*Note: I do not take credit for this phrase. All credit goes to John Piper, whose book When I Don't Desire God; How to Fight for Joy had the phrase and has been very helpful to me.
This post is not meant to be a book report, but an encouragement to those who are struggling with joy in everyday life. John Piper's book has been a source of encouragement to me, and I hope he won't be offended if I pass that encouragement on (and in the course of that encouragement, recommend the book).
Most of us who are wives, mothers, or any woman who has something or many things in her life that drain energy, have many demands on our time and energy. So probably the title of my post makes one of you want to say, "More fighting? I already have to battle my toddler who has far more stamina than I could hope for." I don't mean that kind of fighting. I mean the kind that requires complete and utter dependence on God, the kind of battle against our "besetting sins" and "bosom enemies;" the battle for joy in the Lord and in the life He has provided. I mean the fight to keep your mind and heart on God, to stay in God's Word, to stay in prayer.
If you struggle like I do every day in these areas, let me encourage you to take time out of your day to read your Bible, pray, cry, whatever you need to do. If you think adding a time to be alone with the Lord is just one more thing to add to your list, let me encourage you to evaluate how you spend your time. What TV shows do you watch? How much time are you on Pinterest? Perhaps take time to list everything you do in a day, a week, a month, and then evaluate what is most important. Be ruthless in your evaluation because eliminating some less important things will give you more time for peace and quiet with the Lord.
Only then can you have true peace and joy in your soul-even when you've just been beaten by your three year-old.
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Homeschooling with Classical Conversations
I know it's been a while since I've posted, and I'll try to be better about that. However, I have two part-time jobs now, and I'm still homeschooling. So my time is very limited. The part-time job I've taken on recently is the subject of this post.
I am now the Director for the Foundations/Essentials Programs of a Classical Conversations group. If you've never heard of Classical Conversations, the best way to get details is by going to classicalconversations.com. In this post, I plan to give a small overview and a plug for homeschooling with Classical Conversations ("CC"). (Let me say in advance that this curriculum may not be a fit for your family. You must look at your options and your family's needs and make a decision yourself.)
CC may look overwhelming to some people at first because of the vast amounts of information they have, but in my reality, it has freed me from the shackles of being overwhelmed by what to teach and when. For younger students, ages 4ish to 9ish, the main point is to memorize information, and CC makes it easy with weekly information and many songs. The curriculum covers all subjects required by the State (at least in our state of Georgia), with the exception of Reading. (The parent must still choose a reading curriculum, or, to make it easy, just READ--every day. If your child can't read, read to them. If your child can read, have lots of free reading time.) What is freeing about this is that there's not the pressure to finish a full curriculum, to learn so much in a short period of time, to have a too hard or too easy curriculum for their age. The child and the parent are free to learn at their own pace. And as the learning is done over time, there's less push to learn it all at once. As they get older, more is added with their age and ability.
Along with the freedom CC offers in its classical style of learning, it also offers a very thorough curriculum of History (a timeline from Creation to September 11, 2001, history sentences about various events of world and American history), Math, Latin, English Grammar, Science, and Geography, along with Fine Arts. All the information is broken down into manageable chunks, so it doesn't have to be overwhelming.
CC Groups meet once a week for 24 weeks out of the year, 12 weeks in the Fall and 12 weeks in the Winter/Spring. At the meetings, a Tutor goes over the weekly information, and the children do science experiments and Fine Arts. Each child does a "presentation" (which in the younger years amounts to Show and Tell) in order to learn to speak and to be a good audience.
So if you are looking for an option for homeschooling, CC might be worth a try. You can go to the website and find a community near you or feel free to contact me via this blog.
I am now the Director for the Foundations/Essentials Programs of a Classical Conversations group. If you've never heard of Classical Conversations, the best way to get details is by going to classicalconversations.com. In this post, I plan to give a small overview and a plug for homeschooling with Classical Conversations ("CC"). (Let me say in advance that this curriculum may not be a fit for your family. You must look at your options and your family's needs and make a decision yourself.)
CC may look overwhelming to some people at first because of the vast amounts of information they have, but in my reality, it has freed me from the shackles of being overwhelmed by what to teach and when. For younger students, ages 4ish to 9ish, the main point is to memorize information, and CC makes it easy with weekly information and many songs. The curriculum covers all subjects required by the State (at least in our state of Georgia), with the exception of Reading. (The parent must still choose a reading curriculum, or, to make it easy, just READ--every day. If your child can't read, read to them. If your child can read, have lots of free reading time.) What is freeing about this is that there's not the pressure to finish a full curriculum, to learn so much in a short period of time, to have a too hard or too easy curriculum for their age. The child and the parent are free to learn at their own pace. And as the learning is done over time, there's less push to learn it all at once. As they get older, more is added with their age and ability.
Along with the freedom CC offers in its classical style of learning, it also offers a very thorough curriculum of History (a timeline from Creation to September 11, 2001, history sentences about various events of world and American history), Math, Latin, English Grammar, Science, and Geography, along with Fine Arts. All the information is broken down into manageable chunks, so it doesn't have to be overwhelming.
CC Groups meet once a week for 24 weeks out of the year, 12 weeks in the Fall and 12 weeks in the Winter/Spring. At the meetings, a Tutor goes over the weekly information, and the children do science experiments and Fine Arts. Each child does a "presentation" (which in the younger years amounts to Show and Tell) in order to learn to speak and to be a good audience.
So if you are looking for an option for homeschooling, CC might be worth a try. You can go to the website and find a community near you or feel free to contact me via this blog.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)