Ship Full o' Pirates

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This is a topic on which I am UBER qualified to speak. I affectionately call it HOW NOT TO SPEND ALL YOUR HUSBAND’S HARD EARNED MONEY ON CURRICULUM. We have homeschooled for a long time and I’ve probably not spent (in 15 years of homeschooling) what many families spend in a year, two at the most. Do I have your attention now?

The place you want to start is with your own education. You need to educate yourself on what home education is and can be. And you need to un-learn what you think you know about class-room schooling.

First, open your Bible and read Deuteronomy 6:4-9 ( go ahead and read to the end of the chapter). There’s your duty, laid out by God Himself.

Next, read as many of the following books as you can get your hands on.

• When You Rise Up by RC Sproul Jr
• A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola
• Homeschooling for Excellence by David and Micki Colfax
• Christian Unschooling by Terri J Brown
• The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook by Dr. Raymond & Dorothy Moore
  

These will give you plenty to think about. I’m not going to choose a favorite or tell you to read one before another, they are too diverse, they each have tons to offer. I will say, if you have Pirates, please be sure to read Homeschooling for Excellence. It’s a lot out-dated, but there’s gold in them thar pages. Contrary-wise, if you have Princesses, don’t miss A Charlotte Mason Companion.

I know you’ve probably read this advice in many other places. I know, because I read it too. I also know that you’re asking your computer screen, “Sure, when am I gonna do that?” Well, do it now. Start now and don’t stop. You absolutely must build your children’s education and growing up years on a firm foundation. Stop, right now, stop spending time and money on workbooks and unit studies, at least until you’ve taken the time to educate yourself.

Spend a little time in the mornings reading to the children. And a little time counting change from the money jar. Then let them go play. Charlotte Mason calls it “masterly inactivity” if you need a phrase to write in your record book. Make for yourself as much time as you can to get your education.

Here’s a little trick I used to employ, during the diaper years, when time was at an extreme premium. After I read them ALL of their bedtime stories, I would stay in their room, in my chair, and read MY book aloud to them. It was a complete bore to them, of course, so they went right to sleep. I often got so involved in what I was reading that my Very Dear Hubby would have to come and retrieve me when the news came on.

This is just the start, but don’t skip this important step. I’ll try to remember to continue to give tips for eeking out some spare time. I realize how impossible it is seems. Often it’s a matter of eliminating the truly un-necessary.

More to come………………

The process of shaping the child . . . shapes also the mother herself. Reverence for her sacred burden calls her to all that is pure and good, that she may teach primarily by her own humble, daily example. Elizabeth Elliot

Be sure to enter my Mother’s Day giveaway! You only have until Saturday evening at 7pm cdt.

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