Category Archives: Guest post
How to End Your Homeschool Year
Source: brightideaspress.com via Daniele on Pinterest
Danielle at Domestic Serenity is a favorite blogger of mine. Today’s post that she shared at Bright Ideas Press is especially uplifting; How to End Your Homeschool Year. I invite you to click over and read her encouraging words.
Bible Memorization Motivation
A few weeks ago we were privileged to participate in a Bible Memorization Seminar in our area. The four Nebblett siblings came fromNew Mexicoto teach and train on this and other spiritual topics. What a blessing!
As a child, my brain memorized pretty fast. I remember earning a beautiful new Bible for memorizing a large number of verses one time. The verses I learned then have stuck with me, at least in part, until this day. But the verses I’ve worked on in the last couple of decades are only there in general meaning, or paraphrase. The older I get, the harder it seems to be to memorize, so sadly, I have kind of given up on memorization, making excuses, like I’m too busy to do that right now.
I thought the seminar would be really good for my kids, motivating them to make the best of their brain while it is young, but I found it was very helpful for me too.
Our guest speakers are all in their 20′s. They come from the same family, but they have different personalities, and learning styles. They have figured out that they all memorize best a little differently. One is more auditory, saying the verses out loud, or listening to them. One is more visual, reading the verses, and remembering how the verse looks on the page. One is more creative, drawing stick figures to help illustrate the verses. One like to be more active when memorizing.
Here are some of the points our guest speakers shared with us, taken from their own experience and from a survey they conducted among some other young people.
1. Don’t try to memorize laying down. Our cozy warm bed is better for putting us to sleep then memorizing scripture. It is better to be upright, or even active while memorizing.
2. Experiment with different ways of memorizing to see which one(s) work better for you.
3. Try including more then one method of memorization while working on specific verses.
4. It might help you if you memorize out loud with someone else.
5. Accountability is very important. Find a friend to check on you and see if you’ve memorized your verses, and to encourage you to keep working on more.
The most fun aspect of the seminar was when they divided us up into four groups. Each group was assigned a section of Revelation 22 to memorize. Then each of the siblings went to one of the groups and worked with them on their verses. After 15 minutes, the siblings rotated, and the next sibling worked on our verses with us in a different way. At the end of an hour, I didn’t have my verses completely memorized, but I was well on the way. Each group then stood up, one group at a time, and recited their section, so the whole chapter of Revelation 22 was recited, in order. We relied on other members of our group to help us, but all in all, I thought it was a great success, and a thrill to hear the whole chapter aloud.
I have since thought about Bible memorization and my old brain, and realized I am really good at excuses. Is it impossible for me, at my age to memorize? No. I know I could. I just haven’t put in the time. Do I want to have scripture in my heart and mind? Yes, absolutely yes! I have decided that even if I don’t memorize quickly, that I should keep working on it, because the more I work at it, the more of it I will have in my brain, even if it is just fragments and pieces. God can use fragments and pieces at the right time to encourage me, or keep me out of trouble.
I am excited to say that after a search of the Internet, I have found something that is helping me memorize much faster. At Scripture Typer there is free online software to help you practice typing verses until they are memorized. It is simple, and uses the visual and kinesthetic modalities all at once as you type the verses you wish to memorize. I have been working on it for a couple weeks now and have to excitedly report that I’ve already memorized Romans 8: 1 – 5. I know that doesn’t look like much, but it is major progress for me, and I’m working now on verses 6 – 9. At Scripture Typer you can download the verses you wish to work on, in the Bible version of your choice, and it will keep track of your progress for you, and even give you reminders to go back and review the verses you have worked on in past weeks. The only draw back is that you must have an Internet connection to use it. And my only suggestion to make it better, is if you would speak the verses out loud as you type, because then you would be using three learning modalities, and it might even stick a little quicker.
I really encourage young people to memorize all they can, while their brain is still active and quick, but not to give up when it starts showing its age. I encourage people with middle age and older brains to try again, and not give up. I think it might even help to keep us younger, and will certainly help our spiritual lives. I’ve already been blessed by several special new thoughts I’ve gained in my work on Romans 8, and as you can see, I’ve only completed a very few verses. I’m not going to give up. And next time you see me, you can quiz me to see if I can remember any of them.
Heartfelt thanks goes to Barbara at A Wildflower Morning for sharing with us this encouraging post. Originally posted on her blog on 5/16/11. *All photos in this post by William.
Take Your Children Out into the Gardens
All this speaks of the work
Charlotte Mason Scripture Memory System – Guest Post
Many thanks to Yolanda for sharing this post with us.
When I was a child I attended Pensacola Christian Academy, a private Christian School well-known for the A Beka curriculum. One thing I remember most about school is the scripture memorization. We would learn large passages of scripture and then individually stand in front of the class and recite them.
This planted a love in my heart for God’s Word. When I began homeschooling my children, I knew that I wanted to instill in them the same love for God’s Word. I wanted to create a habit of learning scriptures and reviewing them so they would be retained.
I came across the Charlotte Mason Method of teaching scripture. In this method, scriptures are added and reviewed every day, then every other day and then once a month. I know that it is working for my family because my children beg to “do the scripture memory box”!
You can view how to set up the box HERE. The box that we use to hold our cards can be found HERE. We use our box in the morning before breakfast during our family worship time. It literally only takes a few minutes and it’s small enough to pack up and take on any trip.
My children are ages 12 (13 next month) and 8. We memorize longer passages such as the ten commandments and the 23rd Psalm as well as short verses such as Genesis 1:1. Our home school curriculum includes several verses to memorize for each lesson, and I also choose verses that God may impress on my heart during my morning worship. Once my children seemed to be having a rough time getting along and so we chose Romans 12:18. “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.”
When reviewing the verses we have already memorized, I give only the scripture reference and the children recite the verse. For my 8 year old, I may have to give the first word or two of the verse to help jog his memory.
Words Are Power
Thank you to Marci, an experienced AHE mom, for sharing this devotional with us.
Deuteronomy 6:6,7 says “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children” 
Words are containers of power.
They can be used as a healing balm to a hurting soul, or as a slashing sword to cut a wounded heart.
It is important that we train our children to listen to the words they say. We can teach them to think before speaking. However, parents must model the think before speaking process.
“Children don’t always listen to their parents, but they do imitate them.”
The Bible says “The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” James 3:5,6
A blogger friend shared an object lesson with her children to stress the importance of words.It is a simple way to help our children understand this concept.
1.Squeeze toothpaste out of the tube…then put it back in.
2.Place a drop of Tabasco Sauce on your tongue…then quickly get a drink of water!
It is a sobering thought to realize that the words we speak can carry such great power. Thankfully we are not left to flounder without help. The book of Proverbs is filled with incentives and reasons why gaining control of our tongue is so important.
“The mouth of the righteous is a well of life.” Proverbs 10:11
“The tongue of the wise promotes health” Proverbs 12:18
“Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones”
Proverbs 16:24
“The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly” Proverbs 15:2
“A wholesome tongue is a tree of life” Proverbs 15:4
But how do we gain a wholesome, wise, and righteous tongue?
1. Through earnest prayer
“Create in me a clean heart oh God”
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight Oh Lord, My strength and my redeemer”! God knows our need, He hears our cry, and His grace is available.
Ask for perception and awareness of the words that we speak as we begin this building process.
2.Repeat Bible promises out loud.
When you hear yourself speak The Word, this internalizes what you are saying and it empowers you for necessary change.
Our words affect those around us. We are either building up, or tearing down those who hear our words. Our children are especially vulnerable as they absorb what they see and hear from adults around them.
May the words that I speak today Heavenly Father, uplift and encourage others.
In Jesus Name,
Deuteronomy 6:6,7 says “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children”
Words are containers of power.
They can be used as a healing balm to a hurting soul, or as a slashing sword to cut a wounded heart.
It is important that we train our children to listen to the words they say. We can teach them to think before speaking. However, parents must model the think before speaking process.
“Children don’t always listen to their parents, but they do imitate them.”
The Bible says “The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” James 3:5,6
A blogger friend shared an object lesson with her children to stress the importance of words.It is a simple way to help our children understand this concept.
1.Squeeze toothpaste out of the tube…then put it back in.
2.Place a drop of Tabasco Sauce on your tongue…then quickly get a drink of water!
It is a sobering thought to realize that the words we speak can carry such great power. Thankfully we are not left to flounder without help. The book of Proverbs is filled with incentives and reasons why gaining control of our tongue is so important.
“The mouth of the righteous is a well of life.” Proverbs 10:11
“The tongue of the wise promotes health” Proverbs 12:18
“Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones”
Proverbs 16:24
“The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly” Proverbs 15:2
“A wholesome tongue is a tree of life” Proverbs 15:4
But how do we gain a wholesome, wise, and righteous tongue?
1. Through earnest prayer
“Create in me a clean heart oh God”
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight Oh Lord, My strength and my redeemer”! God knows our need, He hears our cry, and His grace is available.
Ask for perception and awareness of the words that we speak as we begin this building process.
2.Repeat Bible promises out loud.
When you hear yourself speak The Word, this internalizes what you are saying and it empowers you for necessary change.
Our words affect those around us. We are either building up, or tearing down those who hear our words. Our children are especially vulnerable as they absorb what they see and hear from adults around them.
May the words that I speak today Heavenly Father, uplift and encourage others.
In Jesus Name,
New Creation ~ Guest Post
Many thanks to Susan for sharing this beautiful devotional thought with us. She also writes at her blog home, Susan’s Spot.
As often as possible, I love to raise butterflies as a homeschool
project. O.K., so I really do it as a homeschool MOM project, as I
love watching them at all stages in their development! The connections
between them and our own spiritual life are so strong. Nature really
will speak to us, if we will only listen. This photo shows two
different chrysalis–one has hatched out and become a butterfly
already, while the second is still developing. Sometimes, for no
apparent reason, the butterfly never comes out of the chrysalis stage.
God offers to all of us the possibility of a new life–but we have to
accept His offer. He won’t force His gift on us. We must accept it,
and only then will we be made new. Our old, ugly sinful life will be
covered up with Jesus’ blood, and we will be given His righteousness
instead.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has
gone, the new has come!”
2 Corinthians 5:17
But even though we may have accepted God’s gift, that does not mean
that we are with no danger. Things of this world abound that will take
our focus off of God and put it on ourselves. We make gods out of
us–but we are powerless to save.
” Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around
like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8
“Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your
brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of
sufferings.” 1 Peter 5:9
Praise God, we are not left without One who saves us!
(Just for the record, no, my cat Pumpkin is NOT allowed up on the
table! But obviously, he does not obey the rules! Satan does not play
by the rules either–he will try and get us when we are the most tired
and discouraged.)
Jesus lowered Himself down to this sin-filled earth, leaving the
glory of heaven, so that He might save each one of us. We do not
deserve His gift–but He loved us so much that He came anyway, even
though we have no merits of our own. Nothing that in any way makes us
qualified or deserving of this gift.
My daughter Alison loves to release the butterflies to their new life.
To watch them take off to live the beautiful life they were designed
to live. No longer crawling, now they can FLY!
“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order
that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the
Father, we too may live a new life. ” Romans 6:4
Geocaching – Part 3 ~ Guest Post
Many thanks to Vicky for sharing her family’s interest in geocaching with us!
What do I do if I want to hide a cache?
First of all, I would suggest you find a few caches first. You’ll never know what you will find, and the more you look, the more ideas you’ll have.
Have you hidden a cache? If so, what did you do?
Yes, I have one cache hidden. But, I hid it after I’d found about 35 others myself. (Just so you know there are people who have found thousands!!!). What I did to hide my cache is first decide where I wanted people to come – and where it would be OK for them to come. Since I live in a townhome complex, bringing strangers in where there are many children present wasn’t too good an idea for me. So, after seeking permission, I placed a micro (very, very small cache) on the property of my son’s boy choir. I did this because I want people to come and see the sign for the Land of Lakes
C'mon, give geocaching a try, it's fun!
Choirboys, thus helping to spread the choir name to those who might not have heard of them before. I created a listing on geocaching.com; and, once a geocaching.com volunteer reviewed my cache site, my cache was listed on the website. Within 18 hours of the listing, I already had people finding it. Currently I have 17 finds and 0 Did Not Finds.
There are several places that you should NOT put a cache – under overpasses, near government offices or in places where placing an item could create a panic (“there’s a bomb!”).
Do you have any resources we can go to find out more?
Yes, I do. Of course www.geocaching.com has some great FAQ’s as well as a couple of video clips. You can also go to youtube and search “geocaching.” As always, please prescreen clips you choose before letting your kids see them. As new clips are being put up, I cannot guarantee the quality of what’s there. However, generally what I’ve seen has been fairly acceptable. Here is a good clip to get started.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD7SF-Axvyg
clever hides:
