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Remember These Dates in April

March 31, 2016 by Meredith

Welcome to the month where some say “April showers bring May flowers.” Whether or not that statement about the weather is true where you live, we can celebrate the literary emphasis that April brings.

For starters, it’s National Poetry Month. A poem presents us with a different way of thinking about a topic. The writer’s (or narrator’s) meaning is not always apparent on the first reading, and this can be frustrating to young readers. That was the case for me. But poetry is a valuable and symbolic way of communicating to others. During my homeschool years, Mom introduced me to this literary genre using Favorite Poems Old and New, a collection of poems for children. My favorite was “Puppy and I” by A. A. Milne. Take time this month to read poetry out loud with your kids and introduce them to the forms and types of poetry.

April 10–16 celebrates National Library Week, and the 2016 theme is “Libraries Transform.” Take time to visit your local library and check out a book for free. The local library opened up a world of learning for me as a child not only because of the books I was able to read but also because of the workers who dedicated their time. Involve your family in doing a random act of kindness for a librarian.

April 1

The origin of April Fool’s Day is uncertain, but we all know that now this date is associated with fun, lighthearted practical jokes. Plan a comedy night family fun night with ideas from Kim at Not Consumed. Watch out, or else the joke might be on you!

April 5

Booker T. Washington was born this day in 1856. As a young man, he had the opportunity to attend a school where he learned to read and write as well as how to contribute to the value of society as a whole through industrial means. Later on Washington used the principles he learned to develop the Tuskegee Institute, a training place for teachers. Learn more of his life and work in this fast facts video.

April 14

Noah Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language was registered with the copyright office on this day in 1828. This book helped standardize the spelling of “American” words and supported many definitions with examples of the word’s use in the Bible. Webster learned twenty-six languages to complete this dictionary. As a child, I had the opportunity to visit Noah Webster’s childhood home in West Hartford, Connecticut. Their website includes a kid’s corner with activities to do with your children.

April 24

The Hubble Space Telescope was launched into space in 1990. It has allowed scientists to observe objects in space without interference from conditions in earth’s atmosphere. As this telescope orbits the earth, it provides clear, colorful images that add to our understanding of the Milky Way Galaxy. Interpreting what these images show us depends on our worldview of how everything came to be. Show your family these images of space taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Hope for a Weary Soul

January 26, 2016 by Megan

I knew we were in trouble as soon as I heard the sound of my daughter’s cackling laughter. When the sound of a toilet flushing joined the laughter only a heartbeat later, I was already heading toward the stairs.

My daughter stopped laughing. She called out a worried “Mommy?” that was hardly reassuring.

I felt the crisis, quite literally, when I reached the top of the stairs. There was water on the floor. This was bad.

When I finally reached the scene, I discovered that my daughter had unrolled almost an entire roll of toilet paper and had tried to stuff it all down the toilet. Now the toilet was seriously clogged and was overflowing.

The moments that followed my discovery were not some of my best moments. I frantically called my husband, and he told me how to turn off the water. That solved the most pressing crisis. But I was still left with a mess. And a very frustrated heart.

By the time my husband got home that evening, I was in tears. I felt like a failure, not an “I-tried-a-new-recipe-that-was-a-complete-flop” failure, but a soul-crippling one. I was battle-weary, not just from dealing with three disobedient children all day, but from dealing with my own sinful self. I felt like I had utterly failed at being a mom. I was sure that I was ruining my children.

This sense of failure hung on for a while. I would feel it when I would go to church and see other moms who, from my perspective, had it all together, or when I checked my social media accounts. Clean houses. Fancy dinners. Little girls in gorgeous, hand-sewn dresses. Fun (and educational!) activities. These perfect pictures of seemingly perfect families taunted me and cultivated my own sense of personal failure.

Then one Sunday morning, my husband gave me a copy of The Battle Within by J. Robin Wood. That book, which I started reading the very day I received it, was a balm to my battered soul. Even the forward gave me hope:

I am convinced that marriage and motherhood are extreme tests of selflessness. I am also convinced that every woman who enters these responsibilities is unprepared for the extent of the selflessness required, and that we are doomed to failure if we try to succeed by ourselves, in our own strength, and for our own happiness.

But there is hope—an absolute rock-solid truth. God is faithful. His Word is powerful and full of comfort. And there is help—real, credible support.

We have everything we need in His Word and through His Spirit to defeat the power of our personal Supermom—our own sinful nature.¹

The author of this book is very much like me. She’s a stay-at-home mom with three very young children and is trying to juggle the responsibilities of helping her husband, training her children, and ministering to the body of Christ. She’s very transparent—from the very first pages of the book you realize that she’s not perfect in any of those roles. That transparency was very comforting to me. It helped me realize that I’m not alone in my struggle.

But the author didn’t just offer me a sympathetic “I’ve been there too” pat on the back. She pointed me to the only path to victory, God’s Word. She urged me to look deep within my own soul, to confess my sin, and to renew my mind continually with Scripture.

For as long as I am in this world, I’m going to struggle against my sinful flesh. I’m going to fail. But, as Robin Wood reminds readers, I’m not alone. God truly has given me all that I need—not just to defeat sin but to encourage my heart day by day.

If you or someone you know is struggling under the weight of responsibility that motherhood brings, I would strongly recommend The Battle Within.

¹ J. Robin Wood, The Battle Within: What Being a Mom Taught Me About Myself (Greenville, SC: JourneyForth, 2015), i–ii.

Remember These Dates in January

December 29, 2015 by Meredith

As we think toward a new year and all that it has to offer, take time to set some goals. Personally, I love the truth of Lamentations 3:22–23, which provides hope for all 366 days of 2016! May you rejoice in new beginnings and take time to share your faith with others. And when you need something to recognize, remember these dates in January in your homeschooling.

January 1

The Ellis Island federal immigration station opened in 1892. This small speck of land in New York Harbor holds such an important place in our nation’s history because Ellis Island is the place where many immigrants first began to experience what it truly means to be an American—the freedoms, joys, hopes, and sacrifices. My own family’s history has connections to Ellis Island since my great-grandfather was one of the millions of people who started their journey here. Link this island to your kids’ understanding of history by completing a passenger search for your own ancestors or view a timeline of Ellis Island.

January 7

On this date in 1610, Galileo Galilei saw Jupiter’s largest moons. These four moons—Io, Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede—are called the Galilean moons. His discovery of these celestial bodies orbiting another planet convinced Galileo that Earth was not at the center of our universe. Make a telescope as a family and enjoy viewing the night sky. You’ll want to bundle up!

January 14

Henry Ford introduced the assembly line on this day in 1914, and processes have never been the same since! The principles of supply and demand probably played a major role in Mr. Ford’s implementation of the assembly line. He recognized that having someone become an expert at one task instead of trying to do many tasks would speed up the process of building a car. It would also make the cars more secure as workers focused on one part at a time. Henry Ford’s influence on the American auto industry was largely due to his success at increasing car production. Introduce your kids to the idea of an assembly line by setting one up as you make sandwiches or set the table for lunch!

January 15

Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was born this day in 1929. Dr. King used his gifts as a speaker to gather support for civil rights legislation. He advocated nonviolent resistance to bring political pressure on cities and on the nation to change unjust laws and practices. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is probably best known for organizing the march on Washington where he delivered his now-famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Sadly, despite Dr. King’s support of nonviolence, it was a violent time in our nation’s history. He himself was murdered on April 4, 1968. Talk to your kids about the dreams Dr. King mentioned in his speech. Have his dreams been achieved?

January 19

Edgar Allan Poe entered the scene on this date in 1809. Poe stands as the first American writer to influence others in poetry, fiction, and literary criticism. The short story genre in particular took a clearer shape as he contributed the principles of brevity (short enough to read in one sitting) and unity (producing a single emotional effect). Poe wasn’t a Christian and believed that beauty and truth are mutually exclusive, so he failed to appreciate a literary work’s ability to teach. His stories may be entertaining, but to me they communicate the hopelessness we all experience apart from Christ. Still, Poe’s works offer a good example for aspiring writers in terms of stylistic elements worth imitating. Have your older kids read aloud his most famous poem, “The Raven,” and discuss the philosophy he suggests in the questions posed by the narrator. How would our beliefs as Christians be different from his?

Check back next month when we highlight other dates to remember!

How to Teach Early Writers Through Storytelling

December 22, 2015 by Meredith

One day when I was a young child, my mom asked me to tell her the story of Little Red Riding Hood. She wrote down my version of this classic children’s story, and I still have the paper today. As I read it, I laugh at my simple expressions to describe the characters and candid explanations of what happened. Here’s one of my favorite lines from my version of “Little Red Riding Hood:” “Her and the boy got some rocks and then they put them all in the wolf and then they took him outside and they swinged him and falled him to the ground.”

It’s silly, I know.

Can you think of an imaginative tale that your child recently told you? These simple (and often silly) stories preschoolers share can not only make us laugh but also impact their writing skills. Developing good writing skills begins with the thought process.

Thinking It Through

Having meaningful conversations with your child is an important first step. Does your child communicate verbally with unfinished phrases or with complete thoughts? Increase her critical thinking and speaking skills by asking questions that require her not only to give you a literal answer but also to interpret situations or actions, to draw a conclusion, or to express her enjoyment.

Getting these kinds of responses from your child can help her learn to compose complete sentences in her head. As your child starts expressing herself in a logical way, it’s time to explain the connection between speaking and writing.

Putting It on Paper

Writing is just talk written down. This insight is best illustrated for a young child when you write down her stories on paper. Just as when Mom recorded my version of “Little Red Riding Hood” word for word, you aren’t so much concerned about your child’s grammar (that will come later) as you are with making sure her thoughts are whole and logical. Reading the story back to her is important for two reasons.

First, it allows your child to hear exactly what she has told you and to make any corrections. We can’t always trust ourselves “when something doesn’t sound right,” but revising by reading aloud is a good practice to develop. Most importantly, however, reading back the written story allows you to introduce another element of language arts—reading—to your child as you show how written stories can be shared with other people.

Practicing the Skills

As your child grows in her ability to form letters and write words, create stories together by starting sentences for her to finish. It’s a great way for her to finish complete thoughts with her own hand. This practice allows your child to see you model writing a sentence or phrase. When her handwriting skills are more advanced, ask your child to write a complete thought herself. If there’s enough space have her include a picture too! Encouraging creativity but providing the support your child needs to write out her own story is the key to her enjoyment of writing.

After your child begins first grade, introduce her to the five-step writing process. The two of you can take a few days to focus on these steps and complete a project together. Your modeling the progression of steps will help clarify them and give your child an example to follow. Even a simple activity like journaling to each other can give your child regular practice in writing (as well as reading) and allows her to see good writing modeled. Through your involvement, she will learn proper verb tenses, punctuation, spelling, and so much more! By the end of the year, your child will probably complete a writing project all on her own.

What tools are you using to intentionally guide your young child’s writing (and thinking) skills? You can find similar learning ideas like these in BJU Press’s Focus on Fives program as well as Phonics & English 1. Preparing your child to be a strong writer begins right now.

How One Homeschool Mom Managed Her Roles

December 17, 2015 by Meredith

Do you feel overwhelmed with the myriad of things that you have to do? That feeling comes over all of us now and then; but if you’re a busy homeschool parent, you’re probably more familiar with it than most.

Eujeana, a homeschool mom who shared her story on the Hip Homeschool Moms blog, explains how overwhelmed she felt and how a complete homeschool curriculum helped her educate her four kids effectively. She describes the sheer quantity of work that she faced.

There are about eight subjects in the elementary grades, so that was thirty-two subjects I was supposed to teach each day! Really? No way could I do that successfully and still have dinner on the table and other household management tasks accomplished. Using a complete curriculum with a distance learning program not only helped me to teach the subjects my children needed, but it also allowed me to give my children a rigorous education and still give them time to be children!

In her search for a solution, Eujeana discovered the concept of a complete homeschooling currirculum, specifically our BJU Press Distance Learning. With this program, she found that she could get involved with her kids’ education while also enjoying some flexibility. Lesson plans were already taken care of, so Eujeana could clean the house, create her shopping list, cook her family’s meals, and do all the other things a mom has to accomplish each day.

Homeschool moms like you have multiple full-time jobs. You wear the hats of mother, wife, household manager, and teacher for multiple grades. If you’re feeling too busy and overwhelmed, it’s possible to find relief through a comprehensive homeschool curriculum that does some of the paperwork, planning, and instruction for you. Look for a program that doesn’t take over your homeschool, but supports you with lesson plans, activity ideas, suggestions, and video lessons. Check out Eujeana’s full article, “Traditional, Boxed, Complete Homeschooling Curriculum and How It Worked for Us!”