Putting the Homeschool Cart Before the Horse
February 8, 2010 by Elizabeth
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…” Proverbs 1:7
I started attending our local homeschool conference when my oldest child was 22 months old, and I am so glad I did! At that point, my husband and I were not looking for information on the nuts and bolts of teaching different subjects, but rather inspiration on the visionary aspects of homeschooling – the big picture.
Our firstborn is “one smart cookie”. At 22 months, he knew the alphabet backward and forward, could count to some fairly large number, and talked like a five year old. I was understandably proud of my little genius and was constantly looking for ways to increase his scholastic abilities.
That first homeschool greatly changed my focus. I attended a workshop by Marilyn Boyer, and she described her firstborn just as mine was. She then went on to explain how important it is to take advantage of those formative years to fill their little hearts and minds with Scripture, rather than being so concerned about cramming in “academics”. And she gave many practical examples of how to do this, which you can check out through the link on her name.
I went home pumped! I taught my little 22 month old his first Bible verse – 1 John 4:16 “God is love”. And we began to memorize a Bible verse just about every week. I am SO thankful that we changed our main focus early on! Now, six years later, our children have stored up so much of God’s Word in their little hearts, and He promises that His Word will not return void!
Here are some ways that we have made the Bible a priority for our homeschool.
As soon as they are old enough to repeat words, we begin teaching them to memorize Scripture. We start with little verses like 1 John 4:16, and Psalm 34:8 – “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Another one they learn as soon as possible is Ephesians 6:1 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.”
In order to facilitate this learning process for the littlest ones, I like to take a piece of construction paper and write the verse faintly in pencil, then help them trace over the words with a marker. I say each letter as we trace it, so they are actually learning “academics” while focusing on God’s Word! We decorate their construction paper and hang it on the bedroom wall. Their bedroom wall is now wallpapered with God’s Word! It is great! It may not be your idea of classy interior decorating, but I love having it always visible and available for constant review. Often, before bed, we choose a few verses to go over. And if any of the children are afraid at night, I encourage them to look at the verses on their wall and think about them instead of thinking about whatever is making them afraid. It works like a charm!
Another thing I have done that makes memorizing the Bible super easy for children and adults alike is to put the verse to music. I often use simple tunes from other songs, like the verse “God is Love”, I put to the tune of “He is Lord”. Sometimes I make up a simple tune that fits the verse. If I can’t think of any tune, I ask the Lord to help me think of one, and He does! I am no musician by any stretch of the imagination, but I believe the Lord has helped me think of a tune in order to facilitate the teaching of His Word to my children. I also include the reference inside the song so that in future years they will be able to call to mind not only the content of the verse, but also where to find it. I know that as a child, I memorized a lot of verses, but I often have a hard time recalling the reference!
If, however, you draw a blank when it comes to a tune for the verse, there are resources that have already done that job for you! Steve Greene has two CD’s (also available in DVD) called “Hide Them in Your Heart“. No Greater Joy has a CD called “ABC Bible Songs” that my children really enjoy. And I am sure there are others.
For my two older children now, rather than decorating construction paper, I have them write their verses in a copywork book and make an illustration of it. These illustrations have been so revealing of what the Lord is teaching them through the verse! I am always excited to see what they are going to come up with! Here is an example I blogged about a couple of years ago. They really take pride in their copywork books and often look back on them, which is also fabulous review! This is also their handwriting practice, so again, they are getting the “academics”, while keeping the focus where it should be – on God’s Word.
Now, beyond memorizing verses, once my children got old enough to start more formal homeschooling, we continued to strive to keep the Bible as the cornerstone of our day. One practical way to make it a priority is to make it the first thing we do each day. I want to put the MOST time and energy into teaching my children the Bible, even if nothing else gets done academically. Of course, academics are also important, don’t get me wrong. But I wish to ingrain in my children the absolute necessity of God’s Word for life.
I often tell them this as we begin, “Let’s start with Bible, because that is THE most important thing in our lives!” Or sometimes I say,
“If we didn’t eat today, our bodies would begin to feel weak, and they would begin to get sick if we went even longer without eating. That is how our spirits are too! We need to continually feed on God’s Word in order to keep our spirits strong and healthy!”
And don’t forget to make it FUN! I want to impart a LOVE for God’s Word to my children. I think more of this is caught than taught.
If your children see you loving and treasuring God’s Word, enthusiastic about reading it daily on your own, being passionate in the way you talk to them about it, and serious about living it in your personal life and in your home, they will be far more likely to love God’s Word too! I believe this is why God says in Deut 6:6-9 that God’s Word must first be in YOUR hearts (the parents), in order to be able to teach them to your children:
“These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” (emphasis mine)
There are many good Bible curriculums out there that you can use for your homeschool. You can also put your own together with what you have available already or, like me, what you find at used curriculum sales! If you need a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing, I blogged about what we did two years ago for our Bible curriculum HERE. We wrapped up that study with a lapbook, which we still use for review too! You can see pictures of the lapbook HERE.
And this year we are doing a study of Proverbs that I put together, and we are loving it! I love that I am learning right along with the children and the Lord continues to teach me as I teach them.
Even though I blogged about it in one of the links above, I want to draw special attention to the Scripture Memory System that I learned from the Simply Charlotte Mason site. What a brilliant idea! Once you have learned quite a few verses or passages of Scripture, it is an absolute must to continue reviewing with your children in order to keep them fresh in their hearts, and yours. This is the very best way I have come across to easily and painlessly keep reviewing every single verse we have memorized once every month. I highly recommend it!
If you would like more encouragement, more vision, and more creative how-to ideas on keeping your homeschool Bible-centered, I would encourage you to procure a copy of Robin Sampson’s most excellent book, Heart of Wisdom.
So, don’t let time pass you by! Take advantage of your children’s soft hearts and malleable minds that are as absorbent as little sponges to soak up God’s Word.
Above all other scholastic studies, help them hide a treasury of God’s Word in their hearts, following Deuteronomy 6:6-9 in the most practical and literal way possible in your homeschool. It will not return void!!!
Elizabeth Tsukayama is a homeschool graduate homeschooling the next generation! She and her husband, Fabio (yes, that is his real name!), have four beautiful children ages 7 down to 1. Elizabeth enjoys many hobbies, but her favorite one is teaching her children and learning with them, especially using hands-on projects, lapbooks, notebooking and nature exploration. The Tsukayama family is currently packing up to travel to Brazil for missions. Life never ceases to be an adventure! You can check out her site at: www.mamaknowsbest.net.
Does God Care About My Math Curriculum?
December 29, 2009 by Elizabeth
I have never considered math to be my strong subject, even though I always got good grades in math in my school days. It just never came easy to me, and I certainly never enjoyed it!
So, when it came to teaching my children, I wanted to do more than just the textbook approach. I want them to have a good conceptual understanding of math, and I really want them to enjoy it! I even wanted to start enjoying it myself! After all, our attitudes rub off on our children more than we sometimes wish to believe – even when we are trying our best to fake it. Therefore, I have been on a continual quest to learn how to teach math effectively and make it enjoyable. I found out early on that it is not difficult to make math fun, epecially in the early years. There are so many things you can supplement your textbook with, or even just replace it altogether if you feel confident enough.
As for me, since I did not feel confident enough to ditch the textbook altogether, we used Singapore Primary Mathematics as our “spine” text, and supplemented with various and sundry other things – even to the point of skipping the text altogether many days. We really did like Singapore, I just did not want to fall into just doing the textbook and getting it done for the day! But having it around helped me feel like I was covering all the bases and not leaving any gaps.
One week a couple of years ago we did a little experiment: we didn’t do any “formal” math – no textbook, no worksheets, no flashcards. We just played games. Joshua’s favorite was “Addition War”. You know how to play war with a deck of cards, right? Well, in “addition war”, you lay down two cards instead of one, and add them together. The player with the higher sums wins the cards! (You take out face cards, unless you want to use them for higher numbers. For us, up to ten was plenty at the time.) What great addition practice, and so painless! After a week of this, we went through our flashcards again, and he beat his best time! After a week of not even using them! I was thrilled!
Well this past year at our state homeschool convention, I went with only one item on my shopping list that I had to get – our Singapore math textbook for this school year. The rest of the time I was just going to browse. So the first time I made it to the vendor hall, I began to look for a place to buy my Singapore math and get that out of the way right off the bat. As I was walking along, a sudden “thought” flashed through my mind – and startled me! It was this: “You don’t need to buy a Singapore math textbook”. WHAT?!? That was the one thing, the only thing, I was SURE about purchasing, with no doubts or qualms. Where did that thought come from? Well, it made me uneasy enough to hold off buying the textbook. I figured I could always buy it the following day.
That night in my hotel room, I prayed about it. “Is that really you, God?” As I prayed, many things began to “pop” into my thinking – things like all the math idea books and math manipulatives I have on my homeschool shelf, things like all the fun math games we have enjoyed over the past few years, things like how many free resources there are on the internet for supplementing a math program. The more I prayed that night and the next day, the more convinced I became that it was indeed the Lord that was speaking about my math curriculum! Does God really care enough about my math curriculum to speak to me about it? I was blown away by the intimacy of His care for us!
So I did not buy a textbook, and this school year we have been exclusively doing “things I come up with”. It is going amazingly well. Now, I am not suggesting that everyone in unison all toss their math textbooks out the window! Rather, I am suggesting two things:
- Seek the Lord about even the most mundane aspects of your children’s education. He really does care and wants to guide us as we guide our children!
- Whether or not you maintain your math textbook, I encourage you to seek ways to make math come alive to your children. Charlotte Mason liked to talk about “living math” that was actually applicable in real life, not just a matter of working out sums on paper.
Here are some ideas and resources I have found helpful:
Since every homeschool mother has worried at some point about leaving gaps in her child’s education, I like to refer to two main books to gain both guidance and assurance:
- Ruth Beechick’s “The Three R’s” – for K-2, or “You Can Teach Your Child Successfully” for grades 3-8
- Teaching Children, by …… – This is a K-8th grade scope and sequence guide for those using a Charlotte Mason approach
These books help me to have a game plan, like “by the end of this year, I want my child to be able to do addition and subtraction up to facts of 12, both understanding the concept and by rote memorization”, for example. Then, once I have a basic game plan, I have used these things to help us along our way:
- Manipulatives, like Cuisenaire rods, Base 10 blocks, Math-U-See blocks, and Mathlinks blocks. Also immensely useful are things you probably have around your home already, like dice, Dominoes, coins, and counters like paperclips or straws. We use these a lot to help visualize things. I have picked up a couple of “teaching ideas” books for cuisenaire rods (used), that have helped a lot. The “Super Source” book has printables and games that we have both enjoyed, to use with the rods.
- Flashcards – do not underestimate the humble flashcard! I recommend the triangle ones for addition and subtraction so your child can see that one is the opposite of the other. We use flashcards most days. The best way I have found to do them is to set the timer for five minutes and see how many he can do in that amount of time, and I write down how many he was able to. That way it is not dragging on forever, especially if you have a slow poke like I do. The self-competition is good for motivation!
- Math to music! This is especially useful if you have an auditory learner. I got a cd a couple of years ago from www.singnlearn.com – Classical Math to Classical Music. We listened to our cd almost daily, and even my then 3 year old began memorizing her math facts this way! We only have the addition one, but they are available for subtraction, division and multiplication as well.
- Math Readers – I pick these up at my library on occasion for variety. They are a lot of fun and show how math can be used in real life. In the back, they have ideas on ways to use the book as well, for teaching purposes. For example, the one entitled Stay in Line talks of a dozen children going to the zoo, and shows all the different ways they were grouped. I had Joshua use a dozen counters to mimic the groups, and then we looked for things around the house that were in groups of a dozen: eggs, forks, chairs, etc.
Here are a few sample titles:
Stay in Line by Teddy Slater, Gioia Fiammenghi, and Marilyn Burns
Just Add Fun! by Joanne Rocklin and Martin Lemelman
Sunflowers Measure Up by Dianne Ochiltree
- An article by Cathy Duffy that really encouraged me, called “First Grade Math without a Textbook“. It is very similar to the Charlotte Mason approach to “Living Math” and has some great ideas as well.
- Coloring sheets for addition practice: You can easily make these with a simple coloring page. You simple make a color key, like 6=red, 8=blue, 10=green and so forth. But rather than writing the number in each area, you instead write a problem like 4+2, and since the sum is 6, that section would be red. This helps the child understand how many different ways we can arrive at the same sum as well. If you like, you can add subtraction problems as well!
Here are a few links to sites that have really helped me with ideas for teaching, for games, and some free printables too:
Living Math – way cool site by a homeschool mom: http://www.livingmath.net/Home/tabid/250/language/en-US/Default.aspx
Another site on Living Math: http://www.squidoo.com/earlymath
A great site for math activities and games: http://www.mathwire.com/index.html
And, lastly, a blog all about math, for K-12: http://letsplaymath.wordpress.com/
All of these sites contain tons more links, and great information.
I also have really enjoyed using a book called Games for Learning, by Peggy Kaye. She also has another book that is called Games for Math, which I don’t have. But Games for Learning does include math games, as well as reading games, games for logic, and more.
Be blessed as you seek the Lord’s will for your children’s education, and have fun with math!
Elizabeth Tsukayama is a homeschool graduate homeschooling the next generation! She and her husband, Fabio (yes, that is his real name!), have four beautiful children ages 7 down to 1. Elizabeth enjoys many hobbies, but her favorite one is teaching her children and learning with them, especially using hands-on projects, lapbooks, notebooking and nature exploration. The Tsukayama family is currently packing up to travel to Brazil for missions. Life never ceases to be an adventure! You can check out her site at: www.mamaknowsbest.net.
Once a Homeschool Kid, Now a Homeschool Mom
November 5, 2009 by Elizabeth
I have been asked many times to compare what it was like being a homeschool student to what it is like now being a homeschool mother – what I do the same, what I do differently, and how my experiences as a child have helped me now that I am homeschooling my own children.
When I first sat down to write about it, the first thought I had looking back to my years as a homeschool child, was of all the wonderful memories I have of our times together as a family.
My parents began to homeschool me when I was beginning 3rd grade, back in the 80’s, along with my next oldest brother who was in 8th grade. We had so much fun that year! Probably my fondest memory is of our read-aloud times on the couch. Each day after lunch, we would all sit on the couch together and my mother would read to us. We read a lot of missionary biographies, Walk Across America, Christy, and many others. As long ago as that was, I still remember vividly many of the books we read together. We also would read my brother’s 8th grade Abeka literature book together, and they are really fabulous, even for a 3rd grader to listen to!
The following year we moved to another state, and my oldest brother joined our homeschool, as a junior in high school. That next year was probably one of the major highlights of my homeschool experience. We did a year-long unit study on the countries and cultures of the world. We tried to get together with people we had made acquaintance with from other countries in some cases, and in other cases we wrote to missionaries in other countries, who all kindly responded to our questions. Some of them even sent us items from the country, like postcards or currency! We tried to learn some words and phrases in each language, a bit about the geography and the culture, how to cook some ethnic food, the currency, etc.
It was so much fun! I remember tracing country maps out of the encyclopedia and drawing replicas of the country’s flag. At the end of the year we had the ultimate culmination of this study: we hosted “International Night” at our house! We invited everyone we knew from another country, including China, Japan, Mexico and maybe others, as well as a few other homeschool families. We decorated our house with items from many countries, displayed the projects we had worked on throughout the year, and ate many different kinds of ethnic foods. We even dressed in ethnic garb!
It seems to me looking back that most of the “highlights” that I remember most vividly were the “extra” things we did. Besides the “textbook academics” that were required of me, homeschooling gave me the opportunity along the way to pursue other interests that I likely would not have had time for had I been in school all day. Many of these “extra-curricular” studies, such as starting a business of breeding and selling tropical fish at 10 years old, beginning to study Japanese when I was 11 years old, many of our read-alouds and even this international unit study I described turned out to be preparation for life, as I would later live in Japan and be involved in missions.
Another thing that greatly enhanced our journey was being a part of a homeschool support group. We often enjoyed activities together with other homeschoolers, and those are also fond memories. For example, every Thanksgiving we would meet at the forest preserve and each family would bring a Ziploc baggie of meat and vegetables to add to a big pot of stew, which we would cook in the pavilion in a big iron kettle over an open fire, and enjoy old-fashioned fellowship together. As a high schooler, I was able to participate each Friday in co-op classes with our support group, such as government, world views, and leadership classes, which included public speaking and debates – something that is sometimes difficult to accomplish as a homeschooler, especially since I was the only one left at home by then! Our teacher (a homeschool mom with much experience in politics) was fabulous, and the classes were always a highlight of each week. Now I know a lot of “lone ranger homeschoolers”, and I am sure they can have a wonderful experience too, but if there is a Christian support group in your area, I would encourage you to join.
However, as much fun as these studies and events were, I think that the main thing that made my homeschool experience such a positive one was my mother’s good attitude and my relationship with her. She kept things upbeat and was usually cheerful, and we always had such a good time together! That time together is so precious. Just think of all the wonderful memories with her I would have missed out on if I had spent most of my growing-up years in school!
Now, is there anything I would do differently with my children as I homeschool them?
Well, back in the 80’s, there were not a lot of curriculum choices for homeschoolers, as opposed to today when there are SO many that it is completely overwhelming!! Anyway, we used mostly Rod and Staff in the early grades, and then switched to mainly Abeka for the higher grades. I am a “textbook” kind of person, so I did well with that and always enjoyed school, so that was not a problem. However, I think I might have retained more if the studies were more “integrated”, or enhanced. Notice how much I remembered from our countries unit study? THAT was great! However, we did all that ON TOP OF our usual textbook requirements!
Take history, for example. I liked our history textbook and always found it interesting, but since our approach was “read it, answer the questions (orally), and put it away”, I don’t know how much I actually retained! Something simple like a history timeline adds a lot to the study of history, I’m convinced, as well as adding historical novels to your studies, or an occasional hands-on project, especially in the younger grades. Projects don’t have to be daily or complicated to add a lot to your studies.
Another area I feel somewhat deficient in is science, and I think that is also a textbook problem. I actually really liked the textbook we had, with full color pictures, etc., but we did not supplement it with any experiments or anything hands-on, so I don’t think I really was committing anything to long-term memory, or really even getting a full grasp on the concept. I think most science textbooks take a “mile-wide, inch-deep” approach to most subjects, which doesn’t make it overly interesting for the students. I prefer to take three months to really explore a topic, including personal observation, recording data in a notebook, taking pictures, making sketches, adding in “living” books – to the point of not even always needing a textbook at all, for the younger grades. Studying this way, at 3-4 topics per year, a student will still study all areas of science at least twice during his school years, but the difference is that he will likely retain most of what he has studied! If you would rather not put your own science studies together in this manner, Apologia is another great option. Their books explore ONE science topic per year, so you get to really learn it! The writing style is far more interesting than most science textbooks, the pictures are great, and the projects are not too complicated.
However, I will not keep rambling on about each school subject, because I truly don’t believe that academics are the main issue for homeschoolers to consider. Much more importantly, I believe that my parents did a wonderful job of using the resources they had to equip us with a godly foundation for life. Scripture reading and memory was a vital aspect of our homeschool, and they led us by example as we walked through life together.
We spent time together and made the most of the opportunities that life afforded us to learn, study and grow. This combination of equipping for life with a godly foundation, and building of strong family relationships is so far superior to any academic style or textbook choice, and I will be forever grateful to my parents for practicing this discipleship-style home education. I truly believe that is where our focus should be – off academics and onto discipleship, character-shaping, training in godliness and building strong relationships.
That, above all, is what I hope to emulate as I walk this journey with my own children.
Elizabeth Tsukayama is a homeschool graduate homeschooling the next generation! She and her husband, Fabio (yes, that is his real name!), have four beautiful children ages 7 down to 1. Elizabeth enjoys many hobbies, but her favorite one is teaching her children and learning with them, especially using hands-on projects, lapbooks, notebooking and nature exploration. The Tsukayama family is currently packing up to travel to Brazil for missions. Life never ceases to be an adventure! You can check out her site at: www.mamaknowsbest.net.
