A Moment with The Homeschool Minute~ Deborah Wuehler – How do you pick curriculum?

Have you ever purchased curriculum because it claimed to have all you needed for your baby up through your high school student? Then, you find out that it’s just too complicated or that you still need something more. Frustrating, isn’t it? But, we choose to believe the “perfect curriculum” idea just in case it’s really true this time.

 
Instead of feeling like you’re grabbing whatever sounds good at the time, let me give you some wise counsel I have gained.

Pray

I’m a broken record, aren’t I!? The need for prayer, especially in relation to raising God’s children, is imperative. God hears us. I have prayed for my kids for a love of reading, or to stop struggling in math, or for help in writing. I have prayed for the Lord to open doors of opportunity for them to hone or use their giftings. He has been faithful to provide as I have been faithful to pray specifically and earnestly and remain open to His direction. That is where we find peace.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6, 7  (NKJV)

Prepare

Find out what is essential and teach those things well. The kids may excel in Greek history, but if they don’t know their times tables or cannot write a decent letter, it’s time to go back to the basics.

If you look at military basic training, you see that they cram into a few weeks everything they deem essential in becoming a good soldier. They require and reinforce unquestioned obedience, and they prepare them mentally and physically for possible future combat. Specialized fields come later. Ever thought of that in relation to your goals for homeschooling? I want my children to unquestioningly obey God’s commands and mine. I want to prepare them for whatever their future holds.

Peace comes in trusting the Lord. If we teach our children to be grounded in truth, and prepared for the future, then even when the heat comes, they will not be anxious.

Sometimes we feel like we don’t have the right curriculum or enough subjects, or enough experience teaching. The cool part about all of this is that no matter what the teaching method or what kind of curriculum; God rewards our obedience, and home-educated children excel across the board. (www.nheri.org)*

Pray, talk to your spouse, and ask for God’s guidance and provision as you keep the kids Home Where They Belong.

~Deborah

dwuehler@thehomeschoolmagazine.com

*Would you please consider asking your group to support The National Home Education Research Institute this school year? Expert, Dr. Brian Ray, is on the front line of research in home education and needs your support. NHERI does incredible research and publishes findings in trade journals and other publications. Here is a free fact sheet to share with your group.

 

“The Moon is Falling Down”

Little Beatrice Sandstrom Titanic Story

 

There were fireworks–distress signals–the night Titanic sank. To little one-year-old Beatrice Sandstrom seated in Lifeboat 13 with her mother Agnes and older sister Marguerite, it seemed like the “moon was falling down!” It was, indeed, the end of the world for many poor souls, but baby Beatrice would live to see another day.

 

The Sandstrom trio had been visiting relatives in Sweden and was on the way back to their home in San Francisco, California. They were among a party of ten from Sweden who boarded Titanic.

 

When word spread that Titanic had struck an iceberg and was in danger of sinking, Agnes could not believe it. Little Beatrice was unaware of the danger she was in, but her mother Agnes was, as their lifeboat jerked and swayed its way down the side of the massive ship to an uncertain fate 70 feet below.

 

Upon arriving in New York, the Sandstroms found brief refuge at St. Vincent’s Hospital before continuing on to San Francisco. In August of 1912, just four months after the Titanic disaster, Agnes and her husband Hjalmar sold their house, packed everything they owned, and moved the family back to Sweden, where they all remained for the rest of their lives.

 

Beatrice did return to the United States in 1988 when she took part in a gathering of Titanic survivors. She was the tenth remaining survivor of the Titanic disaster at the time of her death on September 3, 1995, in Ostergotland, Sweden. She was 85 years old.

 

This is just one of 133 Titanic children’s stories you’ll discover when you visit Titanic Museum Attractions in Branson, Missouri, or Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

 

 

WHAT CAN KIDS DO AT THE TITANIC MUSEUM ATTRACTION?

By First Class Maid Jaynee

Visiting the Titanic Museum Attraction is an interactive, hands-on adventure.

With the entire ship serving as a classroom, children are free to discover, explore, investigate and act upon the many interactive adventures that surround them:

• Steer the ship
• Climb Titanic‘s gradually rising decks
• Enter a full size Titanic lifeboat
• Try to tie ship knots
• Talk to the Titanic Polar Bear
• Take an interactive dive to the Titanic wreck siteSend SOS messages

The Titanic Museum Attraction engages youngsters in entertaining and educational ways.