Dads Read to Their Children

Perhaps the greatest gift any father can bestow upon his children, apart from the covenant blessings of parish life and a comprehension of the doctrines of grace, is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives a knowledge of the world, and it offers experience of a wide kind. Indeed, it is nothing less than a moral illumination.
Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847)

Fathers have a great impact on their children, even if they don't realize it. When dads decide to take part in an activity, children take notice. When dads read aloud to the family, children are attentive. When dads impart their faith on a daily basis, children become that faith.

Reading great books offer what the soul needs at the time. Give your children the passion of reading . . . all sorts of classics.

Kerry

BTW, I realize that it is mostly moms that read these posts. Feel free to forward this to the men in your life. The quote alone is priceless.

What's for History this Year?

I had to write an introduction for a group I joined and thought I'd pass it along. It tells you a little bit more about us.

We just returned from being in Texas since May 1. My husband told me that we were on the road 26 days in June while speaking at homeschool conferences. I am looking forward to settling into our new home in Idaho.

This is our 3rd year to use Gileskirk as we study through Christendom. My girls (15, 17) will also be doing Great Books 3 with Wes Callihan. After hearing many of your comments last year about Great Books and getting to know the Callihans personally, we decided this would be a terrific part of our homeschool this coming year. My oldest daughter will be taking Lordship at New Saint Andrews, as well. She's a little hesitant with the reading load, but I am confident she will persevere and succeed.

This afternoon we finish watching our last video in Antiquities. Since we have had such a sporadic schedule, we are finishing “school” this summer. Usually we are finished in May and enjoy reading throughout the summer.

My son will be studying the same time period using Truth Quest History, my absolute favorite history curriculum ever. I have tried many other curricula over the past 3 years and always come back to Truth Quest.

Kerry

Weekly Special-Confessions of Recovering Dispensationalist

WEEKLY SPECIAL Confessions of a Recovering Dispensationalist

On the last Sunday we were in Texas, Steve had the privilege of preaching at Grace Covenant Church. You can read my post about it HERE. The title of his sermon was “Confessions of a Recovering Dispensationalist”. Many have asked for a copy of this CDso we are making it available to you, too.

THIS WEEK ONLY: Buy “Confessions of a Recovering Dispensationalist” for $5.00 and half-price shipping on this item only. Buy Now

Price will increase on August 3, 2005

CONFESSIONS of a RECOVERING DISPENSATIONALIST

Why are so many of the best homeschooling books written by "reformed"guys? What is "reformed" theology? What are its distinctives and why has it been the way Christians believed since the reformation...until recently. Presented in a very lively and practical way, learn why the reformed faith was not your father's religion, but it was probably your great-grandfather's!

Order your special copy HERE

Kerry

Thoughts on Reading Journals

I gave a few talks about Thomas Jefferson Education at homeschool conferences this summer and made the same suggestion Rachel DeMille made in Core & Love of Learning CD/lecture notes. I think this is particularly good for younger kids or kids just starting a reading journal. My older girls (14, 16 at the time) kept a reading journal this past year. It specifically dealt with their literature reading assignment. By the end of the year this was an informal essay, beyond simply recapping what they read.

My son is 12 and I plan to start the year with a journal entry at the end of each day. This will tell me what he “really learned” that day. He has made journal entries for specific readings, similar to narrations. We have used it especially with his Bible readings. He writes a paragraph about what he read in his morning devotions. I believe this helps reinforce what he read.

Our journal helps my kids keep writing on a daily basis, but I don’t think it teaches writing. I use IEW to make a longer assignment that gives my kids the opportunity to write to a final draft form. So, they have two types of writing – informal journal about what they are reading/learning and formal writing assignments where they learn how to improve their writing. There are times we will use a journal entry to “work on” writing, polishing it to final draft form.

Kerry Beck