Building Up Moms

Many times it is us, moms, who are doing the main bulk of homeschooling but without the full and complete support of dad, homeschooling is going to fall flat on its face eventually.

I remember the day when the Lord spoke to me concerning this issue when I was debating whether to homeschool or not. Through an email newsletter, God told me in no uncertain terms that without the full endorsement of the head of the house, one shouldn’t proceed to homeschool.

Fathers are so important in this journey of homeschooling. Do not leave your dh out as you make your curriculum choices and do update him on the progress (or non-progress!) of homeschooling.

This month, in honour of homeschooling fathers, Heart of the Matter features an article on The Homeschooling Father by Michael Farris. Check it out. And may you be blessed as you continue to teach your children.

The Homeschooling Father

By Michael Farris
Founder and Chairman, Home School Legal Defense Association

Parents do not need professional training to become excellent homeschool instructors. But they do need divine empowerment if they are going to have the stick-to-it-iveness necessary to keep to the task as their children progress from toddler to adult. Every homeschooling father needs to begin to examine his duty to his wife and children by considering their need for spiritual empowerment. They are going to be mocked by friends, neighbors and relatives. They may be prosecuted by authorities. They are going to face spiritual warfare. They are going to have to do a lot of plain old hard work.

To continue the article, please visit Heart of the Matter Online….

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Do check out my Blog, Building An Ark in Singapore at www.HomeschoolBlogger.com/MamaLim

I am re-producing this article written by author Lorraine Curry of Easy Homeschooling books. It is a timely reminder for me as we plod on the school year. May it also bless you.

My 10 Biggest Mistakes
By Lorraine Curry

Mistake #1
BEING TOO EASY ON OUR BOYS

Dr. Raymond and Dorothy Moore suggest that boys are not ready for formal learning until they are between 8-12 or 14. I misinterpreted this and required very, very little from my boys when they were younger. It was a mistake! My girls were read to and “taught” more consistently from a younger age, and consequently have a higher degree of literacy and mental ability, although they are not that much older than the boys. (No, I do not believe it is merely a difference of the sexes!)

Boys as well as girls will thrive with much early reading aloud, silent reading and “writing” in the form of narrating, or telling stories that Mom captures on tape or writes down. My girls did not even need a spelling class! See more in my book, Easy Homeschooling Techniques.

Mistake #2
NOT KEEPING A CONSISTENT TIME SCHEDULE

Although schooling does not have to be difficult, we fail our children greatly if we do not teach that there are time demands in life and teach them habits and consistency.

Mistake #3
STARTING A BUSINESS BEFORE HAVING A CONSISTENT SCHEDULE

Too many times my business took priority. Schooling would have received its proper time slot, had a firm schedule been in place. I have a whole chapter on business in my book. More than “go for it,” I recommend waiting!

Mistake #4
ALLOWING “PLAY” AND UNRELATED “TALK” DURING SCHOOL TIME

These activities waste much time. Sure, social time is good, but have it before (or after) you start your school time.

Mistake #5
NOT TEACHING MANNERS DILIGENTLY ENOUGH

Teach the strictest basic manners when your children are young! You can always ease up later. There are only a few that should be diligently trained. I love the Southern tradition of teaching children to say “Yes, Sir, Ma’am.” Table manners include chewing with mouth closed, not speaking while eating and waiting to eat until after prayer. Other manners are not interrupting someone who is speaking, and holding doors for the female members of the family. Some manners, such as standing when a woman comes in a room and tipping one’s hat as a greeting, seem to be obsolete, but the basics will never be obsolete!

Mistake #6
NOT PRAYING ENOUGH

That explains itself! Let’s not take God for granted or limit Him! He is mighty and can do marvelous things in our homeschools to help overcome the struggles and discouragement we all seem to experience.

Mistake #7
FAILING TO REQUIRE BOOKS READ; A SPECIFIC NUMBER OF PAGES PER WEEK.

We are doing this now and it is making a difference in our children’s ability to express themselves, well as in their knowledge store.

Mistake #8
NOT ENCOURAGING (ENABLING) EXTRA-CURRICULAR SUCH AS MUSIC OR VOICE LESSONS, AS INTEREST AND APTITUDE ARE SHOWN.

We live “so far” from lessons and I “hate” to leave my home, so I did not make the sacrifices necessary for this. We have four fabulous voices and one or two that are even potentially opera “material.” I’m glad it’s “never too late”!

Mistake #9
ALLOWING INCOMPLETE OR CARELESS WORK

It is such a temptation to do this! When the child thinks they are done with school for the day, and the mom is already doing something else, it is very difficult to make the child recopy or correct errors! But it is very important. This too is training. Good or bad, the choice is ours.

Mistake #10
ALLOWING DAILY USE OF SUGAR OR SUGAR PRODUCTS

There is such a difference in concentration when sugar is used! What is called ADD is probably no more than this! Minds really don’t work as well when diets are not their best.

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Lorraine Curry is the author of 5 Star Easy Homeschooling books. See more articles, FREE copywork, subscriptions, ebooks and more at her website at http://www.easyhomeschooling.com

More Easy Homeschooling Tips.

Find FREE Resources and 5-Star Books at Easy Homeschooling

Note : This is to encourage those who are thinking of homeschooling their pre-schoolers but are feeling overwhelmed. 

Lesson Plans, Circle Time, Flashcards, Reading Aloud, Phonics Lessons, Lapbooks, Arts & Crafts, Bible Memory Verses, Field Trips…..

The list goes on…..

Some homeschooling moms I have come across, through emails or chit chatting, put in a huge amount of effort to ensure that their homeschool is a success.

In the beginning of my homeschool journey, I used to be so intimidated with the huge amount of stuff moms are doing with their children. Obviously, I was not doing all that with my children.

Even now, after homeschooling for the past 3.5, almost 4 years, I still occasionally do feel intimidated and sometimes fearful - oh no! they are doing all that for their 2 year old?! I am not even doing half of what they are doing with my 6 year old! 

But experience tells me that the huge amount of work these moms put in is often not sustainable in the long run. And definitely not when you have no help at home and more than 2 children.

Mom runs herself ragged trying to fit everything into a day on top of daily stuff that needs to be done. And soon mom feels like giving up since it is just too overwhelming.

Mom needs to ask herself WHY she is doing all these things. Is she trying to replicate school in her home? Seriously, that is just not possible. Schools have an army of teachers to help out. Teachers do not need to worry about meal planning or wiping up after a toddler. But mom has to juggle many roles.

Or is mom trying to follow some other homeschool moms whose family situation or dynamics is different from hers?

And honestly, does the pre-schooler need to have so much cramped into his day?!

My advice to those who are contemplating homeschooling your pre-schooler but are feeling overwhelmed?

Focus on the basics and then add in the extras when you can.

Decide what your basics are. (Mine are being able to read and being able to do simple maths). Sure plan for the extras (arts & crafts, field trips….) so that you won’t forget to do them but don’t worry if you just can’t. 

Once you get the hang of having your child at home and teaching him the basics, you will find that can add in the extras easily. But don’t try to do everything at the word “go”. You also need to give your child a chance to practice what he has learnt instead of being bombarded with new stuff all the time.

And give your pre-schooler plenty of free time to be bored! Yes, be bored so that he will learn to find things to do on his own. There is no need to entertain your child all the time. If he has siblings then he needs to learn to play with his siblings. That is educational too!

Please, I am not saying do not do all these fun and exciting stuff with your children. If you love doing all these stuff and more importantly your children enjoy them, then please continue and go ahead with what you are doing. You are doing a great job!

But if you are feeling the pressure to perform and do a song-and-dance each day just because you think that is necessary just because some other people are doing it, you may want to re-think how you do your homeschooling.

Personally, I have tweaked and tweaked and am still tweaking our homeschool. It has been challenging to add baby #6 into the mix last year and teaching 2 in primary level. I have reduced my expectations and cut back their work load (which was already very light to begin with!) while we adjust to a baby that is crawling everywhere and needs to be near mom all the time. No point to pile on the work when I can’t clear it fast enough. We are doing more real alouds and being more relaxed in our homeschool.

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Check out my Blog, Building An Ark in Singapore, to see what we have been up to.

This blog, Heart Of The Matter Online, may be of use to those of you who are starting out in Homeschooling. It’s FREE!

Sign up for their newsletter and you’ll get loads of information about homeschooling. Click HERE for a posting on Math Manipulatives.

Those of you who have been visiting my website for a while would know that you can find out how we homeschool in the Homeschooling section found at the side bar of this page.

And every 6 months or so, I would review how the systems I have set up are working or not working for us. So while googling for forms and planners (some free, some not) I came across these resources that I would like to share with those who are just starting out in their homeschooling adventure or are just thinking of it.

A helpful article, titled, “Help! Where Do I start?”
http://www.homeschoolmarketplace.com/e-zines/ejournaldec2707.html

And to help you choose your curriculum, you can check out this website :
http://www.oklahomahomeschool.com/CCstepbystep.html

And besides the Donna Young website, this website also has loads of free forms to help you manage your homeschool and your home! Check out www.chasesc.com/forms.html 

If you prefer to have everything on hand instead of surfing here and there, there are loads of planners that can be found online. Some examples include The Plan - Homeschool Edition 2008, an instantly downloadable eBook that gives you 3 different covers to choose from!

Then there is The Master Planner - Record Keeping Forms eBook at US$9.00 (usual price  US$15.00). There are more than 160 forms in there!

There is also the more basic Helpful Homeschooling Forms eBook which has yearly and monthly calendars, weekly lesson planners and many other forms.

Now you would have figured out that I much prefer eBooks since I can read off the computer and save my bookshelf space! Choose the pages I want to print and ignore the rest, plus save on shipping costs which have increased tremendously this year!

Now, I have always DIYed my planners but couldn’t resist seeing what the “professional” planners out there are like. So recently, I bought one called A Record of A Learning Lifestyle by Charlene Notgrass. You can check out the pages by checking out www.Christianbook.com. It’s so nice, I can’t bear to write in it! Lol! But I am determined to be more organised in 2008!

And if you are looking for year-long support and encouragement, you may want to consider getting a subscription to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. I certainly look forward to receiving this in the mail! There’s so much info in there you can slowly savour it or choose to quickly glance thru their reviews and then slowly savour it!

Happy homeschooling!

Much of what is learnt by the toddlers in our home is incidental. This means that we do not sit them down and do stuff like flash cards and formal school with the child.

The toddlers in our home have the benefit of observing the many older siblings around her do school and they pick up a lot of stuff that way! But I will bear in mind that most people donot have a houseful of older children to teach the younger ones. So I shall share what I did when I had 1 and 2 children.

Keep Talking! One of the best way to “teach” your toddler is to keep talking to him! Yep! Keep talking and showing him things and before long he will have picked up many things without much effort on your part! Babies and toddlers are really like sponges, absorbing things very quickly and without any hang ups the way an older child may have.

Playing and learning allows you to teach effortlessly. As your toddler plays with his toy, talk to him about the colours or shapes. Point out to him the different colours on the toy. Shape sorters are a good buy.

Jigsaw puzzles are another type of “educational toy” that is helpful. Buy those that require very little effort - just 4 to 5pcs to make 1 picture and then slowly progress to more difficult ones. You can even teach maths, colours and the alphabet with jigsaw puzzles!

Counting with them is one very easy way to teach numbers. You can count anything and everything. Count their fingers and toes. Count when folding clothes, when going up and down stairs, packing up toys, etc…Soon they will learn the sequence of the numbers. Another fun way is to point out numbers when you go out with them and they will surprise you one day when they can call out the number they see on the lift or walls!

Our current toddler learnt her numbers watching her older siblings play UNO! Lol! She also has a set of sandpaper numbers to play with when I do school with the pre-schoolers. Our current home has stairs so every day I will count with her when we go up and down the stairs so much so that she knows how to count 1 to 10 buy herself with no prompting.

Reading to them is a wonderful way to bond and get them interested in books. BUT do not read to them like a pre-schooler and do not expect them to sit still and listen to you read the entire book to them!

Many moms worry and wonder why their child does not have the attention span sit listen to them read the whole book. This is perfectly normal. It is an unusual toddler who can sit for a long stretch and actually listen to the story. I have had one of those and also have had one that sits still just for me to read ONE page to him. And I also have had one who would sit still and seemingly listen but was actually spacing out on me!

What’s my point? Do not expect to be able to read every single line and finish the entire story with your toddler!

This is what we do which you may wish to try. Obviously get a book that has lovely, colorful and interesting pictures. The book should have more pictures than words. Then “read” by pointing out the pictures in the book. Talk about the pictures of the book. Do not bother about the words on the page. If you make talking about the pictures (colours/shapes/action of character…) interesting enough, the child will keep on picking up the book for you to “read”. Soon, he would be able to “read” back to you, telling you the story in his own words.

He may now be ready for you to start reading to him a few pages at a time. It doesn’t matter if he can’t sit through the entire story. He will in time!

What books do we read? We have rhyming books, bible stories, counting books, alphabet books, animal books. Anything we can lay our hands on! We are a book-loving family! Surround your child/ren with books and they will naturally pick them up when they are wandering around the house.

Colouring with crayons is another activity that toddlers like to do. You can either buy colouring books from places like Popular or google free downloadable colouring pages from places like :

http://www.coloring.ws/coloring.html
http://www.dltk-kids.com/coloring.htm
http://www.christiananswers.net/kids/clr-indx.html
http://www.coloringbookfun.com

Just google “colouring pages” and lots of stuff will come out. Please, however, use your own discretion. Many sites are not Christian and some, even though they are Christian may not have the same standards as you and your family.

If you are brave , you can give them a white board and markers to draw and colour. Just make sure they are washable markers!

Singing and reciting Nursery Rhymes and Sunday School songs are also fun things to do. If you can’t remember your nursery rhymes or Sunday School songs, there are lots of CDs and books out there. You have no excuse to not know them! Use the free resources in the library if you are not willing to spend the money.

But personally, I find these are basic staples in any home that has children! Sing the Alphabet Song to them and they will learn their letters before you know it! But some believe that a child should not learn the names of the alphabet but the letters’ phonetic sounds. Do your reading and research and decide how you want to proceed.

I always taught the names first and then teach the sounds they make later on. It worked for us since that was how 4 out of 5 of them learnt to read But you have to do your own research and make your own decision.

Life skills should also be taught now! There are actually many things a toddler can do. Do not underestimate their capability!

Some examples - teach them to sort laundry : whites go into the whites pile and coloured clothing go into the coloured clothing pile, fold face cloths/dish cloths or even their own clothing, pack up toys after they are done playing, set the table and even clear their own plates and cups.

Yes, these are not impossible tasks for your toddler! And don’t worry, you are not “ill treating” them by “making” them do chores. Look at their faces when they do it - see the sense of accomplishment written all over it!

But after a while, it will become a discipline issue when the novelty wears off. Then we would want to instill the discipline of obeying mama even when it is no longer fun! Another learning opportunity!

Use the TV ?! Yes, we do! We choose mostly educational TV programmes or CDs. I would very much prefer not to use it but we are also mostly cooped up in a flat with just 2 playgrounds for outdoor play, both 2 blocks away.

Maybe if we had a garden or backyard that I could safely send the kids out to play, I wouldn’t have to resort to using the TV. But we don’t do Pokemon or Power Rangers or the Winx Club

Different families have different ways of doing things. This is what we do. I hope I have given you some ideas to start you off.

What I would like to leave you with is this :

• Make learning part of their lives!
• Stop worrying about what your toddler doesn’t yet know.
• Enjoy them and let them enjoy their toddlerhood!
  

Click here for Teaching Our Pre-schoolers.

Homeschoolers get asked this question the most frequently by those either ignorant to or opposed to homeschooling. Sadly, we sometimes get fellow homeschoolers asking us the same question too!

Here are 3 links to Gena Suarez’s (Publisher of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine) Blog on the topic of socialisation. She writes far more eloquently about it than I ever could.

• From A Spiritual Perspective, the Issue of Socialization
• Socialization or Socializing? Dispelling Myths
• Circle of Socialization

You may wish to sign up for TOS’ free eNewsletter called The Homeschool Minute which gives you weekly encouragement.

Click here (http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/Homeschool_Minute.html) to sign up for FREE!

I would also recommend that you read Rick Boyer’s The Socialization Trap. It addresses many questions that public-schooled graduates often have.

Let’s not get intimidated!

This is yet another favourite question I have been asked more times than I can count! (Dh says I should compile a list of FAQs! )

At the recent annual Homeschool Fair 2007, while I was showing the Student of the Word curriculum, of which we are the Singapore representative, many came up to check how we teach our younger children.

The simple answer is - I teach them according to the goals we have set up for them - namely to know, to love and to serve the Lord Jesus Christ.

So that means we do concentrate a fair bit on the Bible. Then comes the 3Rs - reading, writing & arithmetic. The rest (science, history, etc) are bonus stuff we do if mama has the energy and time to do them!

Do I follow a set curriculum? No I don’t. However, I must say that on lazy days, I wish I did! Coz then, I wouldn’t have to crack my head so hard to get the materials I need and the do up a scope and sequence!

I would therefore say that generally, while a formal curriculum is not necessary, it is helpful - very helpful! for those who are clueless about what to do and how to do it. And also, for those who are not very self-disciplined Why? A set curriculum saves you time and energy. And when you are feeling lazy, all you have to do is open up the teacher’s guide and it tells you exactly what to do!

Bible

Bible is covered first. What do I use for Bible at this age? I wrote about this in Doing Devotionals with the Children. We use Gospel Light’s Bible Colouring Pages which allows us to go through the entire Bible in short snippets followed by the relevant colouring picture. (A free alternative is to download pages from Calvary Chapel Colouring Pages but the pictures are not as nice, in our opinion!)

English

I like the workbooks put out by Rod and Staff called Preschool - ABC Series. There are 6 workbooks and 1 reader. Great stuff for us! After we finish that, we proceed to the workbooks available at Popular bookstore. There are loads of stuff to choose from!

Teaching Phonics is a challenge for me since I didn’t learn it in school! That’s when the tapes (cassettes or VCDs) come in handy. I use Christ Centered Curriculum’s Phonics programme. They are different from the other phonic programmes out there because it uses parts of the Bible!

Eg. A is not for apple but for Adam and B is not for bear or banana but Bible! They even have scripture verses for the child to memorise that goes with the letters! Downside of this prgramme - it is heavy going when I have older children to watch over. So I have modified it a fair bit.

I also use the letters and blends learnt for our Copywork. This way the children are practicing their handwriting plus getting bible verses into their hearts and minds.

Once they can read on their own, they would be given easy readers and encouraged to read on their own. Then we are basically home free!

Read Alouds - I used to think that once the child is able to read, I won’t have to read to them anymore! But reading aloud is actually still much needed even when they are much older.

A few benefits of reading aloud to competent readers - they get to hear how words sound! Obviously we need to read with expression and the right pronunciation! They also get to practice their auditory skills.

My children tend to be very visual learners. It is a challenge for them to sit and listen to someone read a story! They keep wanting to read the story for themselves! But it is important for them to learn how to listen, absorb and process information through their ears! So we practice this everyday by having mama read to them a short time each day.

Let me confess though it is not my favourite thing to do, especially when I am 8 months pregnant and tend to get breathless when I read aloud!

Maths

I use Rod & Staff’s Mathematics 1 for my 5 and almost 4 year old. I like it because it is very simple and repetitive. I find that my children need to have a certain amount of repetition to retain their information.

The 5 year old does 2 pages of the workbook daily and largely on his own while the almost 4 year old does just 1 page with me. Once they have mastered the concept for the unit, I will cut down on the amount of repetition they need.

Again, I will supplement with workbooks from Popular for a change and to keepup with our local requirements.

Chinese

Ah! This is one area we have decided to farm out. Once they are 5years old, they start tuition with the same tutor who teaches the older children. Before then, I will attempt to teach them via flash cards so that they can at least recognise and know what common objects around the house are in Chinese.

Farming out has its advantages in that I don’t get stressed by my weakest subject but the cost does add up when you have 3 children taking lessons twice a week! The other benefit of having the tutor come to my house is that I don’t have to lug everyone to a tuition centre and spend time waiting for each of them to finish.

Life Skills

That’s just the academics. What is also important is for them to learn what is known as Life Skills.

They learn how to live with each other’s idiosyncrasies, help with household chores (make their beds, pack the house, sort & fold their own laundry, set and clear the table before and after meals, respectively), play independently and creatively when mama is busy. And then we also go for outdoor play at the playground when the weather permits.

Click here for Teaching Our Toddlers.

We have been officially homeschooling since September 2004. We are now teaching a P3, a P1, a K1 and a N2. While we ourselves are convinced and convicted that this is our path to walk in, it is not in our practice to hard sell homeschooling.

Why? No, it is not because we are better/holier than non-homeschoolers or are we on to something good that we don’t want the rest of you to have or know. It is simple - going against the crowd is hard. Being a minority is hard. Knowing that what you are doing has NO support from your family is hard.

So, when mothers come up to me and tell me that they are keen to homeschool, I probably sound like a wet blanket coz instead of smiling broadly, I often ask them WHY? And then the next question that follows would be “What are your goals for your child/ren?”

Please do not homeschool just because everyone around you is doing it. Or that it sounds like a wonderful, and noble idea. Or even if it is because your child is picking up behaviours that you didn’t like.

There will be days when the going gets tough - everyone has those days, public schooled or homeschooled. But when you are homeschooling and the going gets tough, the 1st thought that crosses your mind will be “Let’s put him back in school!”

So if you are homeschooling for the wrong reasons, the tough days will be very daunting and you will give up. Actually, even when you are homeschooling for the right reasons, the tough days ARE very daunting and you also want to give up! But at least you know WHY you are homeschooling and you will plod on. You will hang on to your call to homeschool your child/ren.

Oh! And especially if your dh is not convinced, please do not homeschool! The pressure on you to MAKE SURE homeschooling succeeds will be too great a burden to bear alone.

And being wishy washy about the whole thing will also leave a negative impression on your children. Whether you wish to homeschool them from the start or if you need to pull them out of school, please do make these decisions prayerfully.

Remember, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5

How does one choose a curriculum to use once you have decided to homeschool?

Ask any or every veteran homeschooler and they will tell you the same thing - What are your goals?

Do you want an academically rigorous curriculum to push your gifted child to his limits? Or do you want to focus on heart training? Or perhaps you want your child to be skilled in IT or be a missionary? All these will affect your choice of curriculum.

I would strongly recommend that you list out your goals for your children with your dh and then read about all the different styles of homeschooling methods. Then pray and ask God what to choose.

I liked these books put up by Love To Learn : Love to Learn! Homeschool Handbook and Homeschool Startup Kit. It provided an overview to start me off.

Another very fast and easy (tho at times overwhelming!) way of finding out more about homeschooling and the various curriculum available is to google for it! Just type in key words like “homeschool” and “curriculum” and lots of stuff will pop up on your screen and you can slowly pore through them.

There’s no short cut way when you want to choose your curriculum. You need to do your research and you need to be prepared to make mistakes Yes, you read that correctly.

Even after putting in hours and hours of research, you will still make mistakes. Why? A curriculum may have the greatest reviews but you and your family are unique. What works for thousands of people may just not work for you. Still you will want to know what others are saying about the curriculum you have your eye on. This is where www.Homeschoolreviews.com comes in really handy.

To share, I was sold on Sonlight. Read its “Is Sonlight Curriculum Right for You?” article and agreed with every point listed. And yet, when it came and I used it on my children, they were totally uninterested. What went wrong? I honestly don’t know. But it just showed me that I had underestimated my knowledge of my own children! Lol!

So I went back to more research and reading and talking to other homeschool mums (mostly from the US as I didn’t know any local homeschool mum yet). As I shared before in my other post on Homeschooling, we then went with BJU for 2 years. But now we have chosen to use Student of the Word or SOW. Why?

As I got into the swing of homeschooling the children, the Lord began to impress upon me the question - how are the goals for our children being met in our homeschool? We say we want our children to have a heart for Christ and to know Him and to serve Him. But the Bible, God’s Word, was just one of the many sujects to be tackled daily. Just like Maths and English. This began to bug me and I began to search out curricula that will gel with our goals. (*)

To cut a long story short we settled on SOW because it uses the Bible as the centre of our homeschool. SOW uses the Bible as it’s “heart”. It is a bible-based curriculum. Go to the website and download its free brochure and read it in detail. Suffice to say, we have been very pleased with it. It is a whole new way of learning and teaching! But once we got the hang of it, we love it!

We especially love it because all of us are studying God’s Word everyday. Yes, the whole family is learning how to study the Bible at the same time and we are all always on the same page!

As you choose your curriculum, don’t be afraid to make mistakes. But I would strongly advise not switching from one curriculum to the next every year or so. Sometimes, persistence is what’s needed to make it work for you. Other times, you may just need to take a short break from school and deal with attitude problems.

(*) Don’t get me wrong. BJU ’s Bible Curriculum is great! I love it but it still treated the Bible as a subject . Something we did not want. We wanted the Bible to be a big part of our lives and homeschool.