PrincipledMom™

Starting next week, I will post one of seven principles of America's Christian history and government and discuss it. I do not claim to be all knowledge, but I will attempt to explain things and hopefully spark some dialogue. I plan to include links, summer reading, activities for all ages (even preschoolers) and resources to make your study time easier and more fun.

 Hope you will make plans to be a part of the excitement over the next 7 weeks!

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This week's Carnival of Homeschooling is hosted by my cyberbuddy and fellow BPA mom, Dana.

The 21st Carnival of Homeschooling cordially invites you to a Progressive Dinner Party hosted at Principled Discovery.  Dress is casual.  Invite a friend and enjoy the food, travel and conversation as we get to know each other a little better.

And don't forget to sample my little dish at this week's carnival! There are a few BPA moms in this week's carnival, so grab a plate and sample some great fare.

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As you may recall, I posted that last month's break was full of home improvement and lesson planning. Well, my plans have been undone. I made a wrong turn, or rather an assumption and therefore, wasted a lot of my time. (Note to self: this is what happens when you neglect to include the Holy Spirit in your planning. Make sure you are regularly asking for the Lord's help in educating your kids.)
I was busy planning and researching and studying. What I left out was studying my daughter. It has been a little while since I stopped to really evaluate how she's doing. We keep working and working and not thinking about evaluating (maybe you do this better than I). So when I realized this week that I have skipped ahead in English and math I came to a painfully obvious conclusion--she's really smart. I am home educating. I can move at the pace she needs. DUH! She should not just breeze through; she should be challenged. And it is up to me to make sure that happens. How great is that ?!? She has a teacher that can turn on a dime, modifying lessons as needed to suit her needs. Why should I keep her plodding along, as she would have to in a classroom, staying with the "herd?" She's an individual and I have the ability to treat her as such.
So now I have to go back and redo all my lovely plans for science, math and English. I am really ratcheting up the lessons, filling them with inspiring lessons, challenging projects and interesting activities. I will push her and encourage her to do more and to giver her all, not just follow suggested lesson plans in a book on the shelf. She's my point of reference, not some author somewhere. And I need the Holy Spirit to help me know how to teach her what she needs to know in the way she needs to learn it. Forgive me, Lord. Help me not to get lazy and plod along, but to be the "lively textbook" I should be for my kids.
And I know from experience that when I am excited about what we are doing, she will be too. Even if I'm not crazy about math, she doesn't have to know that. I make it a point to tell her in every subject, "this is really easy for you because you are so smart." When she faces a difficult subject she has that "tape" in the back of her mind. So when things are more challenging and she is working to learn, she will think school is much more interesting.

So this weekend, along with a welome visit to Mayfest, I will work on some new lessons plans, keeping my daughter's giftings, talents and weaknesses in mind. With prayer and planning, I know the rest of our year will get better and better.

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See my book art page (link on the right) for scans of the books I did from my sale a couple of weeks ago. You will wish you had ordered one. Don't say I didn't warn you!

If you decide you would like a book for you or someone you love, contact me.

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I got a letter today from the Foundation for American Christian Education and they have some wonderful things in the works. I'm sure they will have lots to say on their site soon, but I'll give you a summary of the letter to whet your appetite.

They are starting a campaign called "Our Sacred Honor" to raise money for some projects that I am curious to know more about. The plan is as follows:

Over the next 5 years they will raise money through grants and donations to 1)open the Slater and Hall Christian History Library and 2)unlock the Christian History treasury. What exactly is the treasury you ask? well, they have big plans to get more people to use BPA than ever before, with more tools than ever.

The Treasury will include:

• a training model that will make it unnecessary to travel for training. They say it will work for schools, churches and home educating co-ops. (The DVD training is part of this model.)
• digitizing all Foundation publications and resources (yea!)
• publishing new books to bridge the gap between the Red Books and today's culture. Among the books in the works is a modern version of Christian History of the Constitution.

This is a breath of fresh air. Having tools we need to introduce others to BPA, applying Biblical Principles to today's culture, searching the Red Books instantly--these are changes I can't wait to see! Thanks FACE, for listening to us. If you would like to donate, please contact them at www.face.net .

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