Zeezok Publishing

The World’s Best Husband

2010-07-01T14:55:00.000-04:00

Men, do you want to know how to earn your wife’s “World’s Best Husband Award”? Okay, okay, some of you are saying, “It’s automatically me because I’m my wife’s only husband.” You’re right…at least I hope so! But I mean do you want to be that husband about whom all the other wives in the homeschool support group go, “Ooooohhhh, I wish my husband would think of something like that for me!”? Well, here’s the secret: take all the kids with you for a day and give your wife some time alone, in her own house, uninterrupted for several hours of relaxation and refreshment. It may cost you some sanity and some time, but you can create wonderful memories with your children while your wife relishes a bubble bath without some little fist knocking at the door the entire time, or she enjoys reading a book without having to set it down every three minutes to get someone else a juice cup or wipe someone’s nose, or whatever else your loving wife may dream of doing in her own space during a day of uninterrupted freedom.

I’m speaking from recent personal experience, mind you. My loving husband has been on the road almost non-stop for the past four months, doing sixteen conventions and book shows to provide for our family. But he realizes that I have not been home in my own sanctuary alone (for longer than ninety minutes, that is) since early February. He knows that I am nearing the breaking point emotionally and mentally, struggling to provide for my children with a cheerful and willing attitude. So what did he do this week? He packed up six kids, five bikes, sleeping bags, some clothes and bug repellent, and s’mores fixings in order to take the gang camping overnight so I could have a complete day to myself. Those are the makings of a “World’s Best Husband” nominee. Thank you, Hon. I think you’re the Best Husband winner of 2010 (and 2009, and 2008, and….all the way back to 1990)!

Ta-dah’s, Olive Plants, and Other Musings

2010-06-16T09:33:00.002-04:00

Our sixth child, Benjamin, has been the most active and mischievous of all our children. He’s the kind of child who climbs the shelves in the pantry so he can stack soup cans six and seven high; he runs any place he wishes…not walks, but runs; and he goes to sleep kicking his foot against the mattress (but he’ll sleep no more than eight hours at a time, regardless of how active the previous day has been). Sigh. This forty-four-year-old mom is feeling the effects of such an energetic little guy.
Last night, as I was attempting to put Ben down for bed, he kept calling out, “Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom…” Finally, I said, “What is it, Ben?” He promptly pointed to a stuffed animal he had suspended high between the rungs of his crib and sing-songed, “Ta-dah!” Goofball. (He gets it from his daddy, I’m certain.) Of course, I had to chuckle and give him a kiss, thanking him for reminding me why it’s so wonderful to have little ones in the family. And then I thanked God for giving me another olive plant to grow.
My heart is frequently reminded of Psalms 127 and 128 as I look around my quiver-full of arrows or table-full of olive plants. In this case, the idea that comes to mind is it takes fifteen years of cultivating an olive plant to become a tree that produces fruit. Ben has another thirteen years or so under our training and tutelage to prepare him for the fruitful service we pray he will choose to give our Savior. Have I used the two years already behind us as wisely in that training as I should have? What will the next thirteen years hold? I don’t know the answers for certain to those questions, but I know the best place to be is to be a woman “who fears the LORD, who walks in His ways” (Ps. 128:1) because that is where the blessing is assured (Ps. 128:4).
One more thought about our olive plants, while it takes fifteen years of grooming and cultivating to produce a plant that is fruitful, it’s encouraging to know that an olive tree will produce fruit for over a hundred years. That means we’re heading into another generation of godliness and productivity, by the God’s grace and will. Wouldn’t it be great to have an olive grove of numerous ages or generations of trees producing fruit for our Lord and Master? May it be so for all of us. “Ta-dah!”

One Down, Five to Go….

2010-06-11T07:53:00.000-04:00

Fifteen or so years ago, I distinctly remember thinking, “Okay, Lord, I’ll be willing to teach my children at home, at least up to high school.” And then as junior high and high school approached, I prayed, “Yes, Lord, I’ll consider teaching the children through high school. Please, just don’t make me teach them chemistry or government.” Now, over a decade into our actual teaching adventure, I’m standing on the other side of the bank and saying, “I have a high school graduate who survived me as his teacher for twelve years – even through chemistry! How did we get to this point?” Well, it suddenly occurred to me as I was watching my oldest son hugging people and shaking hands with those who were congratulating him on his achievement: We got to this point the same way we got through learning to read, memorizing multiplication tables, and practicing how to write a logical paper; we got here by God’s grace. Did I think that His grace was not sufficient enough to get us through chemistry, for heaven’s sake? By God’s grace, Derek (our eldest) will continue to develop academically, to grow in his understanding of God’s will for his future, and will desire to do God’s will. And by God’s grace, we’ll get through the five students who are remaining in our little “academy” in the woods of Elyria, Ohio. To God be the glory, because it is only by His grace!

George Frederic Handel (1685-1759)

2010-03-09T11:56:00.000-05:00

He was a native of Germany, but he lived in England for nearly fifty years, even becoming an English citizen. The Queen of England gave him a yearly stipend to keep him in the court as the royal composer. When he died, nearly 3,000 mourners attended his funeral, showing the love and appreciation the people of England had for this man. He was buried with honor in Westminster Abbey’s Poet’s Corner. Who was he? George Frederic Handel was a man of musical genius, generosity, and faith.

Handel was exceptionally generous. He sent frequent monetary gifts to the widow of one of his first music teachers, for example. This music teacher, Friedrich Zachau, only worked with young Handel for three years, but Handel never forgot the musical training and appreciation for lifelong learning that Zachau gave him.

Handel demonstrated generosity by frequently directing presentations of Messiah for charitable fundraisers for such causes as a foundling hospital and debtors’ prisons. He cared for widows and orphans, perhaps because he never married and had a family of his own. He once bought a home for his chief musical secretary. And he generously shared his music with the people of England and Europe, frequently attending performances to direct the works himself.

But it is Handel’s faith that is most impressive. He desired that his music would make people better, and songs such as the “Hallelujah Chorus,” “I know that my Redeemer liveth,” and “Rejoice, the Lord is King” (in which he supplied the music for Charles Wesley’s words) indicate what Handel believed would make people better: a knowledge of Christ as personal Savior and Lord.

Handel was given the title of “Father of the Oratorio.” His most well-known oratorio is Messiah, which uses several different Biblical texts to relate the birth, passion, and resurrection of Christ. (An oratorio, by the way, is a composition, usually of a religious nature, for choruses and soloists, sung without costuming, scenery, or staging.) The musical masterpiece Messiah was written in less than a month. 260 pages of text and music in twenty-four days! That is true musical genius.

His musical talents are evident in over forty operas, numerous oratorios, church music, choral music, orchestra and chamber pieces, keyboard music, and some secular vocal works. One of his most unique works is the Water Music Suite, which was composed to ease King George I’s anger at Handel for leaving Germany to work in England. When King George was crowned King of England, barges with the royal court floated through London on the Thames to introduce the citizens to their new monarch. Handel composed the Water Music Suite especially for an outdoor performance, particularly for the echoing effects of wide open spaces on the river. Furthermore, Handel conducted the orchestra from a barge as if floated along with the royal court’s procession through London.

You can learn more about the “Father of the Oratorio,” this talented man of generosity and faith, by reading Handel at the Court of Kings, by Opal Wheeler. And you can hear his genius by listening to any of his works – including Water Music Suite, Music for the Royal Fireworks, Messiah, or his Harpsichord Suites.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

2010-02-23T15:20:00.000-05:00

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be looking at unique moments in the lives of several key composers in musicology. These moments in time are to make the composers a bit more approachable and real to students (and some teachers) who may be a little leery of getting involved with classical music because they feel intimidated by it. We need to recognize that these composers were real people who faced hardships, worked diligently, and had very personal reasons for composing the music they did. Understanding a bit more about their lives makes their music even richer and more enjoyable.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

J.S. Bach was from a large family of musicians, and passed along that love for music and composing to his own children. He had twenty children, so he definitely did his part to continue the musical legacy. Typically, he is referred to as J.S. Bach or as Sebastian because within the Bach family there were fifty-three individuals with the name Johann. In his own family of twenty children, five of his sons had that same first name, and two of his daughters were named Johanna! His early career was devoted to working as an organist, and he later served in the courts of the Grand Duke of Weimar and young Prince Leopold in Germany. In his final years of work, he was employed as the cantor at the St. Thomas Choir School, in Leipzig. This responsibility also included supplying music for the five principal churches in the area.

While he wrote music for nearly every genre of his time, because of his involvement in so many churches, his choral music production is unrivaled. He had to compose new music for the churches each week. J.S. Bach’s Lutheran background influenced much of his writing, and he often used specific selections of Scripture to carry his musical theme. He wrote nearly three hundred cantatas (choral works of some length that usually include solo voices and instrumental accompaniments), plus numerous masses, oratorios, and passions (musical settings of biblical texts revealing the life of Christ up to the crucifixion).

J.S. Bach had large hands, which could stretch across twelve notes on a clavier or keyboard. He was also revolutionary in performing running passages or scales with his three middle fingers, something that had never been tried before. Actually, his abilities as an organist were better known than his work as a composer during his lifetime. It is said that Bach would even use a stick in his mouth to reach certain notes on the organ’s keyboard that he couldn’t otherwise reach with his hands.
While he wrote more than one thousand works, 75% of which were for church worship services, only ten of J.S. Bach’s compositions were ever published in his lifetime! Now, however, he is considered the “Father of Modern Music” because of his influence on other composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schumann, and Brahms. Furthermore, Bach’s works are available throughout the solar system – literally. In 1977, the Voyager spacecraft was launched deep into our solar system. Included in that spacecraft was a gold-plated record on which three of Bach’s pieces are recorded, and the very first communication on the record is Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2.

Want to learn more about Johann Sebastian Bach? Try the wonderful family read-aloud Sebastian Bach: The Boy from Thuringia, by Opal Wheeler and Sybil Deucher.

World Geography

2010-02-08T14:36:00.000-05:00

How do we develop an appreciation for other cultures, establish a solid understanding of where countries are in our world, and encourage our children to distinguish worldviews from other regions of the globe? We teach world geography, of course! Around the World in 180 Days is the resource we have been using this year for social studies. It’s a combination of geography, history, culture, and religion for each of the continents (yes, even including Antarctica).

The course is designed for all ages of student, providing daily questions to answer in each of the four subject areas listed above. In addition, Mrs. Payne has listed extra research project ideas, supplemental reading suggestions, biography lists, and mapping activities for each continent. Separate student manuals may be purchased, or you are allowed to copy the manual for family use. There is a teacher’s answer key supplied for all the daily questions, as well.

We have used Uncle Josh’s Outline Maps for the mapping exercises, various biography suggestions for read-alouds while we’re in a particular region of the world, and the 10 Days in Africa (or other continents) Board Game to fill out our study of an area. The children have been learning better Internet research methods, the countries and their capitals (or at least have been introduced to them), and current event topics related to particular countries.

The course is intended as a full-year study of the seven continents. Some regions require more time than others because of their sheer size or the number of countries being studied. But the program is very user-friendly, can be self-directed, and is a family-friendly approach to learning world geography. We’ve been blessed by the study this year! I can’t promise that I’ll remember where Muscat, the capital of Oman, is located on a map. But thanks to Around the World in 180 Days, I can pretty much guarantee that I’ll remember what portion of the world contained Oman (and, I hope, be able to identify the country correctly on a map), and what its cultural and religious characteristics are.

It was one of those days...

2010-01-27T15:13:00.001-05:00

It was one of those days that I had been thinking, “Anytime You want to take me Home, Lord, I’m ready.” It wasn’t anything major, mind you. Rather, it was all the little irritations and frustrations of life that were exhausting me and making me yearn even more for Glory. It was the fussy infant who wouldn’t be quiet unless he was being held; it was the husband leaving me home with all of the children so he could serve as a deacon at church; it was the tears during spelling for my sixth grader; it was my oldest son asking for last-minute help on a college composition; it was my four-year-old yelling for help from the potty; it was the pile of dishes in the sink, and the pile of laundry in the dryer, and the pile of toys scattered all over the house; it was the ungraded schoolwork sitting on the table…. Well, you get the idea. It was a typical day of home schooling (at least at my house). What a day! It was not one of those days I wanted to number as Psalm 90:12 exhorts us to do: “So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

It was that very verse, nonetheless, that prompted me to do a bit more research into its author and its surrounding verses. Psalm 90 is actually a psalm of Moses, who my Bible notes was “the man of God,” in the subheading of that psalm. Moses was more than Israel’s leader in the exodus from Egypt. Deuteronomy 34:5 defines him as “the servant of the LORD.” He was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, but “[h]is eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished” (Deut. 34:7). Don’t skip over that concept too quickly. This is a man who had led thousands of Jews from Egypt to Israel, a man who had every right to be weary in every sense of the word, but he is a man of vigor and dynamic action even at 120! In fact, Moses has a place in history that is unrivaled. There is not another prophet like Moses who has ever arisen in Israel, “whom the LORD knew face to face” (Deut. 34:10).

So when the prophet, this leader, this servant of the LORD, this psalmist of Psalm 90 instructs us to take note of our days and weigh them out, we need to heed his counsel. It’s interesting to note that in that same psalm, just a few verses before we’re told to number our days, Moses points out that “The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow…” (Ps. 90:10). He warns us our lives will be full of toil and sorrow, but then he reminds us why we need to count our days – so that “we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

God doesn’t put me through difficult home school days just for His own pleasure (which would be rather warped) or so I can do a better job of teaching my children than some other teacher at any other school. No, He wants me to gain a heart of wisdom. It is ridiculous how many times I have failed to learn that lesson or believe its truth.

I’m more than halfway through my expected lifespan now. Generally, I do not feel undiminished natural vigor on my own. And therein rests my problem: I’m not relying on God’s grace and mercy. Moses was a man of God, a servant of the LORD. It was because of that deep personal relationship with God that Moses could be a man of usefulness and energy. And it was because of Moses’ reliance on God’s mercy that he could exclaim, “Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our day!” (Ps. 90:14)

Moreover, at the end of this psalm, Moses reminds us that a wise heart is one that strives to glorify God and serve Him.

Let Your work appear to your servants,
And Your glory to their children.
And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands.
(Ps. 90:16, 17)

We need to be people that weigh out each day, enumerate our days... not just in anticipation of Christ’s return or of life in Heaven (though we are to hope with earnest expectation for those things), but also in light of the truth that we can gain hearts of wisdom that will glorify God and establish the work of our hands to His honor and praise.

We serve a God who is changeless (Ps. 90:1), ageless (v. 2), timeless (v. 4), righteous (vv. 7-9), and matchless (v. 17). May we finish our lives strong, like Moses. And may we be women and men of God and dedicated servants of the Lord. Our days are numbered. May we pursue lives that are clear testimonies of our Savior and His love.

Taking time to notice

2010-01-13T10:44:00.000-05:00

I almost walked by…. I still had the ironing to do, and I had hoped to work on the next day’s lesson plans, so I almost ignored the light in the library when I came downstairs from putting the four younger kids to bed. The Holy Spirit kept tugging me towards the library, however, and blessed me with one of the most meaningful and mature conversations I’ve ever had with my oldest son. We sat and talked about a relationship in his youth group that has been puzzling and troubling him for several months now, and we ended the nearly hour-long conversation with prayer and a hug. Could life get any better? But I almost missed this moment because I was more focused on my own agenda than on the people God has given me to impact (and learn from) on a daily basis. Thank You, God, for being so patient and long-suffering towards me. Help me focus on my family more than my to-do list. The benefits are always so much greater!

Perfect Paradoxes

2009-12-29T10:05:00.002-05:00

Isn’t it remarkable that…
…the Light of the world was identified by a star he named and numbered (Ps. 147:4)?
…the Creator of woman came to be born of a virgin (Is. 7:14)?
…the shoulders that would bear the government (Is. 9:6) would also bear the beam of a rugged cross?
…the Mighty God and Everlasting Father (Is. 9:6) came to earth as a naked, needy infant?
...the Rod and Branch of Jesse (Is. 11:1) became the one crucified on a tree?
…the Man of Sorrows who was acquainted with grief (Is. 53:3) brought joy to the world (John 15:11)?
…the carpenter (Mark 6:3) would be nailed to a piece of wood?
…the Word (John 1:1. 14) came to earth as an infant who could not yet speak?
…the Lamb of God (John 1:29) arrived in a stable, slept in a manger where sheep may have eaten, and was worshiped by humble shepherds?
...the Rabbi and Teacher who knew all things (John 1:38), allowed Himself to become an infant needing care and training?
…the King of Israel and King of Kings (John 1:49) gave up His heavenly throne in Paradise for a dusty, dirty, sin-filled kingdom?
…the Son of God became the Son of Man (John 1:49, 51)?
…the Bread of Life (John 6:48) came to be born in Bethlehem – the House of Loaves (Micah 5:2)?
…the One who fulfills all the prophecies and Scriptures (John 19:28) wrote those Scriptures (2 Pet. 1:21)?
…Immanuel, God-with-us (Is. 7:14), came to earth one Christmas night so that Christmas could exist?

This is amazing, paradoxical love – so amazing that it could only be from God Himself. Thank You, God!!

Have a blessed Christmas rejoicing in the arrival or our Lord and Savior!

Advantages of Music (listening or playing)

2009-12-08T15:07:00.000-05:00

14,200,000 results. 14,200,000! That’s how many results my computer pulled up when I searched for an answer to the question, “What are the advantages of listening to music?” Needless to say, I didn’t research all of them. Honestly, I got to page three and gave up. Some sites were totally irrelevant to my goal. Others were promoting styles of music with which we disagree (no, I don’t believe there can be Christian rap that is more effective than any other style of music in elevating my heart to worship God). And some sites were beyond my four-year-degree comprehension. But most of the relevant results upheld the theories many of us already have regarding music listening.
Let me enumerate just a handful of those theories:
1) Listening to music with a definite beat can sharpen concentration because the brainwave patterns are affected. Any change in the activity level of the brainwaves caused by music also enables the brain to shift speeds more readily.
2) Because of these alternations in brainwave activity, other bodily functions also are impacted. Autonomous nervous system functions like breathing patterns and heart rate can be altered with music. Slowing one’s heart rate and breathing typically allows a relaxation response to occur. Such a relaxing effect shows why music can play a literally vital role in promoting health and preventing the damages of stress.
3) Listening to music has been shown to improve a stroke patient’s recovery process. Finnish researchers determined that if stroke patients listened to music for a couple of hours a day, their verbal memory and focused attention recovered more readily and they had a more positive mood than patients who did not listen to anything or who listened to audio books. Listening to music also has been proven to reduce pain in situations involving acute, chronic or cancer pain. And we’re not talking small reductions. Some patients report up to a 50% reduction in pain.
4) Music therapy is also being used to treat depression. The soul has a strong response to music. Just think of David’s harp playing and the impact it had on soothing Saul’s soul (1 Sam. 16:23). Saul was refreshed and made well by the calming qualities of David’s music.
5) There is some discussion about the truth of the so-called “Mozart effect, which suggests that spatial reasoning and music have a neurological and psychological connection. Just by listening to certain styles of music, supposedly, IQ test scores and cognitive development increased in young people. Some critics claim this notion is a myth based on faulty testing, while others say further testing has proven its validity. Few studies disagree with the concept that spatial-temporal reasoning is enhanced when children start learning music – to read it or to play it.
6) It has been repeatedly proven that music helps in developing a better interaction within the brain. People who listen to music develop stronger interactions with their right and left sides of the brain, and that effect is even more obvious in individuals who play a musical instrument. One writer (and musician) reported:

A skilled and trained musician actually has a larger brain with more enhanced neural pathways as compared to a non-musician. A professional musician’s auditory cortex contains 130 percent more gray matter than that of non-musicians (Hotz, par. 5). This would suggest that exercise of the auditory area, as induced by the necessary rigorous and regular music practice for a professional musician, increases its growth. Musicians who began study early in life also appear to have an especially enhanced corpus callosum, or neural bridge, between the brain’s hemispheres. In fact it is up to 15 percent larger. (Hotz. Par. 5). This phenomenon is further exemplified by the findings that musicians process music with both ears, and therefore both hemispheres, while non-musicians process music with only their right ear (Mitchell, par. 3).[1]

And the list could easily go on three or four more pages with this discussion of the physiological, emotional, mental, and psychological effects that music has on an individual. Suffice it to say that increasing time listening to carefully chosen music can have numerous positive effects on every member of your family. We encourage you to play music when your children come down to breakfast. Get them started with a positive outlook and energized physiological response for the day. Recognize that children can concentrate better, at times, with music playing in the background while they are doing their schoolwork. (I still struggle with this concept because I need complete silence to concentrate on anything at my age, but I’m realizing that I’m getting old…Sigh.) Have quiet background music playing when you eat supper. And you can even let your young ones listen to music at bedtime to soothe their hearts to sleep. There are advantages the whole day long in listening to quality music. (Another blog will follow soon, Lord willing, for those of you who are asking, “What is quality music?” I’ll let you live in suspense until then. :))

[1]“Music and the Brain,” Maria Ramey, www.flutecorner.com, cited December 1, 2009.

“Gems from Our Kids”

2009-12-01T14:23:00.002-05:00

The Christmas shopping season is approaching. I know that because the stores already have displays in place heralding the coming holiday…or encouraging shoppers to buy, Buy, BUY! And I know it’s coming because we’ve been getting our Christmas mail order catalogs by the fistful each week. My little ones (and even a few of the big ones) will sit on the couch and dream together through the latest Danish plastic building block magazine or Vision Forum catalog. Repeatedly we hear, “I want this, and this, and that…oh, and one of those!” We probably couldn’t afford their wish lists even if we didn’t have to pay taxes. In any event, it was one of those wish-list moments that gave us another gem of a memory from my three-year-old son, Jedidiah. He was showing Daddy all the swords, the crossbow, and the grappling hook in the Vision Forum catalog and informed his father that he wanted one of each of them. Kris replied, “Let’s say you could only have one thing from this catalog, what would it be?” Jed was undeterred, “But I want all of them. I’ll even buy them with my own money.” Then, without skipping a beat, “Dad, can I borrow some money?”

Beta test group for US Government Curriculum

2009-11-25T12:23:00.002-05:00

Zeezok Publishing is looking for students/parents interested in being part of a beta/test group for a new high school US Government curriculum. A restricted yahoo group has been set up for the participants. If you are interested in participating please send an email to:

ANobleExperiment-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

This is a restricted/members only group. Once the allotted spaces have been filled the group will be closed. After you subscribe you will be contacted, via this yahoo group, in the next few weeks as to how you can participate. There is no cost involved, all materials will be provided. You will be asked to evaluate, comment and provide feedback on the material so it can be finalized before going to press. All "classes" and work will be available on-line.

Here is a description of the course: A Noble Experiment: The History and Nature of the American Government, written by Mr. Tim Spickler, M.Ed., a certified secondary teacher with over two decades of government teaching experience, is designed to be student-directed with a minimum of teacher preparation and involvement. A Noble Experiment covers all the national standards for high school civics and government, from a Judeo-Christian perspective, as well as the subject matter traditionally included in secondary government courses. With our unique and interesting approach to the subject matter, your student will enjoy studying the history, foundations, principles, and organization of our government.

Student Contracts

2009-11-24T14:54:00.000-05:00

Do you ever feel like “the bad guy” in your home schooling efforts? In this twelve-year adventure I frequently have felt like a mafia-style “heavy,” laying into my kids when they were not remembering their assigned work, when they were not getting their work done in a timely manner, or when they were not making their best effort in the work they submit. I would scold, cajole, encourage, bribe, discipline, punish, and demand from my children a certain quality and quantity of work, but the effort always seemed to end back in my hands, though we are trying to raise children who are self-motivated and self-disciplined in their academic (and physical) labors.

Finally, about five years ago, and after an entire summer of prayer and reading respected authors for organizational suggestions, it occurred to me that having my children sign a student contract at the beginning of the year would be a way to place the responsibility for accomplishing their work in their hands. So I created an individualized contract for each student and required him to sign it at the beginning of our school year. Yes, this is one contract my children are forced to sign, but they do have some freedom to approach me about studying a different subject area (within reason) than what I have listed for that year. And they do have some freedom within the contract to determine what day(s) they will accomplish certain subjects, if it is not a daily subject.

The idea behind the contract was that if my students balk at an assignment or whine that I am demanding too much of them, I can pull out their contracts and point to the fact that they signed and agreed to the given guidelines. Accompanying the contract was an explanation (verbally, though it would be wise to include it in writing so everyone “remembers” the same rules) of what the consequences would be for not fulfilling the requirements listed in the contract. Computer privileges seem to be the element of life that most motivate our children, so we have used that in our consequences. For example, if our children are late in getting up, they lose a minute of computer time for each minute they are late getting to breakfast. Since they only get an hour of free computer time a day, they are fairly motivated by that time constraint of being up by 7:30. If our children are late getting school started (which it is supposed to begin at 8:00 A.M.), they lose double time for each minute they are late in starting their schoolwork.

Granted, this still makes for some hassles for me in keeping track of time and the number of minutes that the kids are late, but I’m no longer the “heavy,” I’m just the clock-watcher. I just have to keep a little pad of paper next to me to write down the times my four students are up, and when they start their schoolwork. Then, my kids have to blame themselves for not getting up and at ‘em; and I don’t have to keep barking orders or demanding obedience from them. If they choose to disregard the rules or the guidelines they signed in their contracts, that’s their choice. But there are consequences for those choices, just as there will be consequences in the real world if they choose not to abide by the hours and contract stipulations in their work place.

The prime advantages I see in having students sign a schoolwork contract are that:

Students learn self-motivation and personal responsibility. They must abide by a given set of guidelines.
Students realize there are consequences for foolish choices, and there are rewards for wise ones.
Parents do not have to be drill sergeants or puppet masters. Rather, we are more like supervisors, expecting quality work from our children and inspecting their efforts on a regular basis.
Each student has a one-page summary of their goals for a given school year. Those goals can be reviewed periodically (by parent and child) to see how successfully those tasks and goals are being accomplished.

I’m including a sample of the student contract I’ve devised for our children. Obviously, your state’s home education requirements may be different than ours in the state of Ohio, but at least you will get an idea of how a student contract can be worded. And then pray for God’s grace and wisdom to know how to make the start of each day less stressful for your entire family, while enhancing each child’s self-discipline and personal accountability in life. Remember, God promises to give wisdom “liberally and without reproach” to anyone who lacks wisdom and asks for His help (James 1:5). We just have to ask...

Download a copy of the contract in a Word.doc format here.

Sample Student Contract

[Name of Your School]

2009-2010 Student Course Work

I, [student’s name], a high school student at [fill in your school name or your family name], agree to complete the following schoolwork on a weekly basis. (Daily, twice-a-week, regularly, etc. activities are indicated with particular subjects.)

Geometry – daily
Spelling Power – daily
Daily Grams – daily
Silent Reading (assigned British literature & pleasure reading) – daily for 30 minutes
Writing Assignments (due as assigned)
Chemistry – daily
Logic– 2 times a week (2 lessons a week or one book per month, whatever works for the given list)
Physical Education – regularly
Bible Study – daily
Geography/History – daily
Art History – 1 time per month
Vocabulary – 3 times a week
Volunteer Work – monthly
Home Economics – 3 days a week
Piano – daily
Choir (through church)
Spanish – 4 times a week for 30 minutes each time (or a min. of 120 min./week)

I will be up at least by 7:30 A.M., then have breakfast, accomplish my chore(s), and be ready for school by 8:00 A.M. each school day. I am agreeing to complete a minimum of 182 days of 5 hours of schoolwork a day (the equivalent of 900 hours of education). I commit to complete my assignments and activities to the best of my ability, to God’s glory and honor!

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Signature Date

Download a copy of the contract in a Word.doc format here.

We've only just begun....

2009-11-18T13:05:00.001-05:00

Do you want to know the truth? I’ve never written a blog before in my life. Do you want to know another truth? I didn’t even know what blog stood for until I read some definitions last night. (It is an abbreviated form of the word weblog, by the way.) Almost immediately I discovered jargon, code words, and vocabulary from a “foreign” language. Gulp. I’ve never been a woman to sit down in front of the computer for long periods and read other people’s blogs. No offense to anyone else; I’m sure I could learn a lot from reading their sites! Frankly, I just don’t feel like I have time to sit for an hour a day (or even a week) to read things from the Internet. I barely find 30 minutes each week to write my extended family an e-mail, let alone to “surf the net.” And then friends and church ask why I’m not on Facebook, Blogspot, or any of these other computer-related ways of developing relationships on-line, and my response is: “I barely have time to develop relationships in my house, it seems. How can I do it on-line?”
Well, after some time and thought, and a lot of prayer, I’ve decided to give this blogging a shot. It will only be by God’s grace that I find time to write these musings and ramblings, so you’ll know how “gracefully” I am living by how frequently these blogs change. Topics will range on everything from gem-like memories of things my kids say or do (we have six of them to create lots of gems) to what God has been teaching me from His Word or from my personal mistakes in daily life (ugh). Quite honestly, part of me balks at sharing what God is teaching me because I think, Do I really want people to see how long it takes me to learn some of these lessons? And then I realize that’s just pride on my part.
I am a struggling homeschooling mom, as are many of you. I have six children ranging in ages from twenty-one months (and still in diapers) to seventeen (and now taking some college classes at the local community college during his final year of high school). Keeping on top of lesson plans, household chores, church responsibilities, family relationships, and daily devotions seems to be the lake in which I am continually trying to keep my head above water. It’s a constant struggle to go from changing my toddler’s diaper and keeping our three-year-old entertained while the older kids are doing school to helping my eleven-year-old figure out what an echinoderm really is or learning with my junior in high school how to perform stoichiometry in chemistry successfully.
My goal is that this blog will be entertaining, humorous, joyful, encouraging, relaxing, helpful, and inviting. But above all, I pray that it constantly reminds you it is only through God’s grace that any of us accomplishes anything in a day, and that we need to rely on His grace and His goodness to succeed in every aspect of our lives. That’s not a cliché; that’s reality. Soli Deo Gloria.
While you wait for the next adventure you can go on your own at www.zeezok.com or www.bookpeddler.us