Joyful Heart

I snapped this photo as two of our girls were joyfully singing parts of ‘Christ is Risen’ after they retold the Easter story with the felt pieces.  Priceless!

portions of ‘Christ is Risen’ by Matt Maher…
Christ is risen from the dead, trampling over death by death.
Come awake. Come awake.  Come and rise up from the grave.
Christ is risen from the dead.  We are one with Him again.
Come awake. Come awake.  Come and rise up from the grave.

Oh death, where is your sting?
Oh hell, where is your victory?
Oh church!  Come stand in the light!
Our God is not dead.  He’s alive! He’s alive!

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance:
that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
that he was buried,
that he was raised on the third day
according to the Scriptures
(1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

Jesus said to her,
“I am the resurrection and the life.
He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 
and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?”
(John 11:25-26)

Happy Easter!

For those of us who speak and read the English language fluently, there are thousands of Bibles available to us.  In our home alone, we have at least one children’s Bible for each child, a handful of smaller sized Bibles for quick reference, and many full size Bibles – in various versions such as NIV, NKJ, and ESV.  But what about other cultures and languages?

A blank page.  That is what John 3:16 looks like in many languages.

I’ve recently blogged about our experiences with the My Father’s World Exploring Countries and Cultures curriculum.  I mentioned that we have been enjoying reading the YWAM biographies on missionaries (from the Christian Heroes Then and Now series) that MFW has chosen to use within ECC.  The very first YWAM biography used in the curriculum was on Cameron Townsend.  The kids were intrigued by his life and how God had placed it upon his heart to translate the Bible into every language.

A few weeks ago, in our Hero Tale readings, the focus was on William Tyndale.  I was also able to find a Torchlighter video on Tyndale at the library.  After viewing the video,  we completed a related worksheet on translating for kids.  The kids began making connections to Cameron Townsend and his start of Wycliffe Bible Translators.  All of the kids were interested in learning more, especially our five year old son.  I then remembered that, earlier in the school year, I had come across free online lessons from Wycliffe on Bible translation.  So, in an attempt to encourage our son in his new interest and to expose all of our children to the important work of Bible translation, we took a two week hiatus from MFW ECC to devote to learning about the Steps to Bible Translation.

The online downloadable lessons are free and easy to follow.  The only thing that I was missing was their recommended resource called ‘My Volcano Adventure Resource CD‘.  Fortunately, we were able to borrow it from a friend of ours.  The CD had audio of John 3:16 in other languages, audio samples of a language that uses both speaking and whistling, short video clips with true stories of the impact of Bible translation, etc.  Our friend also let us borrow the accompanying leader’s guide.  It had a LOT more ideas.  I incorporated a few ideas from the guide for Bible memory and additional activities, but I ended up mostly following the online lessons.  In my opinion, the online lessons seemed more focused and centered on the translation aspect.

(Above: ‘Alphabeti Spaghetti’ from lesson 5
in Wycliffe’s Steps to Bible Translation)

So, what did we do?  We planted seeds and learned how Bible translation is a long process.  It takes much time and prayer.  We were reminded of the 10/40 window and how there are over 2,000 language groups that do not have John 3:16 or any other portion of Scripture in their own language.  We prayed for Bible translators and for those still waiting for the Bible in their own heart language.  We learned about the International Phonetic Alphabet and caught a glimpse of how difficult creating an alphabet and translating languages might be.  We saw the importance of learning to read and of hiding God’s Word in our hearts.  We became more grateful for the access we have to God’s Word in our own language.  We memorized Hebrews 4:12 and had ‘sword drills’.  We caught a vision for the need for everyone to have the Bible in their own heart language.

Wycliffe Bible Translators have launched the Last Languages Campaign.  Their goal is to have a Bible translation project started for every language that needs it by the year 2025.

Please pray for Bible translation around the world.  

“Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will never pass away.”
(Matthew 24:35)

and WEAR it, too!

We recently celebrated the first birthday of our fifth little one.  We have given each of our children a ‘smash’ cake on their first birthday.  They do more playing than eating and it is always fun to watch, especially when they reach out their sweet, caked hands to share some with you =)  When our fifth little guy was presented with his cake, the older kids started calling it his ‘pound’ cake – and rightly so.  He dug in with both hands and had cake smeared along both of his arms before we whisked him away for a bath! 

And, since a mother has a right to some reminiscing, here are our other kids with their ‘smash’ cakes for a comparison of messiness…

Our first child daintily pecked away at bits of her cake.

Our second child held the record for messiest and best demolition of her cake (until her 2nd baby brother came along)!

Surprisingly, our first boy didn’t dig in as we thought he might.

And, our fourth little one was fairly neat as well – but she had fun!

Cake, anyone?

…from the comfort of our own home!

(Our 3rd grader, 1st grader, 3 year old, and preK kids with their
‘passports’ and ‘airline tickets’ – ready to travel!)

In my post about our curriculum choices for the 2010-2011 school year, I mentioned that it was difficult for us to set aside My Father’s World Exploring Countries and Cultures until our family was more ready.  My husband and I purchased MFW ECC at the homeschool conference last year (a month or so before I gave birth to our 5th little one).  In August, at the start of our school year, our infant was still not sleeping through the night and his daytime schedule was off (compared to the predictable pattern our other children got into at the same age).  So, I held off on starting ECC.  We began our school year with math, language arts, daily Proverbs reading, chores, a simple introduction to the orchestra, and review of previous memory verses.  It was just the right amount most days and too much on other days, depending on how the toddler and baby were doing (and how much sleep I had been able to get the night before =)  )

By October, I became impatient and forced myself to start ECC.  I spread out the first two weeks over the entire month (about 5 total weeks).  Those first two scheduled weeks have SOOO much to cover anyway and I KNEW that I would need a slower pace with a preschooler, toddler, and baby in tow!  The kids LOVED the curriculum and I knew that ECC was a good choice for us.  However, I was in tears and overwhelmed.  I tearfully shelved MFW ECC through November and December, returning to what we had started the year doing – in addition to a few Thanksgiving and Christmas activities. 

I am pleased to say, that at the start of second semester, we finally began using this wonderful curriculum!  By January, our baby was still not sleeping through the night, but at least his daytime routine was on track.  Giving our family some additional time with the baby was exactly what we needed.  Things are going much more smoothly now, but I have to admit that we still don’t complete all of the science and art activities each week.  This is difficult for a ‘box-checker’ like myself.  So, I can either stress over it OR…

1. realize that this is a short season of having several precious little ones around.
2. remember that ECC is the start of a 5 year cycle and that we will, most likely, repeat this.  We don’t have to do everything the first time around!
3. tell myself over and over that curriculum is only a tool – I am not to be a slave to the curriculum!  I need to pray about what is listed in the curriculum and choose carefully what pieces to use or exclude from week to week for our family.
4. remind myself that Christ has gone before me.  He created each child in our family and knows exactly what each one needs –and when.  I can do my best to train them spiritually and teach them academically, but I have to leave the results up to God.

As for the actual ECC curriculum – We are enjoying every minute of it.  Our family is especially loving the missionary focus – Hero Tales, Window on the World, YWAM missionary biographies, etc. –all excellent materials.  The Matthew Bible study and memory verses are going well also.  

My 3rd and 1st grader are also having fun learning geography with the game that is included in the student sheets.  They also both look forward to locating the countries within each continent and placing the flag stickers in their Flags of the World sticker booklets.  The geography readings are, honestly, not MY favorite, but the kids like to hear them and my oldest is starting to want to read them aloud to the younger kids.

For each science reading, the older two children are to narrate to me what they learned and then they copy it into their science journals.  This has proved more difficult for my 1st grader, but my 3rd grader is doing well with it.  For any hands on experiments, everyone likes to participate!

Also, to save time during the actual school day, and since my kids like to set up airport security and an ‘airplane’ each time we travel to a new country, we have been traveling to our new destinations on Sunday evenings.  That just seems to work better for us =)  We also have been able to view the Schlesinger videos that are available for each country for when they ‘arrive’ to the new country.

Here are some of the ECC activities that we have been able to do with our family (and the ones for which I actually remembered to grab the camera =) ).

Navajo sand artour homemade pinata sugar cube igloos our backyard igloo experimenting with Impressionismour Lego Eiffel Tower

We are only about half way through the curriculum at this point, but plan to either continue our exploration through the summer or pick it up in the fall.  Either way, we’re off to explore more of God’s wonderful world!

Typically, around this time of year, it helps to pause and take time to refocus or refine the vision for our homeschool journey.  The following are books that I like to revisit from time to time for encouragement, to remember why we do things the way we do, to regain focus for ending the year well, and for assistance in the upcoming contemplation of curriculum choices  for the start of the next year… 

Encouragement
Help For the Harried Homeschooler by Christine Field
Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit by Teri Maxwell
Lies Homeschooling Moms Believe by Todd Wilson
Beyond Survival: A Guide to Abundant Life Homeschooling by Diana Waring
The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson

How To’s
Educating the Whole Hearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson
The Three R’s / You Can Teach Your Child Successfully by Ruth Beechick

Obviously, I don’t have time to reread all of these books – LOL!  As a busy mom, I barely had time to read through each one the first time.  I usually scan my underlines and any notes that I might have originally made in the margins.  This is done in an attempt to jar my memory to reapply some things that I might have let gradually slip by the wayside over the course of the craziness of our school year.

Here are some quotes from the above resources that stuck out to me during this last perusal…

May we never choose to turn back from the path the Lord has set us upon simply because it isn’t easy.  (Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit, p. 44)

On being a servant to the needs of your students….  This concept of being the servant means that if your best laid plans are not giving your children what they need, scrap them and find something that better fits their learning style.  When what is most important to you is the fact that your children truly learn something, the method of that learning becomes secondary. (Beyond Survival, p. 112)

God uses ordinary people, calling and equipping us to do a job we sometimes feel is beyond our ability.  We rest in the faith that he never calls us to do more than we are able.  (Help for the Harried Homeschooler, p. 222)

Conviction comes from the Lord.  It comes with the power and promise of the Holy Spirit to help us repent and take appropriate action.  Condemnation comes from the Enemy, whose goal is our discouragement and defeat.  The irony is that the more we seek to walk with God and desire to know him, the greater our self condemnation when we think we have blown it. We set such high expectations of ourselves that our world comes crashing down around us when we fall short.  Yet Romans 8:1 tells us, ‘There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.’   God does not want to condemn us, especially when we are so eager to condemn ourselves.  Instead, he longs to embrace us, to welcome us back to his heart, which is our source of strength, refuge, refreshment, and encouragement.  God’s grace is never used up, even when our human grace runs dry.   (Help for the Harried Homeschooler, p. 252-253)

Don’t set unrealistic expectations for you, your children, and those around you. Since you can’t realistically do it all, you need to determine what you can do and then be secure in that.  (Lies Homeschooling Moms Believe, p. 95)

All that God requires from any of us is a desire to serve him and a trust that he can make up the differences for the things we lack.  The Lord would have us know that he is the one ultimately in charge of our children.  He will use our willingness and our efforts, then fill in the gaps of our inadequacies , to prepare their hearts for what he has in mind.  (Mission of Motherhood, p. 84-85)

What homeschool books do you like to revisit for encouragement, for vision, or for additional ideas for how to make your homeschool run more smoothly?