All are invited to The Gospel Banner Summer Day Conference on the 12th August, 2023.
The Gospel Banner is a new work for younger people, replacing Stand Therefore. The Gospel Banner will continue the work of Stand Therefore, and will continue to produce monthly magazines to encourage the young to Godly living, occasional publications and monthly, in-person (and streamed online) meetings for those aged 12+. Age is no limit however. All are welcome to attend.
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I sometimes get an email from Primal meats (I have no affiliation with them). The writer – the owner of the business (a farmer) is a thinker – but not a Christian. But she sees many things wrong in the way we live and reflects on them. I found one of her recent posts food for thought.
The writer starts by asking: It’s interesting to me that currently, the idea that kindness is the ‘master’ virtue is at an all-time high. As protection is synonymous with kindness it’s not hard to see how we believe that protecting people from all harm should be the ultimate aim of modern society. What about the forgotten virtues of resilience, courage, temperance, honesty, tenacity, creativity and self-responsibility? When did these get downgraded? I thought this a good question for parents, and especially Christian parents, to consider: how has this need need for kindness (think safety) manifested itself? It is now completely kind to shield your child from all danger. Yes there are of course dangers that Christians want to keep our children from - e.g. immorality, but those of us who remember the day all laughed when they put soft tarmac in children's playgrounds, not realising that this was actually symptomatic of a deeper issue. Just think, now it also completely kind to make sure that your child has nothing but a childhood of bliss, just fun all day long: no hardships, no struggles; no correction as discipline is not kind and no failing for that is unkind - and so qualifications have become meaningless as 'all must have prizes'. Instead, non stop entertainment is promoted: especially, technologically based 'fun'. The culture around us shouts it powerfully, continually, from the media to the adverts for WIFI that come through the letter box: Just enjoy yourselves - worry about nothing - we will take care of your food and your health and your money - we will keep you SAFE! Increasingly, over many years now, our parenting ability has been downgraded. It is now completely kind to send your child to nursery/childcare as s/he will be better off there (think 'safe' - from you) than at home, despite the fact that your child will be deprived of God-given, loving relationships that can only be developed in the home and which are so fundamental to proper development of body, mind and soul - which was a previously well established fact - as God ordained them to be. And of course we are being told that it unsafe for children to be educated at home - think 'unsafe' as 'they cannot see your child or indoctrinate him/her. The writer goes on to ask if it is true that kindness is better than the other virtues. This is a another good question that Christian parents need to be asking. She compares livestock kept in barns and fed grain to those allowed to be natural, exhibiting their natural behaviours, and comparing differing ideas of what constitutes ‘high welfare’ – i.e. being safe but living a non-existent life (as in ‘caged’ animals) – or learning to live with the risks and the relative better health and quality of meat for those animals allowed to be proper animals (as they were designed to be, we would say) – she says: 'We talk about animal cruelty in the sense of ‘not being looked after’ but totally ignore that these animals basic genetic program is to be reared outside on diverse pastures all year round - insect bites and cold nights included. We are now being offered a future of technology where we will hardly need to think for ourselves let alone have to drive ourselves or worry about inconvenient concepts like staying fit and healthy or developing a resilient mindset - we will be monitored, medicated and protected - It’s for our own good you know! Should we keep backing away from the scary and dangerous world full of stressful situations, people voicing opinions that might insult us and having to eat well and stay strong so we don’t get sick? Well, I say; thanks but no thanks. I’ll take the hard road and painful life lessons that are the road to wholeness. It’s in the strain, pain and discomfort; the hard work and extreme challenges; the grief and despair that humans actualise their potential. There’s a reason the best cup of tea with cake is after a hard day in the mountains. Why do we get a feeling of true satisfaction and genuine happiness after landing a deal that required months of skilled negotiations? Why seeing the bluebells in spring after a dark winter can lift your spirits so much. Without hardship the pleasures are meaningless. So let’s learn from the hairy hardy cattle who live outdoors through the winter on regenerative farms. They are hardy and resilient and thrive on natural forage, their deep guts and thick coats keep them warm and dry. They know where to shelter in the woods and find the nutritious plants they need for optimal health. They feel a part of the herd and know their role. They are relaxed but alert. They are thriving, not just comfortable and surviving. It got me thinking. Thinking about God's Word. How have we come to think that people and especially children need only kindness of the kind that takes the very essence of what it is to be human and created in God's image away from them? Kindness that robs them of loving relationships - a picture of God's relationship with us - as they are encouraged to be in a virtual world much of the time - as if that can ever replace real relationships. Kindness that robs them of correction (E.g. Proverbs 22:15, Ephesians 6:23) and so leaving them at the mercy of the emotions that rage in their souls and which have the capacity to destroy; both things that the Bible tells us our children need and Christian parents are exhorted to provide for their children. How did we come to believe that it is kindness to spare children from hard work, when hard work reaps many rewards, including the benefits of rigorous use of their minds for study? The lack of ability to work hard leaves youngsters bereft of real knowledge and at the mercy of all who would deceive - of whom there are many and of whom we are warned time and again in Scripture. Or what about the Kindness that tells children that the only purpose of their existence is to be entertained and have fun (see the dangers here)? The list could go on much further. How did we come to this place? We could start in the Garden of Eden, when Satan made those grand promises to Eve: And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Genesis 3: 4-5 .. and we could trace the battle between Satan and the church from the beginning through to this day, for that is where it starts, but for times sake, let's jump back to the 17/1800's when child-centred learning was introduced by the likes of Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712 -1778), Sigmund Freud (1856-1923), and John Dewey (1859 - 1952). who 'proved' through their anti-God theories of child development that parents and teachers could harm children (unkindness) by correcting them or trying to teach them. John Dewey is credited with being the founder of the 'progressive education movement' which totally moved education away from teaching the truths of the Bible and the pursuit of truth and the rigours of study that accompany that pursuit. The child was no longer seen as being made in the image of God, to being an evolved animal; a member of a 'group' who must be educated to fit into the 'group'. The wars slowed the progress of these ideas, but come they did and many in the land sighed with relief when they were over and 'won', and dropped their guard. Satan never goes to sleep. Eventually, these anti-God beliefs began to dominate every area of society. All members of society are now educated to belong to the 'group'. This includes education by the media/tabloids to all the other 'advice' that is meted out to us daily, telling us how to be 'kind'. We are all continually being 'educated' and we must recognise the power of the media to dictate thought in society: it is very strong. Maybe you remember 'Circle time' from your schooldays. It was presented to teachers as a way to control unruly behaviour - a means of being kind to the child to correct his/her 'unkind' ways. And they did it, many teacher's being totally unaware of the deeper anti-God motive. The idea? That all in the circle are equal. Anyone who had a belief that went against the group consensus was quickly squashed. The child learned that that behaviour was unacceptable. Sadly the child who said s/he believed in God was often quickly squashed too, by godless teachers. And so in these days we see this same idea being worked out. Any outside the 'circle' of society and do not agree with whatever narrative we are being told is 'true' is a threat to society and its wellbeing, and are essentially 'unkind' to that society. The truth is that they are a threat to Satan's aim of deceiving people into believing that there is no God, no sin and no judgement and no eternal death; the same message all along. He has used many tactics over the years since the world began, but the current strategy is subtle, aiming to deceive as many as possible. The message today is: these people must be discredited and seen to be a danger - including home-educators. All must conform, or have their privileges taken away. Where can you see that in society today? When society has anti-God beliefs, is it any wonder that pressure is on Christians to conform, or suffer? Can you see how easy it is for free speech to be squashed and freedoms to be removed. First the 'group' must be conditioned to think in the desired way (ultimately by Satan but using his servant in positions of authority). Then you can get the group to apply pressure on the dissenters to conform.. We can see this being worked out in the case of our freedoms to home-educate: 'It is not safe for children to be at home where we cannot see them', they say. They are currently in the stages of conditioning society to think in this way with high-profile stories of children abused 'at home'. Society is listening and soon we will feel the 'group' against us. Registration is coming fast as the first step to criminalising home-education. I fear that many of us (including myself) have been sleep walking and not understanding that the Devil is ever active. We should know the Word of God so well that we recognise the lies, but we thought we lived in a country where we did not need to worry about such things. We lived in peace, and relative security. We closed our eyes, as it were, to enjoy ourselves and our families. And here lies a big challenge and searching questions for us all. Have we been deceived in any way? Have we succumbed to the culture around us? Who do we listen to? Do we see the dangers of listening to the world? Do we think that as long as we go to church and read our Bibles and home educate, the battle is won? This has sure been a challenge to me! Are we preparing our children for the battle? What Christian virtues are we developing in our children? Are we doing all that we can to ensure that they reach their God-given potential to glorify him though their lives?
In closing, a final thought: Parents who keep children out of school to ensure they are not taught evolution or sex-education, must understand that evolution/sex education these days is not just a problem of a subject being taught, but now underpins practice in all areas, from government policies, to medical and educational practice - both subject content and how those subjects are taught. Evolutionary thinking, that is, how to behave for the good of society, is what many of us were taught in school and what is still taught to us by the media and Government and all the 'good' advice meted out to us by all and sundry, including being at the heart of the state curriculum including GCSE's and A Levels. Sadly, due to blindness, it is also in our churches, as the evil one has been working so subtly and many professing Christians do not see what was/is happening. Should you wish to read more on this subject, I recommend 'The Long War against God', by Henry M. Morris. Further reading: By Jessica Turpin: https://dailysceptic.org/2022/05/24/this-authoritarian-governments-education-bill-will-allow-local-authorities-to-force-home-educated-children-to-attend-their-own-failing-schools/ By Christina Eastwood: https://christianhomeeducation.weebly.com/blog/wales-again Question We wish to take our early teen child out of school and home educate him/her. Can we use the Robinson Curriculum? Both parents are working, one self employed. Our answer It will not be easy, but neither would it be impossible to start home educating a young teen, using the Robinson Curriculum, having taken him/her out of school at this late stage. However it is vital that you think it through carefully first. Ask some hard questions and give real answers:
RC requires a lot of self- discipline. Although we do not require it of a child initially, as s/he will need to be trained to be self disciplined if s/he has not already been so trained - and it will look different in the home-school setting to that of school anyway, we do need to be, ourselves, modelling it to the child every waking moment. Basically, RC requires the parent (at least one) to work in the same room as the child. It is not realistic to expect a child to work unwatched as the sinful heart cannot cope with that much responsibility, so young. Set:
It would not be economically necessary to buy the RC discs as the child is not starting from the beginning. But you can use the principles. After the basic principles, RC recommends these things which I highly recommend for good attitude and for encouraging a thinking mind:
I would never want to discourage anyone from home-educating, given the perverse nature of education in the schools at this time. However, teenagers are on their way to becoming young adults and if they are not whole heartedly behind the idea, there will likely be more resistance, when they cannot see their friends so often and need to be alone much more. These things are so much easier when the child has been trained to them for the very start of life. But never under-estimate prayer, and always seek God's will for you as a family. Sometimes life calls for us to be tough, for the good of our child in the battle for his/her soul. We need to bring up our children on our knees in much prayer for wisdom, guidance and strength. Should we bother to teach handwriting?
There has long been an argument as to whether children need to learn to physically write when these days we mostly use a keyboard, be it a proper keyboard, or one such as on a smartphone or tablet.
For me there is no other answer than yes, because, as it the case with many of the things we teach our children the subject is not the only aspect being taught. For example, maths does not just teach an ability to handle mathematical concepts such as number, measures and data, but it also teaches logic and an ability to work out what is true - a very important ability in these days! God created our world complete with patterns and logic and the logic is there to find and apply. We must teach maths to our children. And so with handwriting, there is more to it than just being able to pass on information/record ideas and express ourselves. If these were the only benefits of learning to write physically then yes, maybe the computer could be said to have superseded the art of handwriting, though I think that is a little shortsighted as the computer is dependent on electricity, which is not to be guaranteed to last. So what else can learning to write teach a child? For starters, when children are first learning the letters of the alphabet and their associated sounds, the actual forming of letters with the hand is a long recognised way of reinforcing the learning - the forming of a link between brain and hand: the recognising of the letter, the voicing of the correct sound and the formation of the letter work together in a multi sensory way and by using all three, progress is faster and more secure than it would be if physically writing the letters by hand were omitted. Secondly - and many do not recognise this - it encourages diligence, patience and control. Diligence is not something we are encouraged to be concerned about in our fast paced- modern world. And we miss it badly! How many of us have bemoaned the fact that mistakes are made by people using computers and relying on them instead of thinking and seeing the obvious mistakes the computer has made? Lack of diligence and care is the cause. Patience is so necessary for true learning to take place. Modern technology would have us (and children, especially) believe that learning is easy. It tells a lie, for all learning is hard work and requires many mistakes to have been made first - think of the invention of say the light bulb! Handwriting, no less, requires much patient practice and this habit must start early. Once a child has learned to form letters and reaches around 12 (on average) his/her writing style will be established. Whether your child's handwriting is neat, or messy depends in some part on how much control has been established and encouraged. Obviously a child with coordination problems cannot be expected to have the same amount of control as a child with no such difficulties - but none-the-less, each child must be helped to achieve the maximum level of control of which they are capable. And so these three, diligence, patience and control are character traits that are so important for god-honouring living and we will want to teach them to our children. Obviously, the care we take to teach handwriting can be imparted to to other areas of life, for example: control of behaviour, patience in learning any new skill and diligence in doing all things well. Do follow it through. Children will be sloppy if not taught otherwise - many say 'My child doesn't take care!' Maybe your child has not been taught to take care. Friends -our children are not born wanting to do that which is right - these things must be taught and teaching is hard work - and yes it requires, patience, diligence and control! How to teach handwriting
There is an art in teaching handwriting - but it can be learned by any parent.
Some schools of thought encourage the joining of letters from the beginning, others teach joining later, once a 'hand' has been established. I always prefer the latter approach as it always produces neater handwriting from a younger age, helping the children to start the habit of writing legibly from the start. Many children struggle with the coordination needed to form letters correctly, let alone join them from the start, and as a consequence, often their handwriting is illegible for a long time, which does not help spelling. The key is not to leave it too late before introducing joining so that it becomes automatic as soon as possible, for most children no later than Year 2. Either way, these tips will still help. Establish handedness
Do not assume that your child is right-handed. Look to see which hand s/he naturally use to pick up objects. Pass him/her a ball and see which hand s/he extends to take it. Do this several times as some children will swap hands each time, others do one hand one day and another the next! If they are consistent, then the hand they use is their preferred hand.
Some children will remain undecided for some years. These are often the children who have difficulty learning to read and spell without a systematic programme. Let each hold the pencil with the hand s/he finds most comfortable with. Establish pencil hold
Very few people actually hold a pencil correctly but it is worth persevering to ensure a correct hold as it is the most comfortable and easy position to write in, ensuring the correct pressure on the writing tool, neither too hard or too soft, and the best position for maintaining writing speed, especially during exams, without getting hand cramp. Wrong positions abound. Can you spot the errors in these pictures?
There are many devices available to help young children to position their fingers correctly, but from my experience, you still need to supervise as even with them, the position can slip into a less favourable one.
Children with low muscle tone
Some children have low muscle tone - especially those with known dyspraxia/autism. This can make it harder for them to have sufficient control/coordination to write, which may persist throughout life, depending on the severity. However, they can achieve great things.
Tips: give the child a fat tool until sufficient muscle tone has been developed to hold a finer tool. Felt tip pens are best as they give a strong mark with the least pressure. Do not expect the same level of neatness as for a child without low muscle tone - however, never settle for less than the child's best and strive to help the child to reach the highest standard they can attain to. Never excuse a child because of his/her disability, but be understanding of his/her limitations.
Broad pens for those with low muscle tone
Teach correct letter formation from the beginning
This is hard work, but foundational to success. From the minute you teach a child to write his/her name, s/he must form the letters correctly. Bad habits started at this stage are very hard to undo.
First check that you are forming your letters correctly, so that you provide the right role model. How to form letters correctly It is helpful, but not essential, if children are taught to form letters as they learn the initial sounds of the letters. The act of writing helps to link the sound and symbol in the child's mind. Right from the start introduce a line for the letters to sit on. This is important as it establishes the relation of one letter to another so that letters can be written in proportion to each other. It also helps the child's work to look neat and tidy and avoid line confusion, which is common when children start to write without lines to write on. As you teach each letter, talk through it's direction. E.g. 'See it starts at the top, comes down to the line and up and over (h). Or: We start at the side and go round to touch the line at the bottom and back to close the circle and down to the line for the stick. (a) Tell the child that all letters start at the top, never at the bottom. I use one line for young children, but age 5/6 onwards I do some formal work in a proper handwriting book with 4 lines to help them 'see' and 'feel' how letters are proportioned. These free handwriting tracing sheets may be of help: www.soundfoundations.co.uk/product/handwriting-tracing-sheets/ Practice makes perfect
Having taught the correct formation, letter by letter, then be vigilant to make sure that the child is doing them properly. Watch over him/her as s/he writes, as it is possible for a letter to have been drawn incorrectly, but still look right. Watch and keep watching, even until they are 7 or 8. Occasionally look over a piece of writing to see if they do look right. Pick up on any that slip and re-teach, stressing how important it is to get them right, for ease of writing and so that it looks good. I am a great believer in neat handwriting.
Use paper and pens for pre-schoolers as pens make a good solid mark on the page, whereas achieving the right firmness with a pencil is hard for young children. Move to a pencil as soon as possible. Big fat pencils are easier to hold for 4/5 year olds.
A popular handwriting programme used by home educators
Stages in learning to write
Obviously, holding the pencil and forming letters correctly must come first and this will need much practice, so make it enjoyable and always keep the sessions short. Ideally you would teach the formation of each letter with the sound it stands for. This is the basis of spelling. Without the ability to spell, all the letter formation in the world is of no use. Use a good phonic spelling scheme. Aim to do a little every day Monday to Friday. Little and often is the key. I find this is best continued through to age 10/11.
Very young children may want to try and 'pretend' write and this should be encouraged. Children may continue to 'pretend' write once they obtain some writing skills, with a desire to practice their new skills and having the effect of making them feel like writers. Again, this is good. Sadly, for some children, this 'pretend' writing is left to 'emerge' into proper writing, with minimal guidance from an adult. With this I disagree. There must be formal times of teaching, of letter formation, spelling and subsequently, grammar, form and style. The two approaches need to be kept in balance, but with the aim of the formal teaching underpinning the 'pretend' writing, until the child's skills are such that the two merge together. Once a child can form many letters correctly, and can write his/her name in the correct case (capital to start each name and the other letters in lower case), then my approach is to have the child give me a short sentence, maybe to write under a picture. I then write on the top line, with capital letters in the correct places and proper punctuation, and then ask the child to copy under my writing. This gives a standard and a model to work to. This is a good way to start copy work as you can regulate the size of writing. Copying from a book with small print and funny looking letters (e.g. 'a') can be off-putting when you are just starting to learn. Young children have little control of the pencil, so write clearly and fairly large - letters at least 2 cm tall. Reduce the size of the writing as they progress. With regular practice it also introduces the children to common words like 'the' and 'here' which some will easily pick up and learn to spell for themselves. It teaches them to leave spaces between words - but you will need to encourage them to use a finger to leave a space between their words as they copy to begin with. When s/he has finished, look at how s/he has copied. Get used to assessing your child's work - don't just accept what you are given. Are the letters correctly formed? Are they sitting in the right place relative to the line? Give feedback to the child and pick out just 2 or 3 letters to practice, or one word to write again, giving guidance as to how his/her handwriting can be improved. Obviously, praise for good effort. Never praise for carelessness, though.
Only once the child is blending 3 or four sounds together and writing dictation sentences the child should be asked to write for him/herself and that only for the reading/spelling lesson, where the words needed will only be ones that the child has the knowledge to be able to spell.
When handwriting is fairly controlled, and the child can cope with funny looking letters (like 'a'), find good quality books (with language you wish your child to emulate) for your child to begin copy work, starting with a short sentence a day. Read it to the child if it is beyond his/her reading ability, or let him/her read the words s/he can read. Once more, assess the work on completion and give teaching tips. The child should have accurately copied everything - no capital letters in the wrong place, properly punctuated, check the letter formation etc... As children copy in this way, they will absorb spelling, grammar and sentence construction. You will be surprised how delighted they will be to find words they can read. 'Oh look, it says ....!' they will be thrilled with their page of REAL writing. Children know when they are not writing properly. We are naturally delighted with their attempts when they are 3/4 years old, but if they are still writing in play writing aged 7/8 (unless there is a reason for this) then you will have a frustrated child on your hands who if they haven't already, will soon give up on writing and declare they can't do it! Once children have sufficient spelling skills then they can be asked to write more and more by themselves, but never overwhelm them. If you feel your child is retracting into thinking they can't write, back off and let him/her copy again until confidence returns. Age 10 plus
With the Robinson Curriculum, children are given copy work until the age of ten (approximately) when they are then asked to write a page every day. There is no harm in doing this and it has proved may times to be valuable.
Once a child reaches ten, then more formal writing instruction can be given - the mechanics of actually putting a piece of writing together, sentence by sentence, to communicate a message in the best possible way. Parents differ in how they approach this: whether to use a writing scheme at this point, to let the child choose it's own topic, or to give a topic, or a mixture of all three. What is important is daily writing practice. As someone once said, you learn to write by writing, just as reading comes with reading etc.. My children wrote heaps by themselves in informal ways before the age of ten, but writing for school work was set by me and was done to my standard. At the end of each writing session, you need to give feedback as to grammar, punctuation, spelling and style - the sound of the writing. It is with this feedback that many parents feel they need help. There are various writing programmes available to home-educators. Two of the most popular are: Writing With skill
I cannot recommend the early books (Writing With Ease) as we found them very boring, however all children are different. The later books in the Writing with Skill series (appropriate for a bright 10 year old plus) were excellent and turned my children into confident writers. Again they both had totally different needs, but the books catered for both. The books have an excellent Teachers' manual (bought separately) which effectively guides you as to what to say to respond to the students work.
https://welltrainedmind.com/p/the-complete-writer-writing-with-skill-level-1-student-workbook/ Institute for Excellence in WritingIn order to succeed in every area of life, children must hone the skills needed to communicate confidently and effectively. Through the process of learning to write well, students learn how to think clearly and to express themselves eloquently and persuasively. Our goal is to equip you to assist your child in this process. All ages
It has to be said that children will copy the style of writing they are exposed to. So in order to feed your child's writing, give them the highest quality reading material. The modern dumbed down language so prevalent these days does nothing to enhance children's overall language development and the ability to express themselves clearly either in word or print. Pre-1960's literature in the main is the best model for our children.
Whether parents are long or short-term home-educators, there is often the problem of finding suitable reading material to match the child's level, once a child has learnt the basics of reading. Schools will often colour-band their reading books to make it easier for a child to choose an appropriate book. This is not foolproof, however, and should not be relied upon. It also has the down-side of encouraging children to think they are better, or worse readers, depending how far up the banding scale they are. It may also make them think that the book levels are all there is to reading and set their aspirations too low. This, too, can be unhelpful. How do we decide a book is right?When we are home-educating we do not need to worry so much about levels. They are only necessary for schools to help them keep tabs on pupils as the teachers do not have time to handpick books for individual pupils. Here you win, as you know your child better than the teachers and you have the most concern for your child. The beauty of home-schooling is that you can go at a pace suited to your child without needing to compare him/her to ‘levels’ which are artificial. Without the pressure to meet a particular ‘level’, children are freed from the stigma of failure. What is more important is that your child is comfortable reading the books s/he reads. If a child cannot read many of the words, or understand what is being read, then the child will not enjoy reading. It will become a chore. Speed is not the aim, nor is competing. For this I am so thankful as it takes all pressure off of me the teacher. Our world is all about competition. As Christians we can side-step that. Our aim is doing all things ‘as unto the Lord’. So I would rephrase that question. What can your child read?What is your child comfortable reading? Good books, even if they were primarily written for younger children, will teach much. There is nothing wrong with an older child still enjoying books for younger children. By a good book, I mean one that demonstrates good grammar and style of literacy. This is important because as a child reads, they are not only taking in the story, but also learning grammar and writing style at the same time. These are your tools for teaching writing that many teachers neglect. They are also the means by which children learn to grapple with difficult ideas - books help to teach children to think. Do not underestimate the power of reading. What is most important is: a) that your child reads. Ten minutes times school grade per day is a good goal. Keep the reading time short to start with – ten minutes if need be - and gradually build up. Help your child to choose a book. Children will often err on the side of what we consider too easy. Be happy with that to start with and resist the temptation to say "Oh that's too young for you." Look at the text and decide if it is within your child's ability to read it. Then set a quiet time when reading can take place without distractions. This is a good discipline: it helps to build reading stamina and also children start learning that reading is expected by you. Bear in mind that it is mainly through reading that all other subjects will be learnt. Always talk about what your child has read with him/her afterwards – a bit of special mom time always goes down well! b) The quality of books that s/he reads. The modern books for children do not contain good examples of grammar or writing style. They may pass the world's standards, but in the past they would have been considered of a very poor standard. My advice is to choose reading material from pre 1960's. You can find suitable books for all ages on our reading list. The older the book the more value it will have for your child with a richer vocabulary and better grammar. There are a few exceptions to the rule, either way. Some like Michael Morpurgo, but I'm afraid I class his work as very shallow in comparison with for example G. A. Henty. Do not forget non fiction books which all count as well. You will also want to guide your child towards reading longer, more demanding books as his/her ability to sustain concentration develops. Here again, modern books fail us not only as they tend to be light reads, not requiring depth of thought. For those anxious about their child being able reach GCSE standard- be reassured. The standard is not high. If your child is used to reading demanding texts by age 16 then there will not be a problem. Remember too, that as children age, they should ideally move away from purely fictitious works which often feature increasingly immoral content, as well as encouraging a delight in entertainment to titivate the senses. Historical fiction, for example, or historical biographies are far better as these titles are based around real events, teaching history as well, though as history is not a fool proof subject, care must be taken here too. I love this bit I have found in a really ancient old UK reader. I think it could be applicable to all good reading books and have added words in brackets to that effect: ‘This reader (or book) is a handbook for developing the power of reading for comprehension and habits of study. (It) leads a child, through appropriate work at each stage, to grow in comprehension of the meaning of words, sentences, and paragraphs, with corresponding power to pick out information, to arrange facts in order of their importance, to make useful summaries of what has been read, to frame questions and to prepare answers, to arrange matter so that it may be remembered easily and quickly and in general to use printed and written material as the skillful student will use it. All this practice will bear fruit not only in his reading of literature, but more particularly in his study of textbooks in history, geography or science. By teaching him(her) reading in this broader sense we place in his (her) hands a powerful implement for gaining knowledge as apart from mere information.’ Doesn’t this just lift reading to a higher level straight away. We are not getting our children to read books to prove their prowess or otherwise in reading. Along with the writing which encourages them to further organise their thoughts and frame arguments etc... we are putting into their hands powerful learning tools to equip them for life. Believe me, even if your child never reaches higher level books, his/her work with any books of a high caliber will teach study skills for life. Many of us have seen that happen in our children. As you grow in confidence at choosing books with your child and see the results it will get easier. I know it seems a huge jump to abandon the ‘security’ of knowing what level a child is on, but that’s not true learning! Enjoy learning.
To give you a taste of our FREE lessons for home-educators, here is one! We base the lesson around the story of the Luftwaffe and go on to learn about writing accounts of events. You can see the activities for younger children clearly marked.
To find many, many, more, please see: www.christianhomeeducation.weebly.com
This lesson is found on September 7th
Memory Verse When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Isaiah 43:2 This verse is a promise to those who trust in the Lord Jesus that he will look after us in life and in death. Very tiny children can learn the words in bold and understand that it is the Lord who is speaking to his children. The words are all simple; only “kindle” may require some explanation to little children. I have set out the words so that you can learn them in various ways depending on how many children are working together. Two children can repeat the verse, with one saying the green and the other the orange words, joining together for the last line. Three children can say a pair of lines each, joining together for the last line. If you swap over, every child will have learned the whole verse. If a child is working alone an adult can partner with them using the green and orange words and swapping over. Memory verses such as this can be practised at all sorts of times such as in the car or even while doing chores. Something to read from history
(1) On September 7th 1940, the German air force, the Luftwaffe, began a concentrated bombing attack on the major cities of Britain. This series of raids lasted until mid-1941 and became known as the “Blitz”. London was bombed more heavily and more frequently than any other city and in the following extract, Edward Murrow, an American reporter, gives his description of one night's air raid.
For three hours after the night attack got going, I shivered in a sandbag crow's-nest atop a tall building near the Thames. It was one of the many fire-observation posts. There was an old gun barrel mounted above a round table marked off like a compass. A stick of incendiaries bounced off roof-tops about three miles away. The observer took a sight on a point where the first one fell, swung his gun-sight along the line of the bombs and took another reading at the end of the line of fire. Then he picked up his telephone and shouted above the half gale that was blowing up there, “Stick of incendiaries – 190 and 220 – about three mile away”.
If there are any words in the report that you do not understand use a good dictionary to look them up. I have highlighted a few terms you may not know in turquoise. If you do not live near London find out which city nearest to you suffered during the Blitz. What do you think happened to the information provided by the fire-observers? If you read the lesson for May 7 you may remember the bicycle hero, Ronald Heys. A sixteen year old boy scout, it was his job to cycle from the fire service headquarters, where the messages from the observers were received, to the teams of firemen on duty wherever they were at the time. He carried the messages so that the firemen could know where to go next. He had to get to them as quickly as possible so that as soon as one blaze was under control, men and appliances could be moved off to the next one. From the information received from the observers the men at the fire service HQ could work out which team was nearest and should be alerted.
(1) Adapted from Owen, Evan, What Happened Today Volume 2, available on the Mothers' Companion Flashdrive: https://motherscompanion.weebly.com. (2) American term for an engine driver. Helping younger ones understand
Depending on ages etc. either their grandparents or great grandparents will have lived through the Second World War. Explain that an enemy wanted to destroy our country at that time but that God graciously made us strong and able to defend ourselves. Many boys and girls had daddies who had to go away to be brave soldiers, defending our country. Others were sailors or flew aeroplanes.
Those who were too old or not fit to go did fire watching work (as above) and helped to take care of families. If you have any old photos of grandparents as children or of great grandparents this would be a good time to get them out and have a look. Learning the memory verse helps us understand that God looks after his children. Something to write
The American, Edward Murrow (1908-1965), was a famous wartime reporter. He pioneered many techniques of radio journalism such as collating the reports of a number of radio correspondents in different places in the form of a “News Round Up.” Read through his report again and pick out the things that make it give such a vivid picture of the Blitz to his American listeners. Older children may like to pick out the metaphors and similes Murrow uses to make his report come alive. Now see if you can try your hand at being a reporter! Notice that Edward Murrow spent time with the fire-watchers and took careful note of what they did. He could not even ask them questions – they were too busy – he observed very accurately and then wrote his report. Think of something that happens in your own area or even your own family that you could make a short report about. It could be something like fixing a problem with the car, planting something in the garden or even cooking something. Do you have a friend or relative who can fly a kite, mend a bike puncture, paint a picture or make jam? Ask if you can watch. Make very careful notes of what you see, hear, smell. If you are interested in football or some other sport you could write a report of a match or competition you have have seen. Are you going to listen to a symphony orchestra or a piano recital?
Take your notebook along and make notes about everything you can. Now take your notes and work them into a paragraph that is as vivid a description of the activity you have chosen as possible. Think of someone who has never seen jam made or heard an orchestra or flown a kite and try to interest them in the subject. If, when you have finished this exercise, you find you have enjoyed doing it, there may be ways of taking it further. Local newspapers are sometimes grateful for contributions, especially the free newspapers who have to provide interesting content if they are to attract the advertisers who provide their revenue. Look to see if your localnewspaper has a regular sports report – if sport interests you. If they do not already have a column then send in a report of a local match or competition and they may print it. Has your church held any special service such as a Sunday School prize giving or a harvest festival recently? Write something about it, being sure to give your church's name and address and the times of services, explaining that everyone is welcome to come. If your piece does not get published, don't give up. Keep trying and your writing will improveespecially if you ask as many people as you can to read it and make comments. If you are a member of a local home education group you might be able to get together with friends and produce a little magazine of your own now and then. You could let any friends or family have a copy for the cost of paper and ink. If you like the idea, ask around; you may find you have friends who enjoy writing, drawing, making up crossword puzzles or taking photos who would be able to contribute. The secret to writing a successful magazine is to choose your subject carefully as you will need to be able to have plenty of subjects for the articles to keep you going for a long time. Secondly, make sure that the magazine is full of good quality content; content written to inform and educate, not to impress. Avoid too much 'padding' with adverts, puzzles and large photos. Use these wisely but sparcely. Make sure every page is full. Lastly, pay attention to creating a pleasing design, rather than a sensational one. Something for younger ones to make
Read the history of the three young men and the fiery furnace in Daniel chapter 3. It is quite easy to understand if read aloud to young children directly from the Bible with a little explanation as you go along. You could adapt the words yourself for very young children. They will understand how it relates to the memory verse. Help them to make a large newspaper style page about the event. It could include a headline, a picture, the outline of events in simple words and large letters set out as a newspaper column, and the memory verse. This could be put up on the wall or they could be encouraged to “read” it themselves and show it to family and friends.
Something to read for older ones
Probably the most famous “school story” of all time is Fifth Form at St Dominics by Talbot Baines Reed (1852-1893). Talbot Baines Reed, whose father owned a London printer's type foundry, was something of a journalist himself. Fifth Form at St Dominics was first published in the Religious Tract Society's Boys' Own Paper, to which he was a regular contributor. Without spoiling the plot I can tell you that a prominent feature is the fifth form newspaper and the journalistic efforts of the boys to get it together. If you can, request a copy from your public local library. If all else fails it is available on Project Gutenberg and the Internet Archive. Talbot Baines Reed was a Christian and his Christian principles and outlook come over very naturally in the book.
During the Covid-19 period of emergency home-schooling, Christina Eastwood and I put together several months of free lessons for Christian home-educators. As these were well received, we thought that we would make them available permanently, and add to them (D.V.) until we have a free lesson for every day of the year. The result is a new website: |
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Tried and tested
These activites were designed for real children. The writer knows the areas that young children find difficult to grasp and has broken each concept down into simple steps with plenty of practice.
Using the workbooks
Simple instructions as to how to complete each activity are given at the top of each page. The child is not expected to be able to read this: always read it to him/her and then work through the page together. Let the child work independently a much as possible, but remember, the aim is success at this stage. If the child struggles with an activity, then lay it aside and do some practical work first, before trying it again another day. Do make sure that you always have practical objects on hand for your child to use as you work through the activities.
For more practical help in teaching young children to count, please see our post here.
Wherever possible, use real-life examples.
I personally am indebted to my mother, who every time we visited our caravan, when I was around ages 6 to 9, took me out hunting for mushrooms. We took them back to the caravan and sat at the table with our pencils and paints and drew. I still have my book of drawings and the happy memories to go with them. I continue, to this day, to have a 'soft spot' for mushrooms!
A brief history...
John Muir Laws
Why draw when we can just take a photo?
We learn in short, to pay attention to detail.
Should we not teach art?
You may, of course, have art lessons at other times to your nature journalling sessions, but nature journalling is best seen as a pursuit rather than academic study. It should be enjoyable. Anna Botsford Comstock stresses that any child who does not want to draw, should be given another activity to do, for fear of turning the child off of nature - which would be far more disastrous than the child not producing a neat drawing. Art lessons however can be given to all - however I would still want the child to enjoy the work - as art will not be a serious occupation for most, but can afford many pleasurable, relaxing moments, both in childhood and adulthood, from which I would not wish any child to be excluded.
Keeping a nature journal
'I draw and work in my nature journal for three reasons: to see, to remember and to stimulate curiosity.'
John Muir Laws
Note how John Muir Laws does not suggest that the journal helps you 'to learn to draw.' It is not the primary reason - though it may well be a by-product as it is true that learning to draw is mostly down to learning to look.
Who can keep a nature journal?
Older children may become quite sophisticated in their drawings and indeed, as nature study is science, their drawings may well help them in their studies of Biology. This then gives purpose to older children and acts as a stimulus to continue their recording long after they may be tempted to stop.
Drawing from memory
Children, can be taught to draw from memory, alongside sessions drawing with an object in front of them. The key thing is to look not for a 'gift' in drawing, but evidence of careful looking. It can be made into a kind of game too: "I'll show you this object for 2 minutes, then I will hide it and you have to tell me what you remember seeing." Take turns to be the observer and the shower.
How can I teach nature - I know very little myself!
Do I need expensive equipment to draw nature?
May you give your child a lasting legacy of happy times learning about creation. Happy drawing and may our God have all the praise!
Why did you decide to home educate?
On a more serious note we both had concerns about what they would be taught in school – and this was in the 1990s! I think at first we just considered individual topics – creation, morals and so on. Later it began to dawn on us that it is not just that a materialist education (that's what state school provides) is wrong in some areas – it is foundationally flawed. It was only when we were actually in the throes of teaching that we realised the force of Colossians 2:3 “...in whom [Christ] are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge...” and that the Bible tells us three times that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom/knowledge” for a good reason! Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 1:7 and 9:10.
This sounds fanatical, perhaps. I do not mean that we sat the children down with no other text book than the Bible. I do not even mean that we used only textbooks by Christians produced deliberately with a Christian world-view. Unbelievers are often correct in what they teach and can sometimes make profound observations. However, when they do so it is because, unwittingly they are borrowing from a Christian world-view. A truly materialist world-view will never give you a consistent picture of reality and indeed lacks a reason or basis for the existence of logic and reason itself.
Did you make any key discoveries along the way?
Then there is geography. Wrong geological assumptions underlie the teaching of physical geography in ordinary textbooks and in learning more generally about other parts of the world we often needed to research what is going on in the way of missionary activity to gain a true picture of what a country is like. We found we had to constantly bear in mind that this is God's World not Our World.
When approaching the topic of learning to read, Christians are inspired by the knowledge that God's word is a written word. Writing (and indeed language itself) is not something humans have just invented for their own convenience. To know for himself what God says in His Word a child must learn to read. This means that reading is of the utmost vital importance. All over the world, literacy comes in the wake of Christianity because it is the God-given vehicle for apprehending the very revelation of God Himself.
As parents, we quickly came to the conclusion that everything we taught had a different perspective, a different emphasis. Even Maths – yes Maths! – looks different when you realise that maths itself is a fundamental evidence for the existence of a consistent Creator.
All this made us consider things that previously had not entered our heads. If your child is in school you can ignore these issues. Your child is taught everything as though God does not exist – as though his immutable nature is not the very reason why one plus one always makes two. Personally, I found it deeply inspiring and mind expanding as well as humbling to realise that before I began home educating I had been just ambling along with a set of anti-Christian principles governing how I perceived some of the most basic aspects of life. I think my own education really began when I started teaching my own children.
What books did you use?
We had the privilege, due to the era in which we were doing our home education, of being able to collect very cheaply from second hand bookshops and charity shops a large number of older educational books which were much closer to a Christian world-view in outlook than those of the present day. We imported American Christian text books too but found that generally older British books met our needs better – as well as more cheaply!
Why did you decide to write your own children's history book?
What made you compile The Mothers' Companion flashdrive and how did you do it?
However, when I approached those publishers and authors who could be found, I was amazed at the combination of enthusiasm and apathy I encountered. Some authors were delighted that their work was still of use and happily gave permission. Other publishers could not be bothered to trawl through files etc. and simply said that they had no idea what agreements they had had with authors (if indeed they knew who the authors were) but I could use their materials so long as I was prepared to withdraw them should anyone object. I began to acquire a thick file of permission letters. Almost nothing I had used could not be reproduced except the Ladybird Key Words Reading Scheme, of course! I bought a digital scanner...
Looking back on it, I cannot imagine how I ever did it. There were thousands of pages of text recognition all needing patient checking. Many of the best books were so old they did not scan well and the resulting “raw” scans were almost unintelligible. I ploughed on evening by evening, after the children had gone to bed, scanning the books they had used the previous year. Volunteer checkers were a great help. One dear lady from Northern Ireland was an insomniac who checked vast amounts of print in the wee small hours while the rest of us were sleeping!
The results were initially published on CDs, but now the whole thing comes on an easy to use flashdrive, providing a complete curriculum up to age 12 which can be printed out as needed by the user. Some people use it just to dip into. Others have found it a great help when getting started in home education. Some use the “diaries” section for each year as a framework for their own activities and some plough through everything lock stock and barrel!
Nowadays I also have a website https://latinigcse.weebly.com which uses Mothers' Companion materials to provide a complete free course in Latin for IGCSE within a Christian world-view.
What prompted you to start writing books of your own?
What with the Mothers' Companion and The Story of God's Dealings with Our Nation, and involvement with the Christian Education for Deeside Exam Centre (that's a whole story in itself) not to mention the actual education of our children, I had no time to write down fiction of my own anymore. I was always conscious of the gap there was in British junior fiction for really good quality novels with a Christian perspective and often had ideas of what I would write if I could. I was also aware that there was a certain type of home educated child, “the totally voracious reader” who needed a vast quantity of through-put and that good quality material was quite scarce. When I began to approach “retirement” (my youngest son is now just 20) it was like a dam bursting and all the ideas and plots I had mulled over were scrambling to get themselves down on paper.
What do you like to write – and what do you aim to achieve through your books?
What books have you written so far?
Christina's latest book, the next in the series, is now available:
https://www.ritchiechristianmedia.co.uk/product/eastwood-wulfgar-saxon-wulfgar-and-vikings
Do you have any advice to young writers?
As with any question in life, we must go to the Bible alone, for it is here that we will find the wisdom we need and then we must carefully seek, with much prayer, the way to direct our children's hearts towards God and his ways. For in the matter of training (or discipling - for that is what discipline is), the heart is the subject of the matter. In disciplining a child, we a seeking to bring the child's heart towards God and his best standards for living. God draws us in love, but he is not ignorant of our rebellion. He graciously and loving disciples us and sometimes it is hard. But it is through these hard times that we learn. We will surely damage our children if we try to avoid the harsh realities of the natural laws of cause and consequence.
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28
Much confusion is brought about when we listen to the world's voices. What we have to remember is that most of our modern methods of raising children are based on the theories of men who rejected the Bible. These men, of the late 1800's - around the time when evolution was becoming more and more popular - did not believe that children are born in sin. They believed instead that they are born neutral and that life's experiences turned a child towards that which is 'right' and that which is 'wrong'. So the idea goes, give a child a good environment to grow up in, with nothing but kinds words and gentle leading and the child will turn out well. But, correct a child, and you will do much damage to its self-esteem. Nothing has caused more confusion - because as any parent soon finds out - however good the home environment, original sin soon rears its ugly head. Parents are generally ill-equipped to know how to handle the child's first wilful 'No!'.
Of course - God-honouring parents will strive with God's help to provide the best home-environment that they possibly can, it does play its part, but it is not fool proof, not guaranteed to work because the heart is full of sin. To threaten parents into being fearful of correcting their child, in case of damaging their child's self esteem is not biblical and therefore Christians need not feel guilty however much pressure is applied by the world to feel so - when they discipline their children.
Learning to prayerfully disciple our children is never easy: you will get it wrong sometimes! Confess your sin to God and to your child if s/he is old enough to feel wronged and ask the Lord for daily grace to continue. Parents are learners, for the rest of their lives!
Last time we looked at some poems for character training. This time we have some tips for child training in general. I still have not managed to track down whether or not this old book is out of copyright, but I am sure that the author would be only too glad for his work to be given a further lease of life in this day and age that has so forgotten how to practically apply God's Word. However, if anyone claims the copyright, please contact me and I will remove the post.
Friendly words to Fathers and Mothers
Oh, what a solemn responsibility rests upon the father and mother to 'Train up a child in the way that he should go." (Proverbs 22:6)
The little folk who sit around our tables and play about the house cause many anxious thoughts when we think of the dangers of the path of life which they must tread, if they live. And then we think of the tremendous fact, that our children are hastening to an eternal goal - heaven or hell - O what searchings of the heart a godly parent feels and how such exercises lead to the Psalmist's prayer: "Let Thy work appear unto Thy servants and Thy glory unto their children" (Psalm 90:16)
I feel it needs special grace and wisdom to "Train up a child in the way he should go." I have been much impressed by the injunctions in the Word of God concerning the obligations which fall upon fathers and mothers. The children of Israel were enjoined: "When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof." An Eastern housetop was flat, and served as a garden, a resting place, a playground for the children, and many other useful purposes. A surrounding wall - a battlement - was necessary to prevent people falling from the roof.
May not these "battlements" set forth the rules, principles and teaching which a faithful parent will build around a house-hold to prevent his children falling into many dangerous snares? The precept enjoins, "Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." And this will be a great concern of heart to a godly parent. As the husband-man ties the plant to the stake, training it upward, even so the children should be trained in a right way, and fastened to the stakes of morality and uprightness by loving ties of parental affection. This was enjoined upon the father and mothers in Israel:
"And thou shalt teach them (statutes) diligently unto thy children" (Deut: 6:7)
The marginal rendering of the word "teach" is "whet", or "sharpen," and conveys the suggestion of a "whetting" or "sharpening" a scythe - a significant reminder to parents to continually sharpen the minds of the children in the knowledge of what is right and wrong.
The most important method of teaching is by EXAMPLE. It is vain for parents to enforce precepts and principles which they do not keep themselves and live in daily life. If the command, " Train up a child in the way he should go," is to be carried out, the parent must be in the way, and lead therein by a daily example of right principles in the path of life.
Three things to watch
1. The tongue
Idle words, exaggerated statements, frivolity, falsehood and wrong speeches should be checked and corrected. It is a sad sight to see boys and girls who are beyond parental discipline, and who 'answer back', and disobey, and do "as they like". A solemn harvest will be reaped by such parents, and too late, the folly of not keeping children under right government will be proved.
2. The hands
It should be a "law of the house which altereth not" to allow no novels, poisonous books, card-packs, and harmful things into the hands of children.
(Note: we may think these things hard, but novels belong to the realm of entertainment and immorality, which leads astray - children should grow out of innocent story books as they age; card-packs to the house of gambling and poisonous books these days will include the many promoting witchcraft through magic (Harry Potter etc..) and alternative lifestyles. To these I would now add computer games and mobile phones, with their addictive nature, at the least.)
The hand which takes the forbidden lump of sugar (or biscuit!) must be checked. A little thief may imbibe habits of dishonesty, and bring sad havoc to a parent's home and heart. And the hand which strikes the angry blow must be checked also.
3. The feet
We live in days when children are allowed great latitude as to what they can do and where they can go, but the Word of God is the same. Can a godly parent allow his child to go to the sporting field, and places where bad company abounds? An honest conscience will answer "No!" The children of modern days will call such a method of "training" strait-laced and narrow-minded, but let every father and mother stick to the Word of God: "Train up a child in the way he should go." The Word of God is old -fashioned, and woe to the parent who departs from its laws.
If home life was what it should be, how many youths and maidens would be preserved from going out into the worldly society to obtain so-called pleasures.
(Note: Sadly, this must now include many non-serious church youth groups, with their occasions for socialising, over which parents have no control, or introduce youngsters to pastimes which they would be better off without (going to the cinema, snooker/ pool etc..). Christians in times gone by avoided such meetings, as they knew the dangers of putting young people together for times of 'pleasure'. Meetings at chapel should be for the serious study of God's Word with the exhortment to live a godly life and shun the world.)
Lawful pleasures should be provided by all fathers and mothers who value the happiness of family life. What are lawful pleasures? Good books for the children to read, music and singing in the home, edifying and instructive conversation; country rambles; many helpful studies in the world in which we live; profitable hobbies and occupations; and a thousand things leading to the fulfilment of the precept, "Train up a child in the way he should go."
(Note: These days we are tempted to fill our lives with much that is unprofitable. Beware of how technology is used in your home. It can be used to good profit, but avoid its use, both by yourselves as parents and by children, for mere passing the time and entertainment. As such, it provides an enormous snare for wasting many precious hours.)
It should be a special anxiety of mind to a godly parent to lay before the dear young people the solemn realities of eternity, death, and "judgement to come." What a proper sight to see little ones in the house of prayer, and godly parents should make attendance at chapel and school a "law of the house." It is recorded of Abraham, "He will command his children, and his household after him."
Constant grace
I have dropped these "ears" of friendly counsel for parents who profess to know the truth and feel the burden of parental responsibility. Some parents may say "Alas, I wish I could train my children in the right way; I would seek their best welfare, but I feel to come so far short of what a parent should be."
The Word of God only shows one way to be sure to "train up a child in the way he should go," -"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of Grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in the time of need. The secret lies in the word GRACE. "The Lord will give grace" to the needy; grace to be a daily example to those who live around us; grace to be living sermons to the young. And so, godly, anxious-hearted fathers and mothers, "Grace be with you all."
Four NEW science readers that honour God as Creator
The Discovering God's World Series
- a clear, easy to read font
- can be read a page at a session
- have real photos and good quality drawings
- teach real science
- engage the reader
- are suitable for the just developing reader, to give confidence in reading longer texts.
- Have no mention of evoloution, but where appropriate, acknowledge God as Creator.
Please click on the pictures below to download the books.
by Herbert Dawson, C. J. Farncombe and Sons Ltd, London, 1922
It is a series of sermons told to the young people in Bethersden Baptist Chapel - not so very far from where I live - by the author, who was the pastor there. This man understood children - and he understood the gospel. He had a knack of directing the shafts of truth accurately to the target - the child's soul. This is rare in our modern age. We generally do not understand ourselves, let alone the gospel, well enough to do so.
Reading through I found these verses and have copied them out to hang on the walls of my kitchen. My young people are aging now - but none of us are too old for these verses! We are never too young or old to be on guard for the attacks of the flesh, that come from our 'old ' heart. Sadly, though we have new hearts as Christians, we can still operate by the old one and live for self. Learning to deny ourselves is often a hard and painful course of lessons throughout life.
Have a look at these!
Angry words hurt too, as the poem below tells us so well:
I have made them available to you as a pdf download, with 2 pictures to colour (from the book) and each of the verses arranged for copywork.
I am sorry to hear that you are struggling with anxiety and worry. I have just jotted some thoughts down here for you to consider, gleaned from years of struggling with chronic anxiety myself and from what I have learnt from sound Christian sources. I have found from personal experience that the world's psychological 'answers' are but 'empty cisterns' and best avoided by the Christian. We do not need them however, as the Bible, as always has the answers to all of life's problems. Biblical Christian teaching on these things is hard to find though, as many have sold into the counselling model in a 'Christianised form'. However, true biblical 'psychology' comes from a completely different angle as the Christian is a new person, no longer controlled by the flesh (or does not need to be). Biblical help for anxious Christians turns their thoughts away from self-seeking (and ultimately steering life along a course with which I am comfortable), towards God, the one in whom true healing is found, as He alone has the power to cancel sin and gives us new hearts that no longer desire to glorify self, the root cause of our problems. Poor teaching leaves many of us bereft of help.
Christianity points to God, the flesh tries to bring God down to us. Man's chief end is to glorify God. We are to do God's will, not expect Him to do ours. God has dealings with His people that the world cannot understand. The Christian is often called to go through various trials. Trials are designed to make us more holy and increase our dependence upon the Lord. What matters most is that the trials are sanctified to us. Often these trials will be uncomfortable, but when God is dealing with our heart, immediate relief may not be helpful. We can of course, and indeed should pray, but must be prepared to expect God to reply in His way and time, as that is what will be best for us.
There is quite a lot here – but I trust something might be of help to you.
First - a word or two to help you understand the effects of worry on the body: it causes bodily symptoms of discomfort. We might call it STRESS - yes a modern word that you won't find in the Bible. The Bible instead talks about the seat of our emotions - the 'bowels'. Look it up! Here is one verse from Job 30:27
'My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.'
Maybe this describes some of you now!
Please do not underestimate stress, as I have done many times before. It can do the most bizarre/horrible things to the body – and we all respond in slightly different ways. Whether or not you have something serious/otherwise wrong with you, or are going through tough times for whatever reason, if you are worrying then your body will be under increased stress! Stress brings its own set of symptoms and makes everything else much worse. It often affects the bowels and digestive system with uncomfortable symptoms, but affects other parts of us too. When you are stressed it is easy then to start panicking and worrying that the symptoms ‘can’t just be stress’ or reacting to feelings! How many times have I thought that – but despite years of weird symptoms that have baffled the docs and umpteen tests for all sorts of things – all have so far cleared up once I stopped worrying! I have even worried about the amount of worrying I do! And in actual fact I worry least when I am actually ill with a defined illness. It is also very easy to deny stress. Be honest with yourself!
The world tells us that stress is bad for our health - which can make us worry more when we get stressed. Do bear in mind that the saints of old did not consider how stressed they were getting when they carried out God's commands. It must have been very stressful building an ark against much opposition. The Apostle Paul much have suffered greatly for his faith: but these men did it with any eye to God's glory - not to their own comfort - trusting Him to take care of them. We easily lose sight of this in our self-centred, fleshly thinking. You will not die before the Lord is ready to take you. If he sends 'stressful' trials your way - will we say: 'Lord, this is ruining my health, it's too stressful!'? I trust not - though we might actually be implying it by our response to the situation!
The problem, as always is not just a word, i.e. 'stress'. It is our response to the situation in which we find ourselves. Two people can go through the same experience and come out with totally different reactions. If we were to truly live by the Spirit, perfectly, like The Lord Jesus Christ did, then we would always be looking to the Lord and be able to resist the temptation to become overly absorbed/overwhelmed by our feelings and emotions. Sadly, because of the fall, we are prone to be easily thrown off course: but Jesus knew this. Read your Bible and see how he understood his poor, feeble disciples: their panic when they thought the ship would sink, their confusion, their simplicity! Friend - He understands you and does not condemn you for struggling. However, He must often think 'Oh dear, foolish one - if only you could/would believe what I have told you!'
Note: What we worry about most is coping with fear (fear of the unknown) – rather than illness/the problem. This might be hard to believe, but it is the fear of the feeling of fear that causes us problems.
Panic attacks are nothing but fear feeding fear and it spirals out of control and they are VERY scary. Fear is a very powerful emotion that can make our fears seem unsurmountable and very real. Learning that I was not actually afraid of the situation - be it health or other, but rather afraid of the feeling of fear associated with it, has helped me enormously.
We can focus on the symptoms of fear and everytime we feel it coming we start to panic. We can even try and control the symptoms by tensing that part of our body - making it even worse. Because fear is the issue – not our symptoms per se, we are able to control them. Our symptoms are out of our control – but we are exhorted ‘do not fear’. Think how many passages of scripture tell us that. It would make a good Bible study to look them all up! We have trouble heeding them as we listen to our feelings rather than using our mind to think rationally. We expect to read Scripture and feel calm, and when we don’t we panic more or think we are not good Christians.
We need to think past our symptoms and ignore the unhelpful feelings and learn to remain grounded in God's Word. This can take time (and for me at least has needed much practice!) - but try and see each episode of fearing as another opportunity to learn to lean upon the Lord and take Him at His word in faith. The flesh relies on feelings - the Christian should rely on faith - which may mean going against feelings and that is hard. We need to ask the Lord for help. I'm sure Abraham did not leave Ur without any feelings about the journey ahead of him - into the unknown. He was commended in Hebrews 11 for His faith - not his feelings. He was guided by what he knew of God rather than what his feelings told him. I'm sure he had some pretty tough times when he was no doubt anxious - or tempted to be so!
We live in a psycho driven world – which puts self at the front. Even Christians are not clear how the Bible can help us with our problems as we have sold into the ‘counselling’ industry, bypassing our Bibles. Many churches are focused on self - in their worship and palliative 'sermons' that do nothing but stroke the ego: 'God loves you' we say as if that is the whole message. We surely must start with the truth 'For all have sinned..' (Romans 3:23). CBT is very person-centred, rather than God-centred. It makes your happiness life’s goal. This book by Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones has the best description of ‘Biblical Psychology’ for want of a better description, I have found. It is a series of easy to read sermons based on Psalm 73, but in it, he outlines biblical psychology which is hard to find elsewhere. He had an acute God-given ability to apply scripture to our lives with all of its hard questions and difficulties.
Here is info about the GAPS diet that we are using:
http://www.gaps.me/index.php
http://www.gapsdiet.com/
It is designed as a temporary diet to bring about healing, though as you come off, you will probably not return to what you were eating before as you will have learnt more about food and your body.
Animal fats, meat/eggs/fish and veg are the mainstay of eating naturally, with a little fruit/nuts and small amount of unrefined sugar (honey, date syrup, molasses, rapdura), with plenty of probiotic foods to populate the gut with good bacteria – either though fermented foods - or by taking probiotics. Soaking grains makes them more easily digestible – boxed cereals are bad news to health. I learnt to re-do most of my recipes to fit this before we started the diet.
This website has been of great help to me in days gone by with plenty of family friendly whole-food recipes, but there are many more out there!
https://gnowfglins.com/
'But I eat healthily,' you may say: the problem is the years of stress/over-the-counter/precription medicines/dieting that take their toll on our gut. In most cases, the gut needs time to heal. There are several ways you can do this - the GAPs diet is quite drastic - do some research.
https://mindthegapsdiet.weebly.com/all-posts/magnesium-oil-and-anxiety
There are two aspects to consider when we start to worry: the physical and the spiritual.
- You do right to get checked out by a doctor. Leave the results in God’s hands.
- Do go easy on yourself – stress is real and it can make you sick - at the very least, it wears you out. Take as many pressures off of yourself as you can – looking after a young child all day can be stressful and it’s often child discipline that gets out of control when we are self-focused on worry, which makes it worse for everyone!
- Do ensure plenty of sleep – be in bed by 9pm or as near to as you can and have at least 9/10 hours sleep – more if needed if nights are disturbed for any reason – including insomnia. Sleep is when the body heals and makes you better able to cope with the days problems/issues.
- Make every mouthful of food count – stay away from dead food (most readymade stuff) and if you do not feel like eating, make sure the little you do eat is nutritious.
- Keep yourself busy - and talk to others - not about yourself necessarily, but it helps you to stop feeding the fear. Resist the tempation to keep Googling worrying symtpoms. Learn where the 'off' button is - literally if necessary.
- Drink plenty of water (not tea and coffee/fruit juices)- dehydration can make anxiety worse.
- Take moderate exercise - it does wonders for you - fresh air and daylight on the skin (not just sunlight) can lift the mood.
- Magnesium will help with sleep if you apply the magneium oil before bed – especially to soles of feet and replace that lost through stress.
Do try and keep up daily devotions – I know it’s hard when you cannot sense God’s presence. Resist the temptation to feel a failure as it only keeps you from the Lord – who actually understands how you feel and just wants you to honour Him by casting yourself onto Him – it is the flesh that suddenly wants to return to a doctrine of salvation by works when we feel sinful! You know that thinking: If I was a good Christian I wouldn’t worry so much – what must God think of me? I’ll stay away until I feel more worthy! NO!!! Pour out your heart – tell Him of your struggle with fear - enlist the Spirit's help and continue to pray and read the Bible – even if feelings don’t accompany it. Remember – feelings are not the final word - they are unreliable and can/do deceive.
Controlling anxiety in the short term:
Here are some practical tips for controlling a bout of anxiety: First, face fear head on – as you feel the feeling start to ‘wash over’ you (that’s how it feels to me) – just freeze your thoughts and stand still. The feeling will mount until its nearly unbearable and then amazingly, it will subside. Now you might have to do this several times on the trot... but over the course of the next few days it will happen less frequently (more on days when I am tired). This will calm your heart and give space for your mind to take control and stop cyclical fear leading to a panic attack. In short- you will learn that fear is only a feeling - and it goes! The trouble is – we leave it too late. If we learnt to say ‘ok – it’s just my feelings running out of control, but it doesn’t change anything I believe about the Lord – He is unchangeable' – the minute we recognised fear mounting, it wouldn’t build up and get us freaked out. When your stomach gripes or your heart is jumping and you start to panic – try thinking: It’s nothing to do with my stomach/heart – it’s just fear and I am in control. Say it repeatedly to help you ignore the feelings until they subside. this is basically not responding to the feelings so that they cannot overwhelm you.
In the longer term we need a better strategy - aiming toward not getting to this point of acute anxiety in the first place. We want to grow in faith:
Anxious states may come as a result of months of small niggles about life's issues - and they can build up slowly and catch you unawares. Learn to examine your thoughts daily and make sure they are biblical. Make sure you are thinking biblically and not according to the flesh: the Lord is in control (don’t expect feelings to back this up immediately). This will mean studying your Bible, spending time in prayer and learning as much as you can about God and His ways and His dealings with mankind. You know, it is so easy to think that because you are saved, you know about God - and how easy it is to not realise you have heaps yet to learn! As I have said, good teaching is rare - in fact dare I say, we no longer know what good teaching is! If you want a good primer, so to speak of Christian doctrine - I can reccomend the Daily Remembrancer by James Smith.
If the Lord sends an illness your way, learn to leave the consequences to Him. I have ultimately had to realise I was afraid of dying after an incident when I was young – our past does affect us now and we can have unbiblical thoughts that we have not yet recognised/changed.
Do try and think what might have got you to stress overload point. It might just have been sudden onset physical symptoms – but it could have been a period of uncorrected, wrong thinking about life’s problems/issues that led up to it and made you vulnerable.
An out of control heart (the feelings) will lead you to think ungodly things – like distrusting God’s goodness. So do self-examine and repent as necessary – not for feeling afraid – but for acting on the feeling. Self examination when you are feeling a little calmer is good for the long term in helping you to overcome the temptation to give into anxiety easily. It is not sinful to feel wrong things – but how we respond is critical. You can feel all over the place, but still have your mind fixed on the truth. You hear people saying – “my body’s doing crazy things, but I am at peace”. Peace does not necessarily mean ok feelings. It means your mind is stayed on the Lord and His Word. The feelings will then eventually calm down – but in the meantime it can be quite an unpleasant sensation and you need to be strong in the Lord to resist the temptation to respond to them wrongly.
I’ll stop there.
Please do not think you are alone - many people struggle- especially ladies. Many suffer in silence. Maybe you are one of them and I hope the things in this letter give you some hope. Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones's book needs reading!
With Christian love
However, sport is fun as well as good for you, so we play football/sports with family and friends. This helps to bind the family together, rather than pull us apart.
There are many activities you can do, which encourage children to get their daily exercise, that are cheap.
You can equip your home-school with a range of small pieces of equipment to encourage your children to run around. You don't need all of these things - but I would suggest that balls are essential. Being able to catch a ball is a skill all children should have. We have only listed products that we found helpful and that our children used. Many things are often bought, but some you get more benefit from. These are ours! Do scour charity shops! Also look out for NCT sales and jumble sales.
Indoor fun: The fun physical ideas in this book are great. We used them when the children were aged 2 to 8, especially in winter to burn off some energy. They eventually got too big to have room to move in the house! They loved it too, and have fond memories of the exercises.
CD included: not pop music. |
Football: After having bought two cheap (Tesco style) goals, which didn't last very long, we finally splashed out on a 'Forza' goal. It seems to be well worth the money spent - strong and weather resistant. We recommend this product.
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Swimming lessons are fine if you can afford them, but if not, don't panic! Teaching your child to swim is not difficult! We equipped ourselves with age appropriate floats to aid water confidence (we didn't have children who naturally enjoyed going under water!)
One easy way to learn to swim is by walking on hands in shallow water and then increasing the number of times you can kick your feet.
Pool Noodles are great for instilling confidence and fun to play with too!
You have made the brave decision to home-school. Now what? How do you practically go about educating your young child?
In this post I will round up various articles/sources of information to give you a head-start.
On a general note, these two organisations both offer support and advice about home-educating in the UK.
Teaching your child yourself
you are ideally suited! You do not need to be clever to teach a 5 year old, and anyway, you will grow in knowledge and teaching skills with your child. You do need patience and determination to do whatever is necessary to help your child.
I would recommend that you read this little book soon, to make sure that you understand your biblical mandate to give your child a Christian education
1. An Educational Philosophy
2. A Homeschool Curriculum
Your chosen curriculum will in most part shape your family life: don't choose one that will ultimately make you its slave with your children tied to a desk/computer screen all day. Choose carefully!
I advise one that is as simple to implement, flexible, but effective as possible and that doesn't break the bank. You also want one that can be moulded to fit your family, rather than making your family fit the curriculum. In this way in can be used with multiple children if necessary, without parents having to spend unnecessary amounts of time planning different curriculums for different children, which could easily lead to burn out. My personal recommendation is the Robinson Curriculum, the one we used, which fits the bill perfectly: inexpensive, very good results if followed carefully (which is simple!) and can be used by all children in a family, freeing the parent from endless preparation. See why here. It partners very well in the early years with the Mothers' Companion curriculum (See below) - which can also be used as a 'dip-in' resource, or with my Home-Education Projects (see bottom of page).
A complete curriculum for ages 3 to 12 on a USB stick!! Amazing value at only £20! Written by a Chrisitan, veteran, home-schooling mum.
For more ideas you might like these posts on specific subjects:
Reading/spelling:
Teaching Reading in the Home-school
Writing:
Teaching UK History
Home-school Geography
I will paraphrase the text, with actual quotations in italics. I pray that it may be a blessing to all young men who read it.
He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.
Proverbs 10:4
In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider
Eccliesiastes 7:14
Imagine two young men setting out in life with equal advantages, money, connections and prospects. They have studied and trained and are about to start work. One of them succeeds, a propitious gale seems to fill his sails and a favourable tide to flow in, to help him onward in his course from the very time of sailing. He makes a prosperous voyage and enters safely into harbour with a rich cargo. He does well, enjoys promotion and is paid well. He has good standing in society.
But there is a reverse side to this - early failure.
In this case, the vessel has no sooner left port than it encounters unfavourable winds, is tossed upon the billows by tempests and dashed upon the rock, or stranded upon the shore, becomes a wreck. The young man started out with big ambitions, but they terminate in disappointment and he is soon left without an income. This is a very common situation in the UK.
May it young men never be yours.
We must ask what made the difference between success and failure. At this point we must quite squarely put aside chance or luck as some may call it. For the Christian, there is no such thing as luck. God is over all and rules all in and through his Providence. Providence no doubt gives advantages to some which it does not bestow upon others. Scripture is full of instances of this kind: how conspicuous was Providence in the history of Joseph. How manifest in the life of Moses and so on.
Let us then examine the causes of the two different results of success and failure.
1) The possession or want of ability, cleverness, good judgement and tact in business will often account for success or failure.
Success in any department of life, without a competent knowledge of the means of obtaining it, cannot be expected, and ordinarily is not obtained. Some do seemingly 'land on their feet', but they are the exception to the rule and the hoping to follow suit is not a method to be relied upon. A man must at all times, especially in this age of competition, (1800's and no less true today, if not more so!) know how to buy and sell. He must be a judge of articles and prices, thoroughly know not only his own trade but the principles of trade in general. Business is an art and a science too, and he must be acquainted with both. He must know the markets and the times. How do you learn these things: You must be thoughtful, observant, diligent, both in training and once trained. You must be neither lovers of pleasure, nor companions of those who are such. Next to being right with God, it should be your aim to gain a complete mastery of your trade.
Who are the men who succeed? Not the dolts, the ill-informed or the half-informed, but the well informed. Who are the men who fail? Usually you will find them not the well informed, but the half informed, or the ill-informed.
Your faith in God cannot, however eminent, cannot supply the want of the knowledge and the habits of a good workman. Godliness it is true, is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that is now and of that which is to come. But then it is not godliness without other things but with them.
A good and holy young man is not to expect to succeed by the favour of God, without either hard work or ability. We must not expect God's blessing as a substitute for these things. God does not bless pious dolts who are ignorant due to their own neglect. God will not set aside the general laws by which he governs the social world in favour of religion, any more than he will those of the natural world.
Beware of over-stocking and trading beyond your capital; a very frequent source of ruin to young tradesman is allowing commercial travellers to force upon them too large purchases.
A good point to remember - don't spend what you haven't got or get in stock too much of what you may not sell. Make it a rule never to buy using credit that you can't pay off immediately the bill arrives..
Lesson: Learn your business well - study hard at school, and later in your job. True learning begins once school work is left behind. Read, read, and read.
2) Success or failure depends a great deal upon a good start.
Bad beginnings can be repaired, but they are not usually. A first wrong step is often, if not always, the beginning of a series of steps all wrong. Great care, caution, circumspection, and forethought therefore are necessary. Many begin too soon: they are impatient to be masters before they are prepared for it. They are unwilling to bide their time, and often mis-calculate their ability.
The most successful business men have been both careful as well as able. Creep before you try to walk. Walk before you run and run before you flee!
Let there then be much reflection, counsel, much prayer in such an important step as setting out in working life. As this, like marriage is a step for life, let it be taken with care, and think no time lost, or too long, which is necessary, to enable you to tread firmly and steadily at the outset. For every person that has repented of starting too late, ten have repented of starting too early! Next to seeking counsel from God, by earnest and believing prayer, seek the advice of disinterested wise and experienced people. Do not be like some who have made up their mind as to the outcome, then seek advice, and when it is contrary to that which they wish to hear, reject the advice given and follow their first proposed course of action. This is the sure way to ruin.
Lesson: Count the cost: don't rush in to things. Pray.
3) Success of failure are dependent upon diligence on the one hand, or neglect or indolence on the other.
We read in Proverbs: The blessing of the Lord maketh rich. And then: The hand of the diligent maketh rich.
Both are true and they stand related to each other. Our hard work cannot be fruitful without God's blessing and God's blessing is not bestowed without man's industry. The Lord's providential visits are never granted to loiterers. Moses, David, and the shepherds at Bethlehem, were all keeping their flocks, and Gideon was at his threshing floor, when God's revelations were made to them. How laziness is exposed, condemned, branded, in God's book! Let a man have ever so good a knowledge of his business; let him begin with all the advantages of capital, connections and situation; yet if he be of an indolent and self-indulgent habit, a late-riser, a lover of pleasure; a gossiping neighbour, he will soon furnish another evidence of the truth of Solomon's words, "He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand."
Be diligent! Be like Henry Martyn the affirmed and holy missionary of whom it was said, “That he was known as the man who never lost an hour."
Lesson: count every minute as precious. Think how many we waste on idle pleasures. Be careful who you spend time with as your companions can influence you more than you can imagine. If you profess to be a Christian, then flee from the world and everything that belongs to it - love of self (selfies included), ungodly entertainment, be it worldly music (including addictive 'Christian rock' which is no better for its Christian words), films/theatre. Give every minute to serving the Lord.
4) Method and system have much to do with failure or success.
In this I include promptness as opposed to procrastination. No habit can be more fatal to success then the wretched disposition of postponing until another time that which ought to be done, and can be done, at once. Procrastination has ruined millions for both this world and the next. There is a class of adverbs which some young men seem not to have studied, but which are of immense importance in all the affairs both of time and eternity. I mean the words, “instantly," immediately," "at once," "now," for which they unhappily substitute "presently," "by and by," "tomorrow," "at some future time,". Young men, catch the inspiration of that weighty monosyllable "now". Yield to the potency of that word "instantly" and to use a still more business like term, acquire a habit of "dispatch". To do this, do not only do the thing that should be done, but the thing that ought to be done next!
Be punctual. Punctuality is of immense consequence. It has been humorously said, "Some people seem to have been born half an hour after their time, and they never fetch it up all their lives!"
Lateness is not only a vice on the one being late, but also on those waiting for him. "You have caused us to lose an hour," said a gentleman to another, for whose appearance twelve men had been waiting.
"Oh, that is impossible," replied the guilty man, "for it is only five minutes after the time."
"Very true," was the rejoinder, "but there are twelve of us, each of whom has lost five minutes."
Lesson to learn: Do not keep anyone waiting - be it for an appointment or for payment if you wish to prosper. Do not put off those things that need doing now. This needs practice and it will sometimes be hard to fight against natural inclinations towards ease, especially in a day and age that so promotes care of 'self'.
The Scriptures exhort us to "redeem the time." Order is no less essential to system and success than promptness and punctuality. A disorderly man wastes not only his own time, but that of others who are dependent upon, and waiting for him; nor does the waste stop here, for what a useless expenditure of energy and a painful sacrifice of comfort are ever going on with him!
Lesson: Look at the different areas of your life. Which are disorderly? Start working now to address these areas and bring about changes which will stand you in good stead in years to come. Others call disorder a peace stealer - as we cannot enjoy peace if we are forever in a tiz over what we have lost, or for being late.
5. Economy has a most powerful influence in determining the failure or success of a young business man.
This applies equally to personal, domestic and business trade and the man who would succeed in life must reduce them all to the lowest prudent level. In order to keep down the expenses of the trade, he must do with as little purchased help as he can; and to accomplish this, he must be hard working and ready to learn. As to personal expenses, let him avoid all unnecessary consumption of money in dress and ornaments. Let it be no part of your ambition young men, to be noticed and admired for that with which the clothing retailer, and the jeweller may bedizen (to dress or adorn in a showy, gaudy, or tasteless manner) the veriest fool in existence. How mean and petty is foppery (affected and excessive concern with one's clothes and appearance), compared with an enlightened mind, a dignified character, and the beauties of holiness! I am not an advocate for either meanness or slovenliness. Cleanliness and neatness border upon virtue, as excessive foppery and expensiveness do upon vice. It is unworthy of a female to be inordinately fond of dress: but for a man to love finery is despicable indeed.
Avoid also the love of pleasure. The man who is bent upon enjoying himself who will have his amusements and companions and frequent sessions of recreation; who is fond of parties and entertainments, the gaming table, the dance hall, the concert and the theatre is on the high road to poverty in this world and to hell in the next. Let the lover of pleasure read of Samson in the Old Testament and of the Prodigal in the New. If you would have economical habits as a master, cultivate them as a servant. Begin then now and persevere.
You must carry out the principle of economy in your home also. Frugality in the home is a virtue and extravagance a vice. If you wish to have comfort at the end of life, be content with necessities at the start. Let your furniture, your style of living, your whole domestic establishment, be all arranged upon the principle of a rigid, though not mean, economy. The basis of living in credit is to live simply, not in substantial splendour; just as the foundation of a house consists of unadorned bricks and uncultured stone, and not of carved and gilded wood. It is the diligent and frugal man who is considered the trustworthy one. (And this is still true today. Diligence and frugality are rare traits these days. We are all encouraged to expect everything we want to make life pleasurable. Rare is the man who works hard with his eye on a better goal - His Masters' approval.)
However, while I recommend economy I equally condemn meanness. There have been men of high standing and otherwise excellent character who have well-nigh ruined themselves by a spirit of meanness. It is the meanest of all vices, the most despicable of all passions and it stems from the most insatiable (not able to satisfy) of appetites, an excessive love of money. It is very striking to observe how seemingly opposite dispositions are balanced in the Word of God. Industry is commended and slothfulness condemned; and yet in the same book it says "Labour not to be rich;" "Labour not for the bread that perisheth;" "Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth;" "They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction; for the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some have coveted after, that have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." This might look like contradiction, but it is not so in reality. These passages teach us that we are neither to despise money, not to be fond of it. I know it is difficult to draw a line between idolatry and contempt of wealth; and to state that exact regard to money which industry requires to stimulate and rewards its energies, and which both reason and revelation justify. When however wealth is considered the chief end of life, and is sought exclusively to the entire neglect of religion; when it is pursued at the expense of principle and honour; when it is the first thing coveted, and the last thing relinquished; when it is loved for its own sake of mere accumulation, instead of being diffused for God’s glory and man’s benefit; when it is regarded as the standard of individual importance both for ourselves and others; it has become the tyrant of the soul, which it has enslaved, may be with fetters of silver and gold - good things - but such being no less a miserable master because of their splendour.
Lesson:
- Do not be a lover of clothes and fashion - It will drain your purse. Seek to develop rather a godly character - honest, upright, diligent, trustworthy etc...
- Avoid the love of pleasure - do not be found gaming, watching films or engaging in other profitless forms of entertainment, Seek instead to study to inform your mind. Study first and foremost God's Word the Bible.
- Do not seek to have every luxury in your home. Choose those things that are essential and learn contentment. Live simply.
6) Perseverance is also necessary to success.
Without this nothing good or great can be achieved in our world.
Success is not something achieved quickly, but rather as a gradual formation, a slow deposit. In business it usually proceeds on the principles of arithmetic progression. The ascent in life is usually the opposite of a mountain. In the latter case the steepest part is near the summit; in life, it is at the start. Both however require perseverance.
The one who would be successful must not expect to reach his goal by a light, easy and elastic bound, but rather by many successive and weary steps, and occasionally perhaps, by a backward step. Such a one must go on sometimes amidst discouragement, and always with labour.
There are some however who cannot succeed because they will not wait to do so. If success does not come at first, they will not follow after it. They are as impatient as the foolish child that sowed his seed in the morning, and went to bed hopeless and crying because he did not see it springing up before sunset.
Lesson: be ever hopeful, prayerful and persevering.
This does not mean that all religious people will be prosperous and all irreligious ones will fail. It means that piety contains most of those qualities which tend towards success, while sin, where it leads on (as it frequently does) tends to ruin. God does not promise wealth and honour to His people on earth, but much more, glory everlasting. But, godliness as I have said, has the promise of the life that now is and that which is to come. Wisdom as we read in Proverbs has riches and honour in her right hand for many who submit to her ways. It is quite certain that those who have come to poverty have been dragged down by iniquity and that those who have succeeded owe their success to piety. Scripture is full of examples: Joseph in the house of Potiphar, David, Daniel, and Nehemiah to name but a few.
Although we should not be pious just for the gain it can bring us, godliness is the parent of virtue, the protector of health, the nurse of economy, the patron of industry, the guardian of integrity, the prompter of knowledge and the helper of prosperity.
Lesson: 'Choose you this day whom ye will serve' (Joshua 24:15)
I do not put these matters before you to excite you to fear, but rather to encourage you to take stock of your life. Prevention is better than cure. It is easier to avert ruin by industry and economy than to bring back prosperity when it has once departed. Make this easier task your first care and endeavour. You are young and your life is before you. Ruin may seem only something in your imagination. Though it is not good to fill your mind with dark thoughts, lest such thoughts lead to reality, yet it is well to take a long enough glance to be sure that you never want to be in that state. This will have the effect of bringing your mind to this determination:
Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones as preached in 1956, (Taken from: Saved by Grace Alone, The Banner of Truth Trust, 2018, p.156)
Should we be concerned - or is this people just being people and never being satisfied?
I would suggest to you that a brief look back at past O level papers and even the education of youngsters back in history will show that our expectations of young people are very low. One hears of young children in days gone by, being fluent in several languages at an early age. Children were taught and expected to learn. Of course, this is a very general summary and you will always find exceptions, but I think it is fair to say that we have lost the rigours of teaching and learning that marked former years. The GCSE English Language exam syllabi are written expecting our young people to have done little other than watch TV, visit the theatre/theme parks, game, go to pop concerts and read low-level trivial books. The exam boards are proud of their courses that prepare youths for the modern world. Need I say any more?
Dr. Robinson
Why do we have low educational standards?
Not least, they have encouraged us to please ourselves. This is endemic throughout all society as we bear the fruit of several decades of such teaching that life centres around 'me'! Sadly the fact that it doesn't and that we all have responsibilities towards God and others has been left unsaid. However, it has left a spiritual vacuum, a devastating trail of low educational standards, low levels of attainment along with low morals. Even more sadly, most parents and teachers these days are products themselves of a humanistic education and do not recognize it in themselves. They seem content with the low standards (which they consider to be high), and may even think that because of society's seeming 'intelligence', with information available so easily on tap through the internet, that there is no problem.
We live in an entertainment driven society
When it comes to education, children's educational materials these days (we are told) must be:
- fun
- not too demanding
- centred around the child's interests
- good-feeling orientated
Correction is seen as damaging
Bad behavior does not need discipline we are told, but rather encouraging and guiding.
Yes there is room for both of these sometimes, but the biblical pattern is that children do need disciplining:
Entertainment style education does not encourage children to think - to grapple with a subject
The trouble is - if we know nothing, how will we know if what we are being told is true or not? This is not the route for the God-fearing to take. The Christian must know what God's Word says. He must study it diligently. This requires time, commitment and self-denial. Are we training our children towards these things by allowing them to have easy access to computers, mobiles and games?
I strongly advise against the use of television/computers/apps/games, even for educational purposes for as along as you can hold off of them. It needs to be the parents decision as to when they are allowed, if ever, in the home or used by children. Let children see you using technology profitably and not for entertainment, for example for accounts, writing, research, business.
Are our children less intelligent now?
We think it's cute and our children 'bright' when they can do remarkable things on our mobiles at a young age. However, we do not generally expect much of them when it comes to academic ability.
Young children are capable of amazing things. The Robinson Curriculum expects them to learn all of their number bonds, for all four operations to 12x12 by the age of seven - as normal This is more than possible - I proved it - even with a child with a severe language delay. It wasn't easy - it required daily practice and yes, sometimes it was boring. But we seem these days to buy into the thought that all education needs to be entertaining. This is of course - the natural fruit of a child-centred philosophy - which sadly, many Christian parents do not recognise. We are apt to blindly follow the world as long as they don't try and teach our children evolution.
Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones as preached in 1956, (Taken from: Saved by Grace Alone, The Banner of Truth Trust, 2018, p.155)
Should I make my child do something boring?
Obviously our teaching must be sensitive to the pupil, that is, appropriate to his/her stage of development. The good teacher will try and make the subject come alive, but this is not always possible: routine drill for reading/spelling/handwriting and maths is hard work, and often boring. Later it's revision for exams. We need to instill good habits from day one.
We must be aware of our child's moods and temperament and seek to train them to do work first time of asking and willingly. It is as much 'education' to address these issues as it is to address academic learning.
Proverbs 1:7
How do we raise educational standards?
Four markers
- A good environment free from distractions and with good role-models.
- The instilling of good habits
- A good course of study
- High quality books
- pleasure
- least effort
- no correction
1. Parents set the home-school 'tone'
How do we spend our time?
The desire for activity is echoed in our home life with constant social engagements and cries of 'I'm too busy', because actually - it makes us feel important to be busy. How the devil deceives! Even as home-educators we can convince ourselves that we need to be taking our children to social engagements frequently, giving them plenty of 'fun'. Or maybe we are tempted to give our children's computer games, thinking they will encourage them to think. Be not deceived - computer games are a snare to the mind and soul and are best avoided by all. They are addictive time and brain wasting activities.
As Christian mothers, we are to be home based. We will want to encourage our daughters to be home-based too - not flitting here, there and everywhere seeking entertainment - or 'out of the home' on social media or anything else. We will want our young men to be responsible men - ready to take on the leadership of a family and to be home to support his wife and take an interest in his children whenever he can. And then to be leadership material for church responsibilities.
2. Character traits to instill if we want high standards
- obedience to parents - first time of asking and cheerfully with no back chat - the pre-cursor to obedience to God and authority in general. Parents we cannot fall short on this one!
- the desire/willingness to grapple with something - even when it's hard going - until you reach the conclusion. This will include both perseverance and diligence.
- a sense of 'seriousness': a sense that learning is serious, leading to a sense of responsibility.
This doesn't mean no fun. It means that hard work is expected, even when it isn't fun. We should not encourage our children to give up when the 'fun' of starting something turns into the inevitable 'hard-work' stage. However 'fun' you dress up learning, it can't go on long before the child ceases to find it fun and wants to give up. This is true of activities such as learning to play an instrument, or any other aspect of life. All too often parents let the child give up. Think hard before you let your child start something, and make it hard for him/her to give up: you decide, not him/her. Obviously there are always going to be times when we make mistakes - we realise our child really does hate piano lessons (and has low talent) and we make them continue a while until we choose for them to stop - not let him/her stop the minute s/he complains. It means having confidence in a maths curriculum and making it work for your child, rather than buying a new one the minute the child says that it is 'boring'.
3. A good course of study
See this post for how to choose a home-school curiculum and this one to see the choice of best curriculums available.
It is best if we use a curriculum that is God-centred. I do not recommend using books written for the National Curriculum as they are based on humanistic ideas - even the methodology of teaching Maths and English.
4 High quality books
Parents - let us not take these things lightly
Let us pray for each other and for Christian families that they may be built up in the faith.
collossians 2:7
- Are you looking for a UK Christian nature/wildlife magazine for teens (14+)?
- Are you looking for a God-glorifying magazine that will stretch the teen's mind and teach him/her about the wonders of God's creation?
- Is your child interested in the biology of plants and animals?
Look no further!
all while strengthening his/her faith in The Creator.
Background
When my son was 12, he outgrew the most popular UK nature magazine for children and we started to look around for something more challenging. All we could find were adult nature magazines, full of wordly adverts and evolution. And so I encouraged him to write his own. Nature Observations was born in December 2016.
In January 2019 a need was felt for a simliar magazine but written specifically for younger readers (4-8). Nature Explorers was born and soon after in February 2019, Nature Investigations started for those who were beginning to outgrow Nature Observations.
It covers:
- the biology of wild plants and animals,
- habits and habitats
- aspects of the land and weather as they relate to wildlife.
It is not dumbed-down with humanistic entertainment based content, but rather educates to higher GCSE/ A level at least - mostly written by young people who are themselves studying.
It does not contain external adverts - so that's 24 pages of content not adverts!
Young people are encouraged to write (subject to terms and conditions) - so helping the writer to really get to grips with the subject as well as benefitting the readers. After all - they say that the best way to learn something is to teach it to someones else!
Hear what one parent has said:
I would especially recommend that your child becomes a writer/reporter for the magazine; there is nothing like researching and writing your own article to bring the facts to life; remembering them then becomes child’s play. Some of my own children write for the magazine, writing has become a joy rather than a chore to them (when they write for the magazine that is!). They started small, but have built up an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of birds, mice, bees, stars etc. and they are thoroughly absorbed in their subject. When my eldest son was studying for his O level English Language exam he was really struggling to know what to write I told him to bring the question round to something he knew about and since he’s done so much writing for the magazine it was much easier for him to draw on that information that he had stored up. What more can I say - try it and see how your child’s writing skills and knowledge of the wonderful world God has given us will mushroom and grow.
Mrs H.
Nature Investigations is a monthly magazine, available by subscription in either print, or electronic format: 24 pages.
See our other magazines - something for all the family!
In this post we will explore the main change that took place in education in the early 1900's and that is still rampant in schools today. I briefly made mention of this in this post, but will look in further detail here. It has far reaching consequences.
Changing educational aims and objectives
Traditional teaching v. progressive
Progressivism has invaded all government departments and authorities. They give lip-service to ‘traditionalist methods’ to appease public opinion, but however much things seem to be swinging towards a more traditional approach (as they keep saying is so in the UK at present), the truth is the opposite. At its core, education (and society) is still very much progressive.
What is 'traditional' education?
What is 'progressive' education?
Progressive education is based around the perceived needs of the child and individual learning styles. It was brought in gradually as a result of findings by psychologists. For example, Friederich Froebel (1782–1852) believed that the teacher's role was not to indoctrinate but to encourage self-expression through play. It was not so much what a child 'ought' to know, but what would a child like to know. Instruction was seen as interfering with a child's development.
It brought about a new way of teaching. Instead of traditional forms of education which involved a teacher teaching, it introduced (among others) the use of techniques such as problem solving and experiental learning.
Making the world a better place
Educational reformers claimed that a natural educational methodology could free humanity by creating a better world. It was seen as a means by which humans, using reason and science, could shape their environment (Gerald Gutek, A History of the Western Educational Experience, p. 486)
According to John Dewey (1859 -1952) education is the "participation of the individual in the social consciousness of the race" (Dewey, 1897, para. 1). He saw education as being concerned with the psychological and social aspects of a child, with psychology at the base. For him, education was better if it focused on the child's powers and natural interests.
And so we see that the aim of those who shaped progressive education, was the reconstruction of society.
Other names of those who form part of the history of this movement include: Rudolf Steiner and even Baden Powell and Charlotte Mason and Maria Montessori. Maria Montessori is a little of an exception, as although classed by many as being progressive, she was rejected by the progressives who did not agree with some of her more formal methods of teaching.
As far as I can see it is fair to say that progressive educators see the child as innately perfect and see outside influences as damaging. When progressivism took off, of course, Darwin's evolutionary theories were just beginning to gain ground and were having a huge impact on how people thought and acted.
An on going battle
An example - Reading:
For example, the government has introduced phonics as the main means by which reading must be taught in schools. Now phonics is a traditional method; the progressive teachers favour ‘Look and say’ and ‘Whole Word methods’ or better still ‘Natural language’ methods which is a nice way to put the previous two! Phonics works with the brain – we build up skills gradually from the bottom, letters to words to sentences, whereas progressive methods work backwards against the brain. Imagine being given a book and being asked to read it when you couldn’t read a single word: what would do? You would start to look at the pictures for clues. This is what ‘real books’ are like. Children are expected to learnt to read by acting as a reader, using context to guess words and picture cues and these are all labelled legitimate ‘reading strategies’.
Facts v. feelings
The process matters more that the product, assessment replaces testing and group work replaces competition. Entitlement replaces choice.
Teachers or social workers?
Many 'social work' activities in school are justified as being in the children's best interests; to help them cope in the present age. It has always been the way - break it, and then suggest measures to help cope with the damage, but with no intention to 'fix-it'!
Cognitive v. Affective
Psychological techniques and peer pressure
Make parents feel inferior
No absolute values
The value of circle time in modern education
So where does circle time fits into all this? Well, you may have seen for yourself by now! It is merely one of the many techniques used by progressives to imbibe their values in children. It is usually directed at children in preschool and 5 to 11. The teacher should be in the circle too, and in theory, no-one's beliefs or values should be more important than anyone else’s. It sounds nice, doesn’t it? Cosy even – all sitting in a circle. It sounds appealing: to be accepting of all, everyone matters, everyone’s views count. Mrs Mosely (a leading proponent of circle time) admits that it is a form of therapy intended to promote change and make children ‘powerful’. It is often promoted as a way of dealing with deviant behaviour. Circles are powerful! Teachers very often do not know why they do it. It is sold to them as the way to teach and manage children's behaviour. This is not however the same as getting children into a circle to teach them – as a way to make sure each child can see the teacher and has a good space to sit in. Circle Time sessions are planned sessions – the teacher has a focus for the session - so that circle time is not ‘valueless’ despite the claims to be neutral. Nothing is neutral – ever. God did not make our world that way.
The fruit of progressive methods
- They bring about low academic standards.
- There is no rigour, or competition to improve oneself.
- All are brought to the same level. All must have prizes.
- Sadly, despite the appearance of being tolerant, progressives are anything but – they will be very ruthless to any who oppose them. Tolerance is fine until you suggest something they don't agree with. Then they reserve the right to be intolerant. You however have no right to intolerance - only to do as you are told. Rememeber - children are being brought up as progressive - and have been for many years and these methods now permeate our society.
- Despite aiming to improve society, by removing the imparting of knowledge, mankind has been left to work it out for himself, with tragic consequences to our nation. The mess we are currently in stems from the disregard for God's truths. True knowledge imparted from above has gradually been replaced over the years with man's wisdom.
Where does the Christian stand?
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. Proverbs 9:10
As followers of Christ, we will want our children to learn facts - first of all facts about God, from His word, then fact about the world He has made - His Word helps us to interpret the world around us, not our ideas shaping the world. Absolute truths that are not dependent upon man's feelings. Things that need learing whether we feel like it or not. Lessons that do not pander to the sinful nature. We know that our children need teaching, and that truth is not in them just needing to be encouraged out. We know that without teaching they will not discover God's ways for themselves. Similarly, left to themselves, they will not learn the essential things that are needed for life.
You musn't say people are sinful
A new gospel
The fruit of God's wisdom
Jeremiah 6:16
In conclusion - do we need to abandon all modern methods?
I think that we need to evaluate the materials and methods that we use to educate our children and make sure that we agree with the philosophy behind them/it - including IGCSE/A level courses. We can no longer say 'This is Christian, it must be OK.' Much of what goes for Christian these days, has been influenced by a progressive mindset. Having said that - most standard Christian homeschool curriculums appear to be based on a traditional style of education -though that per-se does not make them 'good'. They still need evaluating carefully against your family's aims for your child.
IGCSE/GCSE curriculums are the end goal of a mainly progressive education. We may need to use them - but use them with your eyes open wide so that you can make sure that your children learn the truth and much more than is contained in these very narrow curriculums.
Individual Learning styles
I would be wary of overly worrying about my child's learning style - these are linked to a progressive outlook. It is true that how learning is presented to a child can make a great difference to whether the child learns or not, but that is not the same as needing to overly concern ourselves with how the child learns best. What more is needed is intuitive parents, who watch the child's response to each lesson carefully and ask 'How can I help this child learn this?' What is needed will vary from day to day according to what is needed to be learned.
Values Education: a brief guide for Parents, Teachers and Policy Makers, Nick Seaton, 2001
Welcome!
After studying for an Early Years Specialism degree (B.Ed. Hons), and teaching in mainstream education, I home-educated my own children, after my husband and I were persuaded of the need to take responsibility for bringing up our children 'in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.' (Ephesians 6:4)
Our children are now grown and I help home-educating parents teach reading and writing, especially to those with special needs. Please contact me if you think I might be able to help you.
In addition I help my son to write the Nature Observations magazines and helping Chris Eastwood with her FREE Christian Home Education daily lessons.
This costs the purchaser nothing extra.
In this way I can continue to provide free resources.
Thank you for your support.
Here's one I heartlily reccomend for ages 10 +.
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