Want to be challenged to be a better wife/mother/teacher? Read this article..... it will stop you in your tracks; it did me.

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What a Mother Must Sacrifice…

Houses may be bought, built, or borrowed.

But homes can only be made, and that with bits of ourselves.

Or so the ducks told me.

They told me without a sound, just simply as they preened and nestled, a painting, oil on canvas. The children press in close too, for a better look at Alexander Max Koester’s painting Ducks, and I read aloud the caption below the brushes of color.

“Mother ducks pick feathers from their chests to line their nests.”

see the rest of this article here.

teacher ID for the homeschool mom

“Identify Yourself as a Teacher”

I have watched this scene, or a variation of it, unfold before.

Would-Be-Super-Homeschool-Mom stands in the checkout line with a stack of school books resembling the leaning tower of Pisa. Really-Intending-To-Be-Supportive-Homeschool-Dadstands behind Would-be-Super. He is already growing pale: not only from the stack of books he also carries, but from the dread of how much this “super homeschool education” is going to cost him. Really-Intending genuinely wants to be supportive; so he keeps his mouth shut. But as they get closer to the register he begins to see visions of his pocket book growing legs and walking right into the register drawer to take a long nap.

Finally it is their turn at the check out counter and Really-Intending watches as the numbers add up on the register. Every time a bar code is scanned, he hears the “cha-ching!” of an old time cash register. He feels dizzy and begins seeing dollar signs instead of stars. He glances around to see if anyone has noticed his compulsion to clutch his dollar-sign-imprinted money bags like Scrooge McDuck. But, thankfully no one has noticed, as he doesn’t really have any dollar-sign imprinted money bags stuffed with cash. It would be nice if he did, because Would-be-Super is just grabbing for his book-tower.

Ah, yes, homeschooling is, or at least can be, very expensive. Beyond the initial book purchases, it is the small items that seem to nickel and dime us. To add insult to injury, we already pay taxes for what the state calls an education. We do not choose to partake in their inferior product, therefore in the end we pay for each child’s education twice! In addition to this, most “professorial” teachers receive their supplies at a discount.

We are educators. We are REAL teachers too. How can we tap into some of these available discounts?

First of all you need photo ID. No, I am sorry, your drivers license will not suffice. You need a badge/identification type ID. You know, like the one the nurse was wearing round her neck last week when the ER staff removed the dried kidney beans from Tommy’s nose. That kind. It needs a current picture, your contact information, and your position (i.e. homeschool educator).

This is the method I chose (shown below). The card can be obtained for a nominal fee atpeah.com. The website also offers free card promotions.

So is all this worth the hassle? If Would-be-Super had a card like this could it really relieveReally-Intending’s high blood pressure and ward off impending marriage counseling?

See for yourself the receipt from my most recent purchase at Joann Fabric in Salem.

(This purchase was made with a “40% off 1 item” coupon as well).

In my opinion, this has been a most excellent resource as I have planned and made purchases for the coming school year.

Next, I will discuss where to get ID cards, what stores offer discounts and how to go about getting those discounts. I welcome your ideas for inclusion! Do you know of a homeschool group that offers ID cards to its members? Or a store which offers teacher discounts Please share! We are saving Really-Intending’s sanity, one purchase at a time!

Written by Sarah Elizabeth Forbes, copyright 2011

sarah.beyondallmeasure@gmail.com

www.sarahatbeyondallmeasure.blogspot.com

(origionally an article in PCHE's email newsletter)

Homeschooling should be fun

...for Momma and the children. To help us understand the why and the how of that statement, let us first address the priorities of homeschooling as I believe them to be.

The Why: The Priorities of Homeschooling:
1) To direct our children to God, to instill in them a love for their Creator and an appreciation of all He has given them.
2) To give the a love for learning, and the tools to be self-learners, that will last them their whole life through.

Notice that neither of my priorities specifically involved academics. Academics and test taking is a way the world uses to measure the success of a teacher and a student. I am not concerned about the academic accolades of my children; this is striving for the praise of men. I am not training them for tis world, but for the next. That being said, they do need to be able to survive in this world that we are in but not of. Therefore, academics does play a role in their education, but it is, BY NO MEANS, THE REASON WE EDUCATE. If you are educating to this end, I can guarantee that your schooling is neither God honoring nor encouraging a joy of learning. We are not trying to “beat” the public schools at their game; we are in a completely different league.

The How: Simplify, Refocus, and Play
Simplify:
First of all, THROW AWAY THE TEST BOOKLET. You don’t need it. If you are spending one-on-one time educating your children, you know exactly how well they are doing. Remember that nearly all curriculum was written for, or at least patterned after, the public school way of doing things. This is in opposition to our priorities. Do I think you should throw out the curriculum too? No. Just remember it is it your guide, not your master. Most subjects will repeat ad nauseam. Your children do not need to do all the work in the book, in fact they may not need to do ANY of the work in the book. Introduce an idea and then find ways in your day-to-day life to show it at pertinent to LIFE. This works especially well for math, science and language. Their entire school time should be less than 3 hours. If it is taking longer, re-prioritize.
Refocus:
Our focus should not be so much on educating your children as in discipling them. That means that they should be spending significant parts of their day working along side you on what ever you are doing: laundry, dishes, shopping, ministry, etc. How did the 12 disciples learn from Jesus? They did not have a text book; they worked along side Him for 3 straight years. Keep a mental list (or a real one if you need to) of the topics they are studying at that moment. Discuss those ideas with them, show hem how they are used in your life, how it is important to you.
Play:
God made children to romp and roam and climb trees and scrape their knees. It is our culture which has decided they should be placed behind desks for 8 hours 5 days a week. Children should have about 3 hours of uninterrupted play each day. This does not however mean you let them loose outside and ignore them. Because of a child’s immaturity (and, truly, a teen is still immature) play should be monitored. Remember what the Scripture says about a child left to himself? He brings his mother to shame. This is a prime time for correction. As you are observing (ie eavesdropping!)  your child interacting with his toys or his siblings, his character will be revealed giving you an opportunity to “smooth the rough edges,” if you know what I mean. When ever possible, play with them at what ever THEY want to do. It will make their day: remember how loved it made you feel if Momma took time to play dolls with you when you were little?

coming soon... The Nitty Gritty: Practical Ways to Make Homeschooling Fun

What school looks like at our house some days

Article By Sarah Elizabeth Forbes, copyright 2011

The importance of establishing a love of learning for the future.

Some of the best homeschooling advice I received was: ** MAKE IT FUN**. We want them to LOVE to LEARN so that they will keep learning beyond the time we have them at home. If he is complaining, it must not be very fun. Simplify!... if you must.... throw the curriculum out. Play with him and while you are playing, talk to him about what he should be learning. Make it real to life. Show him how you use it these things in every day life. And if you don't use them in everyday life, maybe they are not that important after all.

Above all remember: it is our government that decided that little boys and girls should be put to work learning for 8 hours/ day. THAT IS NOT HOW GOD MADE THEM! They were made to romp and roam and climb trees and scrape their knees! When I was homeschooled in highschool, I could get my work done in LESS THAN 3 HOURS. If your little one is taking longer than that, you are expecting too much. Don't push it. We are establishing now the foundation for his future perceptions of learning. And there is no assignment that is worth ruining his FUTURE MOTIVATION TO LEARN.

Write your own Dr Suess rhyme.

It was quite simple really. We chose a name to start with: Mo. And then we chose words that rhymed with it to make our own silly poem. Short sentences and repeating sentences are a theme in Dr Suess' work, so we tried to include those, too.

Here's our poem:

Mo grows.
Toes grow.
Nose grows.
Mo's toes and nose grow.

Oh no!
Toes foes!
Nose foes!
Here comes toes foes.
Here comes nose foes.

Mo's nose and toes
run from nose foes
and toes foes!

Run, Mo, run!


It was a big hit with my boys. They were both laughing for a long time about this project. I was pleased; it is important to me that they have a positive attitude toward poetry. This is just the beginning of my introduction of fun poetry to them.

Save $ on School Supplies!

Calling all Homeschool Moms! 

Could you use 15% off your Joann purchases? Did you know that  businesses like Joanns, Michaels, and such give discounts to homeschool teachers? All you need is an educator ID card! 

Those ID cards are available at the this website.  (or one of their other pages... I chose to review a reading curriculum). 

Write a review on the first page (scroll down to get to the review box) and submit. Then they will ask for your email...give it and you should receive a printable ID card via email. 

I just wrote my review and I will let you know if I DON'T get my ID card. I'm also wondering if Walmart gives discounts! --'cause I do nearly all my shopping there!

 It is important to note that at some stores (such as Joanns) this ID card will let you get ANOTHER card-- an educator discount card.

 Wish I had known this yesterday when I spent $30 @ Joann's on craft supplies for school.

 I am planning to compile a list of stores that offer discounts to homeschoolers.

A Book Review (sort of): The Way They Learn

This book came highly recommended to me by my Mother when I first started to homeschool. At the time I was struggling to take any advice from her due to my own pride. It was not until a few years later I stumbled upon it in a thrift store. I read it right away. And Momma was right: it is a great book. It has been a number of years now since then and I am going back to revisit it, as I don't really remember much about the book any more.... just that I found it helpful and informative. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend you do so. Used copies are available quite cheap at Amazon.
read an excerpt from the book via the publisher