#73 Easy Homeschooling Eletter May 2006

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Lorraine Curry's
Easy Homeschooling Eletter
Issue #73 May 2006

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In this Issue

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Design Your Days ecourse will feature:





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Why Literature? 
Lorraine Curry
From Volume 1, Morality - Subject by Subject, Click Here

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Although by-products, the purpose of great literature is not to assimilate style, grammar or form, or even to appreciate literature as art. Its primary focus and ultimate purpose is morality - to produce God-fearing children and adults. When we turn our eyes toward this goal, education will have meaning and this goal will also motivate toward excellence in all subjects.

Charles McMurray tells us:

Intense study of motives and conduct, as offered in literature, is like a fresh spring from which well up healing waters. The warmth and energy with which judgments are passed upon the deeds of children and adults is the original source of moral ideas. Literature is especially rich in opportunities to register these convictions. It is not bare knowledge of right and wrong developed, but the deep springs of feeling and emotion are opened, which gush up into volitions and acts.

The vast store of early literature is moral literature. With genuine literature, we are lifted into the presence of men and women who incite the moral nature. Through literature, convictions arise naturally. No contrived or enforced morals here. The child, rather, becomes one with the hero or heroine. In this identification process, enhanced by with the vividness of story, moral judgments are formed in the child. A great advantage to this indirect teaching is that it is received by the child, whereas preaching, especially without supporting prayer, sometimes falls on a deaf ear. Throughout history, greats influenced future greats, as parents nourished their youth with great literature. We can continue following this good path by supplying abundant good literature for our children.

Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. (Jer. 6:16).

The emotions portrayed in great literature are our emotions and literature's effectiveness comes about by the like-mindedness of those characters of literature and ourselves in this day. Right feeling and actions are strengthened by seeing these feelings and actions in others. Stories are effective because of their drama and interest. We see the characters' actions and then, moving on in the story, we see the results of the actions-good or bad. As interest in the character's life increases, the force of a false step or right act moves the hearer to make right choices in his or her life. Could it be that the widespread and increasing lack of character in our world today has been partly because of the lack of real literature in education?

Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good (Is. 7:15).

With a strong foundation in the classics, your students will have an appreciation for what is beautiful and good and will come to reject poorly written, frivolous trash.

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Easy Homeschooling Companion 1st edition

 

 


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Geography 
Lorraine Curry
From Volume 2 (available soon), Morality - Subject by Subject

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Geography and history are a crucial mix. The quantity of topics in geography, as well as in every subject is practically infinite, therefore we need to choose carefully a few of the most important topics, in order to study deeply instead of gaining merely surface knowledge in many things. A solution is to choose a limited precise "type" studies and spend more time on each. The idea is to choose, for instance, a particular and nearby mountain range and study it in depth. Knowledge of all mountain ranges will be ingrained by this one simple focus. This study will keep the interest (see Volume 1) high because the topic is real and "touchable." Choose particular topics such as a city, a river, a lakes and so on.


In geography, as in other subjects, one thing will lead to another and you may cover such things as geology to spirituality. Pursue these paths, while whetting the child's appetite for more. Time is limited but knowledge is not. Even if time dictates we go on to another subject, the child will - as interest leads - pursue further knowledge of advanced concepts (such as chemistry, geology and physics) either now or in the future, and most probably, independently. Always encourage this curiosity and research.


Remember the rule, "from home outward." However, choose a greater nearby geographical feature over an insignificant, but even nearer one. Although we have wall maps and a globe readily available, and the child may have a limited knowledge of the big picture, more real learning, for these ages (preschool-grade four), will be gained but bringing the focus in on the detail. Later these concepts will be applied to lands and geographical feature both far and near. These features will bring the reading, locating, map studies and map drawing together into an exciting whole.


Many books have been written on teaching techniques, however in the grain of Easy Homeschooling and my personal view, even geography can be best and most easily covered by reading and mandatory reporting by child. The retelling is what makes the knowledge permanent. I would add some picture viewing or even videos for enrichment and further understanding. Tests here are okay, such as map labeling. Children should know certain facts, such as states, perhaps counties, capitals and primary geographical features, and eventually oceans and countries - at least primary countries.


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Easy Homeschooling Techniques 3rd edition

 

 

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Meal Planning Made Simple
By Monica Resinger, Editor The Homemaker's Journal
http://homemakersjournal.com

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Meal planning can be a time-consuming job and this is why we sometimes just give up on it and just go get whatever looks appealing at the store and be done with it. I know from experience that this leads to wasted money, extra trips to the store, frustration and cooking boredom.

So what's the solution? The solution I came up with was pre-planned 3-day menus complete with shopping lists. This way, I'd only have to do the work once for a given menu, then from there on, that menu would be hassle-free. This method also allows me to work in new recipes.

Meat is usually the most expensive part of the shopping list, so this is why it is the biggest factor in my menu planning. On a given week (I like to shop weekly for the sales to save money), there is usually 1 or 2 different meats* on sale that I'll buy for the good prices. This is why I make my menus for 3 days - so I can use the two sale meats* in my menu plan (I pick out 2 menus that include the 2 meats I'll be using). This ads up to 6 meals within a week - I don't plan 7 meals because we usually have at least one (usually more) meal per week with enough leftovers to make up for that 1 missing meal (and of course, there's always those nice days when we get to go out to dinner!). Maybe you or I will have leftovers after each meal and extend our shopping trips and save us money!

*Note: if you happen to be a vegetarian, simply plan your meals around the produce sales.

Here is the step-by-step instructions for making pre-planned, 3-day menus:

1. Choose the *meat you'd like to include in your meal plan. To help decide, look at what meats are on sale in your weekly grocery store sales flyers.

2. On a sheet of paper (or a page in your word processing program on your computer), label Meal 1 and leave a few spaces to fill in a main dish, vegetable, bread, etc. (whatever food groups you like to have included in your meal), then do the same for Meal 2 and Meal 3.

3. Fill in the names of the recipes you want to include in each meal. For this part, you can use your tried and true recipes or fill in new ones you've been wanting to try. If the recipes are from a cookbook, list the name of the cookbook with the page the recipe is on in parentheses so you can find it later, or, if you'd like, you can write the recipes on additional sheets of paper (or additional pages in your document on the word processing program) to include with your menu for ease of use later.

4. Make the shopping list. On an additional sheet of paper, include all the ingredients from each recipe you used in Step 2. If an ingredient is included in more than one recipe, simply increase the amount on your list. It's nice to categorize these, but not necessary.

I suggest making a basic shopping list for yourself that includes items you use all the time such as fresh fruits & vegetables, milk, eggs, bread, flour, sugar, etc. These are the items you always want to have on hand.

You can organize your meal plans in a 3-ring binder and section them off by meat. Obviously the more 3-day menus you have, the better. Yes, this can be time consuming to begin with, but it is time well invested because later there will be hardly any work involved. When it comes time to go shopping all you'll have to do is look up two appealing 3-day menus that include your sale meats, write down the items you need from those and your basic shopping list, then go shopping.

You can save yourself more time by using my pre-planned menus that are part of The Homemakers Journal Recipe E-book Package that includes 19 recipe e-books and menus. The cost of this package is just $20 which is only $1.05 per e-book; our normal e-book price is $5 each, so this is a great deal! Click here and scroll down for details: http://homemakersjournal.com/ebooklets.htm

Get Monica's FREE weekly e-zine for homemakers! To subscribe, just send a blank e-mail to: HomemakersJournal-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

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Every Mom Needs A Break Before The Breaking Point
By Alice Seba

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I've been working closely with stay-at-home mothers since 2002 and it's no secret that most moms will do everything they can to provide the best for their families, often at the sacrifice
of their own happiness. We lose contact with friends, don't take care of ourselves like we used to and seemingly lose our true sense of self.

Still, it's not easy when we have heavy demands on our time and sometimes the only spare moments we have are when everyone is finally in bed and the house is silent. When the house if finally silent, take the time to read a good book, call an old friend or put in that exercise DVD you've been promising yourself you'd try.

And never be afraid to ask for a break. Ask a trusted friend or family member to watch the kids for a while and go do something fun for a few hours. The kids will be just fine and you'll be a
much happier mama when you return. That's good for the whole family!

Recently, I spoke to Life Coach Aurelia Williams of RealLifeCoaching.net and she told me, "Being a busy mom, it can become so easy to fall into the mommy guilt trap where you start to neglect yourself. Many moms feel guilty if they take time for themselves and end up taking care of everyone else around them and pushing their own needs aside. This ultimately will leave you feeling burnt out, stressed out, truly unhappy and sometimes resentful. During the journey of motherhood, it is easy to lose ourselves along the way and inadvertently cut off or not seek out the support and camaraderie of other mothers.

Aurelia also urges you to give yourself "time to unwind, socialize and bond with others, especially other moms. This allows you to truly rediscover yourself you know the woman you were before all those wonderful kids came into your life? When you socialize with other moms, you can gain support, ideas and tips to help you with deal with certain parenting and relationship concerns from others who feel just like you do or have dealt with the same issues.

Even when you're busy, you can always connect with other moms during your children's activities. Start chatting with other moms at your child's soccer practice or after her piano
recital. Social opportunities are available to you many times in the day - you may just not notice it.

About The Author: Alice Seba is a mom who never wants to see you go it alone. Find support and advice from other moms just like you at http://www.MomsTalkForum.com

Note: The upcoming Easy Homeschooling Design Your Days Eclass will include 1 hour discussion per week. Learn technique and fellowship at the same time!


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