To Be or Not to Be Socialized; That is the Question
By: Michelle VanMatre
Standing in line in the cafeteria.
Bubbling in circles with a number two pencil.
Raising your hand to answer a question.
Being the target in dodge-ball.
Unhealthy peer pressure.
Being exposed to sex and drugs at an early age.
Undermining biblical and parental authority.
Desensitizing children to Truth.
None of the experiences on this list stand out as skills that are necessary or valuable in order to function in the real world. Even in an office full of identical cubicles, adults aren't surrounded by same-aged peers who are working on the exact same thing at the exact same time. Success in the world, be it vocational, social or within the family, doesn't depend on whether or not you were the homecoming queen or the star quarterback. However, learning to operate in your God-given giftedness, strengths and abilities in harmony with people of all ages and backgrounds can be a great asset in living a successful and productive life.
"What about socialization?" is, perhaps, the most commonly heard question for a homeschooling family. Inquiring minds want to know how our children will manage without the benefit of being in a classroom with their same-aged peers for several months each year. Well meaning family members, friends, neighbors and cashiers at the grocery store feel the need to point out the dangers of not socializing our homeschooled children by placing them in an institutional setting. Fears that the children won't develop meaningful relationships, won't experience "normal" life, and won't have a healthy childhood because they are not in a classroom five days a week often fuel people to use the dreaded "S- word" as a passive-aggressive attempt to challenge the validity of homeschooling.
Socialization, by public school standards, is an invalid concept. Spending 180 days a year in a desk in a classroom, where conversation and freedom of expression are confined to who sits at your lunch table, is hardly a fertile environment for developing relationships and learning how to interact with people.
Socialization is defined as a continuing process whereby an individual acquires a personal identity and learns the norms, values, behavior, and social skills appropriate to his or her social position. In spite of the assertions of the NEA, many sociologists and those opposed to homeschooling, nothing in this definition would cause us to think that a classroom setting provides the ideal environment to acquire personal identity and learn the norms and values to be able to function well in society!
Many new homeschoolers (and some veterans!) are intimidated by the question of socialization. We are faced with so many details as we start the homeschool journey that we aren't sure we can provide an appropriate social environment for our children outside of our living room.
We've been duped into believing the hype that lunch lines, school buses, gym class and the classroom have some indefinable benefits every child needs in order to live a fulfilling, healthy life.
Not so!
God is far more creative than Horace Mann, the purported Father of American Education. We are given the generous bounty of the world as our classroom, which allows us to interact with people of all ages and backgrounds. In my little, rural community, there are ample opportunities for my children to be socialized in a healthy manner.
Homeschool co-ops, church and community events abound. Volunteer and service opportunities, recreational sports leagues, community - theater and cultural festivals also provide a ready outlet to learn more about our culture and interact with people.
Mercy, patience, grace, compassion, good sportsmanship and sacrifice can be learned by serving in a soup-kitchen, visiting a nursing home, volunteering in the church nursery and playing a game of pick-up basketball.
The kind of socialization that is my goal for my children doesn't hinge on winning at all costs. It isn't characterized by dividing people into learning tracks, cliques that are defined by their popularity or the kinds of clothes they wear, or whether or not they live in the right neighborhood. My goal isn't to relive my childhood through my children, hoping that they'll gain the prize or the trophy that eluded me in my public school career.
No, my heart for socializing my children is a little more organic and free-form. My prayer is that my brood will become people who value life - their own, that of the unborn, and that of the elderly. I hope that they learn to see beauty in diversity while maintaining a firm grasp of the truth of Christ. I want them to learn to see God's fingerprints in their own interests, passions and personalities. I want them to develop the confidence to walk their lives out with conviction, while being sensitive enough to others to draw them to Christ in them, rather than bullying others into agreement.
Socialization is crucial. We are all in the process of being socialized, daily, no matter what or age or where we learn. Institutionalized classrooms do not have a corner on the market where socializing our children is concerned. We need to rest in the fact that God placed these children in our care and that He provides many opportunities to grow them into the people He created them to be!
As we walk out this homeschool journey, may we all be free from the tyranny of the "socialization myth". When well-meaning observers ask us the socialization question, let us all have the confidence to answer the question with "We're well-socialized, thank you! How about you?"
Friday, February 19, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
My Book of Fall Changes
My Book of Fall Changes, by: Brett Ward
The weather changes. It gets colder.
The leaves change. Some leaves fall down.
The daylight changes. It gets dark early.
My clothes change. I wear warm things.
The weather changes. It gets colder.
The leaves change. Some leaves fall down.
The daylight changes. It gets dark early.
My clothes change. I wear warm things.
Color Mixing
Because of the fall colors, we did some science lessons on color mixing. We fingerpainted, we blended colors with different art mediums, we played with food coloring and just had an all around good time!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Just For Fun!
I found this on another blog I read. While it's a bit blunt, it will make you smile :)
The Homeschooling Parent's Wish List
1 Please stop asking us if it’s legal. If it is — and it is — it’s insulting to imply that we are criminals.
2 Learn what the words “socialize” and “socialization” mean, and use the one you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you do now. Socializing means hanging out with other people for fun. If you’re standing there talking to me and my child, then its safe to assume that we do in fact go outside now and then to visit the other human beings on the planet. If you truly are referring to "Socialization", I don't think I really want my child to be "socialized"...that word means 1)"to be placed under government or group ownership", 2)"to make fit for companionship with others", or 3)"to convert or adapt to the needs of society" according to Dictionary.com. Ummmm, #1...NO. #2....I think if you know my child we have that one covered. #3...I'm sorry but have you seen society lately?! Why would I want my child to conform to that?!?
3 Please quit interrupting my child at his/her dance lesson, scout meeting, choir practice, baseball game, art class, field trip, park day, music class, 4H club, or soccer lesson to ask her if as a homeschooler she ever gets to socialize.
4 Don’t assume that every homeschooler you meet is homeschooling for the same reasons and in the same way as that one homeschooler you know.
5 If that homeschooler you know is actually someone you saw on TV, either on the news or on a “reality” show, the above goes double.
6 Please stop telling us horror stories about the homeschoolers you know, know of, or think you might know who ruined their lives by homeschooling. You’re probably the same little bluebird of happiness whose hobby is running up to pregnant women and inducing premature labor by telling them every ghastly birth story you’ve ever heard. We all hate you, so please go away.
7 We don’t look horrified and start quizzing your kids when we hear they’re in public school. Please stop drilling our children like potential oil fields to see if we’re doing what you consider an adequate job of homeschooling.
8 We didn’t go through all the reading, learning, thinking, weighing of options, experimenting, and worrying that goes into homeschooling just to annoy you. Really. This was a deeply personal decision, tailored to the specifics of our family. Stop taking the bare fact of our being homeschoolers as either an affront or a judgment about your own educational decisions.
9 Please stop questioning my competency and demanding to see my credentials. I didn’t have to complete a course in catering to successfully cook dinner for my family; I don’t need a degree in teaching to educate my children. If spending at least twelve years in the kind of chew-it-up-and-spit-it-out educational facility we call public school left me with so little information in my memory banks that I can’t teach the basics of an elementary education to my nearest and dearest, maybe there’s a reason I’m so reluctant to send my child to school.
10 If my child is only six and you ask me with a straight face how I can possibly teach him what he’d learn in school, please understand that you’re calling me an idiot. Don’t act shocked if I decide to respond in kind.
11 Stop assuming that because the word “home” is right there in “homeschool,” we never leave the house. We’re the ones who go to the amusement parks, museums, and zoos in the middle of the week and in the off-season and laugh at you because you have to go on weekends and holidays when it’s crowded and icky.
12 Stop assuming that because the word “school” is right there in homeschool, we must sit around at a desk for six or eight hours every day, just like your child does. Even if we’re into the “school” side of education — and many of us prefer a more organic approach — we can burn through a lot of material a lot more efficiently, because we don’t have to gear our lessons to the lowest common denominator.
13 Stop asking, “But what about the Prom?” Even if the idea that my child might not be able to indulge in a night of over-hyped, over-priced revelry was enough to break my heart, plenty of kids who do go to school don’t get to go to the Prom. For all you know, I’m one of them. I might still be bitter about it. So go be shallow somewhere else.
14 Don’t ask my child if he wouldn’t rather go to school unless you don’t mind if I ask your child if he wouldn’t rather stay home and get some sleep now and then.
15 Stop saying, “Oh, I could never homeschool!” Even if you think it’s some kind of compliment, it sounds more like you’re horrified. One of these days, I won’t bother disagreeing with you any more.
16 If you can remember anything from chemistry or calculus class, you’re allowed to ask how we’ll teach these subjects to our kids. If you can’t, thank you for the reassurance that we couldn’t possibly do a worse job than your teachers did, and might even do a better one.
17 Stop asking about how hard it must be to be my child’s teacher as well as his parent. I don’t see much difference between bossing my kid around academically and bossing him around the way I do about everything else.
18 Stop saying that my child is shy, outgoing, aggressive, anxious, quiet, boisterous, argumentative, pouty, fidgety, chatty, whiny, or loud because he’s homeschooled. It’s not fair that all the children who go to school can be as annoying as they want to without being branded as representative of anything but childhood.
19 Quit assuming that my child must be some kind of prodigy because he’s homeschooled.
20 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of prodigy because I homeschool my child(ren).
21 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of saint because I homeschool my child(ren).
22 Stop talking about all the great childhood memories my kids won’t get because they don’t go to school, unless you want me to start asking about all the not-so-great childhood memories you have because you went to school.
23. Quit assuming that just because we are a homeschooling family means we have 10 or more children.
24. Quit assuming that just because we are a homeschooling family means we live on a farm and that we only keep our kids home to have help around the homestead.
25 Here’s a thought: If you can’t say something nice about homeschooling, then please shut up!
The Homeschooling Parent's Wish List
1 Please stop asking us if it’s legal. If it is — and it is — it’s insulting to imply that we are criminals.
2 Learn what the words “socialize” and “socialization” mean, and use the one you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you do now. Socializing means hanging out with other people for fun. If you’re standing there talking to me and my child, then its safe to assume that we do in fact go outside now and then to visit the other human beings on the planet. If you truly are referring to "Socialization", I don't think I really want my child to be "socialized"...that word means 1)"to be placed under government or group ownership", 2)"to make fit for companionship with others", or 3)"to convert or adapt to the needs of society" according to Dictionary.com. Ummmm, #1...NO. #2....I think if you know my child we have that one covered. #3...I'm sorry but have you seen society lately?! Why would I want my child to conform to that?!?
3 Please quit interrupting my child at his/her dance lesson, scout meeting, choir practice, baseball game, art class, field trip, park day, music class, 4H club, or soccer lesson to ask her if as a homeschooler she ever gets to socialize.
4 Don’t assume that every homeschooler you meet is homeschooling for the same reasons and in the same way as that one homeschooler you know.
5 If that homeschooler you know is actually someone you saw on TV, either on the news or on a “reality” show, the above goes double.
6 Please stop telling us horror stories about the homeschoolers you know, know of, or think you might know who ruined their lives by homeschooling. You’re probably the same little bluebird of happiness whose hobby is running up to pregnant women and inducing premature labor by telling them every ghastly birth story you’ve ever heard. We all hate you, so please go away.
7 We don’t look horrified and start quizzing your kids when we hear they’re in public school. Please stop drilling our children like potential oil fields to see if we’re doing what you consider an adequate job of homeschooling.
8 We didn’t go through all the reading, learning, thinking, weighing of options, experimenting, and worrying that goes into homeschooling just to annoy you. Really. This was a deeply personal decision, tailored to the specifics of our family. Stop taking the bare fact of our being homeschoolers as either an affront or a judgment about your own educational decisions.
9 Please stop questioning my competency and demanding to see my credentials. I didn’t have to complete a course in catering to successfully cook dinner for my family; I don’t need a degree in teaching to educate my children. If spending at least twelve years in the kind of chew-it-up-and-spit-it-out educational facility we call public school left me with so little information in my memory banks that I can’t teach the basics of an elementary education to my nearest and dearest, maybe there’s a reason I’m so reluctant to send my child to school.
10 If my child is only six and you ask me with a straight face how I can possibly teach him what he’d learn in school, please understand that you’re calling me an idiot. Don’t act shocked if I decide to respond in kind.
11 Stop assuming that because the word “home” is right there in “homeschool,” we never leave the house. We’re the ones who go to the amusement parks, museums, and zoos in the middle of the week and in the off-season and laugh at you because you have to go on weekends and holidays when it’s crowded and icky.
12 Stop assuming that because the word “school” is right there in homeschool, we must sit around at a desk for six or eight hours every day, just like your child does. Even if we’re into the “school” side of education — and many of us prefer a more organic approach — we can burn through a lot of material a lot more efficiently, because we don’t have to gear our lessons to the lowest common denominator.
13 Stop asking, “But what about the Prom?” Even if the idea that my child might not be able to indulge in a night of over-hyped, over-priced revelry was enough to break my heart, plenty of kids who do go to school don’t get to go to the Prom. For all you know, I’m one of them. I might still be bitter about it. So go be shallow somewhere else.
14 Don’t ask my child if he wouldn’t rather go to school unless you don’t mind if I ask your child if he wouldn’t rather stay home and get some sleep now and then.
15 Stop saying, “Oh, I could never homeschool!” Even if you think it’s some kind of compliment, it sounds more like you’re horrified. One of these days, I won’t bother disagreeing with you any more.
16 If you can remember anything from chemistry or calculus class, you’re allowed to ask how we’ll teach these subjects to our kids. If you can’t, thank you for the reassurance that we couldn’t possibly do a worse job than your teachers did, and might even do a better one.
17 Stop asking about how hard it must be to be my child’s teacher as well as his parent. I don’t see much difference between bossing my kid around academically and bossing him around the way I do about everything else.
18 Stop saying that my child is shy, outgoing, aggressive, anxious, quiet, boisterous, argumentative, pouty, fidgety, chatty, whiny, or loud because he’s homeschooled. It’s not fair that all the children who go to school can be as annoying as they want to without being branded as representative of anything but childhood.
19 Quit assuming that my child must be some kind of prodigy because he’s homeschooled.
20 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of prodigy because I homeschool my child(ren).
21 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of saint because I homeschool my child(ren).
22 Stop talking about all the great childhood memories my kids won’t get because they don’t go to school, unless you want me to start asking about all the not-so-great childhood memories you have because you went to school.
23. Quit assuming that just because we are a homeschooling family means we have 10 or more children.
24. Quit assuming that just because we are a homeschooling family means we live on a farm and that we only keep our kids home to have help around the homestead.
25 Here’s a thought: If you can’t say something nice about homeschooling, then please shut up!
From Jeannie Fulbright...
Jeannie Fulbright is the author of the Apologia Science curriculum that we will be using with Brett starting next year. I took the following message off of her page. I think that it really hits the nail on the head about why homeschooling is so important...I hope (and pray) that if you are questioning if you should homeschool or not, that you will take the time to read this and more articles like it...
A Journey Worth Taking
I've had the privilege to meet so many new homeschoolers that have just begun their homeschool journey. Most of them find homeschooling a delight. As they spend each day with their children, they begin to catch a glimpse into the little windows of their hearts and see things they didn't know were there - good things and not so good things.
What is so precious about this is that we really do come to know our children the way God intended for us to know them. God did not set up schools where children would depart for hours from the very people to whom He gave them to be reared.
Education was intended to be done at home from the very beginning, as was the training of our children's hearts. God's perfect order has been disrupted by the institution that came in to replace God's intention and design for homes and families.
That order was disrupted so long ago that now we have to read books and take classes on parenting and discipling our children because we weren't parented or discipled properly; and we weren't parented properly because our parents weren't parented properly, and on and on it goes, all the way back to the preindustrial age - when families actually spent time together and usually educated their children at home.
After industrialization, the home became second to the institution of school. Long ago, most every child was either home educated or only went to school during certain seasons. Most of a child's waking hours were spent at home with the family, where generations passed on what the generations before had been passing on for as long as anyone could remember.
If we don't have lengthy amounts of time with our children, we will likely miss the nuances that betray what is really happening in their hearts, what they really believe. If I only had a few hours every night with them, when we were both worn out from the day, I may not know what their wrong beliefs were or what their right beliefs were. If I did know, would I even have the time and energy to thoroughly correct them?
Homeschooling affords us time and energy to properly parent and educate our children. Because I spend my entire life with my kids, I know them so well. I know the exact areas where I can trust them to always make the right choice, and I know the exact areas where they need more training. I know their hearts. When I see misconceptions, we can work through them during the morning devotions, pray through them, and explore what the Bible says about them. No big hurry. We've got time.
One mom describes her experience when she brought her children home to school them. She was astonished when she realized that, because they had been in school for several years, she didn't even know - really know - her kids. Could not really knowing your children be God's plan for the family? No. Sadly, it's really no wonder children are in the mess they are today.
I believe homeschooling is so right. It is the model God set in place. It's a return to the ways of old. Isaiah 58:12 says, "...you will restore the foundations laid long ago; you will be called the repairer of broken walls, the restorer of streets where people live.
A Journey Worth Taking
I've had the privilege to meet so many new homeschoolers that have just begun their homeschool journey. Most of them find homeschooling a delight. As they spend each day with their children, they begin to catch a glimpse into the little windows of their hearts and see things they didn't know were there - good things and not so good things.
What is so precious about this is that we really do come to know our children the way God intended for us to know them. God did not set up schools where children would depart for hours from the very people to whom He gave them to be reared.
Education was intended to be done at home from the very beginning, as was the training of our children's hearts. God's perfect order has been disrupted by the institution that came in to replace God's intention and design for homes and families.
That order was disrupted so long ago that now we have to read books and take classes on parenting and discipling our children because we weren't parented or discipled properly; and we weren't parented properly because our parents weren't parented properly, and on and on it goes, all the way back to the preindustrial age - when families actually spent time together and usually educated their children at home.
After industrialization, the home became second to the institution of school. Long ago, most every child was either home educated or only went to school during certain seasons. Most of a child's waking hours were spent at home with the family, where generations passed on what the generations before had been passing on for as long as anyone could remember.
If we don't have lengthy amounts of time with our children, we will likely miss the nuances that betray what is really happening in their hearts, what they really believe. If I only had a few hours every night with them, when we were both worn out from the day, I may not know what their wrong beliefs were or what their right beliefs were. If I did know, would I even have the time and energy to thoroughly correct them?
Homeschooling affords us time and energy to properly parent and educate our children. Because I spend my entire life with my kids, I know them so well. I know the exact areas where I can trust them to always make the right choice, and I know the exact areas where they need more training. I know their hearts. When I see misconceptions, we can work through them during the morning devotions, pray through them, and explore what the Bible says about them. No big hurry. We've got time.
One mom describes her experience when she brought her children home to school them. She was astonished when she realized that, because they had been in school for several years, she didn't even know - really know - her kids. Could not really knowing your children be God's plan for the family? No. Sadly, it's really no wonder children are in the mess they are today.
I believe homeschooling is so right. It is the model God set in place. It's a return to the ways of old. Isaiah 58:12 says, "...you will restore the foundations laid long ago; you will be called the repairer of broken walls, the restorer of streets where people live.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
updates!
I've added pics to the our nature blog ~ "The Wonders of Creation: Our Family's Outdoor Hour"
Check it out!
Check it out!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Handbook of Nature Study
So, last night, I ordered the Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Comstock. I'm planning on using it along with the activities from the Outdoor Hour website in our nature studies as suggested by the writer of Outdoor Hour. I also ordered some field guides to supplement based on her suggestions. I purchased everything at half.com and came away with a lot of books for a low price :) I am so excited! Last week, Brett and I went on a nature walk, which I'll be posting under our outdoor hour link, and we had the best time! I can hardly wait to get started and really focus in on specific details. I even bought a basic art book to assist in sketching things we see into my journal. Brett isn't really old enough yet for that kind of drawing, but it will help me teach him when he is. For now, I'll write what he says and let him draw his best version of what he chooses to focus on. Anyway, I just wanted to share about the books we are getting...I'll take pictures of them and post them when they arrive!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Sorting and fine motor skills
Brett was working on sorting skills...he got out his beads and first sorted by shape, then by color. He had great fun...he said he built a city...
Fine motor skills...we always try to work on these. He practices cutting, tracing lines, threading beads onto laces, etc...all very good at strengthening his little wrist muscles for his writing.
This is a cool book he's working in...you choose a picture, peel away parts of it to reveal a sticky surface, then you choose your colors strips from the back, snip them into tiny pieces (there's the fine motor part) then you take the snips and put them on the sticky to fill it in. He really likes them!
Fine motor skills...we always try to work on these. He practices cutting, tracing lines, threading beads onto laces, etc...all very good at strengthening his little wrist muscles for his writing.This is a cool book he's working in...you choose a picture, peel away parts of it to reveal a sticky surface, then you choose your colors strips from the back, snip them into tiny pieces (there's the fine motor part) then you take the snips and put them on the sticky to fill it in. He really likes them!
End of week One
I'm just now posting about this, (six weeks into school!) but Brett had a great first week! As a treat, he got a new Disney Car Launcher set. He was ecstatic!! I just figured, you only start school once in your whole life and the end of the first week was a big accomplishment :) We are so proud of him!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Titus 2
There is a website, Titus 2, that is listed in the sidebar to the right, that you really should check out. On this site, you will meet the Maxwell family. They are a homeschooling family with eight, yes you read that right, eight children. Anyway, their family creed, if you will, is centered around the second chapter of Titus in the Bible. They are firm in their beliefs, a few of which I don't agree with, but the majority of which I do.
What they are most know for is a book they have written called, Manager's of Their Homes. It has to do with scheduling and prioritizing things in your life. Everything is centered around Christ, prayer and allowing God to lead you to what your day needs to look like. It is fabulous!
Terri Maxwell says in the book that as a mother of 8 she had no choice but to learn how to prioritize and schedule, or nothing would be accomplished. However, it is just as applicable to the homeschooling mother of one that I am, as it is to the non-homeschooling family.
This book lays out in a step by step method exactly how to create a God driven schedule for your family. An absolute must for a "free spirited" mom who would much rather be on the go and who is trying to figure out how school fits in somewhere in the day. Through Terri's guidelines, (and a little help from my own mom!) not to mention much prayer, I've learned how to create a schedule that believe it or not, actually frees me and Brett to have more time for fun in the day! In the two weeks we have implemented our schedule, I've gotten more accomplished each day than I ever thought possible. Housework is done, Brett is learning to do chores and be diligent in his work, laundry is up to date, errands are completed and I'm not constantly trying to figure out what I'm supposed to be doing. (Here is where I have to insert an apology to my Mom, who is the queen of organization, that I finally see what you've been telling me for years! Sorry it took so long for this disorganized daughter to see the light!) Seriously though, organization can be your friend!!!
By now you are probably wondering if I'm getting some kind of kick back for my rave reviews...I assure you I am not :) I'm just a regular girl who has finally figured out how liberating a schedule can be. I highly recommend checking out this book if you can.
They offer other books as well, Managers of Their Chores and Managers of Their Schools. I bought (and have read) all of them. I didn't care for the school one as they stress the use of textbooks and that is not the route we are going. It's definitely written for the textbook using family. However, the chores book is great. Their beliefs on some things (more of a mostly work and little play thought process) are a bit over the top for me, but all in all its very helpful.
It covers learning how to set up chores for your children, teaching them to become diligent, having a servant's heart, learning to respect what God has blessed them with and discovering what age certain chores become appropriate. We are using their Chore Pack system and so far it has been great!
Sorry for the long post, but I just had to share these great books with you :)
What they are most know for is a book they have written called, Manager's of Their Homes. It has to do with scheduling and prioritizing things in your life. Everything is centered around Christ, prayer and allowing God to lead you to what your day needs to look like. It is fabulous!
Terri Maxwell says in the book that as a mother of 8 she had no choice but to learn how to prioritize and schedule, or nothing would be accomplished. However, it is just as applicable to the homeschooling mother of one that I am, as it is to the non-homeschooling family.
This book lays out in a step by step method exactly how to create a God driven schedule for your family. An absolute must for a "free spirited" mom who would much rather be on the go and who is trying to figure out how school fits in somewhere in the day. Through Terri's guidelines, (and a little help from my own mom!) not to mention much prayer, I've learned how to create a schedule that believe it or not, actually frees me and Brett to have more time for fun in the day! In the two weeks we have implemented our schedule, I've gotten more accomplished each day than I ever thought possible. Housework is done, Brett is learning to do chores and be diligent in his work, laundry is up to date, errands are completed and I'm not constantly trying to figure out what I'm supposed to be doing. (Here is where I have to insert an apology to my Mom, who is the queen of organization, that I finally see what you've been telling me for years! Sorry it took so long for this disorganized daughter to see the light!) Seriously though, organization can be your friend!!!
By now you are probably wondering if I'm getting some kind of kick back for my rave reviews...I assure you I am not :) I'm just a regular girl who has finally figured out how liberating a schedule can be. I highly recommend checking out this book if you can.
They offer other books as well, Managers of Their Chores and Managers of Their Schools. I bought (and have read) all of them. I didn't care for the school one as they stress the use of textbooks and that is not the route we are going. It's definitely written for the textbook using family. However, the chores book is great. Their beliefs on some things (more of a mostly work and little play thought process) are a bit over the top for me, but all in all its very helpful.
It covers learning how to set up chores for your children, teaching them to become diligent, having a servant's heart, learning to respect what God has blessed them with and discovering what age certain chores become appropriate. We are using their Chore Pack system and so far it has been great!
Sorry for the long post, but I just had to share these great books with you :)
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