Teaching Good Things

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I LOVE this story about a young man not wasting his youth away and thinking of the future.

What a blessing he will be to his future wife!

Homeschooling in the Garden
By Nancy Carter

Do you already find yourself dreaming of working in the soil this spring? Of getting your hands dirty and watching for those little green sprouts to magically appear?

Why not use your garden planning time as the ultimate homeschool unit study? Don’t think of gardening as something that takes away from your academics time. Think of it as something that can enrich it.

Involve the children in your research. Gardening will provide wonderful hands-on activities that can truly bring learning to life for your children. It’s something that both boys and girls can enjoy. You don’t have to live out in the country to have a garden. You can start with just a small spot in your yard, containers on your porch, or even a small herb garden in your windowsill. When I was a little girl, I had a wonderful grandmotherly type babysitter who kept a garden in her backyard. My mother often commented about how when she’d pick me up at the end of the day Mama Linda would have all of us kids sitting under a shade tree snapping green beans. We thought it was a wonderful treat to “get” to work in her garden.

Create a garden notebook with all of your plans together in one spot. Start by working together to create a list of all the fruits and vegetables that you eat or enjoy. Don’t feel like you have to grow a patch of squash if your family won’t eat it. Spend your time on things that you all will actually use!

Keep it simple. Assign different children to be in charge of certain plants. Narrowing their focus will help keep the tasks from seeming too overwhelming, while also helping your child to really research the best way to care for their plants. Children can find helpful growing information on the Internet, in books and magazines, and from experienced gardeners to put in their notebooks. Practical projects often help encourage even the most reluctant readers and writers. It gives learning purpose and brings satisfaction from a job well done. Watching those first little sprouts develop into an ear of corn, a watermelon, or giant sunflower can really make an impact on a child’s life.

Gardening helps mind, body, and spirit. Researching and planning for your garden involves reading, math, and science and encourages higher level thinking skills. You’ll also be able to use your notebook to journal when and where you plant things. Track the temperature and rain, fertilizing, how much you have to water them, and their growth.

Being outdoors in the sunshine is great for the body. Breathing in the fresh air and eating items straight from your garden can go a long way toward a healthier lifestyle for your family. Gardening provides nutritious food and exercise for growing bodies during those impressionable years.

Likewise, the peace and quiet of working with your hands in the garden is good for the spirit, and gardening can help bring many Bible truths to life. The parables of the farmer in Matthew 13 truly come tolife when children see how important preparing the soil is when they are trying to grow something.

Consider different types of gardens:

Traditional Garden—Grow plants directly in the soil in your backyard. One big advantage is how economical this type of garden is. It can be as large or small as you want.

Lasagna Garden—Grow plants without digging by planting in soil covered with a barrier layer (such as newspaper), compost, and mulch. The advantages are that there is no need to dig, it conserves water, there are fewer weeds to pull, it prevents erosion, and it improves the soil.

Container Garden—Grow plants in containers rather than planting directly into the ground. Advantages are that there is no digging in your yard, your garden is portable and decorative, and it is susceptible to fewer weeds and soil-borne diseases.

Raised Bed/Square Foot Garden—Grow plants in raised beds enriched with compost about one foot deep and 3-4 feet wide. Advantages with this type of garden include that the close planting creates microclimate that conserves moisture and reduces weeds; it is easier to maintain; the soil is not
compacted by walking on it; and higher yields are obtained. A subject within gardening that’s interesting to study with your children is companion planting. Companion planting is the method of planting certain pairs or groups of crops in closer proximity because they benefit each other. Native Americans planted the “Three Sisters” together—corn, pole beans, and squash—so that they could benefit from each other. The corn provides a structure for the beans to climb, eliminating the need for poles. The beans provide the nitrogen to the soil that the other plants need, and the squash spreads along the ground, monopolizing the

sunlight and thereby preventing weeds. The squash leaves act as a “living mulch,” creating a microclimate that retains moisture in the soil. The squash also deters pests with its prickly vines. Companion plants can benefit each other by repelling pests, encouraging beneficial insects, providing shelter or structure for each other, improving flavor, and enriching the soil. Carrots Love Tomatoes, by Louise Riotte, is a wonderful handbook for learning more about this method.

Also do some research on succession planting. Succession planting helps maximize your garden season’s potential. You can either plant different varieties of the same crop so they’ll mature at different rates, stagger when you plant crops so that they’ll mature at different times, or plant one crop and then another in the same space. Succession planting is a great way to increase your harvest by maximizing your use of space and timing. Often you can start off with a cool season crop like lettuce, follow it up with tomatoes that thrive in the heat, and then finish off the season with a third crop that grows well into the fall, such as spinach.

Now is the time to start planning, though. Select your plants. Draw out a design of your garden. Gather the materials you’ll need. If you’re planning on a container garden, keep your eye out for containers that you can use. If you’re going to do a lasagna garden, start saving your newspapers and cardboard boxes.

If you want to use compost in your garden, start your own worm bin or compost pile to discard your kitchen waste and improve your soil quality. Start building raised beds or gathering materials so you can start seeds indoors.

You can also incorporate history into your studies in the garden. Study the Victory Gardens of World War II and discover how Americans grew 40 percent of their vegetables, allowing the War Department to purchase the mass-produced vegetables for the troops overseas. During that time, emphasis was placed on making gardening a family or community effort—not a drudgery but a pastime and a national duty. We can learn a lot from history. As Cicero once said, “If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”

 Do a little gardening with your kids this year. No green thumb is required, just a love of learning and a willingness to get your hands dirty!

 ©2007 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

Reprinted with permission.

www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com

 Check out Olivia's new e-book:

Grow and Use Culinary Herbs 

When I look back over my life, what I 'knew' I wanted as a teenager and what my goals were for a 'good' life in the early years of our marriage, compared to what I know and want now are night and day! I was never taught a Biblical world view, so everything I wanted revolved around ME! Every area of my life was what "I" thought was right and true.

My oh my, how God has gently brought me to the place that I examine everything through a Biblical set of glasses now, and I'm sure He has alot more to show me.

Probably about 10 years ago we came across Vision Forum. It TOTALLY revolutionized our way of thinking. I will be forever in debt to Doug Phillips' for his boldness. I only wish I had had the VISION, a Biblical world view when I was younger, but that too was God's choosing, as He is the One that gives us eyes to see.

I AM thankful that our children are growing up learning to examine their lives through God's Word and not whatever 'they think' is right.

Right now Vision Forum is running a 50% OFF special on a new video series they have released.

How do you teach a shy daughter to go outside of herself? How do you gain a passion for evangelism and effectively witness to the lost? How do you answer critics who pit Jamestown’s providential beginnings against Plymouth’s? How do you cultivate a spirit of honor in your children?

These and other important questions are answered in Vision Forum’s new Reclaiming the Culture DVD Collection. This engaging seven-part video series — which features messages by Ray Comfort, Doug Phillips, Dr. Paul Jehle, and Geoffrey, Anna Sofia, and Elizabeth Botkin — is designed to dispel worldly myths that undermine biblical womanhood, honor, evangelism, and America’s providential history and to recapture these priorities in a way that reflects God’s Word and gives hope to our children. Watch previews online of each of the seven videos in the Reclaiming the Culture Collection.

Save 50% on New DVD Collection — Offer Ends May 30 Now through Friday, May 30, you can purchase the Reclaiming the Culture DVD Collection, comprised of seven newly-released family DVDs, for just $52 (50% off individual retail). This comes to just $7.42 per DVD for this entire collection. Sale ends at Midnight, May 30, 2008 (CST).

God created boys with special hormones so that they will be able to carry out their dominion mandate to subdue. They have naturally inquiring minds that leave mothers baffled at times. Most boys want to know how things work, they want to solve problems and explore the world around them. Parents need to be careful to balance time in the school books with time to physically work. Boys need to sweat and feel like they have accomplished something every day. This is important for their growth and self respect.

I don't think that there has been a mother that hasn't shaken her head in confusion and amazement at the way boys think. When boys are home under mom's wing all day and not able to use their God given design to work and solve problems, both mom and son can become frustrated.

As sons get older some (most) have a hard time receiving instruction from 'a woman', even if that woman is Mom. As much as possible have Dad give him his instructions for the day or week that he expects to be accomplished. Of course Dad's first instruction for his son is to obey and respect mother! It's not so much about what the task is, as it is who it is coming from.

Ways to help sons develop their abilities:

* Have Dad make a list of 'Guy Jobs', more than just taking out the garbage. :o) Look around your house and yard, are there things your son(s) can be doing after the school work is done?

* Give him projects that will help him develop his ability to solve problems.

    Does the garage need cleaning and organizing?
    
    Can rocks be lifted for a new flower bed?
    
    Can he have a garden that is his responsibility?
    
    Do the bicycles need maintenance, tires pumped?
    
    Are there squeaky hinges that need WD-40?
    
    Can he build a fort?
    
    Buy a fun type of science book with easy experiments.
    Tell him he has to do one experiment a week.
    
    Complicated paper airplane books are great!

* Get the grandfathers involved; do they have any suggestions of things he could be doing?

* Are there other men in the church or community who could help mentor him  one day a week or one day a month?

* Have him find his own ministry project that he can focus on. Every community has people in need.

The point is to keep his hands and mind busy! Help him avoid the bad habit of laziness. Boys are much more capable than we give them credit for.

A couple of weeks ago we came across this GREAT program. It is 3D Shed and Shop Designer. You can use it FREE for 2 weeks. It is only $30 if you choose to buy it. It's a great way for boys to learn a little about building and design.

We have some really cool sites listed under Manly Skills on our website. Your sons can learn all kinds of things about tools and cars. There are a couple of great interactive sites showing how a car is put together and runs. Again, THIS is how a boy's mind works.
 
Turn them loose and let them use their minds and endless energy the way God designed them!

We started homeschooling over 15 years ago. We had taken our oldest (my step-daughter), out of the government school system half way through her 4th grade year. That first semester was a miserable time, not because of her, but because of ME! I remember making her sit at a desk and drilling her on EVERYTHING, EVERY question had to be answered on EVERY page. It was awful! We both cried so much. That summer I was a nervous wreck because I was going to have to teach our next child how to read, I was so overwhelmed and scared. Jeff’s confidence in me and constant encouragement got me trough many nights of worrying. God, by His mercy, slowly led me to the right materials to teach Joshua how to read. I was so blown away that *I* could actually teach him something so important.

Over those first years we struggled with curriculum choices and schedules. Because we had four children I needed to make the best of my time and we fell in love with unit studies. We have relaxed so much that now ‘doing school’ is enjoyable and so much more relevant. We only have one child left at home that is ‘doing school’. She has a certain amount of book work that has to be done each week, but the majority of her lessons are learned in real life. We have a couple of home industries, she goes to help her dad with his work a lot and we are very involved in our community. I have no doubt that she learns more as we go about our day and ask questions, than she would if we just did book work. When I see that she has an interest in something I make sure we pursue that topic in other forms.

Our third child, Olivia, is graduating this month, although she really does not like to call it a graduation, because as she sees it, her life will not be changing any, she will continue to do the things she is doing. She is a serious reader and loves to learn. She will take classes that interest her, look for ways to minister to other people and pursue some home industries. Olivia has stared a home business making bath products. She is learning so much, marketing, packaging, quality control, money management, costumer satisfaction, deadlines, web design, venues, and so on! There is a difference between learning ABOUT something in a book and then actually doing it!

This is the e-book she was inspired by:

Home educating our children has been one of the most important decisions we have made as parents and learning how to relax and embrace learning has been just as important. I wish I could get those first years back when I was so uptight and making all of us miserable, but I can’t. If I could give any advice to new home educators it would be to quit looking at the flawed government school system and start enjoying the learning process. There are countless opportunities every day right before us, we just need to be free enough to seize them.

Teaching our children to read, write and do math is very important, but so is equipping our children with the skills to be well rounded adults. They NEED more than book knowledge. They need to know how to do things with their hands and they need to know how to engage people of all ages. As parents let’s make sure that we are free enough to give our children life skills, along with the academics to make them useful for God’s kingdom!