The Heart of the Matter Friday Meme - School & Life

“The difference between school and life? In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson.” ~Tom Bodett

The Heart of the Matter meme for this week is to express my thoughts about the above quote. This quote carries two interpretations depending on if you go to traditional school or if you homeschool.
In traditional school, you are actually taken out of a natural learning environment in order to learn. From a book, you are taught about life and then in order to find out if you paid attention, you are tested to see if you retained intangible information. Some teachers are good about bringing life into the lessons so that when the test comes the information is more tangible.
In homeschool, children learn from life. Books are involved but there are so many more opportunities to learn from what life is throwing at you at the moment. Life is the natural learning environment. From the moment a child is born, they are learning through experiences and trial and error. When we allow a baby to struggle to get up and learn to stand, we are letting them learn on their own instead of telling them. As one becomes older, life’s “tests” or hardships teach us how to handle situations, or how to fix things that break. How many times as an adult, have we uttered the words, “Now I know what to do for next time?” How many times have we looked at someone else’s hardships and learned from watching them? I know for myself, the answer is more than I can count.
What seems like the more natural way to learn? Why is society so quick to put children in an unnatural learning environment to learn? Then claim that they will be more successful? I find it appalling that society says that children are better off in a classroom from preschool on, when the school system has proven itself a failure.

Thursday Thirteen

Mama Archer inspired my Thursday Thirteen this week. Here is a list of 13 cities/towns I have lived in my life. We moved a lot for no particular reason. This list is not in order either, I just put them down as I thought of them.

1. Jackson Hole Wyoming - My birthplace
2. Richardson Springs, CA - Springs of Living Water Conference Center now a YWAM Base - I actually have lived there more than once.
3. Tyler, Texas
4. Logan, Utah
5. Paxton, Nebraska (This town is so small it even had a town drunk, his name was Morris. He went to the town bar everyday at the same time.)
6. Fullerton, California
7. Buena Park, California
8. Costa Mesa, California
9. Chadron, Nebraska
10. Chico, California
11. Castro Valley, California
12. North Plate, Nebraska
13. Santa Anna, California

Weblink Wednesday - Language Arts

I love Jan Brett books and so do my kids. We often check out one of her books when we go to the library. There is a website devoted to her books and activities that go with every book she has ever written. From coloring pages to recipes and anything you can think of to do for language arts with any of her books, you will find there. Anyone who hasn't read Jan Brett, is really missing out on some really good children's literature.

Jan Brett's Free Activities

Mashed Potatoes

I want to blog today. I really do want to write, but, my brain is mashed potatoes right now. Baby G still hasn't figured out how to sleep at night. She is 15 months now and I seriously need more sleep. I have tried to let her cry it out but the girls have strongly protested against this as they all share a room. You should see them at 2am and 4am insisting complete with tears that I get the baby so they can sleep. I am way too tired to stand my ground at that point I just get the baby and bring her to bed with me. Where she then decides to nurse until well, she wakes up for the day? I don't know I just fall back to sleep. I am sure she stops but I don't know when.
I was so proud of myself that the older kids did school today. I was practically falling asleep while doing reading lessons with the girls. I dozed for a few minutes around 4 and then at 5 hubby and I were trying to figure out what to do for dinner. He looked at me and sweetly said,, "There is no way you are cooking." I love him. :) So... ho went and got KFC. And that is why my brain is mashed potatoes.
And with that, Baby G has woken up and I must go.

A Day at the Library

What is my favorite homeschool product? That is the question for this weeks Heart of the Matter meme this week. I am not sure what my favorite is. There are things/books we use daily that I really love like the book Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, the white board I use constantly for so many things, the manipulatives I use during math, but I think my favorite or at least my kids favorite is the library.
My kids love library day. We go together as a family about every other week. They get to choose 3 or 4 books depending on the week and how much time we have to spend there. I love grabbing a few books that go along with what they are studying for them to peruse. And, hubby and I usually grab a book or two for ourselves. I have learned so much about my kids by paying attention to the books they check out. In addition, we spend so much quality time together as a family while there. Even Gia loves the library. She gets to walk around giggling at all the books and she loves playing at the puzzle tables in the children’s room.
This week’s picks include a DK Eyewitness Book on Astronomy to follow up on the lunar eclipse this week. I also pulled a book called Fun with Italian for the kids. (I am teaching Italian to the kids and I am teaching myself along the way. I know French and Spanish but the kids wanted to learn Italian so we are learning together.) Kinza chose a book of paper plate crafts. (I need to get some paper plates so she can actually try stuff in the book.) Vincenzo chose a Star Wars book. He loves Star Wars - he is a boy. Hannah chose a Where’s Waldo book (Hannah loves hidden picture books). We all love the Waldo books and usually as a family take turns looking for the hidden stuff in the pictures. I chose a cookie book for myself. I love baking cookies. This time, hubby did not get a book.
Here are pictures of Gia from the last time we went to the library.

Thursday Thirteen - Shopping Trip

Thirteen Things I bought on sale at the grocery store yesterday. Safeway is having a Savings Rally and I just had to go get some good deals. I didn't buy 25 items on their list but I bought enough to earn $10, and .10 cents off our next gas purchase. :) So... honey is using the $10 certificate for gas with the .10 cent off discount. All told I saved over $75 dollars. :) I only bought items that were either 10 for $10 or 2 for $A great price or Buy 1 get 1 free.

1 - Cereal - 2 boxes
2 - Mac & Cheese - 4 boxes
3 - Dry Pasta - 2 pkgs
4 - Canned tomatoes (perfect for my Cheesy Chicken) - 4 cans
5 - Soup Bowls (Soup in a microwavable bowl. My hubby takes these to work.) - 4 bowls
6 - Juice - 2 bottles
7 - Brownie Mix - 1 box
8 - Valentine Chocolate - 50% off and well, Chocolate is essential.
9 - Albacore Tuna - 4 cans
10 - Shredded cheese - 2 pgs
11 - Yogurt - 10
13 - Milk - 2 gal

A Day at the Park

Yesterday we went to the park. (It was the last sunny day for at least a week.) Here are my honey and I with our four kiddos playing and running. I was at the swings with Gia when a mom with a little boy who is 3 weeks younger than Gia came up and put her son in the swing next to us. He was so unsure of the swing and while the mom was next to me, we started talking. It started out small just about the swings but then went from there. She was amazed when she saw I had four kids. She was saying how she and her husband just started talking about when they wanted to have another but he did not think he was ready and she was starting to think she was. She said she could not wait to tell him she met a mom with four kids.
I love that God put her in my path so she could see that it is not impossible to take care of a lot of children. I also love the fact that I had taken the time in the morning to make myself ready for the day. I was showered and put together. I looked rested and was not one who looked frazzled or overwhelmed. My clothes were clean and not worn out or ragged, and my hair was not just put back in a scrunchie.
This is a huge witness to anyone who thinks having a lot of kids is irresponsible. If you have a “lot” of kids (this term is relative some think for is a lot and I think 16 is a lot) but look like you don’t take care of yourself then you are not being a good witness to those around you. I am not saying you should look like a model with no hair out of place or dress in business cloths but you should look put together when you go out. This world looks at the outside first impression and if we fail at that then we have not done the family lifestyle justice.
The mom I met was excited to have met me and hopes that she will see me again. I am praying God crosses our paths at the one of the parks (our town has a least 12 play areas within the city park and throughout town) again when the rain that is to be here for a while moves on its way and the sun comes back.
So, I ask you as a mom, “How is your witness?”

Proverbs 31:22 She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.


Proverbs 31:26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

Valentine Thursday Thirteen

In honer of Valentines Day here are 13 verses about God's most perfect love. Mind you there are sooooo many verses it was really hard to pick but I finally picked 13.

1 ♥ Proverbs 3:1~ For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

2 ♥ Proverbs 10:12 ~ Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.

3 ♥ Jeremiah 31:3 ~ The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

4 ♥ John 3:16 ~ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

5 ♥ John 15:13 ~ Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

6 ♥ Romans 5:8 ~ But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

7 ♥ Romans 12:10 ~ Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;

8 ♥ Romans 13:10 ~ Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

9 ♥ Ephesians 3:19 ~ And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

10 ♥ 1 John 4:10 ~ Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

11 ♥ 1 John 4:18 ~ There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

12 ♥ 1 John 5:3 ~ For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

13 ♥ 2 John 1:6 ~ And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.

Teaching Children to Worship

Our kids do not go to Sunday School. We feel very strongly about having the kids in the church service with us. Church is family time. The kids are learning by our example of what it means to worship the Lord in church. It is the biblical way to do church. I did a little research through the Word and was thrilled at how many verses I found that had the kids in the assembly with the elders, men, and women.

I am only going to touch on a few of the verses here and I am breaking it up into a few different postings. It took me a few typing sessions to finish the first part and I know that if you are a mom getting more than 15 minutes to do anything is a great accomplishment in itself. The goal of these postings is to encourage moms in how to teach their children to worship. I, by no means have all the answers, but I know it can be done. I have trained all my older kids to sit and listen in church. I am training my 14 month old right now. I will touch on how to train your child to stay in the service at the end of this series of postings.

Deuteronomy 31:10 - 13

And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles, When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law: And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.

In Deuteronomy, Moses was passing the torch to Joshua. He instructed Joshua to gather everyone including women and children to assemble at the end of every seven years. He instructed them to do this so that they may hear from the Lord, learn to fear the Lord, and observe all the word of the law. They were to be together, everyone in the same place, not assembled separately. The children were to hear the law with the adults because the children needed to learn the law so they would not depart from it when they were adults. Learning to fear the Lord is easier the younger you are. Therefore, it only makes sense that they were there.

Joshua 8:33 - 35

And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well the stranger, as he that was born among them; half of them over against mount Gerizim, and half of them over against mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel. And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law. There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them.

In Joshua, we see that he did what Moses told him to do. Everyone was assembled together so that everyone could hear the law as Moses commanded. God saw it important enough to include the children in the assembly of hearing all that was written in the Book of the Law. If it was important then, it is absolutely important now.

2 Chronicles 20:3 - 5

And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD. And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,

2 Chronicles 20:13 - 15

And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation; And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle [is] not yours, but God's.

King Jehoshaphat sought the Lord in the midst of war being declared on him. He called everyone to seek the Lord, including the children. The Lord heard their prayers and comforted them in the midst of turmoil. He told them that the battle did not belong to them but to the Lord. Jehoshaphat knew the importance of the prayers of the children. God hears the prayers of our children. If our children see our example of prayer, then our children will know how to pray. It will become natural for them to seek the Lord because we as parents demonstrated it to them. Children are great observers of our behavior and mimic it all the time.

Ezra 10:1

Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept very sore.

In Ezra, we see something a little different. The people we not called to assemble before the Lord, they came on their own. Everyone including the children came around Ezra as he was repenting before the Lord. The people of Israel had not kept themselves separate from neighboring lands as God had told them. They were taking the women from these lands for themselves against what God had told them to do. Ezra falls before the Lord weeping and repenting for the sins of Israel and the people come to Ezra recognizing that they needed to repent themselves; even the children. Exodus 34:7 says that God deals with sin to the third and fourth generation. It was very important here that the children also repent for their parents’ sin. Sin is also passed on from generation to generation; it is called generational sin. Confessing the sins of our father’s, and asking God to forgive, that is part of breaking the generational sin.

Joel 2:15 - 18

Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where [is] their God? Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people.

In Joel, everyone, including the babies, is called for a solemn assembly. The people were called to fast. I find interesting that a fast was called here. I am not sure if the children were included in the actual fasting but I am sure the children were very aware of the fasting, and how to fast. As adults, God sometimes calls us to fast. When we do, we are teaching our children how to deny their flesh for a period of time for the Lord. If God calls you to fast, you should be teaching your child what it means to fast and why we fast.

To sum up, in the Old Testament, children and babies were called to gather with the elders, men, and women. In every instance, that we looked at there was a different reason for the gathering. Children were involved in hearing, learning and fearing the Law of the Lord, seeking the Lord in times of trouble, and in repentance.

Children learn by example, if we do not have them in service with us, how can we be the example of how to worship the Lord? In Sunday school, they learn from the example of their peers. Where do their peers learn how to worship? God esteems children as being as important as adults, so why would we put them at the “kiddy table” so to speak? I will be looking at examples in the New Testament next time.

Where Do You Homeschool?

The Heart of The Matter has a weekly meme. This weeks theme is, "Where do you homeschool?"

Homeschool in our house is constantly evolving. However, we have a common trend that we seem always to migrate, the living room couch. We love the couch. I really do not want little desks for my kids that make everything about learning rigid. I do not want my kids to associate learning as being something done only when you are at a desk or in a certain room. I want my kids to know that a learning environment is everywhere you go. You can learn in any situation in any place at any time. So we can often be found on the couch or at the kitchen table doing our work. Learning should be comfortable and natural.
I know that I am successful in teaching them that learning is fun and relaxing because last month, the kids and I were play a game called Apples to Apples with one some of their aunts and uncles. You have to take cards in your hand that have people, places, events, and other things on them and lay them down to match a word on the card the judge pulls from the pile. The word pulled was “Relaxed” while most everybody put down cards that said the beach, vacation… my son put down a card that said, “The First Day of School.” That says it all for me.
So, Where do you homeschool?

Super Tuesday

Voting day in our house is like a Patriotic Holiday not unlike Independence Day in many respects. My kids love voting and it is a very important Social Studies lesson. The very first time we took the kids with us to vote, my son was 5. They all got sample ballots when we voted. Every time after that, they have gotten sample ballots so they could "vote."
Last year we had electronic voting for the first time. This devastated my son so much because he didn't get to "vote" like in years past. When we were leaving our polling place, he started crying and exclaimed rather passionately, "It is my right as an American citizen to vote! I want to vote!" This makes my husband and I very proud. We love that he is so passionate about his freedoms and rights. Obviously, we had to explain to him that at the age of 7 he still doesn't get to vote.
Today, he got to vote with a sample ballot with his sisters. They love being part of the process even though it is just as a child in practice. When they are adults they will actually care and take part in the wonderful freedoms we have as Americans. I pray that when they are of age our freedoms still exist as they do now - or that we have more.
Watching the debates this year has frightened me a bit. I see the candidates that all say they want to have more government programs. Programs to bail out those in trouble, programs to regulate how we live. Programs that cost money that has to come from somewhere. Are they planning on borrowing from other countries, increasing our taxes? I don't like any of those ideas. It seems as if we are returning not to our heritage but to what caused us to flee from Europe in the first place. When our ancestors first settled wasn't it to escape an overly controlling government? So why would we want to have people in government that seem to be power hungry? Just a few thoughts as I watch the unfolding of today's Super Tuesday.

A Fun Filled Friday

Today we took the kids to see The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything today. We only take the kids to the movies once a year because it is tremendously expensive so we choose carefully each time we do this. We only take them to movies we know will not have anything inappropriate in them which means we are very limited to say Veggies and Winnie the Pooh. The preview they had at the beginning of this movie geared towards the 2-6 year olds was unfortunately for a movie for adults. I do not know the name but for a full five minutes, the kids eyes were closed and I was baffled at the idiocy of whoever thought that putting a scary trailer on a little kids movie would be a good idea. But that is the movie industry for you. In spite of the first five minutes though, it was so much fun! Baby G is 14 months and she did better than any of the other kids have done on their first trips to the movies. She was so cute watching the movie. When she saw Bob and Larry, at the beginning, her grin was bigger than her face and she actually watched most of the movie. The kids loved the movie and as soon as we were walking out the door of the theater, they were asking if we could own it when it came out. Of course, we said yes, we own every Veggie Tale movie. We started collecting them back in 1998 before we even had kiddos to enjoy them.

I am going to tell you now what we do to make the movies as inexpensive as possible. We go to a matinée in the middle of the week of course. Then because you have to have popcorn at the movies, we buy the jumbo size that allows for a free refill. Then we know we will need something to drink and I know that we could do water but we just share drinks. The older girls share one, I share one with our Little Man, and the Daddy gets one to himself. I have plastic baggies that I put popcorn in for each of the kids so they do not have to reach over each other or pass back and forth. It works for us and for five people (Baby G is free) we spent $30 on tickets and $16 on drinks. For less than $50, we do well. Especially since, we only go once a year.