IT'S HERE!

 It's here!

My family are I are beyond excited to bring you Engaging with Faith Family Devotional: 70 Fun Activities For Christian Families to Strengthen Faith!

When my kids were growing up I was always trying to find ways to teach them God's Word and help them grow in a habit of regular Bible reading and prayer. As I searched and searched for resources, I always came up empty handed. Now, you don't have to!

My grandson is excited for Engaging with Faith!

Engaging with Faith Family Devotional is a 70 day devotional for families to do together. Each day has a Scripture verse, a brief devotion that kids will understand, a Let's Reflect section with questions to help engage each person in conversation, and a Let's Do section with an off page activity you and your kids will love.

Engaging with Faith Family Devotional would make a great homeschool companion! As we homeschooled our kids, we always added in some Bible time. This devotional will give you Bible time as well as activities to spice up the school day!

While Engaging with Faith Family Devotional is a 70 day devotional, it is designed to help you, not stress you out! If it works for your family to do each of the 70 devotionals in 70 consecutive days, go for it! If it works better for your family to do it once a week, go for it! All that matters is you are intentionally engaging as a family and teaching your children about God.

Each day that you go through the book, your family will grow closer to God and each other. Engaging with Faith Family Devotional: 70 Fun Activities For Christian Families to Strengthen Faith is out now! Just click the banner below!

Engaging with Faith Family Devotional is my 4th devotional! I feel beyond blessed by God for the opportunity to bring you 4 devotionals. To check out all of my books, click HERE.

THE HOMESCHOOL AWAKENING

When our oldest was old enough for kindergarten, we knew exactly where we wanted her to attend. This public school was exactly what we envisioned and it was a wonderful experience. The following year, when she would enter the first grade, my husband and I were children's pastors at a church that also had a private Christian school. We were blessed that our kids were able to attend this school at no charge to us. The Christian school was, again, a wonderful experience.

Two years later, my husband and I stepped down as church staff and moved to a new church. This meant our children were no longer able to attend the Christian school without a very large chunk of money. Unfortunately, with three now in school, we just could not keep them in financially.

We decided to enroll our children in the public school by our house. It was horrible.

Here are just a few things we experienced:
- Teachers showing up to school to teach in pajamas.
- We were one of only five sets of parents in the entire school to show up for parent/teacher night.
- I tried to meet the principal on five different occasions, she always refused to come out of her office and meet me, nor did she return my phone calls.
- My daughter's third grade teacher had her cigarettes on her desk, in view and reach of the children.
- On one of my visits to the office to speak with the principal, a man who had never been to the school walked in and said he was there to pick up a friend's daughter. They told him to go on down to her classroom and get her. They never verified with the parent, never checked for notes from home, never even asked the child if she knew the man.

After only six weeks, my husband and I knew we could not continue. We pulled our kids to homeschool them. We were met with the office staff laughing at us and telling us how stupid that was and that we would be back. We never went back.

Homeschooling our kids was the best decision we could have made!

Homeschooling wasn't always easy. In fact, there were many days I thought I had lost my mind. There were many days I thought I was underqualified or incapable of teaching my children. But my husband and I always came back to one thing: God qualified us to teach our children when He gave them to us.

All four of my children have all graduated from homeschooling now. As I look back, the days weren't always easy or perfect. But they were always good. Homeschooling them was a blessing, a gift from God.

As I look at the schools now, I would make the same decision, only I would have made it faster! Our children are our gift from God. He calls us to take care of them and to protect them. When I look at all that is happening in our school system today, it breaks my heart.

Kirk Cameron has a brand new movie all about homeschooling. Families across the nation are experiencing the homeschool awakening, taking advantage of the freedom and opportunities for self-discovery -- with the world as their classroom. Kirk dives into the adventures of dynamic American families on a mission to put fun and faith back into learning. The Homeschool Awakening explores the ins, outs, and honest answers to homeschooling’s most frequently asked questions.

The Homeschool Awakening is in theaters today (6/13) and tomorrow (6/14) only. To find a theater in your area, click HERE.

Whether you already homeschool your children, you are considering dipping your toes in to give it a try, or you are completely against homeschooling, this movie is for you! Don't miss The Homeschool Awakening!

TIPS FOR THE NEW HOMESCHOOL FAMILY

Things are a little crazy in our world right now. Stores are being shut down, grocery shelves are empty, we have a gathering limit, and now schools are shut down. In my city, schools have shut down for the remainder of the year. Children must now stay home and be homeschooled. Our education system is working on the best possible plan for this impossible situation.

For some of us, like my family, homeschool is nothing new. We have been homeschooling for fourteen years. If you have suddenly found yourself a homeschool family, I'd like to share a few tips that have helped me throughout the years.

Get up and get ready. I know that it is so very easy to sleep in and stay in pajamas all day long. But I also know that once you are able to get out of the house and back to normal, it is much harder to break that habit than it was to create it. So set your alarm and this is also a great time to teach your kids how to set their own alarm clock and wake up to it! Get up at a normal hour, whether that is 6am for your family or 8am, just get up at a decent hour. Everyone get teeth brushed, dressed, the whole bit. You will feel better and be more productive if you are fully ready and you will not have to worry about breaking any bad habits later on.

Do chores. Mornings before school, when you leave the house, can be very hectic and rushed. For a lot of families that means chores do not get done. Give each person a chore that needs to be done before breakfast. It can be making their own bed and picking up their own room or feeding a pet or emptying the dishwasher, one quick chore before breakfast helps the house to stay picked up a little better and teaches responsibility. It is also good to set an afternoon chore or afternoon pickup time. When my kids were little they had a chore to be completed before breakfast, then in the afternoon we did a "ten count cleanup." Everyone had to walk through the house and clean up ten things. This was a huge help in keeping the house together. While chores are a normal part of the family dynamic, everyone needs to pitch in and help, they are also part of school. Chores teach life skills.

Limit tv. During time at home it is easy to catch up on your tv shows or just relax and watch some tv. This is another habit that can be hard to break. Consider allowing just one show during the day. My kids were allowed to each choose one show to watch or to work together and choose one movie for the day.

Have a routine. Having a routine is so important. If you don't have a routine, important things can be forgotten. Plus, kids have a routine at school so why not at home? Have a time to get up and ready, a time for chores, a time for meals, a time for school work, a quiet time, add whatever fits your family, just have a routine. Also, make sure they are still going to bed at their regular bed time. While a routine is important, so is flexibility. Sometimes our routines need to be adjusted a little.

Have a quiet time. No, your kids don't get a quiet time at school but when at home it can be a huge help to you! For one hour, or whatever fits your family, everyone goes into their own room and does something quiet. My daughters always wanted to read and my sons always wanted to play with hotwheels racing them on their pillows. When they were younger, they often fell asleep. This is another great time to use the alarm clock. Tell them they must stay in their room until the alarm goes off. This quiet time allows you to work, if you are working from home, catch up on laundry, start dinner, or whatever else you need to do without distraction.

Limit snacks. Kids at home like to snack! Oh my word! They are asking for a snack while you're still cleaning up breakfast. An hour later they want to know what is for lunch, and it continues all day long. One way to combat the constant asking and snacking is to get a basket for each child in the home. In the morning, or the night before, put a couple items in each basket. For example, each basket gets an apple, a bag of fruit chews, a cookie, and a cup (this way they only use one cup in the day and not ten). Whatever is in their basket, they can eat. When their snacks are gone, they are done. They will quickly learn to ration themselves so they have snacks all day, and if they don't, that is their fault.

For school work, find what works best for your family. When we first started homeschooling I got a school desk and chair for each child. We had a room that was our schoolroom, nothing happened in this room except school. With a bookshelf, the American Flag, and tons of school supplies, I was thrilled. After a couple of years I realized that my kids, especially my boys, actually worked better at the kitchen table. So we did away with our school desks and used the room for something else. It may take a week or two to figure out what works best for your children. If you have a space that can be just for school, give it a try! You can also try the kitchen table, or even the couch. That is the beauty of homeschool.

Be creative. When cooking, have your kids help you. They are learning a life skill, they are learning science, and they are learning math. When grocery ads come, have your kids compare prices. Have older kids help younger kids with school work. There are so many ways to be creative with learning.

Have P.E. While at home, don't skip P.E. Actually, this may be when they need it most! Weather permitting, schedule outside time every day. They can play in the yard or ride bikes in the driveway. When weather doesn't permit, if you have space, do P.E. inside. It can even be aerobics. It will be so good for them and help get any energy out.

Do what you can, get help when you can't. Throughout our elementary years, I was fine teaching my kids. Middle school wasn't bad either. But high school. Ugh. High school math has nearly killed me. When my kids started high school, we transitioned from traditional homeschool to virtual homeschool. At first I was heartbroken, thinking I had failed them. But I soon realized that I wasn't failing them, but helping them. Why struggle to teach them what I can't. Teach your kids what you can, get help when you can't. Their school teacher may be willing to do a facetime with you guys or find a friend or family member who knows the subject and ask for help. This is a great way to trade with another mother. Maybe you are really good at science but struggle in history and another mom is great with history but struggles with science. Facetime each other to help each other out.

Forgive. You are facing a new adventure. It won't always be easy, but you can do this. When you fail, forgive yourself and get back at it. If you wrong your kids, ask forgiveness and move forward. When your kids fail, forgive them and move on. Don't stress yourself out.

I promise, you will get through this. We will all get through this crisis. Let's trust God, be wise, and stay calm.

If you are a veteran homeschool parent, what other tips would you add? Please share in the comments!

Ready To Give Up

Each August excitement builds as we receive our school books for the new school year. We follow up by going to the store to purchase new pencils, notebooks and any other items we will need for the school year. I spend weeks pouring over lesson plans and creating a daily schedule that will work perfectly with our family.

The year goes well. We have some bumps along the way, but nothing too drastic. We follow our well thought out schedule and stick to our lesson plans. We live homeschooling intentionally.

Then our three week Christmas break comes.

It is hard to get back into the routine. Those days off of cuddling, movie watching, baking, putting puzzles together, playing and relaxing are hard to give up. I wonder if we will ever get back on track with homeschooling. But we try. Our schedule becomes a little more laid back the second semester. But we finally fall into a comfortable routine. And it works. We still have bumps along the way, but as with anything, that is to be expected. We are human after all.

Then someone questions my ability to teach my children.

I begin to think what am I doing? Can I really teach my kids? Am I failing them? Oh I just want to get through the year. Can't we be done already!? I stop homeschooling intentionally and start homneschooling just to get done.

Isn't it that way in all things? We get tired of witnessing to the co-worker who just ignores us. We get tired of inviting our relative to church over and over to only be shot down once again. We get tired of teaching the same lesson to our child over and over and over and them continuing in the same disobedience. We get tired of trying so hard for things to only be undone.

Friend, don't give up. Live intentionally. Persevere.

...And let us run with perseverance the race that is marked out for us.

Hebrews 12:1

God didn't bring you to this place to leave you in a desert. He is right beside you. Draw strength from the Father. No matter what you are facing, don't give up. With God you can do all things.




Linking with:
Soli Deo Gloria
Titus Tuesdays