The Purpose of a Christian School

Just some thoughts I have about the purpose of a Christian school. . .

What is the primary responsibility of a Christian school? Is it to have a championship football team? An award winning yearbook? A high percentage of AP students passing their tests?

I don't think so. When Jesus spoke of not storing up earthly treasures, I think the above things fall into that category. These are things that bring temporary pleasure. They are the outward things that man looks at.

But Scripture says that the Lord looks at the heart. Some day when the football player stands before the Lord, is the Lord going to care how many yards the player ran, how many touchdowns he scored or how many games he won in a season? When the editor of the yearbook stands before the Lord, is the Lord going to ask how many awards she earned? Does it mater to the Lord if AP students scored a 5 on their test or even if they passed at all?

No. What is really going to matter to Jesus is if each of these kids' names are written in the Book of Life. What does it profit a student, teacher, coach, principal to gain a winning season, numerous awards or a high test score if he loses his soul?

The primary responsibility then of a Christian school should be to lead students to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And if they already have one or once the student enters into that relationship, he then needs to be discipled in how to live out his faith.

This is not to say that Christian schools should not have these activities. All of these give students a chance to demonstrate and grow in their gifts and talents. But students, teachers and coaches should be encouraged to do their best not to please man, but to please the Lord. It also needs to be understood, however, that doing your best doesn't always mean you are going to win every game, earn every award or pass every test.

One day we are all going to stand before the Lord and answer for our lives. I hope and pray that each one will be able to give an account that will please the Lord. The greatest reward will be to hear "well done good and faithful servant."

Reflections

"Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God." 

-2 Corinthians 3:5

As my 8-year-old son and I observed the craters on the moon for science class, his simple observation of the moon's reflection left a profound teaching on both our minds.

"Mom," he asked, "the moon really has no light of its own, does it?"

"No," I replied. "It simply reflects the light from the sun. If the sun was gone, the moon wouldn't shine either."

Thinking deeply, he looked at me and said, "That's the same way we would be without Jesus."

Amazed at his understanding of the two concepts, I answered, "Yes, that's right honey."

As homeschooling parents, we like to think we are the ones who teach our children. But anyone who has homeschooled for more than a few years knows this fact: Apart from Christ, we are totally inadequate to teach our children. No college degree, teaching certificate or earthly intelligence can prepare you to teach your children the right lesson at the right time or how to incorporate into your lesson the true wisdom that comes from above. Like the moon without the sun, we have no understanding on our own to impart the truths that will forever change our children's lives.

The good new, however, is that you have Jesus, the "light of the world" in you (see John 9:5). Not only are you filled with his presence while teaching your children, but you also have the ability to reflect God's love to others by shining hope and encouragement into a very dark world. Just as Moses needed his shining face veiled after being with God (see Exodus 34:29-35), your challenge as a homeschooling parent is to live in close obedience to God, to reflect his light into your family and the world. "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you" (Isaiah 60:1-2).

Lord, let me reflect your love and wisdom as I homeschool my children. Reveal any sin in my heart that would block your light from shining in my life. In Christ's name I pray, amen.

-By Janet Tatman from the Homeshcool Mom's Bible; p. 104

Don't Give Up!

"If God is for us, who can be against us?" -Romans 8:31

Your purpose for being a homeschooling parent is treasured by God. The rewards will come, but you must be faithful. Don't give up!

-From The Homeschool Mom's Bible; devotions by Janet Tatman; pg. 84

First Quarter for 2015-2016

Our first quarter felt like it went on and on and on. We had many activities taking place and I had us going full steam as much as possible. We finished strong though and I felt like we accomplished a lot.

In Bible, we completed our study of the book of Jonah. I especially loved the reminders about who God is: He is all-powerful; He rules over nature; He is Elohim, the Creator; He is sovereign; He is our provider; He gives second chances; He appoints time; He can change His mind; He listens when we pray; He gets angry over sin; He is El Roi, He sees us; He is gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness. We also learned that when we sin, it doesn't just affect us; but we hurt other people as well. The sailors were greatly affected by Jonah's disobedience to God. They questioned Jonah about who he was and what he believed. Can others tell we are Christians by the way we behave? Or do our actions cause others to doubt that we are followers of God? It was also important to realize that when we sin, there are consequences. Because God is holy, He must punish sin. But in His mercy for us, He had Christ take the punishment for our sins. When we chose to trust Christ as our Savior, all our sins are forgiven. Because of God's great mercy toward us in forgiving our sins, we should in turn be merciful and forgiving to others; not holding a grudge or trying to get back at those who hurt us. These were wonderful truths to ponder during our study. Next quarter we will study 2 Timothy.

We are really enjoying Apologia's Human Anatomy and Physiology. We visited the Bodies exhibit in September after completing our first couple of lessons. It was really neat to see the things we had just read about and even now we have a visual memory of what we are currently studying. The preservation was fascinating, but it was even more remarkable to see how God created our bodies to work together so perfectly; each system doing its own part to keep us alive. During this first quarter we learned about the skeletal, muscular, digestive and renal systems. I hope as we continue through this book that the kids will see the importance of healthy eating and exercise; that they will want to take good care of the bodies God has given them so they can do the tasks He has given them to do.

I continue to enjoy the Mystery of History curriculum; although I am not as fond of the format for

this edition. This volume is a hard back book which contains only the lessons. You have to purchase the companion guide or CD-ROM to get the lesson activities, maps and supplements. I had purchased the CD-ROM for the previous two volumes because it was easier to print the needed assignments, but I liked having the lesson activities in the book to refer to as needed. Now I end up printing them so they are available when I need them. The companion guide would let me have them to look at; but it is not as convenient to make copies from the book. This year, I am introducing outlining to the kids. Right now this means I put the outline for the lesson on the white board and they copy it while I read the material. I know later they will need to be able to do it on their own; but for now this seems to be helping them retain the information better. This quarter we began with the Wars of the Roses, the Medici family and the Spanish Inquisition. We learned about the first explorers, empires in West Africa, as well as artists and writers of the Renaissance. We ended with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses and the spread of the Protestant Reformation. History is not the kids favorite subject, but I think they find Linda Hobar's style of writing interesting. I like seeing their timeline figures; especially how Josh's have improved over the last two years.

We continue to like Learning Language Arts Through Literature. Josh is in the Purple Book this year. I feel like I just did this with Ellie, so everything is very familiar. Josh completed his first Book Study through "Farmer Boy". He thought it was a "cool" book; but not enough to read the sequel. He struggled with having to do an oral presentation for me; he was embarrassed. But when he finally got up the courage, he did a fantastic job and even repeated it for Dennis. He hasn't finished his Tall Tale yet; but it will be interesting when it's done! Ellie is in the Green Book this year. Her first Book Study was on the book "Star of Light".

It was a more mature book than previous years. The story introduced some of the beliefs and practices of Islam and showed the work of a missionary in Africa. The story taught how following Christ changes us - our perspective, our priorities, and how to persevere through difficult things. The Book Study required Ellie to write character sketches, to compare Islam with Christianity and to write her own analogy for a spiritual lesson. She chose to write her final book review on the characters in the story and shared which one she identified with. There are signs of her growing faith. She also worked on poetry and I enjoyed reading her personal works.

Besides the Bodies Exhibit, we also went to the LA County Fair. It was another hot day, but we made the best of it as always. Ellie was so excited to see she won Sweepstakes for her Flashback Photo. We returned a week and a half later for the Cookie Contest. Both kids won a first place ribbon. Sadly, that evening ended up with Josh getting sick. I'm pretty sure the heat got to him.

Ellie is doing volleyball with CYAA again this fall. Dennis is coaching her team again. It is a fun group of girls. They are so silly at practice, but are able to apply what Dennis is teaching them on game day. Their skills are growing and they play together as a team very well. Josh is taking golf lessons with First Tee of Pasadena. His class level is at the same time as the lower level; but there are two coaches, so he is able to learn at his skill level. There are only two in his class, so he is almost getting private lessons!

My Friday school classes are going well. I only have 13 students, but only 2 of them are girls! These boys are still silly and don't like to sit too long; but they are neat kids and they are making an effort with the assignments. They really enjoyed the weaving project we did when we learned about the First Californians and they made all kinds of extra things with clay for their Spanish galleons when we learned about the explorers. I've heard from parents that their kids are enjoying my class and one student told me I was the best teacher. It is definitely easier this time around having all the planning done. The parents have been good about donating things which has been nice. Josh is doing well with changing classes this year and has been motivated to exercise more from attending a real P.E. class. Ellie continues to enjoy her art and science class and time with her friends.

I pushed the kids a bit at the end of the quarter to finish up the work I had planned to complete. I know that homeschooling allows for flexibility and we can choose what to do or not do. Maybe we don't have to finish all the curriculum by the end of the year because it's not expected in the schools or because we can work through the summer. Yes, sometimes I omit problems or activities from a lesson. When we are feeling weary or tired, we may slow down a little - which we did the first week of October when Dennis was gone on his school retreat. We took four days to complete two days of work. This allowed us a day at the movies and the mall which was nice, but I don't want to do that often. I feel very strongly about doing this homeschooling thing well. Filling my kids' heads with information is not the goal; it's the training in discipline to finish the task set before you and to do it to the best of your ability.  Someday my kids will have jobs and they will be expected to show up everyday and do their jobs well. If they get in the habit of giving in to weariness or giving up when tasks are hard, they will not hold those jobs for very long. God expects us to give our best at everything and He gives us all we need to do so.

Paul tells us in Galatians 6:9 not to become weary in doing good because at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. And in Colossians 1:10-11 he tells us that we can please God by bearing fruit in every good work and that we can be strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that we will have endurance and patience. In everything we do, we need to do it in the name of the Lord and for the glory of the Lord (Colossians 3:17; 1 Corinthians 10:31). That's the goal of my parenting and my homeschooling. I hope the Lord is pleased with my efforts and that my children will adopt this same belief and strive to please the Lord in all they do.

Institute for Excellence in Writing

This year I decided to add Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) to our curriculum. We are doing Level B. At first, the kids were not looking forward to this. Ellie said she already knew how to write. Josh just groaned!

On the day of our first lesson I told the kids we were going to start out by watching a 30 minute presentation on the DVD. They gasped and sighed and couldn't imagine having to sit for that long and watch some boring thing about writing. Not too long into the lesson, the kids started chuckling and laughing. They found Mr. Pudewa to be entertaining. When the lesson was over and I turned off the DVD, they went right on to do the required writing without any complaining.

Over the course of the first quarter, both kids have done very well with the program. They still have a little trouble narrowing their words down for their key word outlines, but they have done well with including all necessary elements into their paragraphs. Occasionally Josh will struggle with figuring out how to include a who/which clause. I will find a sentence that lends itself to using this type of clause and see if he can come up with something on his own. If he still has trouble, I'll get him started. Both kids chose to type their final product and I have taught them the MLA format to get them used to doing it that way.

I have been talking about using this for quite some time and I'm glad I finally committed to doing it. The kids find the lessons easy to follow with Mr. Pudewa's fun personality even though they are about 30 minutes long. The assignments themselves do not take too long to complete and I have not had any groaning when they see what the day's work is. Both kids are also beginning to realize they use many of the "Dress Ups" without even realizing it. I am confident this will help them very much in the future. I very much recommend this program. I am looking forward to using the other history and literature based lessons in the years to come.

Why God Made Moms

This was one of those funny things going around the web a while back. It pops up again every once in a while. I laugh every time I read it. . . But sometimes a good laugh is what I need to keep going as a mom. . .

Why God made Moms -- BRILLIANT Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions!!

Why did God make mothers?

1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.

2. Mostly to clean the house.

3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?

1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.

2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring

3. God made my Mom just the same like he made me. He Just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?

1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world, and one dab of mean.

2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother & not some other mom?

1. We're related

2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's moms like me.

What kind of little girl was your mom?

1. My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.

2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.

3.  They say she used to be nice.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?

1. His last name.

2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?

3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your mom marry your dad?

1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my Mom eats a lot.

2. She got too old to do anything else with him.

3. My grandma says that Mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house?

1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goof ball.

2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.

3. I guess Mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What's the difference between moms & dads?

1. Moms work at work and work at home & dads just go to work at work.

2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.

3. Dads are taller & stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friend's.

4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?

1. Mothers don't do spare time.

2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?

1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.

2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your Mom, what would it be?

1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.

2. I'd make my Mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it and not me.

3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

LA County Fair 2015

It was another extremely hot day for our fair field trip. Our game plan was to visit the outside things first and then spend the rest of the time inside the air conditioned buildings.

We visited the wild animals first. 

Even the birds need some shade.

These guys are used to the heat. I wonder if it's cool inside their shells?

Role reversal. . .

Very cool tree house - it even has its own bathroom! The kids thought it would be cool to build this on Minecraft.

Armadillo

We actually got to see the sloth move! They really are very slow creatures.

Ellie loves to feed the sheep and goats.

Adorable!

Staying cool in the shade

And what our girl couldn't wait to see. . . Her Flashback Photo won SWEEPSTAKES! She was so excited! I was glad all our last minute work paid off. Wondering if she can top this next year?

Mouse decorating

Josh did the mouse from "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"

Glad our hike in Vegas earned a 2nd place ribbon!

I love this photo. That stingray always makes me smile!

Ellie worked hard on this book. So happy she got 1st.

Art project from Friday school

Of course, she had to play the floor piano.

Our princess

Hover boards and self-closing tennis shoes. . . I want mine!

Lots of hands-on things in the Popology exhibit

So cool!

My thought was a giant Light Brite. The kids thought pixel characters. Different generations!

Josh would make a good drummer.

We left at 1 'o clock. Too hot to stay any longer.

We were back again two weeks later for the Cookie Contest. Ellie made Millionaire Cookies because they were so rich! They were made with a devil's food cake mix and peanut butter. Yummy! Josh also got a 1st place ribbon. He made Galaxy Cookies. These were chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips and green and blue sprinkles on top. It took a while to figure out how long to bake them so they would be soft. They were sweet too!

Farmer Dennis and the Missus!

Young farmers

Moovelous to see you!

The guitars weren't out on our first visit. She was glad for a chance to try out an electric one.

Jungle beat!

My musical trio

Must have foot massage at the fair

Poor Josh; the heat really got to him and he ended up getting sick on the way home. A little bit of a cold and a bit of heat stroke I think. He was feeling better by the next day thankfully.

Flashback Photo Creation

When my dad and aunt were growing up, my grandparents staged a Christmas card photo each year. They made as sign with a clever saying that went along with whatever pose they had come up with.

When my brother and I were growing up, my dad wanted to recreate these photos. Many were the same as the ones my grandparents had done; some were unique to our family.

The LA County Fair has a Flashback Photo contest. Ellie entered last year by recreating a Christmas picture my family had done. She earned a 1st place for it. She wanted to do it again, but his time do one that both my grandparents and my parents had done and include all three photos in her entry. 

We procrastinated again and had to get the photo done during the week of VBS. My parents agreed to help us, so we headed over one afternoon when Dennis was done with summer school. My mom had the same tablecloth that was used in both of the old photos. We created an old ice cream maker with a trash can, construction paper, a pain roller and towel. And of course had to use a modern BBQ.

Here was our set

It took us a while to get serious about this whole thing! And we took a couple of dozen pictures.

Finally found one we liked. Hoping for a good result!