August 31, 2010 by admin.

“Focusing on the big picture” is necessary when home schooling. When we don’t focus on the big picture - the result of our efforts plus God’s grace- we get tunnel vision. One of the biggest pitfalls of home schooling failures is that they got tunnel vision- only seeing a small pinpoint of light, and (eventually)wondering when the end will come!

On the road home to WV from NC there is a tunnel through Big Walker Mountain. I will never forget one trip when the traffic was backed up for over 20 miles before the tunnel! As we got closer to the tunnel, we could see that they had one lane closed and were painting lines on the road. There was an exit right before the tunnel. (I think they kept that exit just for claustrophobics!) Well, when there are three females in a vehicle for a long period of time- let’s just say that is why they make rest areas! By the time we got to that mess, we were about to float through the tunnel and it didn’t seem like traffic was going to move for a while, so we elected to go OVER the mountain.

Once we got moving again (and breathing air that was not laden with paint fumes!) we saw the most beautiful farms and rolling hills! The sky actually looked bluer, and we even ‘mooed’ at the cows in the pasture. J Sure, it took a longer time to go over the mountain, and the gas station on the other side of the tunnel was the same one we stopped at when we came down the other side of the hill, but we were no longer stressed and grouchy at one another. It was a FUN journey. One that I would like to take again some day.

In comparison, many a new home schooling Mom has picked up her curriculum at a curriculum fair with delusions of grandeur (okay, maybe that’s too strong) -visions of excellence- dancing in their brains. Instead of choosing curriculum based on usable, everyday knowledge, we are lured by bright colors and/or name brand, shiny, excellently printed, streamlined and organized materials. As we pick up the package, we see our son or daughter at the next homeschool fellowship standing in front of a three sided cork board with a pointy, white stick discussing the plans for a new rocket designed to reach the north star! Well, not saying that can’t happen, for obviously in our history, people have done great things, but this should not be the main goal! If it happens, thank the Lord! Until it does, teach what is necessary to inspire greatness, and leave the promotion to God. J

Tunnel vision says that if Junior or Susie did not get 90% on all quizzes and tests he/she did not apply him/herself. The big picture says that your child knows 90% of the materials presented! If you feel that the other ten percent is absolutely necessary for their life goals, and they might not learn those facts later on, then by all means continue to teach that material until your child knows it. Otherwise, chalk it up to human error. (You know, chances are that if you give the same test a week later, after explaining the wrong answers, they may get a higher score. And chances are, if you go over the wrong answers you will find they say something like, “Oh! I knew that! I didn’t mean to put that answer!”)

Now, some of my homeschooling friends would chastise me right now for being mediocre and rearing my children without a full-throttle gung-ho attitude. “If we don’t aspire to greatness,” they say, “others will, and we will have a bad testimony for Christ and for homeschoolers everywhere!” Well, just call me a mountain of mediocrity, I guess. I think it was the Apostle Paul who said to let your moderation be known to all men, and that although he was a learned man, he chose to know nothing among some folks save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Don’t get me wrong, though, he CHOSE not to know anything among SOME folks. The point is that Paul had the big picture. He was learned and educated, but he wasn’t proud about it. You know what he counted all that as! He knew what was important in life and that was to attain Christ. To know HIM. To show others who Jesus Christ is and what His desire for our lives is.

We must take heed, therefore, to stave off the condition of tunnel vision as we go through the tunnel of homeschooling - for it IS just that- (just a part of the whole road of life) Let us not be forgetting that there is a whole valley opening up just beyond the 12^th grade!

All that aside. Maybe I am justifying my lack of Math skills? That sounds like a random thought, but it’s actually pertinent. I tried last year to do Algebra. I didn’t do so well. I am going on 39 years old. All of 25 years ago I was in an Algebra class in 8^th grade. I failed that class and every other Algebra class I have ever tried to go through since. I guess I’m going to try it again this year just because I have something to prove to myself. At this point I don’t’ know if it will ever get done, but I’m mad enough at the Algebra god to push him over a cliff! He plagues my dreams with visions of X and Y - that doesn’t do anything to help that Biology class the kids are taking- and makes me think in parentheses! (Well, sorta). See what I mean. J

If I don’t watch out, I can get tunnel vision. I will forget that I have lived those 25+ years in happiness and peace without EVER solving for X. Am I mediocre because I don’t think in terms of Algebraic expressions and polynomials? I don’t know, but in the big picture, I don’t think many people care. Well, except those rocket scientists. Whom, I guess, are needful to society. When your child reaches that goal, forgive me for my ignorance, please.

In all honesty, if I could ever have finished my grocery shopping with the aid of X, I may have tried to use her. She just doesn’t make herself available! J Dusting with the aid of Y may have encouraged me, since he might have saved me some time - um, after I did the problem to solve for the amount of time it would take to dust the area of my home before I started to actually do the work.

So, did I do it the hard way?

I guess sometimes you just have to go OVER the mountain and not through the tunnel!

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August 31, 2010 by admin.

Learning..

Today, we started our 15^th year of homeschooling. Boy, have I learned a lot! This is our New Year’s day, and has been for a long time, now. This is the time of year when things are new! The notebooks are fresh and the pencils are sharp. The curriculum is exciting! The crayons are gone now, but they used to be new. (I could chase a nostalgic rabbit right here, but I think I’ll keep that precious memory to myself for now. J ) This is the time of year when we resolve to do things better than last year…This year, we are (trying) to start some new habits, and (trying) to break some old ones.

You can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but God can. J

One of the most uncomfortable and frustrating feelings in this life is when we are faced with our own failures and shortcomings. I think that is why children don’t like school. They are constantly bombarded with things they don’t know for nine months out of twelve! As parents/teachers, we look at things they need to know, and present the problem with (hopefully) smiles and expectations of greatness, often forgetting that this is new territory for our child. Lo and behold, just a few days later, we expect what we fed them to be spit out on the paper in the form of a test, and we are disappointed when we don’t get the results we expect. You just can’t hide that from your child, you know. Try as you might, they KNOW you are disappointed, and doubly, they are disappointed in themselves.

Thankfully, we can tie ties of love and acceptance with our children even though they (unintentionally) fall short of our expectations. As homeschoolers, especially, we have the opportunity to tell them over and over how much we appreciate their efforts and we can help them overcome those learning obstacles. We can let them know that they are not SUPPOSED to know all the things that they are faced with. That is why it is called LEARNING!

It’s also an opportunity to share Christ with your child! You see, ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God. No matter how hard we try, we could never attain to God’s greatness or expectations. We just can’t. We are sinners! Our flesh inhibits us from ever having peace with God. The only way that can be accomplished is through faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and His blood atonement made on Calvary.

Learning about this shortcoming isn’t comfortable for anyone - UNTIL they learn the test answers! I have a copy of the key! It’s called the Bible. The Bible says that it is not by works of righteousness which we have done, but by his mercy he saved us. God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

He made a way for our salvation!

When we learn that, we have learned a great thing!

So, dear reader, as you start your academic venture this year, don’t forget to share Christ with your child. Don’t keep Him to yourself! Math, English, Social Studies, Science, History… none of those can compare to the knowledge of Jesus Christ and what He has provided for the REAL future- the eternal one!

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