 Back to school? Is that what we are supposed to be doing? I am actually just starting to prepare for the next school year. Like me, maybe you find yourself not quite ready. I have so much I want to do and share with my children--how will I fit it all in? I know I need to cry out to the Lord and ask him to wipe the worry off of the chalkboard of my heart. "I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me." Psalm 57:2 (KJV) God will perform all things for us. All things? Even homeschooling? Wow. And guess what? God wants to perform those things through us: "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Philippians 2:13 (KJV) I know that if I seek His Kingdom first, everything else will fall into place. This is why I desperately need Him. I need to get back to first things first and then the rest will come into order. We need to pull our hearts back in line, so that we not only honor God with our mouths, but in daily reality with our lives and homeschools as well. "Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men . . . " Isaiah 29:13 (KJV) What should be our priority? When Jesus questioned Peter about his love for Him, he told Peter three important things: Love me, keep My commandments, and feed My sheep. How hard can that be? So, my overarching goals for this year: Keep my focus on loving God, obeying Him, and feeding these sheep that are blessed to be Home Where They Belong. Remember: Teach the fear of the Lord, not just the precepts of men! ~Deborah
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Loving God with All Our Mind
By Dee Jones
Fall--another school year is beginning and where are our thoughts? We find ourselves thinking non-stop about curriculum choices, lesson planning, schedules, meals, and much more. It is so easy to let our minds run to overwhelming responsibilities and to-do lists. Preparing to homeschool our children takes time, energy, and planning, which are good things, but too much of this can cause discouragement and stress. When difficult moments arise, we are given the opportunity to exercise our faith and refocus our thoughts towards God. Here are three steps to help refocus: - Recognize the negative thoughts.
We must recognize when our thinking is stinking. Our thoughts stink when they do not align with God's word and are contrary to His nature. When this happens we must be quick to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).
- Talk to yourself.
C.J. Mahaney points out in his book Humility, "Christians spend way too much time listening to themselves instead of speaking to themselves."
Too often we listen to the voice in our head say, "I do not have time for this. I will never get it done. I am a failure!" Sound familiar? Instead we need to speak words of truth to ourselves, "It is God who works in me to will and to act according to His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). I will accomplish in this day what He has called me to do. I will do all things for and to His glory."
Speak truth to yourself and do not be pulled down by the lies of the enemy.
- Spend time alone with God.
Nothing helps us refocus our minds more than time alone with God. For us moms this time can be hard to find! We have many demands in a day, especially when our children are small. Each day is filled with instructing, explaining, correcting, and comforting so we need to be filled by the Lord to pour into our families.
Try to give yourself a few minutes each day. Sit at the feet of your Savior, renew your mind (Romans 12:2) with scripture, be still and listen.
Loving God with our minds takes time and discipline, but for everything He calls us to, He equips us for. God Bless. 
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The Familyman
Okay, here are my back-to-school thoughts for Kickoff 2013:
- 1.Remember what matters: relationships always come first. If your kids are crying, take it as a sign from God that the relationship is out of whack. If you have to get less "school" done in order to keep the relationship "good" . . . do so.
- Do what you believe. If you don't believe it's important to teach your children sentence diagramming, political science, or critical whatever stuff, then don't do it. If you think it's important to teach your children how to balance a checkbook, walk with God, or blow bubbles in their pudding, then teach them. Do what you believe no matter what you might "FEEL" from outside sources.
- Find a friend who homeschools for the same reasons you do and stick to them like glue.
- Be real with that friend you found. Be real . . . honest, transparent, AND allow them to do so with you without judgment.
- Get your husband involved. To do that, whenever he involves himself in anyway, LET HIM. Don't correct, criticize, or ask for more. Just let him do it the way he wants and then thank him.
- Get my books, "Lies Homeschooling Moms Believe" and "How to be a Great Wife Even though You Homeschool." They were written to be used individually AND with a GROUP (discussion questions). We sell them dirt cheap for group orders. Get your homeschool group to do it soon.
Be real . . . I already said that,
Todd
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Raising Real Men
It's back to school time around here, too, and it's bittersweet. Yet another of our boys has graduated. Every time one of our guys leaves home, it clarifies things a bit more. It makes us remember what is really important.
Don't miss the teachable moments. When they ask one of those questions when you really just want to get school done, don't brush them off. They'll need those answers when they get out in the world.
Take the field trips. Hands on learning and seeing things for themselves will last a lot longer in their memories than just worksheets. It's like giving them pegs to hang the facts on.
Delight in your children. Don't let your frustration with school keep you from loving them all the time and praising them whenever you can. Remember our relationship with God: "We love him, because he first loved us." (1 John 4:19) (KJV) When we give our children our love and affection-even when they don't deserve it-we model the Father's love. After all, ". . . God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (KJV) (Romans 5:8)
The days are long, but the years are short. It seems sometimes that third grade math with two in diapers and a child struggling to read is going to last forever, but those years will just fly by. Trust us, we've graduated three of our clan and it seems just yesterday those three were little guys piled in our bed for a story.
It's important to get the work done, but that's not the point. At the end of these years, do you know what will matter? It will be seeing them walk with God. It'll be seeing them recognize right from wrong and cling to the right. It'll be seeing them stand up for right even when it hurts. That's what matters.
Yours in the battle,
Hal & Melanie
P.S. Are your 9 to 12 year olds driving you crazy? Learn what to do now to make the teen years great! We just started this session of our Boot Camp 9-12, live, interactive online seminar series last night and it's not too late to join. We recorded last night's class and you can listen to it on your own. Learn more by clicking here.
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A division of The Old Schoolhouse� Magazine
Back to School Thoughts - Ready, Set, Go!
We've got the tools you need to help you launch your homeschool year with a bang! Have you seen all the new courses SchoolhouseTeachers.com has for you beginning in September?
- Literature Kits by Marla Schultz returns to the site
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- Anna Crisostomo (who formerly taught Chemistry on our site) returns with a course to help your students explore and understand the Scientific Method
Join today: your first month is just $3. After that, $12.95 a month serves your entire family. Or save 10% by purchasing a yearly membership: just $139.
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Announcement
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Contest Corner
For the month of August, 2013
Different Learners: Identifying, Preventing and Treating Your Child's Learning Problems
Jane Healy has spent years researching children's brains, their learning styles, and their thinking. She distills down
volumes of scientific research, and makes it practical and applicable to parents who are struggling to decipher the reasons their child is not learning like he should, and what they can do about it.
The book is divided into three parts. The first part goes through various types of learning differences, defining them and differentiating them. She discusses the problem of the over-diagnosis of learning disabilities and syndromes that parents deal with today, and looks at each type of disability or syndrome, listing the characteristics and giving examples. She covers everything from ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) to PDD (Pervasive Development Disorder) to dyslexia to the autism spectrum. For each disorder, she addresses the questions "What is it?" "Where does it come from?" and "What do we do?"
The second section deals with prevention. Healy discusses the way the brain works and develops, and the various things that can cause damage and disruption to the brain's development, both in utero and during early childhood.
(. . .) The third section is the "What can we do?" section. Healy tackles the issues of cleaning up our children's environments (chemical toxins, media, food choices, stressors, sleep habits, activity schedules, and personal habits) and reevaluating what we need to remove, what we need to add, and the effects these factors have on the brain's function and learning ability. (. . .)
To read the rest of the review, click here.
TO ENTER: Email Heather with your name, mailing address, and phone number for contact purposes, with the subject line, "Different Learners" for a chance to win* the book for your homeschool!
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  Read in the latest issue of
The Old Schoolhouse�
Magazine.
Get a library of homeschool encouragement with
over 175 E-Books or
audio books for just $25.
Click on the image below
to order.
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