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Guest Writer

Celebrate the Brilliance of African American Inventors

February 2, 2018 by Guest Writer

african-american inventors
African American inventors had a difficult time in past decades, struggling against the racism and segregation that was prevalent throughout the US, yet they still succeeded in giving the world many important inventions. Remember to highlight these brilliant, hard-working people as you teach heritage studies in your homeschool.

Garrett Morgan: The Gas Mask and the Traffic Light (above left)

Garrett Morgan dedicated his life to making the world a safer place through his inventions. He invented and patented a type of mechanical traffic signal, an early form of the modern traffic light. He also developed a safety hood to protect firefighters and soldiers from harmful smoke or gases.

When he first pitched his gas mask idea to Southern fire departments, they rejected him; so he paid a friend to help him stage a demonstration of the hood in a smoke-filled tent. After that successful test, his invention sold widely to fire departments throughout the Northern states. Later, it was even adopted by the US military and used during World War I.

Charles Drew: America’s First Blood Bank (above middle)

During his younger years, Charles Drew was more famous for his achievements in football and track than for his skill in biology. After an injury, however, he began to focus more on the medical sciences. He enrolled at the minority-friendly McGill University Faculty of Medicine in Montreal and excelled there, eventually finding a career at Howard University College of Medicine.

In 1940, Drew began directing the Blood for Britain project from New York City. He set up important standards and procedures for the collection and processing of donated blood plasma. Later, he pioneered America’s national blood banking system, as well as coming up with the concept of mobile donation stations.

Though he struggled against racism and segregation throughout his life, he received many awards and honorary doctorates for his important work in the field of blood banking and blood donation.

Jan Matzeliger: The Automatic Shoe-Laster (above right)

Born to a slave on a coffee plantation in Suriname, South America, Jan Matzeliger came to the United States as a young man. In those days, shoemaking was done by hand in a slow, painstaking, expensive process. Matzeliger worked tirelessly on a machine that could attach a shoe’s upper to the sole automatically. A quick-fingered human “hand laster” completed fifty pairs of shoes on a good day, working long hours. But Matzeliger’s “shoe-lasting machine” could produce up to seven hundred pairs in a day. Thanks to his invention, shoes became more affordable for everyone, all across the nation. Dying of tuberculosis in his thirties, Matzeliger wasn’t able to reap the profits of his work.

In a time when America still undervalued them, these inventors still practiced dominion over God’s creation and loved their neighbors by working hard to make their world a better place.

[Students can delve deeper into the lives of great African American inventors at BlackInventor.com or check out the Heritage Studies 4 textbook for more details on Jan Matzeliger’s life.]

• • • • •

Rebecca is a work-at-home freelance writer, novelist, wife, and the mom of two bright-eyed little ones. She credits her success in writing and her love of books to her own mom, who homeschooled three kids from pre-K through high school.

Filed Under: Successful Learning Tagged With: African Americans, African-American Inventors, homeschool, homeschool studies

Midpoint Checkup: How’s Your School Year Going?

January 23, 2018 by Guest Writer

homeschool checkup
The first half of the school year is over, and you may be doing a mental checkup of your homeschool program. How is it working for you so far? What strengths and improvements do you see in your children? Here’s what a few of your fellow homeschoolers had to say about their experience with BJU Press materials this year.

The Homeschool Scientist: Physical Science

Marci Goodwin, blogger at the Homeschool Scientist, has been using BJU Press Physical Science this year. She’s a mom who loves to get her kids actively engaged in learning. Instead of dry black-and-white text, her emphasis is visual learning and hands-on activities. Marci appreciates the fact that each chapter of Physical Science starts with a real-life issue that can be resolved using the new material in that chapter. Photos and diagrams engage the visual learner and explain the processes, both in the student text and the lab manual. All necessary materials for labs are in the lab kit, so Marci doesn’t have to hunt down supplies every week.

The Unlikely Homeschool: Language Arts

Over at The Unlikely Homeschool blog, Jamie shares her reasons for switching to the BJU Press English program from another language arts curriculum right in the middle of the school year. She felt that the other English curriculum wasn’t providing her kids with a big-picture view of language—the “why” for all the grammar facts and rules. In contrast, BJU Press language arts teaches writing and grammar side by side, showing that proper grammar is crucial to smooth, effective written communication. A writing unit supports and reinforces every new grammar skill; and homeschool students learn many different forms of writing in the process.

Not Consumed: Early Reading Skills

It’s so exciting to teach your child to read and watch as the skill develops. For Kim at NotConsumed.com, some of the best early readers come from BJU Press. The creative, interesting storylines keep her son coming back for more, eager to read each day. As the books build fluency and skills, they also help young readers develop a love for reading through exciting fiction, tales of foreign missionaries, and Bible stories as well.

Janelle Knutson: Distance Learning Video Lessons

Janelle Knutson decided to give BJU Press Distance Learning a try last year, and this year she went all out with video lessons for many of her fifth grader’s homeschool subjects. The blend of video classes, colorful textbooks, and teacher support works well for Janelle’s family. She’s able to stay involved in her daughter’s education while allowing her to work independently sometimes. Independent work is a vital skill for homeschool kids, especially those in large families where a mom or dad must teach multiple grade levels throughout the day.

Are you thinking of making a midstream switch to BJU Press textbooks or Distance Learning? Contact us so we can answer your questions and help you with the details.

• • • • •

Rebecca is a work-at-home freelance writer, novelist, wife, and the mom of two bright-eyed little ones. She credits her success in writing and her love of books to her own mom, who homeschooled three kids from pre-K through high school.

Filed Under: Successful Learning Tagged With: BJU Press Reviews, distance learning, homeschool, homeschool program

Meal Planning to Save Your Day—and Your Budget

January 11, 2018 by Guest Writer

meal planning menu
It’s that time of day again. The kids are starting to whine and grumble. They’re getting hungry, and it’s only a matter of time before chaos ensues. You throw open the fridge or pantry, desperately looking for something that you can cook quickly—something that even your picky eaters will like—but it seems you never have the right ingredients on hand.

What if you could spare yourself the stress of last-minute meals and make your grocery shopping process much easier? Meal planning is a way to have less stress (and more money since you’re not spending extra dollars on takeout or impulse buys at the grocery store). Here are some meal-planning tips from real moms to get you started.

• Create a monthly meal schedule

Take the advice of homeschool mom Erica and decide in advance what you and your family are going to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for thirty days. Monday could be cereal for breakfast, sandwiches and fruit for lunch, and spaghetti with garlic bread for dinner. Tuesday could be pancakes for breakfast, leftover spaghetti for lunch, chicken broccoli casserole for dinner, and so on. If a month feels like too much, start by planning out the meals for just one week. Having a plan trims your grocery list to the essentials and takes the mealtime decision-making off your mind.

• Have fun with the plan

One way to make your meal plan more interesting is to create themed days or weeks. One week could feature Mexican foods; another might highlight Italian or Asian cuisine. You could also give each day of the week a theme, like Meatless Mondays, Taco Tuesdays, and so on. Ask your kids to help you brainstorm the themes for each week, or let them plan all the meals for one day every month.

• Make multiple meals at once

Set aside an afternoon or an evening to cook several meals at one time. You can make casseroles and freeze them, or double your recipe for soup or chili so you’ll have leftovers for a few nights. Make a lot of pasta and divide it into smaller containers for lunches. If you’re just cooking up some chicken or ground beef, brown an extra pound or two and freeze it; that’s time saved on another day. This tip is courtesy of Kim, busy homeschool mom and blogger at NotConsumed.com.

• Give your food budget a makeover

Every homeschool family could use a little spare change in their food budget, and meal planning can help with that. If you’re looking to do ultra-cheap meal planning, check out $5DollarDinners.com, a resource packed with inexpensive recipes that are crowd-pleasers for the whole family. Erin Chase runs the website and shares her grocery budget makeover ideas with interested moms and dads. You can even sign up for her free weekly newsletter.

• Allow yourself some takeout time  

You can still eat takeout occasionally or visit your favorite restaurant. Just be sure that you include your weekly pizza night or monthly visit to the local seafood restaurant in your meal plan. After all, you’re saving money with a meal plan; there’s nothing wrong with eating out once in a while.

Remember, modern dads and moms have plenty of kitchen help, thanks to microwaves, freezers, dishwashers, slow cookers, electric grills, vegetable steamers, and rice cookers. Use those tools to save time as you plan ahead and prepare tasty, affordable meals for your family.

• • • • •

Rebecca is a work-at-home freelance writer, novelist, wife, and the mom of two bright-eyed little ones. She credits her success in writing and her love of books to her own mom, who homeschooled three kids from pre-K through high school.

 

Filed Under: Simplified Homeschool Tagged With: homeschool budget, meal planning, organization, organizational habits

The Enduring Appeal of The Pilgrim’s Progress

January 2, 2018 by Guest Writer

Pilgrim's Progress in a field
Journey is the primary motif of Pilgrim’s Progress.

In most of the world, the Bible is the only book that has been more widely read than The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan. This classic allegory of the Christian life has appeared in over four thousand English-language editions and has been translated into scores of other languages. Generation after generation, people have found blessing and help in its pages. Why all this popularity, and what does it mean for you and your homeschool family? Is this 339-year-old story relevant to you and your kids?

The Power of a Well-Told Story

Everyone enjoys a story, and the story of Christian’s journey from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City communicates truth in a powerful and memorable way. There are interesting characters, lively conversations, new places, and dramatic scenes.

When it was written in 1678, The Pilgrim’s Progress depicted characters and events that felt realistic to readers of the time. To modern readers, the people and places in the book have an old-fashioned, almost fairytale feel to them. Yet the events of this allegory still reveal timeless truths about salvation, right living, and the importance of staying on the path of faith.

The Wording and Language of The Pilgrim’s Progress

Bunyan was a man of the people. Most of his positive characters are commoners, and he wrote in a relaxed conversational style, using the informal, lively language of rural common folk in seventeenth-century England. However, the wording of the book is dramatically different from the conversational language of today. For this reason and others, we recommend The Pilgrim’s Progress for high-school students, especially those in tenth grade and above.

Encourage your teens to have a dictionary or smartphone handy so they can look up the meanings of difficult words or antiquated phrases. BJU Press offers a helpful Teacher’s Guide that has marginal notes, vocabulary information, and discussion questions to help you teach the book effectively. If you’d like to introduce the story to younger children, you can find excellent abridged or adapted versions to use until they are ready for the real thing. One well-loved children’s version is Dangerous Journey, retold by Oliver Hunkin and beautifully illustrated.

The Different Types of Believers

There’s an interesting inclusivity in The Pilgrim’s Progress, which allows for the different Christian life experiences believers may have. As a pastor and a close observer of individuals, Bunyan gave his three main characters—Christian, Faithful, and Hopeful—different weaknesses, unique strengths, and a variety of experiences. As you study the book together during your homeschool sessions, your children may be able to see their own traits and tendencies reflected in the characters.

The Role of the Allegory

From an educational perspective, The Pilgrim’s Progress is important in the development of literary genres. It’s an allegory, not a novel or fable; but the characters and narrative make it an important forerunner of the novel. Bunyan made his major characters and many of his minor characters both lifelike and varied. Thus, The Pilgrim’s Progress has great value as a literary work as well as a realistic story that expounds themes of salvation, temptation, the Christian’s armor, and the benefits of Christian fellowship.

Are you ready to dive into The Pilgrim’s Progress as part of your homeschool? Study it along with your high school students so you can benefit from the literary and spiritual enrichment as well!

• • • • •

Rebecca is a work-at-home freelance writer, novelist, wife, and the mom of two bright-eyed little ones. She credits her success in writing and her love of books to her own mom, who homeschooled three kids from pre-K through high school.

Filed Under: Successful Learning Tagged With: homeschool, homeschool family, Pilgrim's Progress

4 Holiday Activities for the Homeschool Family

November 28, 2017 by Guest Writer

holiday activities
The holiday season is the perfect time to bring your whole family together for fun activities. And you certainly get bonus points if those activities are educational or even result in homemade, inexpensive gifts! So, here’s a list of four enjoyable holiday activities that teach teamwork, truth, or both in the context of Christmastime.

Hot Chocolate Stir Sticks

from The Unlikely Homeschool

The Unlikely Homeschool shares a super-easy and delicious activity that your whole family will love—hot chocolate stir sticks! These tasty treats are also ideal when you need some inexpensive gifts for friends and family members. Get the ingredient list and instructions on the blog, and remember to scroll down to the bottom of the page for more great holiday ideas!

A Christmas Carol Literature Unit

from Confessions of a Homeschooler

Are you looking to incorporate holiday-themed tales into your kids’ literature studies? The helpful blog Confessions of a Homeschooler describes how to do a literature unit on A Christmas Carol, complete with beautiful printable mini-books and comprehension questions. There’s even a video tutorial for creating the flip-up pocket lapbook to hold the story timeline and mini-books. The unit is adaptable for Grades 1–5.

Bottle-Cap Animal Craft

from The Homeschool Scientist

The Homeschool Scientist brings the holiday cheer to your science lovers with a delightful Christmas animal craft made with bottle caps. The free printable includes three colorful animals; there’s a link to an online tutorial that shows how to do it. Teach the kids about each kind of animal and its tracks while you’re creating keyrings, bag tags, or zipper pulls!

A Christmas Hymn Study

from Not Consumed

Homeschool blog NotConsumed.com brings us back to the lessons learned by hymnists gone before us in Still Singing: Hymn Stories for Every Season. This study will introduce your family to the histories of many of your favorite hymns, including Christmas carols.  Learn the origins of over 20 hymns, in addition to four Christmas songs: “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” “Silent Night,” “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentleman,” and “Joy to the World.”

Looking for more Christmas crafts and activities? Try the four simple Christmas crafts at Life of a Homeschool Mom, or try making the suncatcher nativity scene from Peace Creek on the Prairie. Your Christmas season doesn’t have to be filled with a new activity every day. But when you keep it simple and highlight the true reason for Christmas, you create memories that last a lifetime.

• • • • •

Rebecca is a work-at-home freelance writer, novelist, wife, and the mom of two bright-eyed little ones. She credits her success in writing and her love of books to her own mom, who homeschooled three kids from pre-K through high school.

Filed Under: Simplified Homeschool Tagged With: Christmas crafts, holiday activities, homeschool blog, inexpensive gifts

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As parents, teachers, or former homeschool students, we are passionate about homeschooling from a biblical worldview. We hope these teaching tips, fun activities, and inspirational stories support you in teaching your children.

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