulfilling Career
7. Steering Toward College
8. Ready for Anything
9. Giving Special Students Appropriate Opportunities
10. Working During the High School Years
11. Testing, Testing 1-2-3
12. Providing a Mission Through Christian Training and Service
13. Taking on Advanced Studies
14. Keeping Records
15. Preparing for Commencement
16. Finding Opportunities in the Military
17. Getting Your Student into the Right College
18. Paying for College
19. Evaluating All Options

The Afterword is a very insightful essay called "Parents and Education:
The Biblical Mandate" by Dr. K. Alan Snyder. There are also several
appendices, including reproducible forms, names of organizations, etc.
Here is an excerpt from the chapter "Steering Toward College."

GREAT STUDY SKILLS

It is crucial for any student to learn good study skills. This will prove
valuable even if college is not the end goal. For instance, in the
business world, new applications for computers are constantly emerging.
It will be necessary for a successfull businessperson to be able to
evaluate new systems, which will rquire research and study.
The following is a list of study skills that students must have in order
to excel in college:

Reading Comprehension - College students are required to cover and absorb
large amounts of reading material on a strict time schedule. The better
your child’s skills for taking in reading material, the better he or she
will cope with college work.

Outlining - The ability to condense reading or course material into
outline form is a skill that will enhance the college student’s
test-taking ability. College courses offer large amounts of information
in various formats, and outlining can bring things into focus.

Note taking - In the home school most students never have to take notes
on a lecture, since there usually aren’t any! It will be important for
the college-bound studnet to have some experience in taking down what is
being said. (Taking notes on church sermons or on video classes can be
good practice.)

Listening - The greatest of skills. Though we hope our students have
learned this skill well in our homeschools, some may need a tune-up. In
college courses, listening implies paying attention to subtleties (like
what the instructor thinks is important) as well as details (following
directions).

Discerning - This is a crucial college skill, since professors are not
likely to spell out oevery detail of what they expect to the students. In
college, it is important for the student to be able to determine what
information instructors want for exams or projects, and how they want
things done.

 

Researching - Frequent visits to the library and familiarity with
Internet research capabilities will sharpen the skills that will be
required of students in college. It will be important for students to
know their way around the library and to be comfortable asking questions.
Reviewing - College-level courses will require retention of a large
amount of knowledge for a long time. The student who has skills in
reviewing (note cards, notes, etc.) will do well in higher-level studies.

 

Test taking - Whole books are available on this topic. Suffice it to say
here that test-taking skills alone can make a letter grade difference in
college. It would be worth thte time to get a book on this subject and
review the skills suggested.

Applying - You will not see many people include this on a list of study
skills, but we feel it is crucial. If you cannot apply what you have
studied, you have not learned it, and if you do not apply it, you will
forget it! So, try to find a way to work new vocabulary into your
conversation, practice a newly learned skill, and discuss course topics
in your everyday life.

You can order The Guidance Manual for the Christian Home School from many
catalogs, or directly from the authors at their web site, which has other
great products available, such as CLEP Prep books and Standard Deviants
videos too: www.davidandlaurie.com

During the month of April, the book is on sale for $17.00, which is $5.99
off the regular price! It comes with an unconditional 30 day guarantee,
too, so you can’t go wrong here!

 

The Callihans are also available for conventions or workshops.
E-mail: [email protected]
Office phone: 315-592-7830
Snail mail: H.E.L.P.S., P.O. Box 2133, Liverpool, NY 13089

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ENCOURAGING CREATIVE KIDS
by Angie Payne
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

We have been homeschooling at the Payne house for 5 years now. Our
children are Savannah age 10, Tyler 7 and Hannah 6. Here are some of the
steps I have taken to encourage creativity.

Let the children have a say in the decorating and arranging of their
school space and bedrooms. I have found they will take greater pride in
keeping it clean as well as boost their creativity. This is more
difficult for kids who share a room. But they will learn the important
life skills of compromising and working together. Savannah loves to
decorate and make things pretty around the house. Her favorite channel is
HGTV. She gets very upset with me when I tell her there is no other way
the furniture can be arranged in her room. It is just too long and
narrow. But she has found other ways to make it her space with pictures
on the walls, plants, etc.

My own mother allowed me this freedom which meant so much to me. She even
allowed me to paint two pictures on the walls at each end of my bed! My
room was small so Daddy took my closet doors off, raised the shelf and
took out the rod, made a platform for the bed and ordered a mattress to
fit. Mama made a ruffled valiance for the top and a skirt for the bed. It
was great! I painted a flower at one end, put posters on the long wall
and painted a clown on the other end. It was my little hideaway. My Mom
and Dad were great inspirations for me. I haven't let my kids paint on
the walls yet! Maybe I'll get up the courage one day.

Give each child their own bulletin board to display artwork and
schoolwork. We have ours in the school room, but a hallway, or even in
the kitchen or family room would work depending on your home and how many
kids you have.

Keep lots of craft supplies around the house. Include things like toilet
paper rolls, foil, tape, wire, pipe cleaners, magazines, clay, glue,
paints (only to be used with supervision, of course), cereal boxes,
oatmeal containers, pompoms, pie pans, paper plates, Popsicle sticks, egg
cartons, yarn etc. At one point I will confess that I got rid of all the
yarn because Tyler had made so many creations it was driving me crazy! He
had yarn wrapped around the chair and table legs, woven in and out of the
stair rails, tied to the door knobs! But now that he is older, yarn is
allowed again.

Purchase craft kits and supplies for Christmas and Birthdays. My girls
love craft kits! The girls stay busy for hours with beads. They have made
bean bags, window decals, a sock cat, etc. Look for old necklaces at
thrift stores and yard sales. You can take these apart and recycle them
into new creations. Tyler was thrilled when he got a toolbox, masking
tape and wire for Christmas! He quickly added his tools and other
creative supplies to his toolbox!

Teach your girls and boys to sew. Even if they don't become sewing crazy,
it is a skill they can use all through life. Boys at least need to know
how to sew on a button.

Let them make their own cards and gifts to give at Christmas, Valentines,
birthdays, etc. This encourages creativity as well as teaching them to be
thoughtful.

Yes, I have gotten frustrated with the messes sometimes but it is paying
off. Savannah is a great help in decorating the table and beautifying the
living room with pillows and throws as well as her room. She takes a lot
of pride in her spaces.

Tyler has self confidence to tackle building projects with his
grandfathers and his dad. I found him just the other day hammering nails
back into the wooden fence that had worked their way out. He is always
trying to figure out how to make things better or solve little problems.
He usually has very good ideas.

Hannah is going to be my sewer (another Dorcas I pray). This past year,
she has learned along with her brother and sister how to make simple tie
quilts. She made a small one for a preemie baby that we will be donating
to Shands hospital. Next, she wanted to start a bigger one for a toddler.
Now she is working on a third for a foster child. Not only is she
learning to create, she is learning how to think of others and do her
part to help.

Craft projects don't always have to be planned. Some of the best things
we have made came out that way by mistake! Let them create and experiment
on their own. Some people will accuse you of letting your kids be
wasteful. Don't let them discourage you! I promise, very quickly they
will become budding artists! So go ahead! Let them create!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CREATIVE GIVING ON A BUDGET
by Tasha Brickhouse
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have to chuckle a little when I think about the things my family has
done that to others may seem as creative. You see, my favorite phrase is
"necessity is the mother of invention." I love to give gifts to others,
but being on a single income, my heart can tend to be larger than my
pocketbook. A few years ago I prayed that the Lord would give me a talent
that I could use to be a blessing to others. At that point I cannot say
that there was anything that I could do worth giving to others. Little by
little, the Lord has prompted my heart to learn this skill or that. I
have checked out many books from the library and tried and tried again. A
few years ago my husband and I started making wood crafts for gifts by
using simple templates and tracing an outline on the wood. The Lord has
blessed our efforts and we have been able to create beautiful gifts.

This past year, my friend and I made large batches of chocolate covered
almonds, chocolate covered pretzels and raisins, and chocolate covered
peanut butter balls. We made up plenty of goodie bags and arranged them
in gift bags or baskets. Another favorite of mine is to bake sweet breads
in wide mouth canning jars. When done carefully, one can place the lid on
the jars when they come out of the oven and it will seal itself. This
gift is perfect to send to friends and relatives to whom it is impossible
to send fresh bread. My newest adventure is making granola. My dad
encouraged me to make this and now I have a rather large line of happy
recipients. Something else that I have recently done is making large
batches of homemade spaghetti sauce. I try to put a personalized tag on
each gift with an inspiring quote, verse or poem. When you are able to
tell someone that what you are giving to them is created by your own
hands then they know you love them. If the Lord can use my two hands, He
can do it for anyone!! I find inspiration in the virtuous woman in whom
they say she "worketh willingly with her hands." Proverb 31:13