homeschool

How to Apply Deuteronomy 6

June 9, 2015 by Karin

In a six-part series, we explored family devotions—the importance of it as well as ways to structure the time, to overcome obstacles, and to keep the gospel central. A regular family devotions time enables us to systematically disciple our children in “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27 NKJV). But God’s Word should so permeate our hearts and minds that we naturally talk about it throughout the day with our children (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).

God’s command to the Israelites to teach their children His words is reiterated to believers in the New Testament. After instructing children to obey and honor their parents as taught in the Ten Commandments, the apostle Paul admonished parents, “Do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4 NKJV).

In order to diligently teach God’s Word to our children, we must first treasure it in our own hearts (Deuteronomy 6:6). When we are deepening our love for the Lord and saturating our minds with His Word, talking to our children about the things of the Lord will be a regular overflow. In an effort to be more intentional, for a few months I kept a journal about opportunities I had to point my children to the Lord during normal events of the day.

Here are some entries from my journal. These moments are not intended to be replicated but to be examples of implementing Deuteronomy 6 teaching in day-to-day life. Many of my journal entries include analogies (tying a life event or an item in creation to a spiritual truth). As you share, seek to be gospel-centered.

Journal of Deuteronomy 6 Teachable Moments

Tuesday: My young children got scared and ran to me when there was a loud series of fire alarm tests in our apartment building. When we are afraid, we run to someone stronger, and that should ultimately be the Lord. I reminded the kids that God is in control and that He is with us. We talked about how a fire alarm is good because it warns us of a fire so we can escape. God’s Word has fire alarms, warning us about the lake of fire and how to escape the punishment for our sins through trusting in Jesus.
Wednesday: My child confessed doing something wrong while I wasn’t watching. We talked about how God always sees us, even when Mommy isn’t looking. We can’t get away with secret sin. Through a song, we’ve learned this verse: “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3 NKJV).
Thursday: We were playing in a room where the curtains were closed. We talked about how there was a curtain in the temple separating the holy place from the most holy place. When Jesus died, that curtain was torn in two (at that point, we flung open the curtains), symbolizing the access we have to the Father because the flesh of Jesus was torn on the cross for our sins (Matthew 27:51; Hebrews 10:19–22).

I no longer keep a journal of my Deuteronomy 6 opportunities, but perhaps I’ll begin writing them down again if I find myself falling into complacency. Teaching my children diligently must spring from a heart that is captivated with the glory and grace of the Lord and saturated with a personal knowledge of His Word.

May the Lord bless you with wisdom as you seize the opportune, fleeting moments to teach your children along the way. “From childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15 NKJV).

Benefits of Reading Aloud to Your Children

June 4, 2015 by BJU Press Writer

As I look back over my childhood, I’m thankful that many children’s books play an important role in my memories.

I can get quite nostalgic thinking about curling up next to Mom on the couch—back when my feet couldn’t reach the floor—and hearing her read aloud. She was (and still is) a great actress, and the books came alive in my mind over and over again.

Some of my favorite books are still easily available: Blueberries for Sal, The Snowy Day, The Story about Ping, Caps for Sale, Harry the Dirty Dog, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel . . . and the list could go on.

What made those books so special? I think their beauty lies in their simplicity. And attaining simplicity is more difficult than it might seem!

What do I mean by this? I mean that a book for children must intrigue the child by hooking him into a situation to which he can relate. It may or may not be something he has actually experienced, but it should be something he can imagine happening to him.

What if my mom and I were picking blueberries and I saw a bear?

What if I woke up one morning and saw that the street outside was covered with beautiful, clean snow?

What if I were a little duck that got distracted and wandered away from the group . . . and then the boat left me?

Or it may be something completely outside his experience—but if he can enjoy the humor or sense the suspense, he will love it and want to hear it over and over.

Where did all those caps go while that man was sleeping?

What if the family doesn’t figure out that the dirty dog at their doorstep is actually their Harry?

What if Mike and Mary Anne can’t dig that basement in just one day?

Learning to love those read-alouds as a youngster contributed to my ongoing love of reading throughout life. As I grew older, I developed a similar love for The Borrowers, for My Friend Flicka, for Misty of Chincoteague. . . . Again, the list could go on and on!

I encourage you to take some time out of your busy homeschooling schedule to read aloud to your children. Books that tell intriguing stories but also promote character traits that you’d like to encourage can have lifelong effects. And they don’t have to be just the “old” classics either! Include some new(er) classics in your repertoire—such as these titles:

My kids have all grown past the age where they’re interested in those early read-aloud stories. But that’s OK. One of these days when the grandkids come along, they’ll be hearing about Harry and Ping and Mike and Mary Anne . . . and cap-stealing monkeys!

• • • • •

Steve serves as director of content development for BJU Press. He and his wife are the parents of five adult children. They homeschooled for over ten years.

Gaining Wisdom

June 2, 2015 by BJU Press Writer

There was a time when people thought an educated person was someone with lots of information. But information is easy for everyone these days, too easy. Most people struggle to finish reading a post like this one because they know they’re just clicks away from the latest post about their favorite celebrity. (Thankfully, you’re not like most people!) Everyone has information. But most people still lack something that only education—true education—can give.

What is that something?

It’s the ability to look at information and see it in proper perspective. It’s the ability to sift through the piles of data that all of us slog through and discern what’s true and what’s really important. And it’s the ability to know how to take what is most important and put it to use so that success—lasting, satisfying success—is achieved. It’s wisdom.

How do you get something as precious as wisdom?

Proverbs has the answer: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10).

Fear? Modern secular education tells us to abandon our fears. Learning is possible, we are told, only if we are willing to call everything into question—our sexuality, our beliefs about where we came from, our beliefs about God. But such advice is a lie. The wise person has come to accept that some questions need not to be asked. He knows that God is to be feared. This doesn’t mean that the wise man runs away from God in terror. But it does mean he takes God seriously.

What else does wisdom require?

Proverbs says that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. You can’t be wise without fearing God, but you can’t be wise without a lot of other things too.

Anyone who would be wise must also be a learner, a careful observer, a student. With the fear of God firmly in his heart, a person needs to study the world all around. He cannot make wise decisions unless he has a great deal to be wise with. So he’ll have to know about science, math, language arts, and social studies.

But he’ll have to know about these from the perspective that only the fear of the Lord can provide. He’ll need to understand that science is a powerful tool for ruling over God’s world under God’s greater rule over him. He will have to see math as a way to model God’s world for God’s purposes. He’ll need to understand that human communication is the result of humans having been made in God’s image and therefore it must be used to imitate God’s character and deeds. And he’ll have to learn about society with the understanding that government exists to ensure justice—justice on God’s own terms.

Where does a person develop this kind of understanding?

All the way through life in whatever situation he finds himself. But the best way to begin is through education. Not just any education, of course. A Christian education. An environment where Christian parents, students, and textbooks all work together to produce something far more profound and useful than mere information.

This post is part of our series highlighting our 2015 theme Gaining Wisdom and Knowledge and Joy. Bryan has worked in Christian education for over twenty-five years. Since 2003, he has served at BJU Press as the senior manager for biblical worldview formation. He and his wife have six children.

Greenhouse Experiment Results

May 21, 2015 by BJU Press Writer

When Ginger Ericson needed an example of a controlled experiment for her upcoming seventh-grade Life Science Distance Learning course, my coworker Stephen and I decided to test internet claims that microwaved water causes death or deformation in plants.

Now the plant experiment is complete, and it was a lot of fun. In retrospect, I would love to redo it using the things our team learned. However, the process of learning continues, and there’s plenty of room for us to revisit this project, and perhaps some of you can try it at home.

The Experiment

After the first signs of seed germination appeared, Krista and Ashley recorded our observations and measurements for four weeks. Our data outlined below involves twelve of the original fifteen pots.

When comparing plants, age is important, especially when dealing with plants that grow as rapidly as ours did. It really means very little to compare a plant that has been growing for six days to one that has been growing for only three days and then announce that the first plant is larger. The four Microwave Group pots germinated a few days later than the others, so the groups could not just be compared to each other on a given date. Instead, all the data presented shows the average height, leaf number, and flower number of each group by day after germination, which we defined as the first day a plant was recorded in the pot.

The average heights of the three groups were similar, but the Microwave Group plants were slightly behind the plants in the other groups.

The average numbers of leaves in the three groups were also similar, with the Stovetop Group being slightly behind the other two.

It’s difficult to measure the average number of flowers. We took our measurements two to three times each week, and it is very possible that some flowers may have bloomed, been pollinated, and then died between two measurements. However, the data indicates that the Microwave Group plants began to flower before the others, had fewer flowers, and began to taper off before the other two groups. The Stovetop Group plants had also begun to taper off by the end of the experiment but had as many flowers as the plants in the Control Group. The number of flowers in the Control Group seemed to still be increasing.

The Results

At the end of any project, lessons should be learned that can be applied to the future. This experiment was no exception. Although we were very pleased with how this turned out, some factors that were not controlled may have affected our results. If you’d like to set up this experiment, we would recommend these adjustments:

Filter the water or use distilled water. Microwaving is a very inefficient method of boiling water, so nearly a quart of every gallon is evaporated. We used spring water, so the evaporated water left a good bit of precipitated calcium carbonate. Since the water boiled on the hotplate lost relatively little to evaporation, this phenomenon occurred to a far less extent. It is possible the excess calcium carbonate might have caused the smaller size observed in the plants in the Microwave Group.
Take measurements every day. We took measurements two or three times a week, and that worked well with plant height and leaf number, but it may have caused some of the unusual results for the flower number. The fact that we used a plant variety specifically bred to complete its lifecycle in less than six weeks may have exacerbated this issue.
Thin the plants at the beginning of the experiment so that each pot has the same number of plants. Some of our pots had only one plant, and others had as many as three. The resulting difference in competition could significantly affect all four measurements used.

What can we conclude?

The plants in the Microwave Group didn’t all die, and they didn’t all evidence horrible deformities—two results suggested on some websites. The plant height is curious, but so is the smaller number of leaves in the Stovetop Group. In the end, the small sample size prevents us from making broad generalizations, but we can conclude that plants do not seem greatly affected by microwaved water.

Keep an eye out for this experiment in our upcoming seventh-grade Life Science Distance Learning course!

• • • • •

Elwood holds a BA in biology and an MA in English from Bob Jones University. After working with the video lesson department at BJU Press for five years, he now serves as a secondary-level science writer at BJU Press. When not working, he enjoys taking random college classes, reading, playing disc golf, and hanging out with his wife and three kids.

Homeschooling with a Newborn

May 12, 2015 by Karin

painted portrait of a mother and two children — Mother and Sara Admiring the Baby by Mary Cassatt/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

As my husband and I excitedly awaited the arrival of our third-born, I wondered how homeschooling would fit into the new family picture. Megan recently wrote a post about the challenge of transitioning to three children and about the soul-stabilizing truth of our changeless God. With that assurance, I sought out some specific tips to answer this question: how do you get back into a homeschooling routine when you have a little one that needs lots of attention?

Here are three I came up with. I’d love to hear your answers in the comments.

1. Welcome Others’ Help

Caring for a newborn while recovering from birth (not only physically but also emotionally, as I remember the postpartum blues that hung over me like fog after the birth of my firstborn) is not a task to handle alone. Reject the pride that wants to be supermom. We must mortify the resentment that tempts us when we don’t receive the help we didn’t ask for. Identify areas where others can assist and be humble enough to request aid.

Older siblings are often eager to help with a new baby. (It might take some convincing that washing the dishes is a great way to do that.) A husband, while bearing the responsibility of providing, often wants to support you at home as well. He just may be waiting for some direction on specific ways to lend a hand. Grandma is probably eager to spend time with the grandkids. (Now you just have to figure out how to convince her to move in permanently!)

Besides family members, allow your church family to use their various spiritual gifts to help with pressing needs (Galatians 6:2). An older woman or a teenage young woman who’d like to earn some extra income may jump at the chance to help once a week for a month or two.

How about bringing in an experienced and exciting teacher for each of your children’s subjects? This is possible through BJU Press Distance Learning. Another idea is to have a stock of educational videos, such as creation science videos, in your possession or from the library for those times when homeschooling seems impossible. A stack of well-chosen books can also promote independent learning.

2. Set Realistic Goals

Unreasonable expectations lead to burnout. Forget the grandiose Pinterest lists of craft ideas and the exotic field trips. Pare down your school plan to the bare basics for those first couple of months. After that, my babies tend to be sleeping better at night and settling into a routine that jives with our family’s new normal.

Set realistic goals for completing household chores as well. Spring cleaning and those new or time-consuming recipes can wait for another season in life.

Ask God to give you wisdom in choosing tasks and to give you strength in completing them. He is the Good Shepherd who will “gently lead those who are with young” (Isaiah 40:11 NKJV).

3. Respond with Flexibility

While I might prefer my family to march to my perfectly organized schedule, I don’t work in a factory, and I’m not raising robots. Having a plan is wise, but it takes wisdom to learn how to balance the plan with the needs of the various family members.

Most importantly, do my children see the Galatians 5 fruit of the Spirit in me? Do they hear love, joy, and peace in how I respond to spilled milk and see patience, kindness, and goodness when I’m trying to calm a newborn down for a nap? Do I show faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control in helping a resistant child solve a math problem? These life lessons are even more important than the academic lessons I’m hoping to check off my daily planner.

Apart from Christ the Vine, I can do nothing (John 15:5). Daily, I must seek the Lord privately in my devotions, drawing nourishment from His Word, casting my cares on Him in prayer, and surrendering my will to His. Our sovereign God orders each day according to His plan, so I can serve Him from a heart of faith.

For those of you who have homeschooled with a newborn, what advice would you give for getting back into a homeschool routine?