ADHD= We didn’t begin training him early enough which gave him the impression that it is okay to have the attention span of a fruit fly unless the subject at hand is viewed as interesting to him.

Just in case you were wondering.

Most books that we read are enjoyed by the whole family.  There are those, like The Wind In The Willows, that barely hold my attention but like I said most are a hit.

However, even when a book is a hit there is rarely a reading session that isn’t interrupted by someone acting like a fruit fly (remember, short attention span).

Currently, Michael is reading book 2 in The Wingfeather Saga.  The first book, On The Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, had everyone captivated.  So captivated that our fruit fly, Haven, can easily tell you details of the story weeks later! This is huge, trust me.  To hear him using phrases like “ankle jelly manor” and “the fangs of Dang” pleases this mommy immensely.

In the interim between finishing book 1 and receiving book 2 Michael began reading the short story of Roverandum found in the Tolkien collection of short stories called Tales from the Perilous Realm. As soon as book 2, North! or Be Eaten, arrived poor Roverandum was voted out quickly in favor of continuing the Wingfeather Saga.

From a lover of writing’s perspective the comparison between Tolkien and Andrew Peterson is really no comparison at all.  Tolkien is poetic and fluid and deep.  Peterson is witty and detailed but certainly not masterful.

Last night as Michael began reading North! or Be Eaten you could have heard a pin drop. YEAH! All were paying attention, all were asking questions (which means they were paying attention) and none wanted to stop (but mean mommy puts an end to the reading at some point).

If you’re looking for a fun series to read as a family I highly recommend  The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson.

When we first began exploring the world of homeschooling I was completely overwhelmed. I’ve heard the same thing countless times from parents considering it for their family.

Where do one turn for easy to find information?

Still Deciding Phase:

• Perspectives on Your Child’s Education: Four Views: Presents each person’s positive views of their education choice without blatant attack on the other choices. At the end of each essay is a back and forth (the other authors give their objections while the author of that essay addresses their views) banter allowing you to get a clear picture of the pros and cons to each choice.  In the end, the choice of homeschooling is the obvious winner but then maybe I’m a little biased. The best thing about this book is it makes the reader consider all the options not just “go-with-what-you’ve-always-known”.

• The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling: Haven’t read it but the title is just like my cloth diaper book so it has to be good, right?

Decided, now what? Phase:

• Teaching the Trivium: This book was the most instrumental in forging the path we are on today. Prior to reading Teaching the Trivium we were firm in our decision to homeschool however, we completely lacked clear direction.

The most important nugget we gleaned from this book was to not model your homeschool around what the public schools were teaching but to write down what it is you want your children to know when they graduate and work backwards from that.  Before, I was trying to figure out how in the world I was going to teach my children Physics (which I hated), Calculus, English IV AP…you get my point…plus teach them to read, write and do basic math.

After we made a list of what was most important to us a huge weight was lifted.  Not because we realized we didn’t have to teach those subjects but because we realized what was most important: a strong Biblical worldview, a voracious love for reading, mastery of logic, systematic theology, Greek and Latin, homemaking, how to make a living from home… Homeschooling then became a true joy, not simply a chore.

• A Biblical Home Education: Building Your Homeschool on the Foundation of God’s Word: I haven’t read this one, or any by Beechick for that matter, however she is hailed as a homeschool leader so I assume she has something to offer.
• The Well-Planned Day: Planners are a dime a dozen and no planner works for everyone.  I enjoyed the weekly catechism, read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year plan, tear-out grocery lists, essays and of course the calendar part.

When the going gets tough Phase:

• One Hundred and One Devotions for Homeschool Moms: For me devotionals are great for the bathroom Did I just say that? Eek. What I mean is when I’m having a bad morning, afternoon or night I tend to run to my bathroom and sit on my closed toilet. Having a devotional nearby always renews me.

• To ward off those really bad days (which will happen anyways) I highly recommend For the Love of God: A Daily Companion for Discovering the Riches of God’s Word, Volume 1. My husband and I will be finishing Volume 1 soon and will move on to Volume 2. I have been blessed beyond any stretch of my imagination by consistently reading the Bible every day this year!

Wow. It’s been an adventure. I’m stronger, smarter and more secure in my faith than I’ve ever been. There have been days where I’d miss and have to make up the next day and always I could feel something missing because of that. God is way too gracious to me for sure.

There are dozens more books out there on the how-tos and what-nots of homeschooling. You may prefer a completely different type of book for your homeschool journey.

Above them all, however, the Bible is the book you must have to successfully homeschool your children as a Christian.  The Bible gives direction, correction and instruction on every problem I’ve encountered.  How blessed I am to have the ultimate guide to living.

This post is part of the Hip Homeschool Hop. For other great resources check out some of the other participants blogs.

and more books and more books…

Can you ever have too many books? From my perspective, possibly.  From my husband’s, absolutely not.

I want to read all these great books but where’s the time?!  I know, I know.  I have the time I just don’t make the time.

I do Bible study every morning for 30-45 minutes (the 4 chapters designated from For the Love of God), I read out loud to the kids in the morning and on good days in the afternoon, we do Bible study at night and Michael reads out loud before bed.  So, I’m “reading” just not that cozy-up-with-a-good-book reading.

I know there will be a day when my life will be more flexible…like when all the kids are out of the house.

Until then, I will gaze upon the bookshelves and dream about the stories and adventures that lie within.

Oh, and the real reason for this post is to end my guilt about never updating the Books We’re Reading category.  I can’t keep up with Michael and Haley.  Haley’s a beast.  Michael’s just dedicated.

Instead of updating here are labeled bookshelves filled with books that have been, are being or will be read.

As you can see we buy a lot of books.  After much research, Michael has found the best place to buy most books is Christianbook.com.  Other places we buy from: wtsbooks.com, amazon.com, monergismbooks.com, and I’m sure others that I’m forgetting.

As part of Haley’s daily homeschool schedule she reads out loud to me for 20 minutes.  We’ve been going through Mountain Born by Elizabeth Yates for a while now and finally finished it the other day.

I set Haley up in front of the webcam and had her summarize the book.  Seriously, the kids is adorable!! I love the face she makes at about 1:06. I could smooch her all day.

She left out the whole middle of the story but you get the gist

It’s a good thing no one’s life depends on my next post. I said I’d post healthy ways to cook your food well over a week ago.

Here are some things that helped me when I first began to cook healthy meals:

1) Buy good cookbooks.  For me (this was 6 or 7 years ago, I’m sure there are better books now) Andrew Weil’s book The Healthy Kitchen and the diet book The Sonoma Diet were pivotal.  Weil’s book was the first healthy cookbook I ever owned.  It doesn’t have a lot of recipes in it but the ones it does have are easy to make and I use them often.  My crust recipe came from it as does my granola.  Both are amazing.  I couldn’t imagine ever buying crust after you’ve made it yourself.

The Healthy Kitchen was an introduction for me.  It got my feet wet and helped with those feelings of being overwhelmed.  I didn’t look at it and panic.

The Sonoma Diet on the other hand gave me hives But, please don’t let that stop you.  Like anything that is worth it, the recipes in the Sonoma Diet take work.  And like every new venture after a few times doing it, it is second nature.  The Sonoma Diet has amazing recipes.  It changed out menu from same-ole-same-ole to restaurant quality.  Our kids got excited for Szechuan, Flank steak kabobs, Napa cabbage dishes, Risotto, etc.

I had never heard of Napa cabbage then suddenly I was buying it every week (which, by the way, it is yummy).  The Sonoma Diet is a lot of chopping but another reason I really liked it is because of it’s take on health.  Lots and lots of veggies, some protein and very little carbs- usually in the form of a whole grain like quinoa or barley.

It also provides snack ideas and daily menus.

2) Make a menu and grocery list.  I’m sure most of you already do this but it took me a long time to get there.  Occasionally, I’ll go without a list and it’s terrible.  I get a piece of paper and write Monday: B: L: D:  Then I fill in every meal for 5 or 6 days.  I have to also write reminders to myself for when to lay meat out or prepare something in advance.

I make sure to plan in dinner out once or twice also. We budget for it and it provides a little excitement for me

I have heard commercials for things like emealz.com on Dave Ramsey.  Never looked into it but it sounds nifty.

3) Prepare meals in advance.  I did this a few times and loved the convenience.  I wish I could say I did it on my own accord but I actually went to one of those meal places.  There just happened to be one next door to Michael’s chiropractic office.  The basic premise is that your meats are marinating in a bag and ready to dump in a dish whenever.  On the meat bag it listed cooking details and side dishes.  For me, if I have the meat ready I’m good to go.  I can steam a veggie like anyone else.

After my post on developing healthy eating habits, I was strongly convicted in the middle of the night.  I realized how insensitive I probably came off.  I remember very well how intimidating it was to make food changes.  We get defensive over our diets.  But, even more so than that I realize how utterly broke we were when we began to make changes.

How did we make healthy changes when we were broke?? We ate a lot of beans and broccoli. We paid attention to labels. We realized that if we didn’t have much money for groceries then what we did buy better be good.

No we didn’t buy much organic but we drew a line about the ingredients I listed in the other post (no trans-fats, no MSG, no artificial sweetners…).

I just love that I wrote about healthy eating habits then our homeschool mom’s meeting was about healthy eating.  Sweet! What an awesome reminder to me about things I knew but have taken for granted that not everyone knows.  I tend to think all homeschool moms do the same things I do.  Obviously, this isn’t so.

Here are a few websites about healthy living:

http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/Home/index.cfm

http://www.mercola.com/

http://realmilk.com/why.html

http://www.nongmoshoppingguide.com

“If you do not worship God in your family, you are living in positive sin; you may be quite sure you do not care for the souls of your family. If you neglect to spread a meal for your children to eat, would it not be said that you did not care for their bodies? And if you do not lead your children and servants to the green pastures of God’s Word, and to seek the living water, how plain is it that you do not care for their souls!

Do it regularly, morning and evening. It is more needful than your daily food, more needful than your work. How vain and silly all your excuses will appear, when you look back from Hell! Do it fully. Some clip off the psalm, and some the reading of the Word; and so the worship of God is reduced to a mockery. Do it in a spiritual, lively manner, go to it as to a well of salvation.” - Robert Murray M’Cheyne

I have come to know M’Cheyne through D.A. Carson, author of For the Love of God.  I wish I could adequately explain to you how much this book has enriched my life.  Actually, it isn’t any credit to D.A. Carson or M’Cheyne but to our loving, merciful Father.

Before June 2009, I was a pitiful Christian (honestly, I’m not really that much better now).  What separates me from the previous Christian I was then is my involvement in the Word.  Pre-reformation–hehe– I knew that Jesus died for my sins. That’s it. Not that that is any small detail! But, that’s it.

I couldn’t have told you who Paul was, aside from the fact that he killed Christians before his regeneration.

I couldn’t have told you how long Moses and the Israelites were in exile.  Or any of the rich, beautiful, awesome interaction that God had with Moses and Aaron.

I couldn’t have told you that Jesus had siblings.

Most importantly of all, I would not have known a false teacher if they spit in my face. And to think that Peter, John and Jude focused their writings on this very thing and I DIDN’T HAVE A CLUE.  Am I mad? No. Am I determined? Yes!

Nothing reassures me more that I am heading in the right direction than conversing with my husband about deep theological issues and actually knowing what I’m talking about. Amen!

Tonight, for example, I was able to utter these words “…the imputation of Christ’s righteousness…”. Do you know that the old me would have laughed at you if you said I would use these words.  Praise the Lord for a new vocabulary!

So, back to For the Love of God.  It’s a slightly modified version of M’Cheyne’s system of reading through the Bible in a year. Specifically, the New Testament and Psalms twice and the Old Testament once.  The old me would have also laughed if you encouraged me to read the WHOLE Bible.  I have issues completing things…but that’s for another post.

I know you’d be blessed if you started this book. But, then again, you’ll be blessed reading the Bible period.

Kind of a no-brainer to me but it wasn’t always that way.  Why teach Theology? After all isn’t that just for the seminary students? NO!

Let’s look at it from the alternative: not teaching Theology. Where does that leave your children? Stumbling, bumbling, blabbering that’s where! I can freely talk this way because I was a stumbling, bumbling, blabbering embryo for the first 9 years (that would be the last 9 years) of being a Christian.

It wasn’t until July 2009, that Theology became a spoken word in our house. Salvation? Sure I knew what that meant and yet I HAD NO CLUE! God is so much deeper than– say a prayer, dunk and go on with life.

I am so very, very passionate about teaching our children Theology…GOOD Theology.  Recently, two books came to live on our cozy bookshelves.  Who Is God? (and can I really know him?) and Dug Down Deep: Unearthing What I Believe and Why It Matters.

****UPDATE: Dug Down Deep will now go live on the shelves of Hastings. Great book until page 185. I do not believe that people today have the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues.  Add to it that Joshua Harris claims he often “forgets to use it.” ****

“Who Is God?” is a systematic theology for kids.  Looooooove it! I even wrote a review for it on christianbook.com and I never do that.  Our oldest is 7 going on 24 so I thought for sure it would be too simplistic.  But when you add in a 5yo and 3yo it becomes the perfect Theology class for kids.

Even if I was going through it with just Haley (7yo) it would be on par.  The units are varied and creative and logical.  Trust me, if I’m not bored you won’t be. If you are looking for a resource to help you teach biblical worldview this book will help you do that.

Then, there is Dug Down Deep.  Have you ever had a person come on your radar and stay there? I first discovered Joshua Harris from the Generation Cedar blog.  Kelly posted a video about a sermon called Sin and the Bean Bag.  It was great.  Turns out God had introduced Michael to Joshua in a totally different way.

Then comes Dug Down Deep.  Michael can NOT recommend this one enough! He’s read about every other page to me out loud because it’s that good!

Too many Christians have brushed off Theology in a day where we need true Theology more than ever.  How are we going to prepare our children for the attacks of the world if they don’t even know the true doctrines of our faith?

The video explains it all!

DugDownDeep_Carnahan.mov from Covenant Life Church on Vimeo.

I do believe that everyone should know what they believe! Educate yourself and your children…or someone else will.

I have found that, in the homeschool setting, memorization is the most effective tool I have for teaching my children discipline.  Memorization is never effortless.  Even for someone who is highly gifted in that skill.

I am good at memorizing but I have to put in work before I am able to recite it.  Now to recall it days later requires even more work.

Laurie and Harvey Bluedorn said this about memorization and recalling it in the future:

First, the practice of memorization is a mental discipline which strengthens the mind and carries its own reward.

Second, without some regular review, the memory often fades.

Third, I believe the Holy Spirit can bring things forward in our minds, but they have to be in our minds before He can bring them forward.

Fourth, it isn’t memorizing if it’s not word for word. We may begin to lose confidence that we have the right idea from Scripture if we cannot rely upon our memories. Often enough I have thought some idea was in Scripture, but when I went to look for it, I found my understanding to be quite inaccurate.

Psalm 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Psalm 37:31 The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.

Psalm 119:97 O how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.

Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Every day I have Haley memorize something.  But some days I struggle to find something new and fresh for her to memorize.  Obviously, Bible verses/chapters are top on the list, but some days we choose something else.

Some days we go to the catechism (Catechize and Memorize) other days learn poetry and most fun is when I hear Haley recite a Bible verse in Greek!

Next time you are searching for something to have your children memorize use one of these ideas:

Psalm 100

Psalm 103 (We love this book Bless the Lord: The 103rd Psalm)

John 1: 1-4

Little Lamb, Who Made Thee by William Blake

Psalm 123

The Lord’s Prayer

Apostle’s Creed

Hymns: Amazing Grace, Be Thou My Vision, I Surrender All, I’ll Fly Away, Wherever He Leads, I’ll Go

Psalm 127 (another beautiful book we love The Lord Builds the House: The 127th Psalm)

That should get you through a month or so
Memorization is a great confidence booster for you and your children.  I memorize right along with Haley.  The things I ask Haven to memorize are significantly shorter. Like 7 or 8 word answers!  At this point we are simply teaching Haven the art of focusing on something and being able to repeat it.

We asked him the catechism “What is the chief end of man?” repeatedly over weeks before he could finally answer, “To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”  Same thing with the question, “Who makes up the Trinity?” Now if we ask, “Who is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?” that complete stumps him. Patience. That’s what I’m learning.

When people visit our house they immediately see how important books are to our family. Our bookshelf is just about squeezed tight with books and we have another bookshelf in Michael’s office.

To say we love books is an understatement. Undoubtedly, we get asked about book recommendations. Here are a few categories of our top picks:

It seems that everyone will agree with you that reading to your children is important.  But how many are actually incorporating it into their homeschool schedule?

For me, reading to Haley when she was an infant was easy.  She was the first baby and I had all the time in the world to devote to developing her young mind.  When Haven was born I struggled with juggling a newborn and a toddler and making time for the things that were most important.  I read less to Haven and subsequently less to Haley.

When Paisley arrived I had “mastered” having multiple children and managed to squeeze in a reading time most days.  This most likely resulted less because of my prioritizing and more because Haley was ready to start reading.  Her desire for me to constantly read overpowered my drive to clean and/or sleep whenever I could.

Up until this summer, however, all reading times were spontaneous, unpredictable and were the first thing to go if there was something else to do.  In June, we reorganized our schedule to include 2- 45 minute blocks of reading by me and one 45 minute block for Michael.

For those of you saying, “my children would never sit still for 45 minutes of reading!”, I said this too   At first they wouldn’t (Haven and Paisley) but now they know the routine and for the most part “listen”.  Haley eagerly takes in every word and keeps me on track because I often get busy and skip the reading time.

Narration is a huge skill that a child should begin to master at an early age.  Haven is 5 and can sometimes narrate the story, Proverb, or poem I just read but mostly his attention is not there.  Paisley is 2 and does pretty much whatever Haven does…and her answer to every question is either “God” or “Jesus”…. yes, Paisley, they are the answer lol.

There have been numerous studies done on the correlation between reading to your children and the various characteristics that lend themselves to success in life.  Reading is one of the top 5 gifts you have the opportunity to share with your children.  Many moms will implore you to start early to plant the seed of love of reading in your children.  It is much harder to get a 12 year old to read if they’ve never seen you read or known that reading was important.

By reading to them early and often you cultivate that love and the normalcy of it.  Although Haven cannot read words we often go in search of him only to find him lying in a corner “reading” a book.  We have to force Haley to go to bed at night or else she’d read until she couldn’t hold her eyes open.  Paisley enjoys a good story as well.

Although any reading is good, you can always strive to read the best.

Classics like Treasure Island, The Hobbit, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Secret Garden… are all excellent choices for ALL ages.  Our children sat captivated during each one and eagerly anticipated how Bilbo would triumph over Smaug.  One thing we don’t do is choose books with tons of colorful pictures or adaptations.  We want the children to love words.  The occasional picture should be simply a bonus.

If you’d like some guidance on which books are highly recommend I suggest Hand That Rocks the Cradle: 400 Classic Books for Children.  When we first received this book we went through it book by book.  Michael and I were quite disappointed that out of 400 classic books we had read less than 5.  Pathetic.

The good news is once you get started it doesn’t take long to start checking off books.  I can’t wait to look back in 15 years and see how many we’ve read and re-read.  But, reading classics is nothing compared to the enormous value of reading the Bible to your children.

I have been blessed beyond any expectations through our nightly family worship.  Not only have I learned more in 3 months than I learned in 9 years of being a Christian, but the kids have blown me away with their understanding and retention of Scripture.

I encourage you to begin reading today.  Don’t wait until you think your kids are ready (they won’t be) or until you have all the housework done (it never will be).  Like every good thing it will stink in the beginning and be riddled with trials but in the end it will be beautiful.