What Are Parents For?

Burn Out, Informative

Published with Permission
Written by Deborah Wuehler
www.TOSmagazine.com

“Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen” (Deuteronomy 27:16).

Quite an interesting verse—a curse from God Himself is associated with the light esteem of parents. Yet it seems that our society today does just that.

The English phrase setteth light is a translation of the Hebrew word qalah, which means “base, condemn, despise, lightly esteem, set light, seem vile.”1

Have you ever been made to feel like a second-class citizen because you choose to stay home with your children? (more…)

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Do You Ever Have Doubts?

Burn Out, Single Parents, Special Needs

Published with Permission
Written by Lisa Trombley
http://thehappyhomeschoolmom.blogspot.com/2013/03/do-you-ever-have-doubts.html

 

I do.  I know on paper (or the computer) many homeschoolers appear to have it altogether.  Not true.  I second guess myself all of the time.  Am I doing too much? Am I doing enough? Am I spending enough time on each subject?  Am I getting enough one on one time with each child?  How can I teach XYZ effectively if I don’t understand it myself?  Am I leaving gaps in their education?  How can anyone learn in this chaos (when you’ve been interrupted 10 times in an hour!)

I think those are concerns that we have all had at one time or another. There are even harder questions or situations that may come up.  Especially when you have a child who is a struggling learner, or special needs.  The questions you ask yourself may be harder then, especially when there is so much pressure from the outside for you to put him in a school where “professionals” can teach them and they can be taught the “right way.”  The doubts may increase even more when there are specialized therapies that you are only eligible for if you put your child in school.

Being a parent is hard! (more…)

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Homeschooling – Missionary Style

Burn Out, Classroom Help

Published with Permission
Written by Esther Dalton
www.TOSMagazine.com

I was frustrated. The curriculum for my twelfth-grade English class required me to write an essay about C.S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, and T. S. Eliot, comparing how they used stories to convey apologetics—a fascinating topic. Unfortunately, my family did not own any of their writings other than the brief excerpts anthologized in my British Literature textbook and our dog-eared copies of The Chronicles of Narnia—hardly enough material for a decent essay. The books my family owned were all the resources I had. We lived in Asia, not the United States.

As a homeschooling family on the mission field, we encountered many challenges like this one: lack of materials at home, lack of resources in the community, and lack of opportunities for interaction with other students and educators. Yet, for my two siblings and me, homeschooling was the ideal mode of education, because school had to be “portable.” (more…)

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