I'm In A Rut

"It's been 10 years and I think we're in a rut"

Hoping to win a Tempurpedic mattress on We Are THAT Family's giveaway!

What is Learning?

As I prepare for the new school year, I have reevaluated my method of schooling our children.

What is home education? How do I define it and carry it out? These questions gnaw at me.

What do I want my children to learn beyond fractions, American history or science? What drives my desire to teach my children at home?

I have been reading a wonderful book that has tipped my, already teetering, ideas of formal education over and has strengthened my resolve to home educate. It is "Dumbing Us Down" by John Taylor Gatto. In this book he redefines formal education into "schooling". And he drives home the point that it is not what the children learn but what they are taught that is of the utmost importance in our society today. Children are prevented from being free-thinkers and are conditioned to have someone else evaluate their progress. They are imprisoned by the ideals of nameless, faceless bureaucrats whose standards are driven by greed for power or prestige.

His scathing unveiling of the madness behind the educational machine is riveting!

It also causes me to pause and wonder if I have been so conditioned by formal education (of which I had three years in public school and four years in private school) that its evil tentacles of conformity have crept into my own little home school. In all of societal interaction we have been conditioned to conform. And yet, as a Christian I have been warned:

Romans 12:2

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

If I am supposed to obey this command, why do I feel the pressure to do the exact opposite? Specifically in the realm of educating my children? The answer: it is easier to do what everyone else is doing. It takes no thought and little effort to flow downstream. But it takes great vision and much work to paddle upstream.

And so I go on carving out my definition of education. Elucidating what education means to me and for my children. It cannot be found in a text book, discovered in a new curriculum, or revealed in a new organizational method for optimal learning. Learning is simply the joyful gathering of knowledge that lay previously undiscovered until it was unearthed by curiosity. I believe that curiosity is a God-inspired desire. And I intend to cultivate it in my learners.

Family Fun Day at the Rock & Mineral Museum

Valentine's Day Is Coming!

What about purchasing one of these super cute teddy bears that my sister made? Get one for each of the special people in your life!

This handsome little guy measures about 5 inches high and he is made from a soft acrylic yarn. She hand-knitted him with lots of love!

Visit her blog at www.every-day-joy.blogspot.com

Our church had their annual Christmas dinner at a really swanky hotel, so we got to dress up for the occasion!

Indifference

This will move you to tears, move you to pray, move you to act.

Are you willing? Will you reach out to touch them for Him? The ones He died for? They surround us daily, are we blind to their needs? Will we be willing to have our eyes open and our hearts broken with what breaks His?

Or will we be paralyzed by depraved indifference?

I am indifferent no longer.

There are many organizations that are making a difference. Here are two of my favorites.

Children's Hope Chest

Compassion International