The Small Branch

  The high school years are the years that most homeschooling parents dread.   Many just give up and put their teens into school, even if it is just an online school, because they feel very intimidated.   There really is no reason for this.   Ages 14-16 are what I would call the rhetoric stage of learning.  These are the years when students take the material they have previously learned and begin to form their own worldview, thoughts, and opinions.  These are the years in which parents must be careful to prepare their students for adulthood, possibly including college.  The difficulty we have in our culture is that we don’t really know what that means.  I’m not sure I do, but I’ll give you a few thoughts anyway. First, students need to own their own faith.  They cannot ride your coattails into heaven.  Help them to articulate what they believe and why they believe it.  You can help this by making sure they are studying the W...

  In the interest of full disclosure, if you look at 1st-12th grade, we homeschooled 1st-half of 7th, 1st-4th and 11th-12th, 1st-2nd and 9th-12th, and 7th-12th (this one is still in school with me with a couple of years left).   You may notice that these years don’t include a huge amount of middle school experience.   I will say that I also taught a middle school math class when I was teaching at a private school.   Anyway, I’ll still offer you a few thoughts about middle school. Ages 11-13 are what I would consider the logic stage, or the middle stage of classical education.  This is where you help your child to organize all the information they have been collecting so far.  This is also where you will probably veer away from the way things are being done in public schools (and most private ones).  This is because the American system of education has become more of Elementary School, Elementary School 2.0, and finally Elementary School 3.0. ...

  (I’ve covered some of this in previous posts, but thought I would expand on a few things here.)   Most people consider the elementary school years to be Kindergarten through fifth grade, about ages 5-11.  Personally, as I’ve state before, I don’t see any reason to start any kind of formal school until 8-10 years old, depending on your child.  For the kids in the “elementary years” who aren’t yet ready for formal education, you can continue as you were doing in the preschool years (see previous post).  Remember, though, that you want your children to be ready for learning.  This includes making sure they are learning to be obedient, learning to sit still, and learning to work hard even when something is a struggle for them.  In this phase of “school age but not yet school ready,” make sure they are learning these lessons well.  This is something I utterly failed at.  We were too busy playing and having fun, and I was too lazy as a mom, to...

  I think it is kind of funny when people ask me what kind of curriculum to use for preschool.   I mean, the term is “pre” school, which means before school, right?   So why would we need workbooks and other curriculum before school?   I’m not sure.   I think much of it has more to do with parents wanting to look good because their kids are “so smart” and parents who just go along with what everyone else is doing rather than actually thinking things through.   First, I’ll just put it out there - I think every single child in the world should be homeschooled for preschool.  Of course, there are situations in a fallen world where that just isn’t possible, but it is possible much more often than it happens.  A lot of (married) moms would find that, if they really count up the costs (including a second vehicle, nicer clothes, convenience foods, more sickness and doctor visits, etc. as well as school/daycare costs), they could probably stay home w...

  The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson I am not a huge fan of poetry.  Mostly because I am a very linear and logical thinker so, often, I have a hard time figuring out what the poet really is talking about.  I also try to make everything a standard rhythm.  Rhyme is also forced when I am reading poetry, whether it is there or not.  All this to say, it took me some effort to read this collection poetry, but it wasn’t as difficult as some other poets I have read.  One thing I really like about the G3 reading challenge is that it is forcing me out of my comfort zone and stretching my brain.  Even if you are like me and don’t really enjoy poetry, I would recommend stretching out and reading some occasionally.  Emily Dickinson is a great place to start and this collection is well done.  (I got this book from my county's digital library.)

  In 2022, G3 began a reading challenge.   I’ve mentioned the 2023 challenge before, but I thought I would post what I read for the 2022 challenge.   I’ll be honest, I didn’t start this until fall of 2022, so I’m not quite done yet (I’m still working on the first two categories), but here’s what I am reading/have read. Complete a Bible-Reading Plan : I chose to use the Chronological Bible Reading Schedule from Mostly Sensible.   I started in the New Testament and have mixed the Old Testament up more than suggested, but I am thinking I will be done with the whole thing in another month or so.  Just reading through the whole Bible is a challenge for me, so this has been hard, but I am persevering and finding it helpful to get the history and prophecy or letters, etc. put together well. A Hymnal : I chose Hymns to the Living God , which you can download or purchase.  ( I like my spiral bound copy because it lays nicely on my piano stand. )  I am abo...

  Lately, I have been hearing my friends talk about what their children will be doing for school next year.   There are a lot of changes in the works and it got me thinking about something that they are saying and that I have said in the past.   “She decided she wants to . . .” and “he would rather . . .” are the main ways the conversation starts.   I did this with one of my kids.   I gave her a choice - she could go to school and not play sports or she could homeschool and still play sports.   She chose to homeschool, but really, should I have had her making that choice?   On the one hand, we want our kids to want what we decide is best for them.   But on the other hand, it is our job as parents to decide what that is, even when they are 16.   Now, I am a firm believer that teens should be making more and more of their own decisions, even if they choose something that will turn out to be a mistake.  I think teens should be learning...

  “The people will oppress one another, man against man, neighbor against neighbor; the young will act arrogantly toward the old, and the worthless toward the honorable.” -- Isaiah 3:5 (CSB) The young acting arrogantly toward the old.  We are definitely suffering from this problem.  Notice that, in Isaiah, this is a curse as a result of Israel’s sin.  Today, we don’t just have disrespectful teens, but disrespectful 30somethings, 40somethings, even 50somethings.  Our culture values youth and tries to hold onto it as long as possible.  We are reaping the results of this trend of “youth culture” more and more today. This trend started about a hundred years ago with the beginning of the “youth culture.”  Sometime after WWII, we started using terms like “teenager” and separating teens out from adults in all areas of life.  Teens were all in high school and activities with their peers, rather than spending these years learning to be adults by sp...

 What is nobility?  The dictionary defines nobility as the quality of being noble in character, mind, birth, or rank.  Noble means belonging to a class of aristocracy or having fine personal qualities or morals.  Basically, nobility means that you are somehow "above" those around you.   Acts 17:11 says, "Now these were more noble-minded  than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so."  The Bereans were considered to think like nobility because they searched the Scriptures checking what they were taught against Truth.  These men and women were "above" others in their thinking because they were thinking for themselves and thinking about Scripture.  They didn't trust anyone when it came to what they needed to learn.  They trusted in the Word of God and therefore made sure that those they were listening too measured up to the standard of God's W...

Friday was rough.  I woke up a little frustrated and angry and little things kept happening all morning that, while I don't like them, wouldn't normally make me feel like screaming.  Friday, I felt like screaming.  It was one of those days where the battle was fierce.  After ranting with fellow teachers at lunch, I spent the rest of my lunch buried in my Bible, asking for help, and, finally, got some peace.  But the problems and frustrations didn't end.  One of the big frustrations of my day was the lack of retention my students were showing.  Things they needed to know from the past math they have learned, they didn't remember.  Another teacher and I were discussing (this was the ranting part, really) what we could do to combat this - more homework, more class time, what would help?  Once lunch was over and I was feeling some peace about life, I could finally listen to the Father, talk to the Father, and think logically as He guided me....

Just finished reading Mindset  by Carol Dweck.  If you haven't read it, I really recommend it, especially if, like me, you really struggle with the insecurity a fixed mindset can cause.  The book makes me think a lot about growth and how to foster that in my children and my students.  As a teacher, I really despise having to use grades and test scores.  These "products" do so much to undermine what I hope to teach my students - the value of learning and growth.  Part of our school mission statement talks about helping students grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ.  Am I really teaching lifelong growing if I emphasize grades?  test scores?  There is a huge difference between students who are focused on learning and students who are focused on grades.  Students focused on grades are focused on an end result that they think will happen right now.  But life is a journey - we grow in Christ, we let Him work in us, in every aspect...