I took my own advice and cleaned our home office this afternoon. It is very refreshing to have everything in its place right now. When my computer gets back from the fix-it shop, we will be ready to roll out those orders.
Then, I moved to my bedroom and started throwing away "stuff" that I hadn't used in years. How could I move it twice and not get rid of it? Well, less stuff will allow me more time to read and prepare for the coming year of mentoring my children.
The DeMilles were right in their lecture notes, Core & Love of Learning. Less stuff means more time for mom and mentoring!
Off to read. . .
Kerry
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Educate Children in the Fear of God
Then you must teach yourwives in the faith delivered to them and in love and purity-to cherish their own husbands in all fidelity, and to love all others equally in all chastity, and to educate their children in the fear of God.
Letter of Polycarp to Philippians (4:2)
Let us rear the young in the fear of God.
Let our children have a Christian training. Let them learn the value God sets on humility, what power pure love has with him, how good and excellent it is to fear him, and how this means salvation to everybody who lives in his fear with holiness and a pure conscience. For he is the searcher of thoughts and of desires. It is his breath which is in us; and when he wants to he will take it away.
I Clement 21:6,8
When I left to catch up on reading, I decided to read some letters written by the early church fathers. The themes of unity, peace and sacrifice for God (martyrdom) were repeated througout.
Beyond these themes, I was struck by the comments written above. Sometimes we are so consumed with educating our children academically that we forget our primary goal should be educating our children in the "fear of God". I plan to spend some time tomorrow morning praying about this idea and seeing where I fall short in rearing my kids in the fear of God. I believe it is so important to start teaching kids about fearing God when they are young, so it will be a natural habit as they grow older.
Homeschooling (& leadership education/mentoring) is much more than academics. It should center on:
- humility
- power of pure love
- goodness & excellence
- fearing God
- holiness
- pure conscience
- God's sovereignty
I think I have my list of things to do with my kids for awhile. What about you?
Kerry
Cleaning, Cooking & Chauferring
The three great destroyers of motherly mentoring are cleaning, cooking & chauffering. You need to decide between your stuff and your education. Too much stuff in the home clogs up the education of everyone who lives there. I know this well. When we moved a year ago, we took 5-7 truckloads of stuff to goodwill and another 4-5 loads to the dump...WOW!
When we moved into our new rental home last week, it was quite refreshing to not have as much stuff to care for. Not only did I get rid of my stuff, the kids got rid of their junk. After this recent move, my son made a box of things he wants to sell on eBay (always the entrepreneur) and a bag of his stuff to give to goodwill. Now, he has less stuff to keep clean in his room. This is a great way to promote non-materialism with your own children. Summer is a terrific time to de-clutter.
Being a pack rat is a sure way to sabotage the Fundamental Phases of learning. Tne great classics on the shelf are better than a hundred (or a hundred, thousand mediocre) books. Here's one for the girls of the family: If you haven't worn a piece of clothing in two years, you aren't likely to wear it in the next two years. Send it away!
Managing your stuff takes time, effort, resources, space & above all the brain cells to keep track of it all...and I need every brain cell I can find for mentoring and education. Lighten your load and free those brain cells.
One tip: Keep a donation box at the back door, in the garage, in the back of the van or somewhere easy to find. Use the donation box and de-clutter.
taken from Core & Love of Learning lecture notes
Kerry
When we moved into our new rental home last week, it was quite refreshing to not have as much stuff to care for. Not only did I get rid of my stuff, the kids got rid of their junk. After this recent move, my son made a box of things he wants to sell on eBay (always the entrepreneur) and a bag of his stuff to give to goodwill. Now, he has less stuff to keep clean in his room. This is a great way to promote non-materialism with your own children. Summer is a terrific time to de-clutter.
Being a pack rat is a sure way to sabotage the Fundamental Phases of learning. Tne great classics on the shelf are better than a hundred (or a hundred, thousand mediocre) books. Here's one for the girls of the family: If you haven't worn a piece of clothing in two years, you aren't likely to wear it in the next two years. Send it away!
Managing your stuff takes time, effort, resources, space & above all the brain cells to keep track of it all...and I need every brain cell I can find for mentoring and education. Lighten your load and free those brain cells.
One tip: Keep a donation box at the back door, in the garage, in the back of the van or somewhere easy to find. Use the donation box and de-clutter.
taken from Core & Love of Learning lecture notes
Kerry
Boys & Reading
Usually it takes a child until around fourth grade to have reached a level of automaticity, to have acquired the visualization skills, and to have accumulated a broad enough base of life experiences to begin learning through reading. Girls are usually better "early" readers and more active readers.
Boys usually do not become independent readers who read for pleasure until they are aged ten or older. Part of the reason for this is that boys usually have more of a frustrating learning-to-read experience than do girls.
Kerry
Boys usually do not become independent readers who read for pleasure until they are aged ten or older. Part of the reason for this is that boys usually have more of a frustrating learning-to-read experience than do girls.
Kerry
Moon Walking
Another tidbit of history and book recommendation:
The year was 1969 and the date was today, July 20.
Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon as they stepped out of their lunar module....do you remember this event? I remember lying on our couch and trying to stay awake so I could witness this monumental event.
Last spring, we watched Apollo 13 (edited by Dad) and became "inspired" to learn more about space and space exploration. Since we just received copies of Destination: Moon, I decided to read it to the kids. Of course, it was easy enough for any of them to read on their own, but I wanted to enjoy the story with them. All of the kids thoroughly enjoyed this book as we learned about Jim Irwin, his Apollo 15 voyage and his faith. It was fantastic. You can read more about Destination: Moon in one of my recent newsletters HERE.
Kerry
...who hopes you will inspire your kids to greatness with real books!
The year was 1969 and the date was today, July 20.
Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon as they stepped out of their lunar module....do you remember this event? I remember lying on our couch and trying to stay awake so I could witness this monumental event.
Last spring, we watched Apollo 13 (edited by Dad) and became "inspired" to learn more about space and space exploration. Since we just received copies of Destination: Moon, I decided to read it to the kids. Of course, it was easy enough for any of them to read on their own, but I wanted to enjoy the story with them. All of the kids thoroughly enjoyed this book as we learned about Jim Irwin, his Apollo 15 voyage and his faith. It was fantastic. You can read more about Destination: Moon in one of my recent newsletters HERE.
Kerry
...who hopes you will inspire your kids to greatness with real books!
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