The layout of the E-zine is as follows:

• Greetings from Marianne
• News
• Moses was homeschooled
• God calls Moses
• God equips
• Organizational Tips
• Coming soon

Greetings from Marianne

Some of us have almost reached the end of the school year, and wondering what 2011-2012 will look like?

Are you tired and lacking motivation? Feeling discouraged and ill equipped?

You'll feel very similar to Moses who was called by God to be a saviour to the Israelites. In this ezine, we'll read about his response and how it may relate to us, as homeschooling parents.

We'll also read a Mother's Day note from my husband, Gerald.

News - Writing Credits for Monthly Giveaway!

Writing Credits

Looking for some Homeschool Freebies in 2011?

Homeschooling Ebooks, Amazon and Christianbook Gift vouchers and Books - given away for free.... However, you have to do a bit of work for it....

I am excited to introduce Writing Credits!

Become an 'author' for this website (write about what you're doing, science experiments, add to the nature journal, add a curriculum description and review or anything in the Homeschoool Gallery), earn credits, and trade your points for a prize! I will read your entry and publish it if it meets the website's requirements. Curriculum reviews will only be published if you express how the product was used personally in your homeschool as well as the advantages and disadvantages of the program.

When you have earned enough credits, fill in the form below and list your published entries and your Homeschool Freebie will be sent to you!

Join me on Facebook and earn your first 5 credits!

Read more about Writing Credits here - and items for which you can trade your credits.

My latest E-book, Self Directed Learning Contracts - a manual on how to set up individual learning contracts at home around your children's interests - is still at the low price of $4.00US, just because I haven't altered the webpage yet. Take advantage of this offer and uniquely design a program to suit your child.

Supercharged Science Giveaway!

Supercharged Science is giving away a collection of some of their most popular videos and experiments for *free*.

I must say, I am really impressed with the product – I mean they honestly are really cool experiments (none of that boring textbook stuff). I mean kids really love what they are doing! Check out their page here.

Before today, these had only been available for people who were enrolled in their private e-Science online science curriculum. Because they were so popular, they put them together into a new product, the "Science Activity Video Series & Guidebook, vol. III" (The first two got rave reviews).

Here's the link - be sure to get it now, because it may not be available for long:

Click below for your free Science Activity Manual & Video Collection, vol. III

It's a new product that will sell for $30.

But right now, you can get it absolutely free. Try it out!

If you're wondering why they're giving this away, I can tell you that Aurora and her team are always giving away lots of cool stuff!

Here’s the link to the Science Activity Manual Vol 3. Enjoy!

Moses was homeschooled

--------------------------------------------------------------------- Let me begin by saying that Moses was home schooled, at least for a little while. When, as a baby, his parents were unable to keep him quiet any longer they thought through a scheme that would save his life. They placed him amongst some reeds in the Nile River and waited. I believe they knew that the daughter of Pharaoh bathed there and I found it interesting that the Egyptians worshipped the god “Hapy”, who was considered to be the Nile god of fertility. For Pharaoh’s daughter, the Hebrew child in the basket would have represented a gift from this god.

Unable to immediately take Moses home he was providentially returned to his mother who brought him up and instilled in him a love for his God and the love for God’s people. Even amongst the riches of Egypt, Moses never forgot his roots and the book of Hebrews in the New Testament tells us that he turned his back on the riches of Egypt. Moses’ mother taught him what it was to be a child of the one true God. In essence, her influence had an amazing effect on his life.

Many of us have just celebrated Mother's Day! The most important job we have as Christian mother's is to do what Moses' mother, Timothy's mother and grandmother did - to pass on the love of God and the scriptures from infancy even while the baby is being nursed at his mother's breast.

God calls Moses

For the next 40 years Moses lives there until God himself calls him and tells him to, "Go" and be a Saviour for His people. God says, "Go, I am sending you." Moses offers many excuses and then simply says, "Lord, send someone else."

For me, this particular debate between Moses and God, found in Exodus 3, 4, offers much application. From a theological point of view it speaks of the failings of the Moses, who resisted God’s will and reminds us that there was a Saviour, who never resisted God’s will and went to the cross on our behalf.

Yet, we also discover ourselves in this story. Is God challenging us in some way? Is God saying "Go…" and we in response simply saying, "Lord, send someone else!" I know that God always achieves his purposes and no-one can resist his will. Moses couldn’t and he went, a most reluctant Saviour. For some there is resistance, in terms of coming to accept Jesus as Lord and yet God always gets his man or woman. I remember C.S. Lewis saying something like this when he was converted, "I was the most dejected convert in all of England."

Yet, closer to home God might simply be saying to you, "Go, I want you to home school." You might be concerned about the worldliness of the school system and see little choice but to home school. Yet, on the other hand, you, like Moses, feel absolutely unqualified for the task. Moses made his excuses and yet when you look at him from a human point of view you would think he was highly qualified. He had done a degree at the Heliopolis and had been schooled in Egyptian learning. He also had experience of court life and basically knew how Egyptian culture and society worked. I tend to think most home school mum’s feel unqualified and yet many of them have degrees or a great deal of experience and in reality they are more than qualified to teach their children. I tend to think your "attitude" is the most important virtue you bring to home schooling. Moses underestimated his skills and yet he was more than qualified to do this task. We too, can fall into that category.

God equips those He calls

10 Moses said to the LORD, "Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."

11 The LORD said to him, "Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”"

Moses did not go alone, God said that he would be with him and Moses carried in his hands the staff of the Lord.

Of course it might be in lots of other areas that God is saying, "Go, go and go" and you are saying, "Lord, send someone else."

In the end God loves to stretch his people and gets them to do things they feel totally ill equipped to do. He does it so that he would gain the glory. Paul said, "When we are weak, he is strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9)

A note to Mothers

We read this comment by the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 3, “...and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (v.14). I personally love the way the reformer John Calvin states this, “(Timothy) was reared in his infancy in such a way that he could suck godliness along with his mother’s milk.” (Stott. p. 27). Single mothers or a parent with a non-Christian partner are at a disadvantage but the story of Timothy should be a great encouragement to them!

We know that a parent cannot give faith in Christ to the next generation. Yet, a parent can model the faith, and lead by example and influence, as the baptism form states. The primary influence on a Childs upbringing is the parents. I have asked those who attend catechism, as to who were the major spiritual influences in their lives, and nearly all of them say their parents. Rarely has anyone said the Christian School, or even the minister, but often the word “parent” is said. We know that this isn’t true in each and every case, because people come to God through a variety of ways and yet for many believers the parents are the single, greatest influence. Think about your own spiritual journey and the place your parents played in that!

May our Lord bless Christian mothers and grand-mothers as they seek to guide their children in the way of the Lord!

Till next time,

Gerald

Organizational Tips - Goal Setting

Goal setting

Read more about educational goals here.

I like to look at yearly goals - break it down for each child - look at each month when we get to it and break it down again - for each child.

This helps me to write weekly and/or daily assignments and really helps me to Keep on Track.

What do you do to stay on track? Tell us about it at the homeschool organizational tips area. (earn some writing credits for this!)

Coming soon...

Because, I believe that planning is a process which comes from setting goals and reviewing them, I am working on writing and developing a homeschool planner which helps you set yearly goals, translate that into individual goals, monthly goals and weekly assignments.

I am very excited as I writing and developing an exciting new Simply Stylish Homeschool Planner. This will take the place of "Choose It" and will be the easy homeschool planning solution.

Simple

The Simply Stylish "Keep on Track" Homeschool planner - helps by keeping it simple .... BUT.... it is not only simple to use and print....

Stylish

Anyhow, it's still in the pipeline (I hope it is ready for July2 2011-June 2012) - and so I won't give anymore away - but you'll be the first to know when it is ready!