Welcome to Issue Seven of Keep on Track

Our Focus in this e-zine is for us as parents, to Keep on Track; To Endure. Focus, Evaluate, Re-focus and evaluate.

Each Keep on Track Issue endeavours to provide the reader with practical advice and food for thought.

• Greetings from Marianne
• News
• Considering our Goals
• Curriculum Application
• Organizational Tips
• Coming soon

Greetings from Marianne

In this issue, we will focus on Endurance. As always, these character goals speak to me as a mum, as much as what I need to teach my children, but this E-zine is really directed to us as parents - to me and to you.

Some of us may be at the end of a school year, others at the end of a school term, and at this time, you may be evaluating, focusing, re-focusing and looking forward to the next chapter in your homeschooling journey.

You may also be wondering how and if you can keep going... Can you endure, continue? Are you lacking in motivation and direction?

This issue seeks to help us all evaluate our goals, look backwards so we can look forwards, and re-motivate us to endure, to keep going with the task God has given us.

All my pages have been changed over! Hooray! I hope you like the new look and feel and although I didn't give up on writing new pages, now my energy can solely be spent on writing new content.

News

Well as I said, my site is all changed over! Now you can navigate to other places in my site far easier. You will notice the Bookshop on most right side bars as well as links to the Homeschool Gallery - easier for you to add your opinions and ideas.

Also, I added a page about Music Resources after a homeschooling friend showed me the Beethoven's Wig CDs. This page also includes links to Grammar Songs and Geography and Math songs.

Another huge project I worked on recently was my e-book, called, "Modeling the Classics - Language Arts Lessons from the Hobbit." What is an e-book? It is an electronic book which you download and save on to your computer. You can use and print off what you need. You can print the whole book (200+ pages), bind it and keep it on your shelf, or read parts from the computer and print out what you want. It is over 200 pages and contains all you need to teach language arts through the literary work of J.R.R.Tolkien in "The Hobbit."

It is still selling for the introductory price of $12.95Au. - for one more week!

Click here for a 35 page preview of the e-book.

I have sold quite a few already and just this week, I gave away my first free copy to the person who ranked well in the Homeschool Gallery over the month of June.

Whoever adds to the gallery - will now be voted on to be the TOP PICK each month. Your article/page/photo/nature entry will be displayed on the homepage and throughout the Gallery for the next month and you will receive a free copy of "Modeling the Classics." Add to the gallery and ask your friends and family to comment and rate your contribution! :))

Congratulations to Kerry and Tayler for their submission called, "Tayler's First Book." They received more than 60page views over the last month and some comments also.

Would you like to receive a copy of "Modeling the Classics". Add to the Homeschool Gallery!

Considering Endurance

However, it isn't always a rosy story; our lives are not always peaceful, our children are not always appreciative or contented. They may challenge our thinking; friends may question our decision; family may wonder if we are on the right track and at times, we feel dispirited and depressed.

What do we do then? ... Seek the Lord and rationally re-assess our situation. Firstly we need to reflect on the reasons which caused us to homeschool. What were the decisions then and how did God convict you of moving your family along this homeschooling journey? Are you tempted to give up because of a change of conviction by God or for other reasons?

There may be a few reasons which cause us to doubt. One of the most destructive things can be comparison. It is not wise to compare. We may feel peer pressure to do what another family is doing; Pressure from our wider family when comparisons are made between the children (cousins); Pressure to meet a standard set by someone else - by the education system, by family, and even, by accident, by other homeschooling families.

What do we need to do?

• Firstly, go back to the beginning. Remember the goals you set - or set them now. What is most important for you as a family? Whose goals are you trying to live up to? Do you have the mind of Christ when considering what is important for you to teach your children, or are you being ruled by an external whisperer? Pray about it and seek God's guidance and wisdom.

  What is the most important goal in the education of your children? How can this best be achieved in your family? Consider those questions now. Perhaps you want to work through my Step One: Goals to help you.

• Secondly, once you've determined your goals, you need to be realistic about your own family situation. God knows your needs, He knows your circumstances and He will not require from you more than you can give.

• Thirdly, remember to whom your children belong. If God is their God, be confident that He will equip you to fulfill the task He has put before you. Let me quote from my e-zine on Trust:
  Our children are a gift of God on loan from Him. If He calls us to the task of nurturing His own children, won't He also guide us and direct us if we faithfully seek Him? After all, my children are His... and since He has a plan for my child's life, wouldn't it be ridiculous to think that He will let ME get in the way?

  It all brings it down to the fact that God is in control. He uses us as frail, weak, sinful creatures to nurture His growing family, but His purposes will always succeed. We should feel privileged to be used by God as we endeavour to bring up our children in His ways, but also be fully confident in our God who is their God too.

  This means that the pressure is taken off our shoulders. While the responsibility God gives us is huge, (and we shouldn't be carefree in this, but serious because it is serious business!), we should also realize that God has our children in His hands - and what can get in the way of Almighty God?

  So, can we trust God with our/ His children? Is He dependable? Is He reliable? Is He bigger than us? Yes, yes, and yes!

• Fourthly, we need to be in contact with other homeschoolers who will encourage us on our journey.

We know never to make huge life-changing decisions when we are in a crisis or in a time of doubt or enormous stress. It is easy to toss in the towel when it looks too hard! But if God has convicted you to walk along a certain pathway, do not question that conviction because of stress. Look hard at why you were led to a point in your life and if necessary consider whether God is calling you to a different path, but do this when life is peaceful and you are assessing the situation in a rational manner.

I know quite certainly that I myself have no special talent; curiosity, obsession and dogged endurance, combined with self-criticism have brought me to my ideas. Send quote to a friend Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-Swiss-U.S. scientist.
Endurance and to be able to endure is the first lesson a child should learn because it's the one they will most need to know. Send quote to a friend Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) Swiss political philosopher and essayist.

“Sure I am this day we are masters of our fate, that the task which has been set before us is not above our strength; that its pangs and toils are not beyond our endurance. As long as we have faith in our own cause and an unconquerable will to win, victory will not be denied us.”

Winston Churchill quotes (British Orator, Author and Prime Minister during World War II. 1874-1965)

"Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD." Psalm 27:14 KJV

"Show me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day." Psalm 25:4-5 KJV

Re-focus on Curriculum

I won't repeat those things here - but you may want to re-read some of the application and also the introduction to patience.

However in this e-zine, I want to focus on helping you to re-focus, prioritize, be excited about your teaching and so the application is to you as a teacher - to help you re-focus in each subject area before you start your new year or your new term.

First you need to review your last year or term.

• What worked well for you?
• What program will you definitely ditch?
• How many subject areas can you combine for a number of children?
• What sort of schedule seemed to best fit your family?
• Are there any activities/workbooks/programs which were more like time-fillers than adding substantial content to your child's education?
• What subject areas went well and which ones do you need to re-assess?
• What would be a better way?
• If you are a collector of good books, curriculum etc - now would be the time to spread out the materials you have in each subject area and decide what would be good to use this year/this term. Sometimes, it is the right time to change programs/books for your and your children's interest sakes or learning styles etc; but if what you have used is working, keep at it. Try not to look over your shoulder at the latest fad that everyone is talking about and switching for the sake of the "new." Take a good look at what you have (we often have far more than what we can use!) and tweak it if you need to make it work. It is very tempting to search the catalogues for the greatest curriculum which will suit every family - but you are not "every family", you are unique. Ask God for His guidance as you choose what you will use, which style you will follow... Remember Isaiah 58:11, "The Lord will guide you always."

Remember your the goal of your children's education: Words of encouragement for you: Deuteronomy 6:5-7 "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

• How are you leading your children to Christ?
• Does Bible reading and devotions have a consistent place in your home?
• How will you encourage Scripture memorization?
• Are you modeling spiritual disciplines for your children?

Examples of Patience and Endurance:
Job;
Abraham - believing the promises of God without having a child;
Noah;
Israelites - waiting to enter the promised land;
Prophets- patiently enduring suffering;

Characters from History

Re-focus on History:
How do you want to teach history?
History is "His Story"- God's plans and purposes for this world, the study of the actions of men, the decisions they have made and the consequences of those decisions.
Read more about History here.

• How much time will you devote to teaching history?
• How much time do you realistically have?
• What is your goal for teaching history?
• Will you work chronologically or just choose time periods that interest you and your children right now?
• What will you use in your study? - spinebook? historical fiction? activity and project books? read alouds?
• If all else fails, read aloud some historical fiction books.

Science

• Do you methodically work through Science?
• How much time do you plan to give to Science? Will you set a time and day for this?
• What do you plan to study over this term/semester/year?
• How far will you plan ahead?
• Will this be a unit study?
• Do you have or can you source a book on experiments?
• Will you use a textbook or source your books from the library? Creation Science have some wonderful books to read aloud.
• Will your children write or orally narrate what they have learned? Where will you keep their work?
• Do you plan to take nature walks?
• Do you have some field identification guides or can you get them from the library? Choose different topics to search for at different times of the year. (spring - flowers, insects; winter - moss, lichen, tree barks)

Literature

Here it is:

Television

The most important thing we've learned,
So far as children are concerned,
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let
Them near your television set --
Or better still, just don't install
The idiotic thing at all.
In almost every house we've been,
We've watched them gaping at the screen.
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in someone's place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)
They sit and stare and stare and sit
Until they're hypnotised by it,
Until they're absolutely drunk
With all that shocking ghastly junk.
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They don't climb out the window sill,
They never fight or kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch
And wash the dishes in the sink --
But did you ever stop to think,
To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot?
IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD!
IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!
IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND
HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND
A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!
HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!
HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!
HE CANNOT THINK -- HE ONLY SEES!
'All right!' you'll cry. 'All right!' you'll say,
'But if we take the set away,
What shall we do to entertain
Our darling children? Please explain!'
We'll answer this by asking you,
'What used the darling ones to do?
'How used they keep themselves contented
Before this monster was invented?'
Have you forgotten? Don't you know?
We'll say it very loud and slow:
THEY ... USED ... TO ... READ! They'd READ and READ,
AND READ and READ, and then proceed
To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!
One half their lives was reading books!
The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor!
And in the bedroom, by the bed,
More books were waiting to be read!
Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales
Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales
And treasure isles, and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants,
And cannibals crouching 'round the pot,
Stirring away at something hot.
(It smells so good, what can it be?
Good gracious, it's Penelope.)
The younger ones had Beatrix Potter
With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter,
And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,
And Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and-
Just How The Camel Got His Hump,
And How the Monkey Lost His Rump,
And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul,
There's Mr. Rate and Mr. Mole-
Oh, books, what books they used to know,
Those children living long ago!
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks-
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week or two
Of having nothing else to do,
They'll now begin to feel the need
Of having something to read.
And once they start -- oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hearts. They'll grow so keen
They'll wonder what they'd ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
Will love you more for what you did.

Roald Dahl (1916-1990)

• What will you read aloud to your children?
• In January this year, I decided to sort out my literature into the ages of my children and make a "bookshelf" rather than a "booklist" for them for the year. When it is their "BookBox" time, in the afternoon, they select one of the books on their individual shelf and read that. It has worked for some of my children, but I have found with my 13 year old, that I keep on asking him to read other books which coincide with his history and which are not on his bookshelf, that it is difficult for him to get to any books there. Also, my 12 year old is reading The Chronicles of Narnia. So, he isn't getting through a whole lot more which sit on his bookshelf. However, I still like the idea and at the end of the term, I ask them what they have read and I write it into my planner.
• So, if you like the "bookshelf" idea, or "booklist" idea, I would suggest that you organize the literature you already have on your shelves into the ages of your children and begin a list with those. Then you may decide to choose other literature according to your other studies.
• Will you use Literature as a starting point for other language arts? Read how I make language arts lesson plans from literature and use that as a guide if you like.
• Will your children narrate parts of the story to you? You may find these narration starters helpful. You may choose to do a combination of oral and written narrations of literature.
• Will you combine literature with your study of history and science?

Writing

• Write narrations, descriptions, reviews about history, historical characters, historical events, scientific discoveries, scientists, experiments, artists, musicians, authors, mathematicians. In this way, you work both on writing skills (and writing forms) as well as study and research in the subject area. You'll find more information on designing your own writing curriculum here.
• For creative writing you may wish you use the 10 day model of using literature as a model for your own creative writing - copying the style of classic authors.
• Use Modeling the Classics which is a simple, integrated approach to use literature as the basis of language arts lesson Plans - one book for multi-ages covering all the language arts! One E-book with 200+ pages!
• For book reports -here's some Book Report Alternatives and also some narration starters.

• Choose poems/ Scripture passages/ speeches which your children will memorize and recite. Will you memorize the same pieces or choose different pieces to memorize? Will you choose or will your children help to choose?
• When will you include this in your schedule?
• How many will they recite over the year/term?

Art and Crafts

This will work especially well if you are a family who likes doing Unit Studies or designing your own unit studies.

Refocus on Art:

• Will you integrate art with art history? I love using Artistic Pursuits - especially the Yrs 1-3 which focuses on art history. See my Art Recommendations here.
• Will you include art and crafts in history and science as far as projects are concerned?
• What techniques of art do you hope to explore with your children?
• Is there an art course available to you or your children - in pottery/ painting etc?
• This term, I hope to take a night course in pottery so I can use those skills to teach my children.

Practical Living

So, one question we need to ask ourselves is how can we use our children's education - all of life, including practical living to further and improve their character development.

As I write this, I have just sent my son out to hang up a load of washing as he needs to find a more useful way to occupy his time than pestering his sister and watching her reaction.

We always need to remind ourselves and our children that our actions are an expression of our heart, and we need to cultivate right actions because we are image bearers of Christ. Therefore as a new creation, we should be displaying the fruits of the Spirit.

• So, what character traits do you need to work on in your family and how can you use specific practical living skills to help develop these character traits.
• You may wish you review some of the back issues of Keep-on-Track as it focuses on different character traits and how you can work on these in practical ways.
• Learn a new skill - car maintenance, computer skills, pottery, baking, sewing, (persevering on a new task)
• Gardening - always good for the soul and refreshing! Also therapeutic for children to get their hands in dirt.
• Visit a nursing home; plan to sing, show crafts, read, recite poetry etc (considering others)
• Make a meal for someone; Bake to give away (thinking of others)
• Work with a younger sibling - helping, teaching (patience)
• Give your child responsibility of a new chore or a part of the garden or keeping an area of the house neat. (responsibility)
• I'm sure you can think of way more. Send me some of your ideas!

Organizational Tips

• Will you write a plan at the beginning of each week?
• Will your children mark off a checklist?
• Will you plan ahead for a term/ week/ half year/year?
• Will your children add books they have read to a booklist?
• Will you have a chore chart?
• Will you have an encouragement chart for good behaviour?
• What subject areas will you cover?
• What subject areas can you cover with multiple ages? I recommend that large families cover as many subject areas as they can together.
• How many excursions will you plan to have?
• When will you have your breaks? Will you work according to school terms. I like to work to our own holiday schedule and work for five weeks and then have one week off.

Would you like this information to be kept in one book? Would you like help to organize your schooling days? See my Homeschool Planner. Use the contact box on the bottom of the page for more information.

Coming soon...