Back to the Grindstone

The wonderful Christmas season has past, we finally put away all of the decorations today and its back to the books.  It feels good to gently settle back into our regular routine of home schooling even though this month we will add a lot of sewing time to balance out our book work.  Sewing is a nice way to compliment any curriculum, adding to many learning aspects including creative design (art), motor skills, reading, researching, math, history (in terms of historical clothing and home made items), home making skills, and science (what fabrics are made of and where they come from).  We somehow found the time to make several hand made gifts for Christmas, which in turn gave us more ideas of other things we would like to make and/or create.  Isn't that the way it goes though?  Once you are elbow deep in a project, it unlocks your creative mind and many other projects come into existence.

Also, even though our family is not a TV type family, we did discover some wonderful DVD's that are put out by Vision Forum on Creation Science that really compliment not only our learning in science, but our history and Bible study too.  Did you know that it is NOT against the law for a government school teacher to teach creation in their classroom?  They are strongly directed not to do it by most principals and school boards in order to avoid law suits, but by law, it is legal to teach creationism in the classroom.  Most teachers may not even know that.  I found that very interesting.

Another thing I recently listened to and appreciated very much was a CD called "What's a Girl To?"  How to Wisely Invest Your Daughter's Time by Douglas Phillips.  It was very eye opening and affirming all at the same time.  Here is the description of it.....A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. The same is true of double-minded parents. Across America we have met evangelical parents who desperately want their daughters to grow to be virtuous women with a love for home. Notwithstanding these good intentions, many of these same parents continue to build their daughters’ future on a feminist model. Frankly, most Christians are unaware that the Bible offers clear guidelines for how wise parents can invest their daughters’ time for the glory of God. This recording offers hope and direction for the woman of God who desires to cultivate virtue while fully exercising her gifts.  Currently this CD is being offered for merely $5.60 from Vision Forum.  Follow the above link to view it.

Another good resource I would strongly suggest for those of you with daughters, is a book I am currently reading and that is "Raising Maidens of Virtue" by Stacy McDonald.  It is a study of feminine Loveliness for Mothers and daughters.  Here is it's description:  Do you want your daughter to cherish her purity and honor God by the chaste and lovely way she presents herself? Raising Maidens of Virtue is an engaging tool for mothers to use in training daughters who are approaching womanhood to think biblically. Through stories, allegories, illustrations, and memory-making projects, Raising Maidens of Virtue covers topics such as guarding the tongue, idleness, sibling relationships, honoring parents, contentment, modesty, purity, cleanliness, and feminine biblical beauty. Illustrated with winsome watercolor vignettes by Johannah Bluedorn, mothers and daughters alike will be encouraged in the wonder and beauty of godly femininity.

Even though I have connected these links to these items through Vision Forum, which I love to find my resources at, you can of course find them at many other places too.  They also carry all sorts of home schooling curriculum and other resources and I have found them to be indispensable in finding strong biblical teachings that are hard to find in other places.

If you have your own favorite parenting or homeschooling resources or websites, please leave me a comment and let me know what they are......I love finding new things in this area without wading through the endless possibilities that are out there!