Quote of the week

... several recent research studies have shown that for every 50 minute class period, only 28% of that time is spent in engaged learning. That means that for every subject in school, the students only spend about 14 minutes being taught or involved in learning activities. The rest of the time is wasted on lining up, changing classes or rooms, taking books out, putting books away, dealing with discipline issues, answering unimportant questions, handing out papers, handing out assignments, giving homework assignments, explaining what is expected, and lecturing on topics unrelated to actual academic learning.


The subjects covered in school are math, social studies, science, physical education, language arts, foreign language, health and arts. Generally, arts and physical education alternate, as do science and health. Thus, in a typical school day, the students only have 84 minutes of actual learning time, that's less than an hour and a half each day. They are gone seven hours to receive less than an hour and a half of instruction and actual learning.



Here is what one classroom teacher writes in her weblog:


As individuals, with some notable exceptions, I like every one of my 180-or-so students this year. But en masse, they make me freakin' crazy! They assume that any time there are not actual words coming from my mouth, they have permission to talk. I then spend 3 minutes getting everyone back on task, only to be interrupted by a request to sign something, a phone call, or a p.a. announcement. Actual time spent teaching is probably 3% of the class period.



Though she is guessing, if her calculations are correct, the time our neighbors spend at school equals only about nine minutes of instruction the entire day. Giving the schools the benefit of the doubt, we'll stick to the hour and a half calculated in the scientific research studies.

Jeannie Fulbright (See APOLOGIA SCIENCE)

Worth reading.

Tim Challies has done an excellent job in his series of posts, which he has entitled 'Sexual Detox'. Unfortunately this topic is still completely 'taboo' amongst many christians, but the 'marriage bed' is something which needs to be addressed in a mature, sensible and respectful manner. Often spoken about jokingly, lightheartedly or in a lewd manner - I think Tim has sensitively and carefully addressed the issues in this series Biblically. I would recommend this short series to any Christian wife or husband, particularly those who are new to married life, or even for those struggling with sexual sin.

Sexual Detox 1

Sexual Detox 2

Sexual Detox 3

Sexual Detox 4

I'm not sure if the latest is the last post in the series, so check in at Challies.com if you have found these beneficial.

PMS

A wonderful article over here at Girltalk on how to deal with PMS.

PMS PREP

A Poem for a son.

A MOTHER'S FEARS


Today I took my little boy and held him in my arms,
I looked in to those big brown eyes and was captured by their charm.
Then all at once it hit me that one day he'd be a man,
It was with this amazing thought that all my fears began.

Would I teach him properly the way to love a wife,
The way to raise their children, and live a godly life?
How to listen to the voice of the Father up above,
And how to introduce to friends the wonders of His love?

Would he earn an honest quid, and put food upon the table,
And serve the Lord and others, the best that he was able?
Would he make a godly mark on the world in which he dwelt?
As I thought about these things, my fears began to melt.

God has given ME this child, because no other could,
Mold his heart and character, and teach him to be good.
Or show him how to read and write or how to play with others.
God had choosen ME to be his only mother.

So now I hold my child close and think of how I can,
Teach my tiny son, how to be a godly man.
My fears are healed by the knowledge that somewhere up above,
God had given ME the job of this little child to love.

By Maria Dowse.

Christian Institute video

God's Will....to be accepting is to be knowing.

"God's will is exactly what I would choose, if I knew what God knows" (unknown).

It is good to realise that God is always at work in situations in our lives if we trust in Him!
I have been pondering and perhaps even struggling a lot recently in my mind and heart regarding God showing us His plan and revealing His will for our lives as believers.... and so, as I quite often do, I looked up the 'Revive Our Hearts' website and happened upon this Biblical advice. Just when I needed it!

Well, what happens when we seek His will time and time again, and perhaps years later there are still no answers?

Nancy Leigh DeMoss gives this reply:-

When we come into these circumstances, we can lift our eyes up and say, "God, I don't see. I don't understand. I can't comprehend how this could possibly turn out for good, how this could bring You glory.

"But I trust that You know and that You are at work in this child's life, in this husband's life or this parent's life or this situation. You are fulfilling eternal purposes. I surrender myself with thanksgiving to those purposes.

By the way, faith and praise go hand-in-hand. The ability to praise is based on trust that God knows what He is doing.

John Wesley said that our task is to give the world the right impression of God.

The way that we respond to our circumstances, whether it is cancer, car wrecks or wayward children or as Elisabeth Elliot has said: "Suffering can be anything from traffic jams to taxes to tumors and everything in-between."

The way that we respond in those circumstances is always giving those around us an opinion of God. We can give the world a right opinion of God if we will receive those circumstances and give thanks.

That's why we are reading Psalm 50:23 where it says that the one who offers thanksgiving as a sacrifice glorifies God. We give thanks in circumstances where the world can't imagine giving thanks.

What do we do? We give the world a right opinion of God. We glorify Him. Ultimately, that is what it is all about. That's why we live. That's why we exist. We were created to bring Him glory. That's how we do it.

We would all say, "I want my life to bring glory to God." But that's how we do it. It's in the nitty-gritty everyday life. It's major and minor trauma and upsets in every circumstance and situation.

The way that we're responding is either bringing glory to God or it's giving the impression that God is not a good God. He has fallen down on His job. He's not come through.

We don't want to give the world a bad opinion of God. That's why we need to praise, to be thankful people and to smile. (Even when it's the last thing we feel like doing.)

I think that if anyone knows how to smile, it ought to be Christians even in circumstances of life where it's a challenge to smile, to reflect a heart (and I'm not talking about being giddy, always laughing and always being light-hearted). (Although I believe it's beneficial to pour our hearts out to God, and even to seek His face in a passionate plea for answers and help.)

There are circumstances and seasons of life that some of you are walking through right now where there is no way that you could be light-hearted and you shouldn't be. But there can still be joy. There can always, always, always be praise. Always!

Thank You, Lord, for the opportunities that You give us to trust You, to wait on You, to look to You, to give the world a right opinion of You.

Help us to do that today in the circumstances that we know about and in the circumstances that are going to happen that we don't yet know about.

May it become our instinctive super-natural reaction, by Your grace, to give thanks in everything that You may be glorified. "


Oh, I can see this is going to be hard,... hard and perhaps, if I tried to do it on my own, impossible! But I can see that I must if I am to be accepting, walking in truth and always trusting that His ways are perfectly patterned out!


How can we glorify Him and be a shining light in this dark place? Give thanks in everything, leaning upon His guidance, accepting His ways are not our ways, even when the circumstances seem beyond our comprehension. May we always look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

It's been a while...

Since I last posted, but just a quick update on what we are upto!

I am now homeschooling Bethan (10), Jacob (almost 8) and Cameron (almost 5). It's been a big decision, but not one I have regretted....I don't think....yet!! It has manufactured more of a life-style change than I thought it would, but really that is all it has been. Just a change. I do things at different times; I tend to do all my ironing and putting away of ironing and cleaning on one day, which allows me to get on with homeschooling during the week, wheras before I would have tiddled about doing bits and bobs throughout the week, and I actually think I like the change! Occasionally we take a day off, too! (This would be alien to people who send their kids to a school, and I previously thought it was sooo wrong to do so, but when the children have learned or completed as much work as they would have done during the week at school in 3 days, I really don't have any issues with a day off.)
I don't want to be known as Naomi, the homeschooling Mum! I am primarily a servant of Christ, a wife and a mother, and it just so happens that I home-educate my kids! Yes, I do appreciate the extra time I get to be with them, and hopefully this has yielded some teachable moments, but it has also revealed some areas where I must improve my attitudes if I am to influence them in Godliness, and the fear of the Lord. I am under absolutely no illusions that this new life-style will cause them to become converted; only the Holy Spirit can convict them of sin and their need of a Saviour, and it pains me when families who home-educate believe that their children will come to Christ because of their 24/7 influence.

I do appreciate it, though when people encourage me as I go about it. It is after all part of what I do as a Mother and when it encompasses the majority of each week, it can be difficult not to talk about it sometimes. I try not to make it a point of conversation with friends, but it CAN be a lonely task, especially when people think you are totally nuts (or even just a bit mad)! I can see why 'home-schoolers' group together and form friendships and allegiances via websites, and these are good things (sometimes), but must never replace our fellowship with other church members and believers.
On those lonely days, (which thankfully have been few, because I have been engrossed in what the children are doing) I have found my strength to be in Christ. Yes, there have been days where I've fallen to my knees in prayer and said "Lord, I can't do this" (generally when I am feeling under the weather), but He has always been my rock, my dearest ever-present friend and guide. It was, after all, His will we sought in teaching our kids ourselves, and he continues to sustain, and especially to guide! I am so grateful for this, as I definitely could not do it upon any strength of my own. I have tried that and failed!!

So at present, our days are looking something like this:-

9.00am - Family time. I read to them from the scriptures or from J.C Ryles stories for children

9.30am - Spellings from Prim-Ed Workbookds (these are absolutely fantastic and so cheap to buy!)

10.00 - Maths or English for Bethan and Jacob. I help them for a while then go and do phonics using Hooked on Phonics which I bagged for a very reasonable £6.99 with Cameron.

10.45 - Break time

11.00/ 11.15 - English or Maths for B and J. Cameron has some computer time on Starfall or does his reading with me during this time or else we do his written work too. (Using Rod and Staff pre-school series at present, which is plenty for him)

12.00 - Handwriting or reading for Bethan and Jacob. Educational games with Cameron. (Sequencing/sorting/matching/naming/time games)

12.30 - Lunch

1.30pm - FIAR or Science/History/Geography and Art. This is a literacy-based unit study, where I read them a book and then they all research it at varying levels, according to their capability. At present we are studying China, Rivers, Ducks, Classic Literature, events and people in 1933. What they learn, they produce in the form of a lapbook, which they are just loving, and I must admit I'm finding it really enjoyable too!

2.30 - We are generally finished and sometimess the kids participate in chores....but we are still working on that!!

3.30pm - Music time and making dinner time/clearing up time!

On Mondays and Tuesdays, I teach piano, so dinner has to be made first thing in the am, or we just eat something really simple for tea or which requires little preparation!

So, that's it in a nutshell at the moment. I've just been trying to let our days evolve for a while rather than laying down set time-rules, which has worked quite well.

All for now!

Not too long now

Until we go on our voyage over the Irish Sea, through Scotland, England (with a stop-over in Birmingham) then over the channel (again, stopping on the way) to Annecy in the French Alps - 4 kids in tow.
Admittedly, I've being packing a little at a time; as I iron I'll throw things into the suitcase. A friend's packing list has helped out immensely, too.
We've been looking forward to this for a long time, and it's the first time we've ever been to France, let alone been away for more than a week!!!

Lots and lots still to do...

Here is a photo of where we are heading...Lord Willing.




Soooo looking forward to some family time :-)

Update from Rachel Barkey

The sun is out in all it's glory and everything is looking so beautiful over in this small corner, and boy do we appreciate the sunny, warm weather when it's here! However, it is good to be reminded of the fragility and brevity of life when perhaps we least want to dwell upon such things because of our sinful natures.
Rachel is certainly aware of her impending end or to put it in more glorious terms, the imminent day when she will meet her Saviour face-to-face. She has updated her website, in terms of 'Rachel's letters' today.

She says

I am finding that my greatest challenge and what occupies my thoughts most these days is how to finish well. All the little things that I battle daily seem to loom larger in the waiting of each day and moment as my impatience and selfish tendencies rush to the forefront of every thought and activity.


So my challenge is to finish well. And it seems I am to do this by waiting. Appropriately, I found this verse in Lamentations:


“It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”


Waiting. Quietly. It is a good thing apparently.

This is indeed how to die well. I pray that one day I will be able to look death in the eye with the same boldness and courage as Rachel displays! Praise God for those who have gone on before, leaving a Godly example for others to follow.

A challenge

Listen HERE.

I found this via Girltalk. Rachel Barkey is terminally ill with cancer and has between 6 and 18 weeks left to live. Here is a video of her giving a speech which had me transfixed.

Nigella's Pomegranate Ice-cream

I have just whipped this up and it's in the freezer for later! The kids have licked the bowl clean!

NO-CHURN POMEGRANATE ICE CREAM

Serves 8

2 pomegranates (you will need an extra one if you want to decorate the ice-cream)

1 lime

1-1/2 cups/175g icing (powdered) sugar

2 cups /500 ml double cream

Juice the pomegranates and the lime, straining the juices into a bowl. (You will have approximately 3/4 cup of pomegranate juice.)

Add the icing sugar and whisk to dissolve.
Whisk the cream and keep whisking until soft peaks form in the pale pink cream.
Spoon and smooth the ice cream into a rigid plastic container with a tight-fitting lid and freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Scatter with pomegranate seeds when you eat it.

P.S. It went down very well with the guests, too. :-)

Interesting sites, articles and encouragements.

Here goes -

The first is HERE if you are a former U.S citizen /ex-pat, and you would like some American food... fast! I often come across recipes which require ingredients which could only be purchased in the USA. The downside is the shipping costs. (I need to find out where I can purchase some A1 steak sauce for a recipe by the way! I might need to end up ordering it off here...but it is quite expensive!)

The second was prompted by a discussion long ago with a friend (You know who you are!) who likes the camping life, (and also because my husband and I were discussing a church camp-out) only a la American style, what with the CAMPFIRES and the BBQ....but obviously not the American weather. Cos we really like the weather here. Honest.

The next one is over HERE, where I discovered some pretty nifty kids projects using natural cleaning ingredients (which you might have in the house, and if you don't, I'm a new 'Soda-crystals' convert as it's got my burnt-on-food-in-pan problem sorted. This now happens frequently since No.4 came on the scene!)

The other night Ichthus held a resources evening in our church, which was surprisingly well-attended. (There are more people homeschooling in N.Ireland than I realised and it was really lovely to meet some of them. You realise you are not alone, and it's always good to compare notes!) Anyway, I purchased some charts from Doorposts. The first was a Blessing chart, then an 'If then' and a 'Brother offended' chart. We took an hour on Wednesday morning (we were all exhausted from the display the night before) and chatted about the content of all the charts. The kids faces lit up somewhat when we went through the 'Blessing Chart.' I really think I haven't been rewarding their good behaviour as much as I could (after all, God blesses us for our faithfulness and obedience) and this chart gives really practical ideas, such as rewarding diligence, cheerfulness, and kindness (especially when the parent observes a marked improvement in one of these areas) with things like an ice-cream for say, cheerfulness; special one-on-one time for the child with their parents, a chance to stay up a bit later than usual, and breakfast in bed ( yes,for the child!)among many of the suggestions! The eyes just got wider by the minute, believe me! The chart did mention that it is important to tell the child that he shouldn't desire just the reward, but the ultimate desire should be to please God. I think it will be fun to implement these ideas. Perhaps you could home in on one character trait a month, and reward accordingly if there is an obvious effort being made. Baby steps...
The main thing is that it might encourage more consistency in discipline on my part. For me, consistency is the most difficult hurdle I face, particularly when I'm tired.

Last but not least, I read (via Jess) an encouraging post on strong-willed individuals over at Steppin' Heavenward. Sometimes the blessings reveal themselves when we least expect them. Praise God for strong-willedness. It can be blessed and harnessed with lots of guidance and prayer for wisdom.

3 weeks in...some ideas for improvement

* Increase family baking sessions.
* Library use - weekly visits.
* More creative art projects
* Increase outings/opportunities to meet with other h/ed families
* Encourage good penmanship and development of character by writing letters rather than emails
* Concentrate on handwriting over next month - spacing, height of capitals in comparison to lower-case, neatness, and focus.
* Expression in reading with J.
* More computer time for Mental Maths and less formal
* Upon completing Egypt project, encourage kids to compile a list of projects they would like to do themselves to encourage thinking 'outside the box' and autonomous learning

Over the past month, I made a huge discovery. They learn best when they are having fun and they are interested! I plan to home in on this more, without allowing them to become lazy, because there will always be times we need to know and learn things that we don't particularly want to! It still doesn't mean the learning of these things needs to be boring. There are ways and means, even if they learn in completely different ways.

Quotes of the week

What does education often do? It makes a straight-cut ditch of a free, meandering brook.

Henry David Thoreau

It is a tragedy that, for most of us, school is not a place for deepening our sense of what we are gifted at or what we are committed to. If it were, think of the lasting changes it would have made.

Peter Senge (with slight ammendment)

The Homeschool Family

I don't want to go overboard on the 'homeschooling' thing, but this is so funny!

Pass the bean dip

A friend and fellow blogger sent me this article (just when I needed it). Thanks Alice. Hope you don't mind me stealing it to have on here too!

PASS THE BEAN DIP

coming to a town near you soon (or sooner than you think)

Home-education - a viable option

Quoting J

Me - "Why do Scientists use Latin?"

J (age 7) - "So they can talk to plants."

Me, J and B - all crack up in unison!

A home truth or two

Now my children are with me all day every day, the responsibility falls on me to be an example, and to instruct them in the way that they should go. Girltalk puts it like this - 'Am I walking in paths where I would want my children to follow?' They see me more, they can assess my attitudes, and measure my standards by those which we aim to meet, but quite often, because of our sinful nature, don't.
The word of God should not only be in the Bible, but the Bible should be in a man's life. A man's life should be a walking Bible."William Fenner in The Enmity of the Wicked to the Light of the Gospel


It's all very well to have the opportunity to try and nurture them, but I trust and pray that more damage will NOT be done. It certainly will be a catalyst in the conscience area!
How does one remain calm when the third argument of the day among siblings has erupted, or a highly energetic and overly enthusiastic son has decided to make himself five-in-a-row 'rich-tea' and 'Treat' sauce sandwiches after his latest discovery in the kitchen cupboard?? Perhaps baby has had her third dirty nappy in an hour, son hasn't made it to the toilet in time, daughter and other son want lunch all at once, and you have to be somewhere in 1/2 hour? It's happened here!
I don't know exactly, but I do know this. Prayer is a mender of many things. Remaining calm in many cases depends upon prayer! I have found sometimes that a quiet word of prayer has had a calming influence on all of us and set us in the right direction and frame of mind for discipline and consequent obedience.
"Let the cry of your prayers outcry the cry of your sins."Thomas Goodwin in The Works of Thomas Goodwin (Vol. 12)

Embarking on a new era of homeschooling, I pray that making our home the schoolhouse of a godly life would be first and foremost in our desires to educate our kids.

("All Christians should make their houses and families a schoolhouse of a godly life."Anthony Burgess in Section VI: Grace as God's workmanship and good works as the end thereof)

All for now.

Since leaving school

Just a little end-of-month update as to B's progess.

1.She has learned (finally!) to make her Mummy a nice cup of tea.
2.Made playdough/salt dough by herself, my using ml measurements and scales.
3. We have embarked on a Keepers of the faith club, which is a bit like Girls Brigade, but with more emphasis on learning Scripture, which should be lots of fun. (Over the next few months, she will have to memorise passages of Scripture, commence a study of hygiene, write upto 8 letters (correctly formatted), and we are deciding between beginning to do counted cross stitch or basket weaving, but I'm still looking into the costs!)
4. We have reached up to Lesson 28 in Saxon Maths, and can now tell the time. (which they didn't cover in school?!) Mental maths is improving greatly....I hope.
5. Literacy - working on a revision of all she has learned so far. (Common and Proper Nouns, Adjectives, Verbs, Subjects and Verbs, Singular and Plural, Exclamation Marks, Verb Tenses, Adverbs, Pronouns, Conjunctions, Prepositions, Adjectives - comparitives and superlatives, opposites - verbs, Apostrophes, Sentences (subject and predicate), Direct Speech and Positive and Negative Sentences.) Still to cover a lot of this before the Summer break.
6. Character studies combined with communication skills. An occasional, but enjoyable study.
7. Silent and Aural reading
8. Music studies (Composers, and medieval music)
9. Gardening (she has learned to plant seeds, and care for seedlings)
10. Baking (lots of this now!)

And for next 'term' -

11. Ancient Egypt study will commence after Easter along with J! They can't wait to get using the teracotta clay to make a tomb or a mask!
12. Hope to commence a reading study on Botany from Apologia Science with them all. Just a 15-20 minute session in the afternoon will be all it takes. Such great books! They are geared towards the younger and older child.

Me time.

On Thursday night, I had the privilege to leave behind the dirty dishes, nappies, and the housework for a few hours and attend the Ballymena Seven Towers Male Voice Choir Concert. They normally host a local artiste, and this time, it was Sam Law, an A-level Ballymena Academy Student with masses of talent. He was a Young Musician of the Year finalist in 2008 and has been 'comissioned' twice to play for Mary McAleese.

I'd only ever heard Sam play when he was 11 or 12 at the local festival. I distinctly remember him playing Brahms Rhapsody Op.72 in G minor (his technique was perfect, but I felt it was played in a robotic style, with no expression whatsoever) as I'd also just learned it. This time was different, however. His playing was exquisite and almost effortless. I was never aware of the Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody No.8 until last night; absolutely jaw-dropping! The best £8 I have spent in a long time!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/youngmusician/sites/competition/video/sam_perf.shtml

Quote for the week

Truth is, we can’t effectively train our children on the side. We can’t
discipline them here and there. We can’t teach when we’ve got a free moment. We
can’t mother intermittently.
Inconsistent training is ineffective
training.
If we are distracted by projects or pleasure, we may miss valuable
teaching moments, opportunities to encourage, disobedience that requires
discipline, or a chance to show affection. These moments, once lost, are gone
forever.
So ladies, may I encourage you, as I do my own daughters, to give
training and discipline your first and full attention. Walk carefully, and keep
your eyes on the mothering road.

Carolyn Mahaney

Quoting my 7 year old son...

He was helping out baby sis in creche yesterday....the lady who was on duty made a remark about her top she was wearing being not as she would quite like it to be - to which J replied "It's OK, M - I'll buy you a new top with my pocket money!"

A new Geography site

http://www.kbears.com/geography.html

And a great post.

http://chfweb.net/articles/week47.htm

Here it is. For me to refer to when I need it!

A VERY tentative start...

Ok...so here goes. A very tentative start back into the world of blogging. My old blog was over at http://www.3foldcord.wordpress.com but I gave up on that almost a year ago. The truth was it was addictive to me, and I wasn't being a good steward of my time, but hopefully I can begin again and not have to check for comments every hour! Mainly because I know I'll probably not receive many!

It will be short and sweet, and will contain mostly little family thoughts and fun-times that I'd otherwise forget about.
I have started to home-educate my kids, so this will also be a good opportunity to upload photos and write about their day of learning at home. Occasionally.

I love the challenge that home-schooling presents, but it is a challenge. Although I have the kids around me more, there is more to deal with and there seems to be more tidying to do than ever. But I haven't looked back, and God is very gracious to us. B is a happier child and more content. J just can't wait to start and C begins in September.

Naomi