Bring It On. The last couple years of school have definitely been getting better and easier as we streamline things little by little. Adding students is easier, picking curriculum is easier, and I hate to sound like a commercial, but the Christian Heritage Conferences has greatly influenced our family and homeschool vision over the years. We just had another great weekend there.
We drove down early Thursday afternoon so I could curriculum shop Thursday night and shop I did. Five students now runs me several hundred dollars(not close to thousands, nor will it ever be, still can’t understand why the schools get >5k for a student?!?) and let me tell you, it was fun! It was like a candy store, I had my list and most everything I wanted was right there, free shipping. Over the course of the year we saved, tax refund, puppies, gifts…the Lord blessed our efforts and supplied so faithfully as He has in the past. Praise be to Him.
Things I learned: For my younger children, I am their educator teaching them, most importantly, Godly character using writing, mathematics and reading to build those character qualities. For my older children I am no longer an educator, but a facilitator to their God given interests and desires in education. Having them seek out what educational desires they have. Christ is our Core Curriculum, not math, language arts, handwriting, science, history and the rest. It is real life experiences, the Hebraic methods, walking side by side that will teach my children the most valuable education God’s Word requires..the only education God requires Paul and I to give. I just realized I can not list, in a nutshell, what I learned, there is just too much. As a home educator the pressure builds over time to provide bigger/better/more, which is taking my focus off what our core curriculum should be, Christ.
We have renewed vision and purpose, we’ve gathered all our next years books and have now closed the door to the lures of *bigger and better* and are ready to teach Christ in continued sanctification by the Lord Jesus in our home. I need it just as much as my children.
On a humbling side note, Friday, we were in the parking lot teeming with white vans(let me tell you, tie a string on your antennae if you own a white van!) I was making sandwiches and Paul was organizing foot races with the children to run their energy off. An older gentleman purposefully walked toward our family and right up to my husband. Pretty soon they were laughing and Paul was introducing children, we did not know him, he just wanted to encourage us on our *big* family. “May God bless you” he said as he walked away reaching out his hand to shake Paul's and quickly walked away.
Paul stood there looking a little stunned, looked at me, looked at him, looked at me. “What’s the matter?” I said. Paul held out his hand and there was a neatly folded $100 bill. There were so many times the Lord seemed to affirm us and give us such peace.
I’d love to show picture’s, but again, my camera is now dead for good. It really stinks. Canon and Walmart have let me down. ;)
Voddie Baucham is key note speaker at next years conference and I highly recommend hearing him. He is probably the preacher most listened to in our home via audio, his homepage has a great list of sermon audio downloads.
1 comment:
Jennifer,
Thanks for sharing what you learned - we took home much the same as you did and I am excited to see what God is going to be doing in our family over the next few months and years!
Thank you SOOOO much for making sure we knew about Christian Heritage and this conference in plenty of time.
Ruth
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