Homeschool Curriculum Ideas

Wow! It's that time again! Summer is almost over, the new school year is upon us, and it is always refreshing to get some new ideas. What worked for you? What worked for this particular child? There is so much out there it can be overwhelming.

Now that I am nearing the end of my formal homeschooling career (I only have one left and this is his last year. He is the middle right one)

I thought it might be helpful to list a few of our favorite curriculums. Maybe they are new to you and would be helpful. I always enjoyed finding out what worked for other families.

History was one of our most favorite subjects and we used many different things. One of our favorites for the elementary years was The Mystery of

History curriculum. You can find out more information about it here.

Grammar was a very difficult subject for me....until I realized that kids

just are not ready for it until jr. high or even high school. Instead of wasting your time in the elementary years, spend that time familiarizing them with the terms (nouns, verbs, etc...) by playing games and fun activities and then when they are ready for it we found that it went much more smoothly. We used the program Analytical Grammar and found it to be most helpful! For more information click here.

A book that was very helpful in studying any novel in literature was a book called "Any Novel" Novel Study Guide. It was very useful because you could use it with multiple children and multiple books of your choice. For more information click here.

Take the fear out of making a Transcript!

If you are looking for a good way to make a transcript go here.

Here are just of few of my favorite websites for homeschool materials:

Vision Forum

Teach Magazine

Generations With Vision

Norm Wakefield - Elijah Ministries

Timberdoodle Co.

Love to Learn

Keepsake Curriculum

Well, I hope this helps a little. I have many more favorites so perhaps I will share them on another day.

Warning: Culture Toxic to Boys

I recently heard a statistic that I found very alarming: 70% of young men are not grown up by 30 years of age (up from 30% in 1970) as stated in Newsweek magazine. That is frightening to me as a mother of 3 sons and 2 daughters and a confirmation of the reason why I started Keepsake Curriculum.

Every generation has its issues and I am not one to glorify "the past", but what is true for every generation is the call to get back to the Word of God as our guide for life. It is when we fall away from God's Word that we see statistics like the one above.

I am deeply disturbed that even in Christianity today we are not training our sons and daughters Biblically. It appears more and more clearly that we are using the culture as our standard. We tell our daughters to first and foremost pursue a career when the Bible says,

"You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.....Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the Word of God" (Titus 2:1a, 3-5). Instead of using that as our guide, we encourage our daughters to seek after a career in anything and everything, including jobs that formerly were held by men...police work, lawyers, military, etc. The Bible says that the beauty of a woman is the "beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit" (1 Peter 3:4). Pretty hard to show that as a policewoman, lawyer, or soldier.

What this departure from the Word of God has done to boys and manhood has been devastating. A recent study shows that women now receive 58% of the bachelor's degrees given by colleges and universities. The Pew Research Center reports that 28% of wives between the ages of 30 and 44 have more education than their husbands and that women have become a majority in law, medical, and doctoral programs. This has led to an alarming number of "stay-at-home dads" which not only is a deviation from history but is a direct violation of God's plan for the family.

In an article by Kevin Swanson from Generations With Vision he writes that he interviewed Dr. Christine Hoff Somers, the author of a new book called The War Against Boys, who stated that "the modern school is dangerous for boys. It is producing boys that are feminized, awkward, rebellious, or otherwise ill-prepared for life. Only 43% of students attending college today are boys, and that number continues to drop. Schools are increasingly designed for girls. Meanwhile boys are disenfranchised and disinterested. Removing a boy's unique purpose and preparation in life, setting him in a girl's world, and then putting him in competition with girls will only produce devastating consequences for our social and economic systems." Not to mention the fact that it dishonors the God who created them "male and female". (Full Article)

All this has led to a culture of immaturity among young men. Video games, entertainment, and an overemphasis on sports has made Gary Cross, a Penn State University historian wonder "Where have all the men gone?" In his book Men to Boys: The Making of Modern Immaturity Cross concludes, "Modern toys have gradually lost their 'expiration dates', the markers that designate the time that children are expected to abandon them after reaching a new developmental stage....their manufacturers design them to blur, even deny this historically essential transition from boyhood to manhood....To be blunt, adult men obsessed with video games are in a state of arrested development because they can't see the difference between a toy and an adult pleasure" (p 223-224). That is quite different from Paul's admonition to the Corinthians, "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me" (I Corinthians 13:11).

The Bible clearly portrays distinct and God-given differences between girls and boys, men and women. As usual, sinful man perverts those distinctions and leads us to discontentment and the crisises we experience today. The present culture is not only toxic to boys but to girls as well. As parents let's not be intimidated by the culture but let's be diligent to use the Word of God as our guide and thereby make a difference in the world around us.

For additional resources and guides see Keepsake Curriculum.

Cell phones, Texting and Immaturity or Raising Biblically Discerning Children in a Teckie World

My kids think I hate technology. (Rather an interesting statement considering I have a web page and my own blog.) However, in all fairness to them, I am rather quick to point out the problems with technology, focusing on the negatives rather than the positives.

We were discussing the possibility of getting unlimited texting on our recent phone upgrade. Up until this time only one of my children really uses texting in a way that would necessitate an "unlimited" status. So, we discussed the cost, the need, and the problems associated with texting. As usual, our discussion turned into a rather intense discourse eventually leading to the statement I began with. "Mom, why do you hate technology?"

Technology, a gift from God, is a wonderful thing. Amongst the thousands of things I could list, I will say that I love my washing machine, dryer, microwave, oven, and vacuum cleaner. I love the television, radio, I-pod, computer, yes, and even my cell phone. Yet, amidst all the technological advances, we seem to have lost something as well. Raising Biblical sons and daughters takes a lot of work and discernment; however, it seems that with all of the advancements, happening at a dizzying pace, discernment has fallen by the wayside.

Since the benefits of technology are obvious to all, I need not spend time listing them: they are numerous. However, I would like to point out some of the disadvantages that seem to be disregarded and all but forgotten. In order to limit my discussion, I would like to address my concerns primarily to cell phones and texting (facebooking could also be included).

1. Cell phones, texting (facebooking) and immaturity. As parents, the convenience of our children having their own cell phones and the capabilities of texting is very advantageous, for us and for them. But should convenience override the fact that many immature and undiscerning children are carrying around phones and having conversations we know nothing about.

The family phone used to be in the kitchen and many times my mom would be privy to my conversations, which were comparably few to the phone calling and/or texting kids do today. As an immature child I needed correction and she would instruct me on my unkind language, gossip, and sharing of inappropriate confidences. She knew who I talked to and why. She was able to guide me in a way that taught me to watch my mouth for it is very important to God how we use our tongues. When I reached a level of maturity in which my parents were more confident, I was allowed more privileges. I had a good background in Biblical understanding and had memorized and applied verses such as Ephesians 4:29 "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen" or Proverbs 15:2 "The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly."

I have unintentionally (another point to discuss...you can't be anywhere with out hearing somebody talking on their cell phone) overheard many conversations by immature children (and adults) having conversations that make me blush. Many of these conversations are in Christian churches and youth groups. It is commonplace and natural in the way they talk revealing many years of unsupervised and undisciplined training in the area of conversation. It is a by-product of allowing immature children access to a medium that they are not ready to handle.

Therefore, my conclusion is this.....Cell phones, texting, and facebooking are great tools if your son or daughter has reached a level of Spiritual maturity to be discerning. It needs to be clearly evident in their walk with the Lord that they can handle this kind of responsibility and be an example to their peers. Unless that is true have them wait for this kind of privilege afforded by technology.

I will continue this discussion in a future blog. Until then, let us use technology in a way that is wise and discerning and glorifies God.