BJU Press Blog

Simplified Homeschool

You know that organization is the key to a smooth homeschool day. We share tips on planning your time and lessons as well as advice from other homeschool parents. There are also highlights from our Distance Learning daily video-lesson program, which is designed to simplify your homeschool.

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Redeeming Our Time Here on Earth

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About half a mile from my house is a large cemetery. Every once in a while, my family will walk down there and explore. I have always found it interesting to read the epitaphs on the headstones. Some identify the person—“Beloved wife and mother.” Some describe the person’s character—“Faithful follower of Jesus.” However, it’s sobering to read the names and dates. I have a very common last name: Davis. There are dozens of Davises buried in that cemetery near our home. Some of them even share the names of my husband and children. Some of those Davises died in infancy. Some died in old age.

I always tend to have morbid thoughts after a walk through the cemetery. Sometimes I think about how I would respond if I had a child buried there. Or I think about what someone would write on my tombstone. Would I be remembered as “beloved” or “faithful”? Most frequently, however, I think about the fact that I only have so much time here on earth. If the Lord tarries, I am going to die someday—just like everyone else.

image of a clock on a desk

The Bible often reminds us that our life is like a “vapor” (James 4:14). We are admonished to redeem the time (Ephesians 5:16). If you are like me, your days probably seem like an endless repetition of laundry, meals, dishes, schoolwork, and childcare. You probably feel like you couldn’t possibly add one more thing to your to-do list without passing out.

One way we can redeem our time is to prioritize and focus on what really matters. Christ stated that the two greatest commandments were to love God and to love others (Matthew 22:36–40). That’s a good starting point. For me, the loving God part includes things like making time for my daily Bible reading and prayer and for church services and ministries. And the loving others part includes things like teaching my children (not only academic things but also spiritual things), and fulfilling my husband’s priorities for the day. Some days, prioritization may mean that the newest issue of my favorite magazine sits unopened, that I don’t get to work on a craft or project, or that my house is not quite as clean as I would like it to be. And that’s okay.

We only get so many hours in a day, so let’s use them well. If you don’t know how to best use them, ask the Lord for help. He promises to give wisdom to those who ask in faith!

How do you “redeem” the hours in your day?

Organize Your Files in Two Steps

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How much time do you spend looking for information that you know you have somewhere? What if you could get to any piece of information quickly? If you organize your electronic files, you can quickly and easily find what you’re looking for later.

1. Use a sorting system.

Since this is a series focused on technology, I will explain how to use the filing system on your computer. One key idea in organizing files is to avoid as many “trips” as possible. When organizing things on the computer, keep everything in two main folders (subfolders are allowed).

Put unsorted items in one temporary folder. This is for things like an article you download or a file you’re using temporarily. You could also use it for anything you don’t know where to file right when you receive it.  Then, regularly go through and move each file to its proper location or delete it, as appropriate. If you already know how you want to file something, don’t put it in the inbox folder, save it directly to the correct folder in your sorted location (see step 2). To move a file, you can click on it and drag it over to another folder.

Whether you have a PC or a Mac computer, you can use the Downloads folder that’s already on your computer as your inbox. Whenever you download a file from the Internet, it will typically go into that folder anyway, so it works well as a place to keep your unsorted files.

  • You can find the folder on a PC by clicking on the Start button and then on Computer, or click the file folder icon at the bottom of your screen on the taskbar (which opens Windows® Explorer to show you your files). You should then see Downloads at the top left of the window that opened under Favorites.
  •  On a Mac computer, opening Finder (the blue-face icon on the toolbar at the bottom of your screen) will allow you to see the Downloads folder on the left toolbar.

2. Know where to store files.

Files on the computer are stored in what is called a folder tree. It works a little differently from physical folders because it allows you to easily place folders inside other folders. To organize your files, use the Documents folder that comes preinstalled on your computer. You might be tempted to use your Desktop, but that is not really a good place to organize files. You have a limited amount of space on the screen, and just like with your physical desk, if you have a lot of things on it, you may have a hard time finding something you use regularly. It also adds another place to look for files you need to back up. Instead, use shortcuts on your desktop for files or even folders you use daily or very frequently. It’s easy to make a shortcut:

  • On a PC, right-click on the file or folder you want to have on your desktop, and choose Send to and then Desktop (create shortcut). You should now have a shortcut on your desktop.
  •  On a Mac computer, click on the file or folder while holding down the Ctrl key on your keyboard and choose Make Alias. This will create a file just below the item with “.alias” at the end of the name. Click on that new alias file and drag it over to your desktop.

3. Organize files in the right place.

For organizing files in your Documents folder, you can create folders that match the way you think about your files. For example, if your files change every school year, then you could create a folder called 2015 School Year and then create subfolders in that folder for different subjects.

  • On a PC, once you are looking at your files in Windows® Explorer, you can right-click on a blank space around your files and select New and then Folder. You will then have an opportunity to name the folder. You can move files into the folder by clicking and dragging them over to that folder.
  •  On a Mac computer, once you are looking at your files in Finder, you can click on the gear icon at the top and select New Folder. You can name the folder and put files in it by dragging them over to that folder. By keeping all of your important files in your Documents folder, you have only one place to look when you need to find something.

Now that you know how to organize your files, check back on the last Friday of next month to find out how to use some of the electronic resources available to you as part of the BJU Press curriculum!

Microsoft, Encarta, MSN, and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
Mac is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

If you have questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below.

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Andrew enjoys helping others use technology in a way that glorifies God. He and his wife help with the children’s ministries at their church. Along with their three sons, they like to read together about other people’s adventures and then go out and have their own.

Unchanging Truth in Times of Change

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I just had my third daughter. I thought I was prepared for this major life-event. I had listened patiently to all the three-children horror stories people shared with me while I was pregnant. I had anticipated the sleepless nights, the difficulty of scheduling life around feedings and naps, the piles and piles of laundry. I knew it was going to be hard. I knew life was never going to be the same again. I was right.

But somehow, change is always unpredictable. I didn’t anticipate that my newborn would be in constant danger because of two very curious and overly eager-to-help sisters. I didn’t anticipate how difficult it would be to do “normal” things like running to the store for a gallon of milk. My “bring it on” attitude quickly changed to a “take me away, please” attitude as I struggled to juggle three small children, household chores, ministry obligations, and more. Life quickly became exhausting and chaotic.

In the midst of all the upheaval, I found myself taking great comfort in the fact that God never changes. In fact, James claims that with Him there’s not even a shadow of turning. God is still the same God He has been from eternity past. He is still the same God who sent ravens to feed Elijah during a drought (1 Kings 17), who raised a widow’s son from the dead (Luke 7), and who calmed the raging sea (Matthew 8). He is still at work. He is still answering prayers. I can trust him.

Remembering truths about God stabilizes my soul during unsettling times. What truths about God are stabilizing your soul right now?

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Food, Friends, and Family

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Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Why? Because of its simplicity. There’s no need to decorate my house, no need to spend hours searching for the elusive “perfect” gift, and no need to stress about how to squeeze fifteen different social functions into three days. Thanksgiving is all about taking a day to reflect on what the Lord has blessed us with and enjoy the company of family and friends (and good food!).

Image of a little boy eating corn bread.

Yes, good food is a big part of this holiday’s appeal. Somehow, spending hours in the kitchen preparing food with my family members and friends ends up being therapeutic. We laugh. We share stories and swap recipes. We make a big mess and enjoy taking the time to clean it up. For this day and this day only, I don’t mind if my preschooler ends up covered with flour. I just laugh, snap a picture, and preserve the memory for years to come. I end the day tired, but it is a happy kind of tired, the kind of tired that comes when you know that your cup of blessings has just overflowed.

A few weeks ago, the Interactive Marketing Department here at BJU Press got together to enjoy a good meal and swap recipes. Below are some of our favorites. We hope you will enjoy them.

Vegetables

Byron’s Cheesy Veggies

Megan’s Corn Casserole

David’s Sweet Potato Casserole

Bread/Stuffing

Meredith’s Cranberry Stuffing

Nick’s Cornbread Muffins

Dessert

Carolynn’s Pumpkin Cake

Soup

Megan’s Comforting Turkey Noodle Soup (great to make with leftovers!)

What’s your favorite part about Thanksgiving?

Don’t Just Google It: Seeking Counsel Mom-to-Mom

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Image of two moms drinking hot chocolate and having a conversation at the table.

It was our first house, and it needed some work. One of our first projects was tearing out the old stained carpet in the master bedroom. At a carpet store, we browsed the rolls of discounted carpet pieces, and the salesman convinced us to purchase a lonely roll that was supposedly of much higher plush quality than the other colors. The only problem—the color was white. At the time, we didn’t think having white carpet was a big deal, but we didn’t realize it would spotlight every speck of black sock fuzz and every minor stain.

We have all made major or minor decisions that we now regret. We might have avoided them had we taken the time to ask those with more experience for advice. Proverbs is full of instructions about seeking counsel from others, as in Proverbs 15:22 (NKJV): “Without counsel, plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors they are established.”

As I begin homeschooling, I want to intentionally seek out advice from wise mothers. Whether they’ve homeschooled their children or guided them through traditional school, they can lead me down a time-tested route and warn me about detours or potholes.

When I have a question about homeschooling, my first inclination, as a child of the digital age, is to Google it. While I’m thankful for the convenience and wealth of information online, I want to guard against the dangers of wasting time and having information overload. Before I realize it’s dinnertime, I have forty-six tabs open on my browser with opinions of people I don’t know from Adam.

If I lived fifty years ago and had a question on teaching or raising my children, the obvious course would have been to pray about it, talk with my husband, and call a trusted friend or relative. While the Internet brings the world together, it threatens to isolate us from true relationships. I know many wise, godly mothers that I can go to for counsel, and many of them happen to be homeschool moms as well. By approaching them, I’m going to sources I trust, and I’m building relationships with women who can encourage me and pray for me.

Seeking personal counsel is worth the extra effort, and integrating our lives with other believers’ lives is the biblical pattern. In Titus 2, the apostle Paul encourages the older women to mentor the younger women so that their lives might honor God’s Word. He told Titus to teach

the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things—that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. (Titus 2:3–5 NKJV)

So what about you? How have you found ways to balance the convenience of online information with the value of a trusted advisor? How do you balance social media with face-to-face relationships ?