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No Small Thing

August 4, 2009 By Anna 7 Comments

God is really into small things. Singular things. Individual things.

He started with one Earth. He placed one man and one woman in one garden. Sin came through one and atonement by One. Salvation is a decision made one at a time. Faith also is singular. He is three in One (unity with diversity). God is excited about the number one. To God, one is a very big number.

Mother Teresa once said, “There are no great things, only small things with great love.” Small is good. Loving your own little family is enough, when done with love and not resentment that you could have done more or been more “if only…”

I don’t think Mrs. Washington knew what her son George would become, but I believe she put her all into his training. I am not sure the mothers of George Mueller, Christopher Columbus or Moses really knew they were destined for great things. I believe they were simply raising their children to the best of their ability. Our children may not go on to so such outwardly great things as these men, but they can be as great in character, nonetheless. A man may not be in the position to birth a nation, but he can be of equal character.

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Also Ms. Katherine Dang defines Christianity as “the power of Christ at work in the life of the individual.” When we understand all we are responsible for is our little works, we are free to do those works. And when they are added together, they result in a great work.

Home educating one child or twenty, we still pour all our love, all our energy into one child at a time. It is the individual care and attention that makes the difference. Home educating, no matter what number of children you have, is still significant because each child is significant.

Be not weary in well-doing. Hang in there and do your small works with great love. Loving people is no small thing. For in the end there is great reward, here on earth and in the life to come. And when God is in it, a small thing is really not so small after all.

Anna-Marie is a wife and a mother of four using the Biblical Principle Approach in her home education. She is a writer and book binder. It is her joy to teach her children and she plans to continue until the last little chick is out of the nest. She resides in Oklahoma. You can read more of her musings at Principled Mom and The Creative Homeschool.

Embracing My Inner School Teacher

June 5, 2009 By Anna 3 Comments

I have to admit we have not been on good terms, my inner school teacher and me. I have poo-pooed her ideas and rolled my eyes at her suggestions. Her penchant for school supplies and compulsion to write on the chalkboard drove me to distraction. I wanted to change her altogether, reshaping her into more of a ”fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants” individual, tossing every hint of traditional education out the window. She was having none of it.

Through much prayer and seeking I have come to realize something. It’s really okay the way God made me. (That may be a “duh” to you but I’m a little slow on the uptake.) God’s Principle of Individuality highlights the beauty of true diversity, and that includes the way I educate my children. God knew what temperaments my children would have, how they would learn best, and how that would work together with my teaching style to develop strong American Christians. And just because I may do a lot of things like a traditional teacher does not mean we operate just like a school. We enjoy our home education and celebrate our unique way of learning.

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I need not put myself on the scale to see how I measure up to other home educators. There is a specific bent that God gave me, which happens to look very much like a school teacher. I enjoy detailed planning. Our pencil sharpener is one of those ones like I remember from school that is screwed into the wall and I love using it. School supplies make me giddy and I enjoy standing at the dry wipe board and pointing to the map from time to time.

There is nothing more liberating than realizing you are okay just as you are, “schooly” or not. To me, that’s the beauty of home education. I am done comparing my kids and my lessons and my teaching style.
I am off to get my inner school teacher a hot cocoa and a comfy chair–so she can get busy with those lesson plans.

annaAnna-Marie is a wife and a mother of four using the Biblical Principle Approach in her home education. She is a writer and book binder. It is her joy to teach her children and she plans to continue until the last little chick is out of the nest. She resides in Oklahoma. You can read more of her musings at Principled Mom and The Creative Homeschool.

It’s Not About Me

March 21, 2009 By Anna 6 Comments

Home education is a funny thing. I have the responsibility—the privilege—of teaching my children the way I believe best. There is no shortage of books, materials and resources to help me do it better, faster and easier, with less stress and better results. But no one seems to tell me the one thing I really need to know: it’s not about me.

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Reading a recent post by a blogger friend snapped me back to reality. As a home educating mom, with the best of intentions I can get things a little off-kilter. Because I want my children to be the best, and because their success depends on me as a mother-teacher, it is easy to get caught up in myself a little too much. So find myself navel gazing, questioning my curriculum choices and my teaching style and my schedule and my lesson plans and my subject choices and… whew! I am so close and so invested that I can mistakenly put the emphasis in the wrong place.

I am so caught up in my part of the equation that I forget that they actually have a responsibility here as well. I am the cook. I dish out the food and bring it to the table. It is up to them to eat it, digest it and let it become a part of who they are. I can offer the learning, I cannot learn for them. I am only one part of the whole story.

I was reminded that this thing called home education is not about me. It’s not nearly so much about my teaching style or my lesson plans. It’s about my kids. It’s about what God wants me to do for them and getting down to business. When I keep this in the front of my brain then I am able to push through the fear that I’m not enough and that I’m not doing it right. I can push through the laziness and the doubt and the stress. When the focus is where it belongs the right things get magnified and learning takes place. Not planning, learning. Not talking, learning. Not fear or stress or frustration but learning.

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I look forward to school days now because I see it in a whole new way. I’m just the facilitator. We all have a part to play and all the parts are important. With God’s help I am able to keep the focus where it belongs–on His beautiful plan for our family.

annaAnna-Marie is a wife and a mother of four using the Biblical Principle Approach in her home education. She is a writer and book binder. It is her joy to teach her children and she plans to continue until the last little chick is out of the nest. She resides in Oklahoma. You can read more of her musings at Principled Mom and The Creative Homeschool.

Treasure Hunting Mama

February 22, 2009 By Anna 1 Comment

If my life would have taken a different turn I might have been an archaeologist. Researching ancient cultures and plotting grids; digging away in the hot sun; sifting, sorting and cataloging the days finds. It seems so rewarding to uncover new clues about the past. Or maybe I’d have been a treasure hunter, always searching for the next big find. That would definitely be an adventure!treasurebox

I fancy myself a kind of treasure hunter. Tools in tow, I search long and hard, consulting my map (my Bible) to make sure I’m still on the right track. When I believe I’m in the right spot I drop everything and dig like mad, kicking up dirt and making a mess (cue the Indiana Jones music). I may have to search around a little but I keep digging and sweating and digging and sweating and…clink! What was that? Eureka! Ahhhh, there’s nothing sweeter!

I’m more of an “I can do that myself” kind of learner. I enjoy getting my hands dirty, seeking things out in a way that makes sense to me, which isn’t always the way others would go. It may take me longer to “get it” from time to time, but the treasures I unearth in my excavation mean more to me than anything anyone else could give me. There is much satisfaction in the process.

God has me on a journey to explore and to lead my little explorers right behind me. I must show them the ropes, where the pitfalls are and where the true Treasure can be found. And for me to do that I must own it. And to own it I must “get it” for myself.

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One scripture God has laid on my heart for our homeschool is Proverbs 2:1-11.  It describes this process better than I can. Searching for treasure, working to find the preferred portion is what I am to do. Wisdom doesn’t just fall into my lap, I must pursue it, labor for it.

Now, that’s not to say I don’t appreciate help from time to time. I’m not stupid! It’s just that I need someone to kind of point me in the general direction and say, “It’s that way.” And I am forever indebted to my forebearers for blazing the way before me and leaving a trail for me to follow.

I’m so glad that God planted the idea of home education in my heart. And I’m glad He left treasure for me to find. What an exciting life we lead with Christ! Well, I’m off on another exciting dig. Wonder what I’ll find this time…

annaAnna-Marie is a wife and a mother of four using the Biblical Principle Approach in her home education. She is a writer and book binder. It is her joy to teach her children and she plans to continue until the last little chick is out of the nest. She resides in Oklahoma.