Friday, April 30, 2010

Getting To Know You

What I love about homeschooling . . . .

is how you get to know whole families over the years of schooling, and get to see their, and your, children grow up.

~Since this is the first post under this subject title, I thought I would explain. Every so often a thought pops into my head ~ YES! This is why I homeschool! There are positives and negatives to everything, so if you don't homeschool these won't be much use. They certainly aren't meant to offend or say there is only one right way to educate your child. If you are a homeschooler, then their will be days when your memory will need to refresh to the why you are homeschooling. The what I love homeschooling series are posted in no particular order of importance. "Homeschooling Positives" was just a shorter subject title. Please comment if you think it is a confusing title.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

A Working Definition: Self Control and Sensitivity

Working definitions are very helpful in training children how those biblical character traits play out in their daily lives. You can tell your child to use self-control until you are blue in the face, but unless they truly understand and reminded of the meaning a 100 times, they won't really know what you are asking of them.

Here are some working definitions for sensitivity and self-control I read in a parenting newsletter about how to handle it when children are annoying from National Center for Biblical Counseling :


Self-control is the ability to control myself so that Mom and Dad don't have to.

Self-control means to think before I act.

Self-control is the ability to talk about problems instead of grabbing, pushing, or hitting.

Self-control means that I limit the noises I make when others are around.

Self-control means that I focus on one thing until it gets done, before I move to the next.


Sensitivity means that when I walk into a room I look and listen before I speak.

Sensitivity is thinking about how my actions are affecting other people.

Sensitivity means thinking about how I could help someone else.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Character Building: By Doing or By Teaching

Do we build character in our children by doing or by teaching?

It is really not one or the other, but a combination of them both. Like faith and works, you cannot have one without the other. You could set the greatest example in the world, but if you do not teach your children they will not have the knowledge. On the other hand, actions must back up your words. Just as great writers learn to write well by reading great authors, a child will learn to act righteous through his parents righteousness.

I have heard that teaching your children character traits from a Biblical perspective can be really helpful in fashioning Godly character. What I mean by teaching is that you define what the character trait actually means and how to practically live that trait out. So many times we use words that we not be able to give a good definition of or know how to apply it to our lives. Also, it is helpful to study what the Bible says about that trait by reading and memorizing the Scriptures.

What do you think? Is it by teaching or doing or both?

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Recycle Challenge


In honor of Earth Day, I thought I would share about what kind of paper you can recycle. There is so much paper we just throw out. First of all, you need a convenient and pretty place to put it. We use a large, sturdy basket I purchased at a yard sale. It sits in our living room in a high traffic area, so it makes it easy to toss in the recyclables.

Remember not to put paper in plastic bags. Instead, use paper bags or cardboard boxes. Plastic bags clog recycling equipment at the recycling center and jams the system. Of course you can recycle your plastic bags at the grocery store! Or even better, buy reusable buys. Not only will you not have all the clutter of plastic bags in your house, but they will pay for themselves with the few pennies you get credited for at most stores. They are more sturdy too, and are great to haul other items like books from the library.

CAN
  • paper envelopes with those plastic windows
  • staples are O.K.
  • most of your mail except for the pieces that need to be shredded (this adds up to a lot of recyclable paper)
  • food boxes like cereals and crackers (as long as the food is in a plastic bag
  • newspapers of course
  • magazines to packaging (must be clean, dry, and free of food, most plastic, wax, and other contamination)
CANNOT
  • foiled coated boxes
  • food contaminated cardboard, like greasy pizza boxes
  • some areas cardboard must be free of tape, but staples are fine
  • frozen food containers
  • junk mail with plastic wrap, stickers, product samples, and those fake "membership" cards
  • waxed paper
  • waxed cardboard milk & juice containers
  • oil soaked paper
  • carbon paper
  • sanitary products or tissues (hope you would know this one ;-)
  • thermal fax paper
  • plastic laminated paper such as fast food wrappers, juice boxes, and pet food bags
  • paper with any sort of contamination or plastic layers
???????????
  • Check your phone book and area recycling center where and if your old phone books are recyclable
  • Books is another item you would have to contact your local center for