September 1998 by Cari D. Cruse

You didn't know there was a prize to be had for all this, huh? Actually, there's more than one.

You most likely have already received one or two of the prizes--like seeing the light go on in your child's eyes when they suddenly "get" something they'd been struggling to understand, or like the sudden realization that YOU and you alone have been the instrument God has used to teach your child the wonderful gift of literacy! But the prizes we receive go far beyond these immediate responses. Remember that one about "Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it." [Prov. 22:6]? Now there's a prize we can truly cherish, a prize for being a full-time trainer. And there's the prize that will outlast them all--"a crown that will last forever" [I Cor. 9:25c]! Now, I don't crave a crown for my own glory, but to know that, like an Olympic athlete who "brings home the gold" for his country, I, too, can "bring home the gold" for my Lord, is a wonderful thing to know. When the time comes for all to see the "gold" that's been won for the Lord [and, of course, by Him & through Him], we who homeschool will most certainly have been amongst the runners who ran in such a way as to get the prize.

As you see the new school year approaching, remember that one small word: RUN! And be sure to "throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus!" [Hebrews 12:1b-2a]

November 1998 by Cari D. Cruse

Can you believe that November is really here? Time to start looking toward turkeys, apple pies, and cornbread stuffing!

This month may also be the beginning of the 2nd quarter of your school year, as it is ours. It's a very good time to take a quick look over how the first 9 weeks [or so] have gone, and evaluate your successes & failures. Often we can feel overwhelmed if we've gotten behind or felt like we failed in some area and we may think we can't possibly "start fresh" until next school year. This is simply not so. Of course, we know that in the Lord every day is a new day, a new beginning, and this even applies to our homeschools. If we've gotten off-track, or we have a student who just isn't where we think they need to be at this point in the school year, we need to remember that if we give it all to the Lord, then He, and only He, determines where we all really need to be. Setting goals isn't a bad thing, we just need to submit those goals to the Lord for HIS timing and for His minor [or major] adjustments. Any goal we "force" on our children or on ourselves through stress and/or fear is not of the Lord.

I am already trimming back some of the loftier projects I thought I had to pack into the kids' school days, and am finding a real sense of peace and relief--both for myself and for my boys. I am giving up some of the projects to the Lord to show us when, and if, they can be done. Praise Him for saving us from our own demanding selves!

December 1998 by Cari D. Cruse

This month we will celebrate what many look on as only the birth of a precious Child. Yet we who have come to know Him personally are aware that it is a celebration of the day God first descended to be with us. He knew in advance all the turmoil that would follow His birth in a humble old manger, yet He so wanted to be with us. It wasn't enough for Him to be watching over us, He wanted to be nearer. So He took on our form, not wanting to overwhelm us with His greatness. He did not want anything to stand between Him and the intimacy He so wanted with His own creation. Not because He needed it, but because He saw how much we needed it. And because He loved us. How dearly he loves us.

Even when He returned to Heaven, Immanuel made sure that He would continue to be "God with us" by sending His wonderful Spirit to continue the relationship. From the moment that precious Baby was born in Bethlehem, from the very first shepherd who believed that a Savior was born, we have had God with us. How glorious is His mercy!

This Christmas, pause to consider that there couldn't possibly be anything greater or more unfathomable than knowing that God, the Almighty Creator of the Universe, wanted [and still wants] nothing more than to be with us. So amidst all the hectic moments of the holidays, take time to be with the One who went to so much effort just so He could be with you!

January 1999 by Cari D. Cruse

One of the advantages of recognizing that each day is a precious new beginning is that we can begin to let go of our feelings of failure. How is that, you ask? How many unfinished projects or unmet goals did you bring into today with you? Probably no more than I did. The difference, though, is that when we view today as a new beginning, we are not counting the previous days as "marks against us." Remember that school assignment you were going to do with the kids yesterday, that had already been rescheduled twice? It is no longer "overdue." It's freshly scheduled for today. Are you beating yourself up for that diet you cheated on 5 times this past week? Today is not day number 26 of a failed diet, it is day 1 of my best effort. Tomorrow will not be day number 2--tomorrow will only be a new day number 1 for me. That is the joy of counting each day as the precious new beginning that God meant it to be--we have no failed days behind us, we have no worries ahead of us--we have only this glorious new day in which we can put all our energies into without wasting them on the non-existent "yesterdays" and "tomorrows." I say non-existent because each day is only a "today." Yesterdays and tomorrows are not places we can ever visit. We cannot exist in them. We can only exist today. So it is only reasonable that we live today--not in mourning or discouragement for what we didn't do yesterday, nor in anxiety over what we might or might not encounter tomorrow.

Remind yourself of these words from our Lord:

"Don't worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. You have enough to worry about today." Matthew 6:34

"I tell you not to worry about your life." Matthew 6:25a

"Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God." Philippians 4:6

"Can worry make you live longer?" Luke 12:25

Praise God for new life, new days, new beginnings! Let each day be God's special gift of a new beginning to you!

February 1999 by Cari D. Cruse

When was the last time you looked about your home and the word "sweet" came to mind? Are other words more quick to jump into your thoughts? Words such as stress, frustration, even failure? How about words like disappointment, or hopelessness? More likely than not, most of us probably haven't really sat down and given it much direct thought at all. But undoubtedly we all have some sort of feelings about our home--some opinion about the place we spend so much of our time. And that makes it important to examine what those feelings and opinions are.

If you are a topnotch housekeeper and have not a speck of dust anywhere and never lose a moment's time having to search for anything, maybe you have no trouble thinking of home as sweet. If you are more like me, however, you can be overwhelmed with your sincere and yet oft imperfect efforts at such lofty housekeeping. In addition, housekeeping isn't the only thing that affects our attitudes about home. There are the stresses of caring for our family, relationships with our spouses or parents or others, and outside obligations--whether they be appointments, extracurricular activities for us or our children, or even a career. All of these things can affect how we look at the place we call home.

Once we sit and thoughtfully consider what our attitudes toward our homes are, the most important thing we can do is to lift each attitude up to the Lord for Him to mold and shape into the attitude HE would want us to have. As with all our attitudes, we must continually examine our hearts, asking God to reveal to us our true thoughts and feelings, and then humble ourselves before Him so that He may give us hearts and minds that can truly say "Home, Sweet Home."

I pray that each one of us might find the peace that only God can give, and that we will let that peace reign in our hearts, and in our homes.

March 1999 by Cari D. Cruse

So you've just begun homeschooling...with a 4 year old I personally would encourage you to keep it light. Mainly, I would do simple counting and alphabet songs and games. Those really help them to memorize the numbers and letters upon which all else is built. Also, read out loud at every opportunity. Our family loves books--all four of us are avid readers. I credit my mom with having had the wisdom to always, always read to her children--at meals and bedtime and any other time we could. In turn, my husband and I have always had the habit of reading aloud as a family and to our individual children. This created in them an excitement about reading--they wanted to discover for themselves the "treasures" that are found inside books. The enjoyment we get from our family reading times is beyond measure. Along these same lines, always have picture books available for your children to enjoy. This will develop in them the habit of "reading." Too, as much as it is "unpopular" these days to use the old-fashioned "Run, Dick, Run" style booklets, I have found them to be a great beginning point, because the children gain confidence in being able to read an "entire" book all on their own. Once they start devouring those, their appetite for reading is already whetted and they tend to want to graduate to higher level books.

When we first began homeschooling, we had just bought our first home, and we had no funds for curriculums and such. I knew that our community had a large number of homeschoolers, so I made my way to the public library here which has been very supportive of homeschoolers. I found an abundance of wonderful homeschooling books which I brought home and combed their pages for wisdom and advice. The one book which helped me the most in getting started was, "How To Write Your Own Low-Cost, No-Cost Curriculum" by Borg Hendrickson. This required some work on my part, but it showed me that once I knew WHAT I wanted to teach, then finding the items to teach it was a lot less work. That first year, I put together a very eclectic collection of teaching materials. I found old used textbooks at our library's monthly book sale for cheap. I even was blessed to find a box of dittos and workbook pages that the library was giving away free! I came home with a car full that day--and a heart full of praise for the Lord's provision! I also supplemented the curriculum later that school year with a few educational workbooks purchased from KMart--for items I felt needed a little extra practice or reinforcement. These were each under $2.

For the next few years after that, we used Alpha Omega's Lifepacs for all subjects. These are excellent workbooks which divide topics up into bite-size chunks that the students can complete in reasonable time and feel a sense of progress throughout the year--each subject is divided between 10 workbooks for the year. While using these, my sons always tested excellently on the national tests. The only bump in the road I ever encountered with the Lifepacs was when we reached the 5th grade--the Math program was just not well-presented. Math and advanced math have always been one of my strongest points, and even I couldn't follow what the program was teaching--I ended up getting out my own high school textbooks and teaching the concepts on my own. The next year we switched our math curriculum to the A Beka math. I compared it with the other nationally acclaimed math program, Saxon, and while I felt they both were excellent programs, I decided that I truly wanted the Christian perspective that comes with the A Beka program. So we went with that.

This current school year, I decided the kids and I kind of needed to break out of our standard curriculum. We still went with the A Beka math, but everything else was, once again, an eclectic collection of texts and workbooks which I felt would give an added spark to our school year. We are halfway through, and I feel it's been a blessing [although, in my excitement about the wonderful options available, I did try to bite off more than I could chew initially, and I had to scale back on a few things]. At this point, I believe that next school year we will once again resume the Lifepacs [along with the A Beka math]. The themes in the Lifepacs are really wonderful and we are looking forward to them again.

Well, I guess I have gone on...and on! I guess I just hadn't put down on paper before the exact progression of our homeschooling--maybe I will throw all this on my website so others can read it as well! I hope all this helps you to develop your own direction for homeschooling--I truly believe that is the most important thing to remember: let the Lord help you find your OWN direction for homeschooling your children--never try to fit into someone else's mold. There really is no right or wrong for homeschooling, if the Lord leads in it all.

God bless!

-----------Cari

April 1999 by Cari D. Cruse

So what does all of this have to do with homeschooling? Well.....let's see......I confess I really am just so overcome with the awesomeness of God's creation and the wonderful variety He provides to us. However, I believe that in everything God blesses us with there is an opportunity for a lesson. So.....are we looking for those lessons? Do we remember to take advantage of the opportunities God gives us in the day to day experiences of our lives to find the lessons which our children [and we] will be blessed by? Do we remember to stop and tell our own "parables" based on what we see happening around us? When Jesus was walking the earth, He would travel around telling stories to thousands in various towns which the people in that time and place could relate to. The Master Storyteller told stories which even we can still relate to today. Marvelously, He has blessed us with His Living Spirit so that we may follow in His footsteps. A few of us may be given the opportunity to speak to thousands as He did, but for most of us our most attentive audience will consist of the precious children who are with us each day. These are the ones whose lives can be most impacted by our willingness to point out the lessons God has woven into His wonderful creation. When we are planting our gardens this spring, do we remember to explain to our children that the seeds will not "live" until they "die"? When we till up a rocky section of the yard for replanting with grass seed, do speak of the difference between good soil and rocky soil? Do we observe how the various birds work to provide for their food and homes and illustrate to our children the many lessons found there?

Whatever our plans, balance is as important through the summer as it is through the school year. We mustn't forsake all relaxation for work and learning, and we mustn't forsake all work and learning for relaxation. Jesus Christ set a wonderful example for us all. At times, He worked tirelessly, yet He also chose to withdraw and be refreshed when needed. He knew how to give both of these the right amount of time and attention. Balance. Even the apostles needed reminding that to take the time to sit down and hold a child on your knee was every bit as important as preaching, teaching, and working for others. We must remember to do the same. And if we have teens who wouldn't care too much to climb on our knee, we must remember that they would undoubtedly appreciate having our undivided attention now and then just the same. Christ would do as much. Perhaps, too, we should become as a child and climb onto our Father's knee ourselves--how blessed to rest in His arms with complete assurance that He will see to our every need!

Christ also knew when a walk in the garden and a quiet time with the Father was what the Teacher needed. Those who count on us to teach will benefit much more greatly if we will follow our Lord's example and seek refreshment often. How beneficial it is to retreat from our work and rest our head on a Rock now and then. Whatever your plans this summer, remember He is always ready to strengthen us in our tasks, and to refresh us when we tire.

God bless you as you seek Him in all that you do!

~~Cari~~

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