PrincipledMom™

I am not crazy about the term "unit study." I much prefer "integrated study" but it's really just semantics, so for the sake of the search engines I will use unit study here.

As I was considering again this whole idea of unit study, related to Principle Approach and most importantly to my little lambs, I had some thoughts. Unit studies can be enjoyable. They can also take over your life. If you are not careful they, like anything else out of balance, suck every ounce of enjoyment out of education. I came up with a list of things I am printing out to keep in my teacher's notebook concerning this.

Education is not about the activities but about the learning. More activities does not equal more learning. Simple is almost always better.

I want my unit studies to be:

• not fun, but interesting (Ps. 16:11, Prov. 2:10, Ps. 145:18, 19)
• not complicated, but complete (Mt. 11:29, Job 37:16, 2 Tim. 3:16)
• not only temporal, but eternal (2 Cor. 4:18, Eph. 5:15-17)
• not fact-based, but based on Biblical principles  (Is. 28:10,13; Ps. 119:40,94)
• not standard issue but customized (Prov. 22:6)

When my plans are led by the Holy Spirit and based on the Word of God, they will do all of that and more.

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Is 55:11

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Be excited

We are not talking about hype or entertainment. It's more meaningful than that. When we speak to our living God we should be full of anticipation, excitement and joy.

Make it real. Kids know when you are just going through the motions, and those prayers are a drag. It’s okay to bring needs to family prayer. It is humbling (and comforting too) to hear your daughter or son pray for your bad attitude or your upcoming job evaluation.

Encourage them a lot. Ask them what God is speaking to them. Talk to them as the spiritual beings they are. Give them a chance to tell you and then check it against God’s Word together. I always do that with my kids’ prayer group. Every time someone felt God was speaking to them we went to the Bible to verify it. The kids would light up when they found it in Scripture and realized they really heard from God.

Discuss similar situations from your own life and how prayer helped you (or could have helped you). Children enjoy practical examples and a personal story can go a long way in encouraging and inspiring your young ones.

Look for examples in the Bible together. Search out answers to your prayer needs, look for prayers, and how people handled situations similar to yours. God’s Word is quick and powerful (Heb 4:12), and it doesn’t get more exciting than that!

Have praise and worship time that gets everyone focused on the Lord. Some of my favorite memories are of the kids and I singing and dancing to some rockin’ praise music, lifting our arms and singing to beat the band. We fall to the sofa on a heap then catch our breaths before regrouping to pray. We got the wiggles out and are ready to focus on God and others.

Ways to make your family prayer time more vibrant include:

• neighborhood prayer walks

• praying for the sick at the hospital

• creating “prayer central”: dry wipe board for requests/needs, map, scrapbook with photos of family and people groups

• start a family prayer journal

• making collages of nations on your heart

• adopting a missionary families

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Well the birthday train is making it's second stop; this time for me. I am 20578408 years old today and still feel like I'm 17--at least in my mind! Today is going to be fun--shopping, dinner with family, putting together the trampoline we bought for the kids (the weather has been in the 20's, so the boxes have been on the back patio and the kids often press their noses to the window, looking longingly and anticipating).

I already got my gift from my husband: a white Artisan KitchenAid mixer. I am so happy with it. I have made some really yummy things! It may not be romantic to you, but I have wanted one for the longest time.

Enjoy your weekend, kiss your DH passionately and hug your kids. I'm off to put on my shopping shoes...

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I have had to make a difficult decision, but one that brings me peace. I am no longer keeping up with PrincipledMom as a separate site because I simply do not have the time. But this blog will be easier to find because I redirected the domain here, so if you have the domain bookmarked, you'll end up here.

I hope you understand I want to help all of you as much as possible, but my family needs me right now. (Nothing drastic has happened and I plan to keep it that way.) My kids are so small that I must focus on them and my home more than I have to this point. God bless and I will see you here!

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I have been pursuing art in the paper medium, but lately I have been very interested in something more, shall we say, domestic? I have been perusing the web for some vintage patterns for my kitchen towels and other projects. Some links I have found myself frequenting include:

Primrose Design Stitch School has amazing tutorials on about twenty stitches and they are not to be missed. If you have wanted to teach your daughter or granddaughter some needlework, don't miss it (check her sidebar).

Pattern Bee vintage redwork and needlework patterns. They also offer some freebies and also an embroidery primer to teach you several stitches while creating some cute projects. Your daughter might enjoy them.

One Hour Craft has lots of great things to make. Not all needlework, but fun to check out.

Nordic Needle has many types of supplies and books. I am interested in the Hardanger embroidery, as my great-grandparents immigrated from Norway and Denmark and this type of embroidery is very Scandinavian.

As for sewing inspiration, please, please visit Posie. Her little textile goodies are too yummy to miss!

And while we are on the sewing subject, I must mention one of my favorite mags on the topic--Quilting Arts.

I will post some great links for knitting (especially for you lefties--like me!) and other wholesome pastimes.

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