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Showing posts from 2009

Perfect Paradoxes

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:...

Advantages of Music (listening or playing)

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 alternat...

“Gems from Our Kids”

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?”...

Beta test group for US Government Curriculum

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 ...

Student Contracts

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 create...

We've only just begun....

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...