PrincipledMom™

This blog has been such a joy to me. I have grown so much and shared (too) much. This is a season of life that I must do some things differently. One thing is to put a big pause on this blog (and steer clear of the net as much as possible). I'm not sure if the time is up for good, but at least for a season. I have changed some of my plans (see, told ya so!) and my goals this year do not include writing for this blog. I am excited about what God is doing in our little homeschool and can't wait to see where we are a year from now.

Thanks to all of you who read and subscribe. Many of you have become dear friends and I look forward to reading the blogs you have started. God bless your home educating efforts this year. I pray your year will be the most relaxed, joyfull and spiritually productive year yet.

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Getting yourself ready for a new year can be exciting and more than a little daunting. In all your planning don't forget these simple yet important ideas.

1. Don't get distracted by mechanics. It is very easy to get caught up in studying and 4-Ring and teaching with leading ideas and principles that we can lose sight of the bigger picture. The way the lesson is structured is less important than whether or not the child learns what you intended. The mechanics will come. Don't let your lack of mastery stop you from providing excellent lessons for your family in the here and now. You will grow and they will grow and the mechanice will come more easily. And maybe you need to pause and sit together at the feet of the Master Teacher and allow Him to minister to you.
2. Don't get discouraged. It is challenging to see your shortcomings and feel confident to teach this method, but you are more than able in Christ Jesus. Diligent study, patience and dedication to Biblical principles will take you far. If you are tempted to get down on yourself, take a deep breath and look back at how far you've come. Also keep your eyes on the prize and remind yourself why you are doing this. One thing you can do is to keep a journal of your home education. I love to read what was going on a year or two ago to remind me that we have made some real progress.
3. Don't forget to pace yourself. This is not a race, so get off the fast track. We are all in a different place on our journey and it takes us all a different amount of time to get where we are headed. Stop comparing yourself with others. Also don't forget it's about the journey, not the destination.
4. Don't forget the Holy Spirit. We can only do so much in our own knowledge and strength. We must seek the Lord daily for insight, wisdom and patience. If you are struggling with your temper or your kids just don't seem to "get it" lately, maybe it's been too long since you spent time with the Lord.
5. Don't overfeed. Baby chicks only need a seed at a time, not a whole ear of corn. Try to avoid the firehose syndrome and do for the IV drip. They only need one principle at a time, one idea to chew on. And don't demand instant answers. Sometimes they need to get back to you after they have thought a while. Less really is more.

There are so many exciting milestones along the way of growing together in the Biblical Principle Approach. I hope you will make an effort this year to stop and smell the roses. And to seek hard after the Lord.

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Well I sort of hate to do this, because as soon as I post it here, it probably won't get done as written. ha! I am looking forward to this year more than I have in a while. I have renewed vision and I have studied hard to prepare myself. Also I have accumulated many resources so I have enrichment activities at my fingertips. (I am NOT going to get into a lecturing rut this year.)

Our over-arching principle is the Christian Principle of Self-Government. All we do this year will focus on being more self-governed in our spiritual lives, in our lessons, in our chores, in our personal lives, in our speech and in our service to others. More than anything else, I want us to increase our self-government this year. If this time next year we are more self-governed, I count the year a raging success.

As for our actual lessons, I have taken a decidedly low-key approach. I am not going to overplan and overschedule. I am planning less material so we can actually savor the material, and work on doing an excellent job as we increase our capacity for Christian self-government. I am tired of rushing from thing to thing. We will do less to do more. What I mean is we will get more in-depth with the principles and not just stick to the surface with facts. Here is our schedule:

MWF:Bible, literature, science (M and W), math, Princess G will do this reading program

TT: Bible, HisStory/geography, art, math (reinforcement)

daily: creative writing, reading aloud, family altar, Spanish

This is very manageable for our family. I try to do Bible and academics in AM and enrichment in PM (after lunch). Science works well for us in the afternoon so we have more time for experiments and walks. Art and writing are also good in the afternoon when we have time to enjoy them. Spanish will move to the evenings so we can do it as a family.

Here are my resources:

Bible: JBC--love this curriculum, but it is an investment of time, because you have to do the work yourself. There is a support group too.

HisStory: my own plans with the help of Lisa's Freedom and Simplicity in HisStory materials (although I do love Mrs. Smith's HisStory books for kids too!)

Science: Dr. Worthington Hooker's materials

Literature: my own plans, lots of good literature, main study will be Bach (I think!)

Geography: various stuff from HomeschoolEstore and other sources

Creative writing: this book

Reading aloud: many books, along with some help from this book

Art: various sources, including this excellent book. Also we will make many books by hand, along with ATC's and other various paper arts. Also I like to use art cards, so we will work them in somehow.

Read this post about how I actually plan my lessons with the help of Mr. Rose's book.

One book I highly recommend is Managers of Their Homes. I read it often for help with ordering our days.

Please leave a note if you'd like me to list the resources I use to enrich my lessons. There are so many great books out there and they are so much fun!

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Those of you who know me well know how dear Mr. Rose's book is to me. It is invaluable in my BPA quest. I thought I'd share a way of planning lessons using his book. It's not the only way, but one way it can be done, even for new families who want to create their own BPA lessons but don't know where to begin. This is after you have gone through the section on p. 118, have a working knowledge of BPA and a personal philosophy of education written down (mine is in the clear pocket on the front of my teacher's notebook).

(Re)read the section on "Education for the American Christian Home" (beginning on p. 85).

Starting on p. 119,  you can see the subjects broken down into goals and objectives. Here is a list of page numbers you can write in under each subject:

• History (Elementary): objectives p.204
• History (Junior High): objectives p. 204
• Geography: goals--p. 259, overview p. 260
• Literature: see charts pp. 343-351
• Arithmetic: goals p. 241, rudiments p. 237, biblical origin and purpose p. 236, 234
• Algebra: objectives p. 445, vocabulary of algebra p. 427
• Science (A&P): rudiments p. 467, goals p. 468, overview p. 469, principles p. 457
• Economics: goals, overview p. 415, rudiments p. 402

Of course, you need to read the section for each subject, but this will give you a quick reference from the lists on p. 119-123.

As an example, take geography. I am planning for a 4th grader and a 1st grader. Here's how I plan these lessons.

1. Prayer. I have to have the Holy Spirit to help me plan what my kids need to know this year.
2. Make a grid with the months on the side and the subjects across the top, so I can see what I am studying in each subject to create cohesive plans. 
3. See the geography topic on p. 120 for a quick glance at the subject.
4. Read the section on geography, written by Katherine Dang (259-273).
5. Note the goals on p. 259. (If I have 4 R'ed this, then I refer to my own goals.)
6. Note the overview on p. 260 (If I have 4 R'ed this, then I refer to my own overview.)
7. I make note of what I am studying in His Story and try to work geography alongside the subject. If it will not work there, then I will look to literature.
8. Using my overview and goals, I chart the months out. From there I am able to plan weekly lessons, using the biblical principles and leading ideas I deduce from 4-Ring and from The Encyclopedia of Bible Truths for School Subjects. I also add living books, mapwork, reference books and more to enliven the lessons.

I put the year's master sheet into my teacher's notebook so I can see my whole year on one page and how all the subjects are connected.

I love planning my own lessons this way because I can meet the objectives using the overviews and still create individualized lessons for my family. And Also I have a plan until I have 4-R'ed that subject and found my own objectives and so on. For more help on utilizing Mr. Rose's book to the fullest, read my posts under the category Rose's Guide.

Because we work with the seeds of principles, our lessons can look very different from yours and still we can both teach the same rudiments. With the overviews in Mr. Rose's book I have a general direction to head in, but I can take my own path to get to the destination. I love that!

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Adding more to my recent post, I have a few more thoughts to share. God is really into small things. Singular things. Individual things. Really.

He started with one Earth. He placed one man and one woman in one garden. Sin came through one and atonement by One. Salvation is a decision made one at a time. Faith also is singular. He is three in One (unity with diversity). God is excited about the number one. To God, one is a very big number.

Mother Teresa once said, "There are no great things, only small things with great love." Small is good. Loving your own little family is enough, when done with love and not resentment that you could have done more or been more "if only..."

I don't think Mrs. Washington knew what her son would become, but I believe she put her all into his training. I am not sure the mothers of George Mueller, Christopher Columbus or Moses really knew they were destined for great things. I believe they were simply raising their children to the best of their ability. Our children may not go on to so such outwardly great things as these men, but they can be as great in character, nonetheless. A man may not be in the position to birth a nation, but he can be of equal character.

Also Ms. Dang defines Christianity as "the power of Christ at work in the life of the individual." When we understand all we are responsible for is our little works, we are free to do those works. And when they are added together, they result in a great work. America will not be restored with a massive revival, it will be restored by thousands of families training their children in their own homes. And together we will accomplish what we seem to look to great leaders to do. The nation must change one family at a time.

Be not weary in well-doing. Hang in there and do your small works with great love. Loving people is no small thing. For in the end there is great reward, here on earth and in the life to come. And when God is in it, a small thing is really not so smalll after all.

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