Wow time as really zoomed by! Chag haMatzot (feast of unleavened bread) is over, and we're already on day 5 of counting the omer. These last few weeks have been pretty exciting. Our family has been enjoying fellowship with some new friends that have become very dear to us, and just getting to experience all that YHVH has in store for us. The next feast is Shavuot/Pentecost which will be at the end of the Omer count. But until then it's back to business as usual.
This last year has been a bit odd since my hubby has been home with us. But he has started back working again! HalleluYah!!! We are very excited and I'm getting readjusted to being home alone with the girls. The first day was a bit crazy but we're getting used to it slowly but surely.
Lately I have been in serious prayer about being a mom. This job is SO important and I really don't want to mess it up. So I've been spending lot's of time on my knees. With that YHVH has been showing me some things that have been a HUGE help.
One of the things that I'm working on is secular TV. We don't have cable but we use services like Netflix, and Hulu, so the girls have been able to watch different children's shows. But I've seen weeds that are sprouting up in them from these things so we are totally removing it with the exception of Shalom Sesame which we have on DVD so we get to avoid commercials. This isn't the first time we've done something like this but I think this is the most drastic change we've undergone.
Initially I tried to just keep the tv off but I noticed that it was a real struggle for us all. So now the plan is to just replace the "bad" with "good". We watch documentaries about families, or nature, as well as shows like 19 Kids and Counting. That's pretty much it, unless hubby decides to get a movie or something. It's been working for right now, and the ultimate goal is to cut down to practically no tv at all.
The other area that I'm working on is homeschooling. I am so guilty of expecting too much and then getting discouraged when it doesn't happen. If you remember at the start of the "school year" I had a great plan of action, but then when reading wasn't working out I got frustrated and then started trying other curricula. I didn't stick to my convictions and the plans that I had laid out.
That's not a cycle I'd like to continue, so I've been asking Elohim to show me the best way to teach the girls, so that my expectations don't hinder them. He has been leading me towards the Charlotte Masson approach, which is summed up in this quote: “Education is an Atmosphere, a Discipline, a Life.”
With using this approach there is A LOT of reading. Instead of texts books and worksheets, we read and learn through "living books" which are books that are usually a first hand account of some thing. Also we will be working on character traits (called habits by CM). I posted once before about our training Bible, and that will be our main text for all character lessons, copy work, and reading lessons. In addition we will be reading other books that reinforce what we are attempting to learn. Math skills will be taught using manipulatives.
I'm really excited about trying this new approach and I'm seeing that it really is very compatible with Deuteronomy 6:7 which is our personal education approach.
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. -Deut 6:7
We sold our TV but do watch a few nature documentaries and the Duggars on YouTube once in a blue moon. Usually we watch sermon videos.Lately Bryan Denlinger has been blaring out of our computer speakers. That's the way we approach homeschool too. Im glad your husband got a job. That's a huge blessing. Praise God on that.
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