Christian Home School Hub

Top 10 Reasons to Learn Communication Skills

Study after study shows that effective communicators have longer marriages, deeper friendships, better relationships, more successful college and career experiences, make more money and are generally happier than their less articulate counterparts.  Most people know communication is important, but they don’t fully understand to what degree.  Eighty-seven percent of everything we do during the day is communication related; communication is far more than just making speeches or having good manners.  While you may manage to live your entire life without making a speech, you will not get through one day without communicating something to someone!  Here are the top 10 reasons you and your children should learn effective communication skills.

1. Your Marriage

“It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman.” -Proverbs 21:19

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, over half of all marriages end in divorce and the number one reason cited is lack of effective communication! By the way, that number doesn't improve if you only consider the Christian community. No two people are going to get along ALL the time. The trick in a long relationship isn't avoiding conflict, it's the successful resolution thereof!  In addition, men and women communicate in completely different ways and sometimes for very different reasons. I talk about this in my book Say What You Mean Every Day, in chapter one, “How to Talk to Your Spouse 'Cuz You Must!”

2. Your Kids

"Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.” -Colossians 3:21

Parents who communicate effectively with their children give them a clear sense of boundaries and security. They show them love and give them a sense of self-worth and self-esteem. Children who learn to communicate effectively can articulate their wants and needs. Those who don't are led to violent behavior in order to have those misunderstood needs met.

3. Your Ministry

"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:" 1Peter 3:15

What harm does it do if you approach someone the wrong way about Jesus? The worst they can do is say no, right? Wrong! Someone who has been told repeatedly that they are going to hell may grow weary of people spiritually beating them up. It leaves them with a bad taste in their mouth about Jesus, Christianity or Christians in general. This can apply to other Christians who don't see things exactly as you do. "Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God-" 1 Cor 10:32

4. Your Education

"He who answers before listening-that is his folly and his shame." -Proverbs 18:13

"Students with ineffective listening skills fail to absorb much of the material to which they are exposed. Their problems are intensified when they respond incorrectly or inappropriately because of poor speaking skills." -National Communication Association study on Why Communication is Important

5. Your College Career

"From the fruit of his mouth a man's stomach is filled; with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied." -Proverbs 18:20

College applications require several essays these days. Not only do they evaluate your student's accomplishments, which are written into the essay, but they evaluate the ability of the student to convey this effectively. Admission officers are looking for articulate and accomplished candidates. If your student is accomplished but cannot convey that to a college admissions board, he will be passed over for one who can! Even the college entrance exams are communication skills-intensive these days.

6. Your Job Interview

"A fool's mouth is his undoing, and his lips are a snare to his soul." -Proverbs 18:7

These days, companies are looking for someone who is knowledgeable and confident without being arrogant. They ask interview questions designed to flush out your true desires and beliefs and they evaluate your appearance to help them judge which candidate is best. Not all of your interview is based on your resume; in fact, they will only grant an interview if you have a stellar resume! The resume is just the beginning of the job interview process. Interviewers will ask you things like, "Where do you see yourself in five years?" Employers want a concise, but not negative reason why you left your previous employment. According to a study in 2000 done by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, 1000 human resource managers ranked preferred skills for being hired as follows: 1) Oral Communication Skills, 2) Written Communication Skills and 3) Listening (which is a communication skill).

7. Climbing your Corporate Ladder

"He who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious will have the king for his friend." -Proverbs 22:11

People with good communication skills are more likely to do a better job which would naturally result in promotions. Here are some of the results of various studies on the impact of communication skills on job success:

• Research done by the U.S. Department of Labor concluded that the skills most needed by employers in the 21st century that tomorrow's workers must master are "listening and speaking abilities."
• Persuasion skills and the ability to interact with others result in greater career advancement and higher salaries for graduates according to a 20 year-study of Stanford University MBA's.

8. Your Business

"Let your conversation always be full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." -Colossians 4:6

Business owners have to communicate on a variety of issues including 1) How to save time and money on your supplies, 2) Creating a communication package for your business, 3) How to present yourself as an expert in your field, 4) How to effectively handle customer service, complaints and returns, 5) How to make contacts, 6) Effective use of social networking groups, 7) Handling kids and business, How/when to share your faith in business, 9) How to gain support from family and friends, 10) How to motivate your employees, 11) How to train your customer service staff, and 12) How to deal with customer relations and company image issues.  All of these issues involve mastering certain communication skills!

9. Your Friendships

"An offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city, and disputes are like the barred gates of the citadel." Proverbs 18:19

Good communicators enjoy 1) Self Confidence, 2) Leadership, 3) Personal Presence, 4) Credibility, 5) Ability to Explain and Persuade, 6) Understanding of Others, and 7) Interaction Enjoyment.  Every one of these qualities help us to make friends and maintain relationships!

10. Your Happiness

"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." -Proverbs 25:11

Studies show that effective communicators are actually happier than their counterparts. This is precisely because they have happier marriages, better friendships and relationships, better careers, make more money and are fulfilled.  They know how to get the things they want and need in life because they know how to communicate those wants and needs effectively.

In today’s complicated and secular world, miscommunication and misunderstanding abounds and, because of this, it takes far more communication skill to get along in the world these days.  Further, each aspect of communication requires different skills and techniques in order to master. For these reasons, the Lord mentions communication skills HUNDREDS of times in His Word. Communication skills are vital for all relationships, for career success, and most importantly, are imperative in order to fulfill The Great Commission.  God talks about communication skills in His Word literally hundreds of times.  Isn’t it about time we heeded His warnings and studied them?

JoJo Tabares holds a degree in Speech Communication, but it's her humorous approach to communication skills which has made her a highly sought-after Christian speaker and writer.  Her articles appear on Crosswalk.com, Dr. Laura.com and in homeschool publications, such as Homeschool Enrichment Magazine and The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, which also endorses her Say What You Mean curricula. JoJo is the owner of Art of Eloquence.com, the host of the weekly podcast, Grace Talk Soup, the creator of Foot in Mouth Man, the host of the annual Say What You Mean Convention.com.  For more information on JoJo or creative and fun communication curricula, visit ArtofEloquence.com.  Article Source

Well, the big day is over, now on to the big cleanup around the house. I bet you have trash bags full of crumpled up paper, bows, and packaging. I usually try to save the pretty gift bags and reuse them the next year. Bows are another story, I can’t seem to keep them without being crushed for the next year. Somehow I just don’t think the gift recipient next year will appreciate a crushed bow. 

How did your homeschooling efforts fare during the excitement and festivities of Christmas? We ...Read More at Quaint Scribbles.

Children love windsocks.  They are fun to make and fun to hang and look at.  This preschool activity is very easy and is suited to any season or holiday.  To make a windsock you will need:

• Construction paper
• Crayons or markers
• Small pictures
• Yarn
• Glue
• Stapler
• Scissors
• Streamers

For the top of the windsock you will need one 8 1/2 x 11 piece of construction paper.  Cut the piece of paper in half lengthwise.

Next have your child color the small pictures to place on the windsock.  Coloring and activity books are great for finding pictures.  You can use a copier to reduce or enlarge the pictures to fit on the windsock.  We cut out four pictures for each of our windsocks.

After coloring the pictures, cut them out and glue them to the two pieces of construction paper.  Next lay the pieces of paper end to end and staple them together.  Bring the two open ends of the paper together to form a circle and staple the two ends together.  This is the top of the windsock.

Next have your child cut the streamers.  These streamers are the same kind of streamers you would hang up for a birthday party. Cut approximately six pieces of streamer to be 18 inches each. Have your child glue the ends of the streamers inside the bottom of the windsock so that they are hanging out of the bottom of the windsock.

Have your child cut a piece of yarn approximately 18 inches long. Staple the ends of the yarn on each side of the top of the windsock.  Your windsock is ready to hang!

These windsocks are very easy to make and look really cute hanging out on your patio.  You can also hang them in your house. They are great seasonal and holiday projects.  You can change the
pictures and colors of the windsocks with the seasons, such as for Easter, Christmas, or Halloween.  You could have flowers for spring, bumblebees for summer, or leaves for fall.  The
possibilities are limitless. My boys are currently interested in insects, so they colored some bugs for their windsocks.

This activity is a great opportunity for your preschooler to practice coloring, cutting, and gluing.  If your preschooler doesn't yet have a long attention span, you might want to pre-cut
some of the pieces ahead of time, like the top of the windsock and the streamers.  My busy boys barely made it past the coloring part, but loved seeing their windsocks blowing in the breeze!

Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom of five. For resources for the Christian family, including parenting, toddler and preschool activities, homeschooling, family traditions, and more, visit Christian-Parent.com.  Article Source

Wright on Time: Arizona is a chapter book about an RV-living, homeschooling family of four. It is the first book of a great series for any kid. They are full of big words- I underlined at least one or two per page- and it's definitely not talking down to anyone. These characters were well-developed and respectful of each other and eager to learn more about the world around them.

The writing was clear and descriptive, and the adventures were exciting but not scary. I really liked how the author, a homeschool mom of two named Lisa Cotrell-Bentley, created an enjoyable but realistic family dynamic. The kids have things in common with their parents, and the kids are their own people, but they are a family unit. The book treats being together as a family, cohesive and content, as a normal thing to be. No child in this book is sitting on a rock, focused inward on his iTunes, casting condescending looks at a parent who is cajoling him to participate in the family trip.

It was surely an educational lesson on caving and geology. I was initially expecting the family to have multiple little adventures in the course of the book, especially after seeing the word RV in the description, and opening the book to see a beautiful, hand-drawn map of Arizona, complete with state bird and flower. However, the RV wasn't mentioned until the very end, and the entire book was about one caving adventure. I initially thought as I closed the book that a lot of loose ends were left dangling- then I saw the logo on the cover. Without trying to ruin anything for anyone, it appears to me that each new state's adventure will have trailings of prior adventures. The teaser sentence for the second book, set in Utah, asks if they will learn about "the mysterious device" they found in Arizona.

Additionally on the website we are reassured that each book can stand alone, and the author envisions homeschoolers using the books as resources for their own travels or state studies, or in the case of Wright on Time: Arizona, a unit study on caves.

Teresa Dear is a homeschooling mother of four. She and her husband do not worry about socialization. You can follow the blog exploration of Classical Christian Education in general and their homeschool lifestyle in particular . Teresa divides her time between education, the home, shopping for curriculum, and stocking her Etsy storefront where you can find handmade cards and vintage photos. Article Source

When you begin to homeschool, you are keen to go to curriculum fairs and search out the perfect homeschool curriculum for your family. When you have been homeschooling for a few years, you may discover that your first choices did not work out that well, and you are on the hunt again. Five or so years later, you may be bored and keen to re-think the homeschool curriculum and cater for your highschool students. Ten years later, you throw out so much of what you have bought and never used and keenly look to simplify your homeschool curriculum.

I am not sure if you subscribe to numerous homeschooling e-newsletters or ezines (perhaps you subscribe to mine!). I subscribe to a few to find out what homeschool curriculum is around and the see what other homeschoolers may be sing. At times, I like to read reviews. However, as my email box is continually bombarded with new homeschool products and resources, I wonder if all the new products have helped our desire or vision for homeschooling. Are we more focussed on the task of homeschooling now with the plethora of curriculum that is put before us or did those early veteran homeschoolers with limited resources capture the essence of homeschooling in a better way? Have we lost the vision?

Am I against homeschool curriculum? Absolutely not! I am very thankful to numerous publishers who have put time and thought into a product and are selling it to the homeschool market. Thankyou! It has made my task so much easier! However, I am concerned that some publishers are just viewing homeschooling as another market and we are steered into thinking that each child needs to have a textbook for each subject each year! Four children, eight subjects each year means literally 128 textbooks for every year of homeschooling. Most of these will be pricey and consumable.

"What are you doing for Language Arts?"

"DS has a Year 3 book for Spelling, Year 4 for grammar, Year 3 book for Literature Studies, Year 3 text for writing and Year 4 Book for Reading Comprehension. Yes, I am so glad that we can cater for his individual abilities!"

Is this the only way? Are you ready to simplify your homeschool curriculum and not fall into the marketing traps? How can that be done?

If you have spent any time on my website, you would know that I always refer to your educational and family goals. That is the first thing that you need to do now if you want to simplify your homeschool curriculum.

Why are you homeschooling? For what purpose and to what end are you preparing and educating your children? Let these answers drive the curriculum you choose to implement in your homeschool.

Here you should pose questions to yourself which will help you formulate why you want to teach a certain subject.

This step can be quite simple. The most obvious answer as to why we want to teach reading, is, so that our children will read widely and understand what they read. True? How do we do that? Firstly, we set up an atmosphere that encourages reading. We read widely to them; We give them the tools so that they can read for themselves (phonics instruction when ready); We offer a range of quality reading resources - both fiction and non-fiction living books. We include reading in all subject areas and do not treat it as a separate subject, but instead, a skill to be developed in each subject.

The most obvious answer as to why we want to teach writing, is, so that our children can write appropriately for different audiences and in different situations. This includes writing notes, letters, essays, descriptive writing, fiction, non-fiction, responses, critical essays, essays of persuasion and more. (More writing skills are listed on my website.)

So, how would we do that? Does it mean we need a consumable textbook for each grade level? Probably not! If we want to teach our children to write, they need to write! - all types of forms of writing, across the curriculum. Begin by teaching them correct letter formation, writing words, copying sentences, narrations, copying their own oral narrations, essay writing. I would encourage you to get a book which explains different writing forms. I like the Write Source books and have chosen a few age-appropriate teaching texts. These are non-consumable and are written directly to the child.

If you would like to work on writing skills, you could choose an excerpt of literature, discuss the grammar, spelling, sentence structure, word usage and use it as a basis for copywork, and modeling. See my Ten Day Outline for Using Literature to create a Language Arts Lesson.

Spelling can flow directly from their own writing and an individual spelling list can be created from their incorrect spelling. Spelling in context is far more effective. However, if you would like a Spelling Program, choose one which spans across the ages and years.

If your goal for history teaching is that they memorize dates, you would look for a program that just focusses on memorization of facts, but if your goal is that they gain an understanding of the time period and understand it in the context of a Biblical Worldview, you would look for a curriculum that helps you to do that.

The answer you give for each subject area, will help you choose appropriate homeschool curriculum which has the same purpose in mind.

To simplify the curriculum, you need to look for ways to combine subjects. If you teach history in an integrated approach, you can teach history, geography, literature, art history, science history, music history and worldview (depending on the curriculum you choose to help you teach). As you integrate these subjects, you use and develop age-appropriate reading and writing skills. Writing can be done in the context of any subject area!

During a study on Ancient Egypt, you can read aloud an historical fiction novel such as "Mara, daughter of the Nile", create a salt map of Egypt; Read about the culture; Put the time period into the Biblical timeline; Copy the way the Ancient Egyptians decorated their tombs; Dress like an Egyptian, Hold a feast; Write a story/narration/summary/book report/essay from what was learned.

To simplify your homeschooling life, combine ages where you can. History can be taught successfully to the whole family at once, but the writing and reading assignments which are set will be different for the different ages. I expect more from my fifteen year old, than from my ten year old.

Some families like to begin their day with their 'together' work - such as Bible, Memorization, History/Science Readings, Art, and whatever they combine, and then continue the day in independent studies. Other families like to begin independently, and then finish working on projects together.

Textbooks may have a place as educational tools, but the consumable workbooks that some children work in year after year, will not be treasured years after. However, a book which they have created, a scrapbook, a personal diary, an art collection, a poster, a photo journal, a project, notebook or portfolio will have an important place in the lives of your children for years. These will be kept as wonderful memories and as the pages which they have spent energy, heart and soul creating, are turned, the experiences and memories of that year of homeschooling will come back too! My children love looking back at what they have created, but have not had any attachment at all to a consumable workbook, which subsequently has been tossed in the bin.

To simplify your homeschooling, do not confine education to books. All of life is education even chore training, kitchen duties, house cleaning. Do not be anxious if you can not get to the books as much as you would like. Talk to your children, converse with them about all of life, as you sit down, as you get up and as you walk along the road. Remember there are phases of learning and different ages have different things you need to focus on. When a child is ready, they can work quite independently, structure their own days and learn things quickly. How much more effective would it be if we taught our children a difficult concept when they were truly ready, rather than to our timetable or the timetable of our text?

Remember that excursions, holidays, visiting the sick, providing a meal are opportunities for training and education.

Also, one needs to be reminded that you can not do it all. Be realistic in your own expectations.

Above all, do not compare yourself with others.

Use the homeschooling resources which conform with the goals you have for your children. If it is working for you and your family, there is no need to change.

1. Decide on the big picture goals
2. Decide why you want to teach a certain subject
3. Combine subjects and Skill Teaching
4. Combine ages
5. Make memorable learning experiences and keepsakes
6. All of Life is Education
7. Do not compare.

As you step out to simplify your homeschool curriculum, keep your own goals in mind and be driven by them, not by the hype and advertising of numerous publishers.

Visit Marianne Vanderkolk’s at Design-Your-Homeschool.com – a Homeschooling guide to help you uniquely design-your-own homeschool to suit your family’s goals. The website provides  a  step-by-step systematic guide which will help you plan and create the homeschool that suits the needs of your family and is in keeping with your goals,  subject choice, and preferred methodology. Article Source

Kassia…can you please get off Mama’s back and sit in your chair? You haven’t finished your letters.

Okay.  Slowly, and with feigned difficulty, she makes the partial circle that is a ‘c’.

Good, now can you make an uppercase ‘C’?

C says ‘kuh’…like cat…I want a cat. Can I get one when I’m six? Some cats are nice, some cats are mean. I want a nice cat.

Kassia…please get off the table and sit in your chair. You haven’t done your uppercase ‘C’.

I don’t know how to make a ‘C’…and besides, I’m hungry.

Homeschooling was never the plan. Just one of those things that evolved out of circumstance and chance.  We spent Kassia’s first five years of life on a 400 acre ranch in Southern New Mexico. The natural world had been her teacher.

Concepts of wind and physics explained themselves in dust devils that move eerily across the plains. By the age of three, she knew the word erosion, fascinated by the intricate labyrinth of sand formations left behind in the dry arroyos that finger out from the Pecos River. She knows that where the wash appears sandy, a small pick and shovel can find red and green stones of jasper, Pecos diamonds, quartz, and yes, once, an arrowhead.

And perhaps the greatest educators of all, the animals that share her world, both wild and domestic. The geometry in the formations of Sandhill Cranes that fly over the ranch every morning and every evening in late fall and into winter. The early lessons on lifecycles and reproduction taught by the goats, chickens, donkeys and cows (“Mama, what is he doing?) We watched the barn swallows that nest under the eaves, steadfastly making trip after trip from food source to baby. Teaching that when something is dependent on you, you work your tail off to care for it. Then there are the rattlesnakes and scorpions. A lesson in reverence? Or at least caution. Not everyone in this world is your friend.

Trying to grow flowers and vegetables in the dry, nutrient depleted desert earth, Kassia learned tenacity, and in turn, the agony of defeat.

And not to be overlooked, the New Mexico sky. Perhaps worthy of “teacher of the year”.  An expanse of space so consuming you want to hold your breath. In the afternoon, lofty cumulus clouds pile on top of one another over the mesa, and after dark, it all turns blue black in preparation for the show. The constellations.

Then Kassia turned five. It was time to start formal school. The kind with yellow buses and lunchboxes and people who are paid to impart information to her brain. The problem…the recession had stalled our out of state move. We were stuck for a time in a place you don’t want to send your kid to public school. Or any school.

And so it was that I found myself undertaking the strange new task of homeschooling our kindergartner. She had insatiable curiosity and I had taught remedial reading. How hard could it be?

I turned to my cousin who had homeschooled three children. Very much against public schools, where “your kid will be a robot”, she touted all the benefits of teaching your child yourself.  What I really aspired to were the claims of the Montessori philosophy. Provide a child with the right materials and adequate time to explore those materials, and she will almost spontaneously teach herself to read and do geometry.

Feeling ill equipped to go that route, I purchased a basic phonics book and some math workbooks. Kassia was excited initially by all the new notebooks, pencils, ladybug erasers. She dressed up for “class”, filled her backpack and asked “so, where’s my cubby?”

Things went okay at first. Until the novelty wore off. I tried to keep it dynamic with things like a reading lesson in our “spaceship” with a flashlight. A scavenger hunt to find new words. But before long our reading lessons were met with the kind of dread usually reserved for well child boosters. Kassia could no longer sit still. Not for five minutes. She dutifully read what I asked her to while she hopped on one foot, hung upside down on my lap, set a record for the number of ways a human being can (literally) fall out of a chair. After every sentence… “are we done yet?” And one time, “am I free now?” as if her learning experience were a prison. I was frustrated. I didn’t want to have to construct a spaceship every morning for a thirty minute reading session. And I wanted Kassia to develop some measure of self discipline so she could integrate into school when the time came. So I forced her to sit.

“Don’t worry”, my cousin assured me, “Nathan didn’t sit down until the third grade. He would stand at the kitchen table to do his math and take a book up into a tree. Now he’s a computer whiz”.

I did, I think, get a few things right. When Kassia had questions (Why are people different from each other? How do mosquitoes suck blood? Before they were extinct, did saber tooth tigers swim?) I wrote them down. Then, on our weekly trip to the local library we would check out books we thought might hold the answers. She liked that. And my big score – a huge coffee table book on China, with photographs so beautiful we were both lost in the book for hours. It was this book that sparked her interest in calligraphy.

But I always brought her back to the phonics. To the worksheets. To the prison. Honestly, I’m not quite sure of the process. I still don’t know how a child learns that ‘s-h’ makes a ‘ssshhhh’ sound, unless you tell them. Directly.

One particularly rough morning I managed to get my daughter in tears. “No baby, you’re making your ‘2’ backwards”

“That’s how I like to make it!” she told me, and from there we engaged in a battle of wills that I assure you I did not win. Time for a break.

We walked out into the New Mexico sun; the brightest, purest, most unobscured anywhere. When you live in the desert you learn to appreciate the many shades of brown, as it is the variations in this color that mark the seasons. Honey, pale saffron, wheat, espresso. A Meadowlark called and Kassia answered. Under the cottonwood trees the leaves were dry. The color of adobe bricks. Kassia kneeled to inspect something. “Look Mama!”  A baby grasshopper resting on its mother’s back?  Both of them the color of the dead leaves. How she spotted them I can’t imagine. It took me a few seconds to find them when they were pointed out.

“They’re camouflaged”, she told me. She stayed to examine them for a long time. She was very still (hadn’t fallen once) and I realized that maybe for that day it didn’t matter what her ‘2’ looked like. Probably it still wouldn’t matter tomorrow. I was reminded of author Anna Quindlen and her observation that “people don’t talk about the soul very much anymore. It’s so much easier to write a resume than to craft a spirit”.  And maybe sometimes, even with my own child, I emphasize the former to the detriment of the latter.

Kelli lives on a ranch with her husband and five year old daughter.  Aside from homeschooling, she spends her time teaching at the local college, raising miniature donkeys, and writing.  Article Source

After Mary heard the amazing news that she would become the mother of our Lord and Savior, she went to visit her cousin Elizabeth who was going to have John the Baptist.  This story is so precious.  Every mother loves to feel their baby move around inside of them, but John’s jump must have been the greatest leap of all time!  This part of Luke One is also where we are given Mary’s beautiful song of praise to her God.  Take some time to go over this with your children.  Maybe encourage them to come up with their own song of praise.

Here are thirteen 5 “W” questions – who, what, when, where, why and how -  with their answers for the story of “Mary Visits Elizabeth” found in Luke 1: 39-56.  You can ask the questions or you could have a nice hand or finger puppet do the asking.  Have fun!

Questions for the story “Mary Visits Elizabeth”

1.   Who did Mary go to see after the angel said she would have a baby?

Answer: To Zechariah and Elizabeth’s home. (Luke 1:39-40)

2.   Who leaped inside of Elizabeth when Mary said, “Hello”?

Answer:  John the Baptist. (Luke 1:41)

3.   What was Elizabeth filled with when John leaped inside of her?

Answer:  The Holy Spirit. (Luke 1:41)

4.   Why was Elizabeth glad?

Answer: Because she was happy that Mary was going to have the baby Jesus. (Luke 1:42-45)

5.   What did Elizabeth say about Mary’s baby Jesus?

Answer:  That Mary’s baby was blessed and that Mary was blessed above all women.  (Luke 1:42)

6.   How did the baby inside of Elizabeth move when Mary said, “Hello”?

Answer: The baby jumped for joy.  (Luke 1:44)

7.   Why is Mary so blessed?

Answer: Because she believed that God would do what He promised her.  (Luke 1:45)

8.   Why did Mary sing a song?

Answer: Because she rejoiced or was happy with God.  (Luke 1:47)

9.   Who did Mary sing her song to?

Answer: To God  (Luke 1:47)

10.           How many people or generations will call Mary blessed?

Answer:  All generations.  (Luke 1:48)

11.           Who does wonderful and tremendous things for all His people and children?

Answer:  God.  (Luke 1:47-55)

12.           Where did Mary stay before going back home?

Answer:  At Elizabeth’s house.  (Luke 1:56)

13.           How long did Mary stay with Elizabeth?

Answer:  For 3 months.  (Luke 1:56)

If you liked this Sunday School/Homeschooling idea, then sign up today to receive Scripture Lady's Free Email Kid Tips packed full with creative ideas and receive 6 FREE Bible Review Games to help your kids get excited about the Bible!  Just click here: http://myfreebiblegames.com to receive your  6 FREE Bible Review Games today!  Article Source

The available definitions for Eclectic Homeschooling are as wide and varied as the possibilities it provides.  Many non-homeschoolers imagine homeschooling to be very similar in structure to public schooling, although at home.  They assume that homeschooled students sit at a desk all day, working their way through a set curriculum, as well as completing assignments and exams.  Indeed, this is the way that some families choose to homeschool, and it can work very well.

Eclectic homeschooling, however, involves utilizing resources and information from anywhere and everywhere.  Rather than be restricted to one set curriculum, they may utilize a variety of text books.  But, eclectic homeschooling certainly doesn’t stop there. Eclectic homeschooling also includes using a variety of methods, tools and even locations, to educate your children, as well as letting their needs and desires determine what is taught and how. Many parents of special needs children homeschool their children in an eclectic fashion.

Eclectic homeschooling is a form of homeschooling that is simply bursting with potential, because your family’s educational journey is only limited by your imagination… and, perhaps, funding.  Many parents will take a child interests and turn it into a fun school subject or use a variety of books to teach literature instead of buying a program or a boring anthology of works. Eclectic homeschooling families are often very talented at discovering what works. While some parents will buy a curriculum and persevere, following it to the letter, even if their kids are struggling, this should never be the case in homeschooling. Don’t be afraid to change!  If the kids are struggling, and there is little progress, maybe its time to look into another way to doing things.  This is where eclectic homeschooling really comes into its own.  If it’s broke, definitely fix it.  It’s your kids and their future, and they are the reason we are homeshooling in the first place!

Unschooling

Somewhat closely associated to Eclectic Homeschooling is the concept of unschooling.  This method of education takes advantage of the fact that children are natural learners.  Instead of setting a rigid structure, unschoolers allow their children’s interests to direct their education, with the parents, as homeschool teachers, acting as facilitators of the learning process, rather than directors/writers/dictators.

Unschooling can be surprisingly effective when well-guided, allowing the child to maintain an interest and some influence over his/her own learning materials, utilizing real life activities, as well of books and standard resources.  Orthodox unschoolers believe that learners self-determine what is important to know in the world and, as there is more to learn than can ever be learned, the skills learned in self-directed learning will keep students in good stead throughout life.  Also, they argue that there is no such thing as particular topics of study being critical to know, or more important than other subjects in the grand scheme of things.  Therefore, whatever direction of study the student chooses is the right one for them.  Critics of unschooling, however, express concern that unschoolers may avoid topics that are not of interest, and may therefore be lacking in particular aspects of education and/or social skills, including those deemed important for the workforce.

Regardless of the style of homeschooling adopted long-term, many homeschooling families make good use of unschooling as a transition from government schooling to homeschooling, allowing the child to create new educational associations, and slip into the new freedoms that homeschooling allows.

Melissa Murdoch has a passion for life span development and education, and believes wholeheartedly that a healthy society begins at home.  For further information on how to get started in homeschooling, please visit YourHomeschoolCommunity.com. Article Source

Rosetta Stone Sale

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