PrincipledMom™

In my last post I talked about the latest turn in my journey. I am venturing into unit studies and already I am more at home than I have ever been as a home educator. I have come home in more ways than one.

You may be surprised to learn about the topic of my first unit study. It is home keeping. You read right. (It is called home education, right?) That may seem a strange place to start, but you haven't been to my house. It is a struggle for all of us to stay organized and orderly and it stops here. Now. Here is a snapshot of how this will work at our house.

We will begin with God's design for women, using a concordance and Webster's 1828 dictionary. We will also see how God intends for us to live, as children of God. We will note principles, such as God's orderly nature, God's Principle of Individuality and Christian self-government. These principles will be the over-arching themes throughout this study. They will reason from God's Word for themselves what their unique roles as children and as young women are, liberating them to be what God intended.

Once the foundation has been laid and they know why we need to keep a neat home, we will move to the how. This will be things like the history of cleaning around the world, lots of children's books (fiction and non-fiction) about the topic, samples from literature like Little House on the Prairie. We will mix our own kid-safe cleaning solutions, sew aprons, create charts, estimate task times, and by the end of the month we will have created a chart to keep a neat home together.

After this month is done, we will continue this training. Each Monday will be a sort of "Home Economics" day. We will learn all the things it takes to manage a home well, and do it with Joy. This will include meal preparation and food safety, sewing, cleaning skills, budgeting, shopping and making menus and time management. The other four days will fall into our usual lesson routine. As my son grows older we will teach him these things as well, along with some "manly things" that he will need to know.

It seems strange to say, but I am so excited to realize that it's okay to teach my kids what I think they should know in this area, and that it can be a part of learning, just as math or history. So I feel the liberty to learn along with them as we start this new life--at home. I hope you will follow along and offer any insight you may have.

In this post I said that as a home educator I hope you are always evaluating what works. To me this is one of the best things about what we do. We are free to try new things and evaluate what works--and what doesn't. For us a struggle has been the whole idea of separate subjects. I understand that the BPA philosophy keeps the subjects separate so they retain their distinctiveness. They have a reason for the traditional "school" model and I have no problem with that, in general. However it has not ever worked so great in my home. (see Dee's post on BPA unit studies)

So I was at my local used homeschool bookstore the other day when I came across a book that describes how to create your own unit studies. A bell went off. I have wanted to do unit studies since my oldest was in K (we even used FIAR before moving to BPA). My heart leapt. Could I really do unit studies with BPA? I never really thought I could, so I kept on with what I knew. It was great and things were pretty good, but something was missing.

Now that I have added my 5dd, I really want our lessons to be interesting and educational and engaging. I want them both (and my ds as well) to love learning. (see this post) The best times we have had were little types of unit studies, with Benjamin West and other topics that I sort of tied together.

But the rest of the time has been "regular". It was not making me happy as a teacher. I do not want to focus on academics per se, but on the rudiments, the first things to know. What we have been doing is not really engaging, at least for us. Everything is disjointed and unrelated. So I took the unit study book home and looked at it. I was so glad I did!

As I read through it a light bulb came on, I realized that BPA and unit studies are very compatible. Here are some reasons why:

• unity with diversity: subjects flow together naturally, nurturing a love of learning, but still distinctive.
• As the child grows, they are able to see the 4-R's process more clearly, so they are able to move to independent study naturally.
• You are able to relate a principle to the whole topic, as well as to individual subject, so it will flow well.
• Personally, I believe that this method is more like real life. They can master the subjects as they relate to one another, as opposed to disconnected "boxes" of subjects.

These were my two dreams in educating my children: BPA and to use  unit studies to do that. Now I can do both. Praise to God for the journey I am on. Each step I have taken has led me to the next. I don't regret anything I have done to this point because each was a necessary step to get me here.

In my next post I will go into detail about our first unit study, which may surprise you.

I am an art lover and this is so interesting I had to post about it. A Japanese scientist calculated her bone structure and analyzed the data. See Mona Lisa and DaVinci speak here. Click the box to the right to launch the video. Enjoy!

I think of the home education process as a tapestry. It's a beautiful work that will stand the test of time (hopefully) and bless all who look at it. But it's not easy. It takes time, dedication and resolve. But thankfully we are not in the process alone. The tapestry wasn't our idea in the first place. (Deut. 6:7, Col. 1:16)

It is unique to your family. No one else's home education will look just like yours. And the pattern can't be copied exactly. If you are trying to copy another family's pattern, you may be frustrated because it isn't working out right. You must get your pattern from the Master Pattern Maker, Jesus. (Titus 2:14)

How many times have you changed something about the way you are educating your children? I hope it's often. I don't mean your philosophy or even the content, but just the delivery or the materials. I hope you are always evaluating what is working, what needs improvement, what's coming next in the weave. Checking the color, the pattern, again just to make sure, adjusting as you need to. And making sure we are adding enough of the right things: scripture, reasoning, fruit of the Spirit, compassion and the like. These are what keep the stitches from pulling out. Reasoning from the Word of God anchors all of the stitches. Your children own their own faith, being rooted and grounded in love. (Eph. 3:17)

From the back, where you are working on the daily process, it may look like a mess. It's not always pretty. There are knots and extra string and things that don't look like they belong there (at least that's my experience!). I encourage you from time to time--move around and look at the front of it. Enjoy the beauty and wonder in the whole picture, the design the Pattern Maker is creating. Marvel in the intricate details and how it is all coming together. Look with new eyes and see how far you've come. Then get back to work! (Eccl. 3:11)

I also hope you are not afraid to change things up, to do things differently. Each of your children are completely different and have unique learning styles, interests and strengths. Each time you weave the next child into your tapestry you will make some adjustment. And each time you do, the pattern becomes more detailed and lovely because we all add something to the tapestry that would be missing otherwise. (Ps. 139:14)

Don't be discouraged if one of your children has a math weakness or ADD or another sort of challenge. Look at it as adding to the tapestry, teaching you about yourself, your child and God. The challenges will not ruin your masterpiece. On the contrary, it will make it better, even spectacular--something it never could have been without the rich experiences challenges provide. (Rom. 8:28)

Now from time to time you may see that you've made a mistake. Maybe you thought you knew what was next in the pattern or just thought you would do your own thing and it isn't working out at all. You will have to remove some stitches. Or rework an entire section. Take heart. The Master is patient and has everything under control. Allow Him to guide the stitching and things will be back on track in short order. And He will take the section you thought was ruined and add it to the design, making it even more lovely than it would have been without it. (Jer. 29:11)

Enjoy your tapestry. Enjoy the way it is all working together. Enjoy the process. Don't wish anything away because before you know it, the process will be over and your masterpiece will be complete. I don't want a single stitch to be missing in my work. I want to complete it with joy and rejoice in what the Master has done. My tapestry will stand as a testament for the ages, telling all who look on it of God's faithfulness and goodness to us on this journey. (Acts 20:24) (2 Th. 2:15-17)

(c) 2006 Anna-Marie Hawthorne all rights reserved

I came across an idea years ago that I plan to do with my children--or rather, for them. This works for grandchildren, grown children and even nieces and nephews too. I was chatting with fellow HS mom Stephanie about it and thought I'd share it here with you.

Take your favorite version of the Bible (for me, it's the KJV) without study notes. Choose one with wide margins, sturdy leather covers and nice size print.  This will be an heirloom, so make sure it will wear well.

Spend a year for each child's Bible. As you do your daily Bible reading, personalize the Bible for that child. Write notes, underline passages, and jot down ideas you have for them. As you read and pray with them in mind, the Holy Spirit will quicken you to certain passages and relate them to your child. In your prayer time, God will reveal their bent, challenges and strengths. Write these in the margins. (You can also do this over many years. As the Lord leads, add to each Bible over time.) You can take note of memories or things to come, prayers you have and character qualities you want to instill in them. And be sure to date it!

Over the course of the year you will fill it with memories, prayers and notes as you make it personal to the child. For example, I would highlight scriptures for Princess G concerning healing and making all things new (relating to the eczema she deals with). I would make notes in the passage about preaching the Gospel to the whole world to Princess S because she loves to talk to everyone about God. For Prince J I would make sure I highlighted the passages about David being a man after God's own heart and that that is my prayer for him. You can also add events, like protection scriptures remind you of a time that they were rescued or protected. Or success scriptures remind you of an accomplishment.

I plan to do this when they are older and give it to them as a graduation gift. My heart's desire is that they would treasure it and read through it to see what I prayed and believed God for concerning them. And I hope we can look back at it together over the years and see God's faithfulness, remembering the One who wrote all our days down before a single one came to be.