Jan06-21

A Homeschool Resolution

January 6, 2021

Hey Mama

Gena Suarez, Publisher of TOS

Resolved to be Mama

Hey Mama,

Enjoy the weekend? Isn’t that almost funny to hear. What weekend? Mamahood doesn’t come with “breaks,” does it . . . especially on a holiday, like this New Year’s?

You’re a Mama 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. And guess what? When they turn 18, you’re even MORE of a Mama than you ever were. Believe me, I know. It’s beautiful! But it does not end. (and I am glad)

Make any New Year’s Resolutions? I have one. A Homeschool Resolution:

I will stand for my family as their Mama,

In prayer, refusing to let my children fall prey to the devil.

In encouragement, helping my husband to serve the Lord passionately.

In mind, doing the best I can each day and leaving the rest to the Lord.

When the Christian movie Courageous came out, it included these lyrics, and I can’t help but be reminded of them as I make my own resolution:

This is our resolution
Our answer to the call
We will love our [spouses] and children
We refuse to let them fall
We will reignite the passion
That we buried deep inside
May the watchers become warriors
Let the men [and women] of God arise

It’s the start of a new year, Mama. Will you arise with me? This world needs more praying, committed mothers and fathers. You are not alone. So many others are alongside you, praying for you, from The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine.

New School Year Resolutions: 5 “I Wills” by Deborah Wuehler

What We Really Need…Thoughts at the Start of the School Year by Andrew Pudewa

Why Homeschooling Moms Need to Journal by Julie Polanco

And remember, Mama. . .

You. Are. The. Mama.
(and a good one)

What a glorious calling. A high and noble one.

So ENJOY the rest of the week and the weekend with your family. Last week is over and everyone survived. If your kids are like mine, they’re still reveling in the happy, fun hours of Christmas Day. 2020 was no picnic, but you have to admit, there were MANY joyful moments, and we made it through. The Lord is so kind, so faithful.

Smile big! God’s got 2021, and He’s got you! We serve a sovereign God, and He has big plans.

– gena

P.S. Would you take a moment to tell me if you have enjoyed The Old Schoolhouse® and/or The Homeschool Minute throughout 2020? It would mean so much to our staff and to Paul and myself to hear it. Share with us your thoughts: publisher@theoldschoolhouse.com

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Looking for a homeschool record keeping system? MySchoolYear.com allows you to create transcripts, report cards, and lesson plans to effectively run your homeschool. Budget friendly. 

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Mercy Every Minute

Deborah Wuehler, TOS Senior Editor

What Keeps You Going?

When trouble hits your homeschool, what keeps you going? When you feel like quitting after the second child cries over doing their math problems, what keeps you going? How about when the kids are not being kind to each other or are treating you with disrespect—again? Or when you have no energy because the baby was up most of the night and now the toddler is throwing a tantrum. Do you give up or keep going? How about failed jobs, tough finances, illness, or death in the family? We must have a reason to keep these kids home through all of this. 

A resolution is a foundation to stand on when the storms come. It’s what keeps us grounded in this homeschool life. Where do we find this resolve? It must be found in Christ alone, and the power behind a resolve is His Word. When we base all that we do on the Word of God, we find stability. We see in His Word, that He is our Keeper. He is our Preserver. He is our Help. He is our Counselor. He cares for us and provides safety, security, and wisdom—and we find our resolve to keep going. Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines the word resolution:  

RESOLUTION: Fixed purpose or determination of mind; as a resolution to reform our lives; a resolution to undertake an expedition. The effect of fixed purpose; firmness, steadiness or constancy in execution, implying courage. 

Homeschooling often requires courage in hardship or seeming failure. Courage to bear through difficulties to the end. The only way to find this kind of courage is to dig ourselves out of our own thinking and become buried deep in the Word of God. 

Psalm 31:24 says,“Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.”

~Deborah

dwuehler@theoldschoolhouse.com

P.S. Speaking of resolutions and foundations, be watching for the new Four Pillars of The Old Schoolhouse. You will find these introduced in the Spring 2021 (20^th Anniversary!) issue coming out in early March! 

Subscribe to the quarterly print: https://www.theoldschoolhouse.com/subscribe/

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Raising Real Men

 Hal & Melanie Young, RaisingRealMen.com

Our Homeschool New Year’s Resolutions

We all worry whether we’re doing a good enough job as parents and homeschoolers. We love our kids so much, and we don’t want to fail them! And even after five successful graduates, we still worry sometimes! 

The start of a new year gives you a great opportunity to reduce your stress, make some changes, and make all this more enjoyable. Can we suggest some Homeschool New Year’s Resolutions we think might help?

I resolve to stop comparing my kids, my homeschool, and myself to my friends and theirs. Your kids aren’t their kids. Their curriculum may be perfect for them and awful for your kids. Their kids have different gifts and different personalities. That’s okay.

I resolve to make curriculum my servant instead of my master. It’s okay to skip lessons your kids know. It’s not helpful to burn your children out on learning because you’re afraid to skip a worksheet or shorten it or let them dictate it instead of write when they’re tired.

I resolve to take time for the fun things, too. Somehow we’ll work ourselves and our kids to death to finish a problem set but just skip right over the hands-on project that will make them remember what they learned. Not good! Do that fun stuff, too.

I resolve to make discipleship and relationship the most important things in our homeschool. Hal always said, “If you don’t have time for devotions, you don’t have time for school.” Our kids will learn what’s important by what we make important, and probably the most important thing we can do to influence them to listen to us when we teach about the Lord is to listen to them when there’s something they want to share. When we take the time to listen, when we carefully protect our relationship with them, they are more likely to listen to us and take to heart what we say.

I resolve to start fresh tomorrow and stop beating myself up over the past. Just ask, “With the kids I have and where they are in school, what do we need to do next?” Don’t worry about the past, just play the ball where it lies. Remember that we serve the Lord that restores the years the locust have eaten (Joel 2:25-32). He can do the same thing in our homeschools.

Your friends,

Hal & Melanie

Visit Kathyahutto.com and choose from over twenty FREE Bible Studies for Kids. They take kids through a small portion of Scripture, leaving them with a feeling of success and training them how to study the Bible. Kids use their own Bibles in any version you choose.

Jodi Riddle

Pillar of Faith: Resolved to Have Faith in God

Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines faith as, “the assent of the mind or understanding to the truth of what God has revealed.” 

I Peter 5:8-10 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”

Many of us make a resolution based on something that we “hope” to accomplish. Rest today knowing that you may experience trial or tribulation. The devil may be seeking to devour. You may or may not meet your desired resolutions. But rest assured, child of God, that when you remain stedfast in the faith, He will stablish and strengthen you and give you the grace you need for each day and for every trial. 

Let all your resolutions be based on your faith in Him. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). 

Jodi started her journey with TOS in April 2016 and serves as the Operations Manager. She and her husband, Duane, have been married over 30 years and have spent over 20 years in the ministry. Along with being a pastor’s wife, she homeschooled her 3 (now grown) sons for 18 years and also taught in the private and public-school settings. Jodi enjoys teaching, playing the piano, and making cards. Her heart’s desire is to serve others and use her gifts to glorify the Lord.

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A division of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine

Congratulations to Jennifer T. from Ohio who won our November giveaway!

Contest Corner

for the month of January

Dyslexia Gold – Catch Up Intervention Reading Program

If you have a child who has been diagnosed with dyslexia or struggles with reading (even if they aren’t dyslexic), you might be looking for a proven program to help them improve their reading and spelling skills.

Review From The Life We Build
Many children and adults have difficulty reading due to dyslexia. While I don’t believe our daughter Anna has dyslexia, she does occasionally mix up the letters b and d. Phonics, in regards to spelling, has never really been a strength, which baffles me given her reading ability. I am always interested in finding programs that will help her bridge that gap. 

The Dyslexia Gold Full Bundle contains four online programs: Engaging Eyes, Spelling Tutor, Fluency Builder, and Times Table Tutor. The recommendation is to use the program for 10-15 minutes a day, and we found that this was pretty accurate in the amount of time it took Anna to complete an activity. We rotated the programs in order to get an overview of the offerings from Dyslexia Gold. With the program Engaging Eyes, there is a target practice game that requires 3D glasses; Dyslexia Gold provides the glasses. Spelling Tutor has your child practice spelling certain words; it requires paper and pencil. Fluency Builder is phonics based. A particular phonics sound is focused on, and at the end of the lesson, a short story is presented with questions that follow. Times Table Tutor is the practice of multiplication; it will work on each number individually.

This is a brief description and review of the Catch Up Intervention reading program from Dyslexia Gold (previously called Full Bundle). You can see a thorough description and 40+ reviews from homeschool moms describing their families’ experience with this program on the Homeschool Review Crew site. 

Enter the contest for your chance to win a 3-month subscription to the Dyslexia Gold Catch Up Intervention reading program. You can enter several times!

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