“Unkindness, complaining, and anger shut Jesus from the dwelling. I saw that angels of God will flee from a house where there are unpleasant words, fretfulness, and strife.
Gentle manners, cheerful conversation, and loving acts will bind the hearts of children to their parents by the silken cords of affection and will do more to make home attractive than the rarest ornaments that can be bought for gold.”
The Faith I Live By, pg 267
“Unkindness, complaining, and anger shut Jesus from the dwelling. I saw that angels of God will flee from a house where there are unpleasant words, fretfulness, and strife.
Gentle manners, cheerful conversation, and loving acts will bind the hearts of children to their parents by the silken cords of affection and will do more to make home attractive than the rarest ornaments that can be bought for gold.”
The Faith I Live By, pg 267
“For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:11
Photo Credit: Indian Paintbrush ©2013 Nathan Clark. Used by permission.
Ever read a blog post that you just want to share? Here’s one.
Many thanks go to Angela at Pearls of Price for sharing her blog post with AHE.
I heard a man speaking yesterday about how schools kill creativity. Everything about the typical school system undermines creativity rather than nurturing it. Everything is turned upside down in importance…. the arts and creativity is usually relegated to the bottom of the stack right after science, etc… What they are actually finding is that little kids all have the capacity to be divergent thinkers…. but in studies it shows that as the children get older (more educated) that capacity deteriorates… It shouldn’t be this way.
Okay, not a new concept to us old homeschoolers, probably. That’s part of why we homeschool /ed our children. However, I think the temptation to do “school at home” and follow the pattern we’ve known is pretty strong in a lot of cases. There’s a picture in our head of what “educating” our children is suppose to look like. . . and it looks a lot like a kid sitting at a little desk studiously looking at the open book and a pencil in their right hand. Doesn’t it?
And if you don’t follow the “norms” for good solid reason because you’ve really studied the book Education, or because the Moore Formula just totally makes sense to you, it doesn’t automatically exempt you from feeling like you just might mess up your kid. Insecurities abound. Especially when one of those kiddos of yours still isn’t reading at age 11 and the other one at 12… 4th grade math is a DISMAL failure -so bad you throw the books out in November and skip math altogether the rest of the year because it’s crazy making. And well, you remember when you were 13 and homeschooled and STILL trying to learn the times tables. The abstract concepts of grammar beyond nouns and verbs might as well be in Chinese. You send your little herd off to get started on their “school work” while you do the breakfast dishes and change the laundry, and get distracted by an email, (good thing they didn’t have facebook in my day) and you come back to reality two hours later and find out they have been drawing and painting and sorting seeds. One child is found planning next year’s flower garden and has smuggled the bunnies into the rec room, while another child is missing altogether. You know she probably has the camera and is taking 6 thousand more close-up photos of that blue English banty crowing his head off. There’s not a book in sight. And you think, “If people ONLY KNEW!”
I was NOT a model homeschooling mom by most standards. In my heart I believed I knew that I had the basic concepts of homeschooling right, but I was plagued with thoughts of needing to do better than I was. Sometimes I felt guilty. Sometimes I really worried… like the year I threw out Brianna’s 4th grade math. Unlike her sisters, she was a non-conformist in so many ways. She would study ONLY that which interested her – which was everything under the sun, except what is on the typical school menu. I would sometimes push her and I could sense I was crushing her spirit. I mean, there was a certain amount that was expected – like it or lump it, but for this child only the MINIMAL was ever accomplished. Since I did not use a canned curriculum or set program she got away with not doing very much seat work…. partly because she was too busy being creative, and because she knew I wouldn’t stop her if she were actually learning something even if it wasn’t on my agenda. She was forever painting, drawing, making, collecting. She horded things like feathers, seeds, and quail eggs. She played her violin, she had garden projects and half dozen varieties of game birds. She always had the camera with her…
Hind sight is awesome. 
It so makes me want to tell parents to chill out.
Makes me wonder now. IF I HAD MADE HER conform, if I had been one of those people who could always follow a schedule and lived by the clock, etc… WOULD Brianna be who she is now? Or would she have lost some of that free-spirited, artistic, creative flair that so characterizes her whole person?
As it turns out, somewhere in her teens math was suddenly intriguing. Vanessa ran into some math person at the college today and the guy was still talking of Brianna’s appreciation of calculus and trig. She learned to read at age 11 when we figured out she had a tracking issue and did something about it. She has recently discovered she loves writing a LOT. She writes all the time. She is a pretty unflappable public speaker. She could be an engineer, or a business woman, or a farmer ( or a mom someday)… She is still working on figuring out what she wants to do, but her journey is leading her towards writing, videography/photography, agriculture, and a hundred other interests and talents that are competing for her time.
Would I have done anything different in my homeschooling knowing what I know now?
The answer is a resounding Yes!
Yes! I WOULD have done something differently.
I would have quit worrying, stopped feeling guilty, and given up comparing myself with other homeschooling moms.
-You can find Angela at Pearls of Price
Organization
Household organization and cleaning seem to be a mysterious burden for all of us. In answer to your requests this new column will pass along hints and ideas. Feel free to contribute your own tips.
We devoted the September, 1994 issue of AHE to organization. Mainly homeschool records, but also a little “fall house cleaning” and getting ready to start the new school year. Since then, I’ve received letters and phone calls expressing your frustration and need for more help in this area. Homeschoolers are constantly in their homes and I know that they have a tendency to become messy much faster than homes where the family is gone all day.
Now I’m not an expert at this, but I am a melancholy by nature and I can’t tolerate messy surroundings. I’m always looking for ways to keep my home, work area, files and schedule organized and clean without spending a lot of time doing it. I have found lots of ideas, information, and cleaning tools and supplies from Don Aslett’s Cleaning Center, P. O. Box 39, Pocatello, ID 83204. Write for a free copy of the Clean Report which arrives in a file folder marked Cleaning.* I read about the various ways to clean and the professional supplies to use, and I have proved it myself, it pays in time and money to do it right using the proper tools and cleaning supplies. I set a monthly amount to spend and slowly built up what we needed as we ran out of grocery store brands, replaced them with professional cleaning products.
Children and Husbands
So since you asked for it, I’m starting this little column with tips and ideas to help make life a little easier. I’m going to start with the biggest problem of all – children and husbands. I read in one of Don Aslett’s books that 90% of the messes are made by children and husbands, and that 90% of these messes are cleaned up by the woman of the home. By the way, he agrees with me, husbands and children should participate in picking up their own clutter.
The best rule for keeping a home organized is to have a place for everything and put everything in it’s place. This means to have a bookshelf or special place for school books and work when they aren’t in use. A toy box of some kind to put away toys is imperative. It also helps to have a place where the children can work on projects and not have to clean them up before each meal.
Have two or three times during the day when everyone helps to pick up the house for five minutes. Just before school starts, before or after lunch and then again before bedtime are good times. Even toddlers can help with this project and it really helps keep down the clutter of toys, books and other things. Half of the housework is picking up and putting away things that others leave out!
Make a household rule that if someone puts something down where it doesn’t belong they will pay a fine (1-15 cents depending on individual resources) or do a chore, to get it back. Children (and husbands) will quickly learn to put things where they belong. Donate the money you collect to investment or missions.
Another good rule is if you make a mess, you clean it up. This teaches children to clean up after themselves. You may have to touch-up or help at first but it’s a good habit.
The best advice I’ve ever been given was from Dorothy Moore. She said, “Don’t do anything for your children that they are capable of doing for themselves.” She meant making beds and picking up after themselves, etc. We are not the maid, we are the mother and we must train our children to help keep the home tidy and clean just as we discipline or homeschool them.
Turn your young mess makers into helpers. I was longing for a maid when my daughter expressed a desire to earn money. I had my “maid!” Each child has their daily chores which they do just because they are part of a family and those things that have to be done daily. But I pay for cleaning bathrooms, scrubbing the stove, washing the car, heavy duty cleaning, etc. Not much, 20-75 cents per chore but it provides her with a small income, and I get much needed help.
I hope these ideas help you tame the messiness around your home. Remember this is an ongoing process – keep working at it and you will be rewarded.
Article from The Adventist Home Educator Newsletter, February 1995, p. 6.
*Resources have not been checked out to see if they are still available.
Download # 5 includes Year 2 Quarter 4 of the Family Bible Lessons; the rest of lessons 7-8 in the 2-8 program, and the 23 Psalm for Children Reader. Click HERE to go directly to the SonLight download page for links and instructions.
The October 2013 Newsletter has more detailed information if you need assistance.
“True education means much more than many suppose. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. By some, education is placed next to religion, but true education is religion. The Bible is to be made the child’s first textbook. From this book, parents are to give wise and godly instruction. The word of God is to be the rule of the life. The first lesson that children are to be taught is that God is their Father. This lesson should be given them in their earliest years. Parents are to realize that they are responsible before God for making their children acquainted with their Heavenly Father. From the very first it is their duty to teach their children the importance of obeying the law of God. That God is love, is to be taught by every lesson.”
Review and Herald- June 6, 1899
The Adventist Home Educator 