There were so many great comments and questions on my post about homeschooling, that I am going to address some of them here. Also, my primary laptop computer has died, and we are in the process of getting all my usual programs and settings put on another laptop. So, getting a post with pictures of Lydia’s fishing trip (so cute) will have to wait a few more days.
Plus, responding to the comments helps me to get some of my thoughts better defined. So, here goes:
Janet said she wishes I were her mother. Aw, shucks, Janet. That made my day.
Mom and Katie both said they would like to hear more about the convention. As Keith knows, I could talk all day about what I heard, and I only went to four sessions! The keynote speaker was Dr. Susan Wise Bauer, author of The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home.
Classical education has been around for centuries. This book describes her recommended method for carrying it out. Classical education is based on the trivium, which states students can accomplish different types of learning at different ages. Grades 1-4 is the grammar stage, which emphasizes rote memorization and drill. Grades 5-8 is the logic stage, when students can begin to analyze and ask why. Grades 9-12 is the rhetoric stage, when students can write and speak their ideas fluently and defend an argument.
I read the book a few weeks before hearing her speak. Since I’ve been an educator, I was fascinated by these ideas. She talked about (and she is right) how the schools expect very young children to come up with original, creative ideas when they have very little life experience on which to base those ideas. On the flip side, we often ask middle school students to read a chapter in a history book and answer questions, when they are actually ready to move on to deeper thinking and analysis. This is a long book, but it reads fast. I recommend it for anyone thinking of homeschooling. (Check your local library.)
I also heard speakers address the heart of homeschooling. Melanie Young did a session on “Three Simple Goals for the First Year.” She encouraged us to get relationships right (within the family, with the law, and with other homeschoolers), to develop of love of learning (I am definitely excited about learning along with my kids), and to get the basics done (include family devotions and Bible time each day).
Another resource I have enjoyed (that was not covered at the convention) is Simply Charlotte Mason. Charlotte Mason was a British educator in the 1800s, and many of her ideas have become popular with homeschoolers today. The Simply Charlotte Mason website and its accompanying resources have been put together by Sonya Shafer. There is another Charlotte Mason handbook by a different woman, Karen Andreola, which usually gets mentioned first, but I didn’t find it to be nearly as useful and Sonya’s material. Charlotte Mason was a classical educator, but her approach seems a bit more relaxed than The Well-Trained Mind. Also, she places a heavy emphasis on being outdoors and learning about nature, which I love. For parents of preschoolers, I would highly recommend reading The Early Years: A Charlotte Mason Preschool Handbook. You can download the first half of the book for free. I liked the whole book, but I found the first half the most useful.
Okay, back to the comments. Lindsay had a very well-thought out response to my post. She mentioned my experience teaching young children. I will admit, this made my decision easier, because I know I can at least handle kindergarten! With that said, I believe any parent can teach a child at home. I’ll be the first to admit that reading is not rocket science. There are TONS of resources and approaches out there.
Lindsay also mentioned concerns she has had in the past about homeschool kids and social opportunities. In this area of the country, there are many, many ways for homeschool kids to make friends and do extra-curricular activities. There are a homeschool choir, orchestra, sports teams, and educational co-ops.
Then there is the homeschool family who looks down on public schools, and worse than that, who looks down on families who send their kids to public schools. This was a major hangup for me to get over in my decision. I so much don’t want to come across as self-righteous on this issue. Life is too short to make enemies over education (or breastfeeding or daycare for that matter). I have many friends who use the public school system, and I would like them to remain my friends.
On the issue of Christian kids (and families) being a good influence on others in the public schools, I can understand that argument. I think each family needs to make an individual decision based on the personalities and maturity level of the kids. Some kids have a mature faith and can easily stand for Christ in a secular setting, and others might be more easily led astray by negative influences. The key is to know your kids. Good thoughts, Lindsay!
Madalyn asked if we are planning to homeschool just the elementary years or all the way through high school. The answer is: I don’t know! We have committed to teaching kindergarten at home. I imagine we will continue homeschooling as long as things are going well. If a major life circumstance or a need from one of our kids arises, we are open to re-evaluating.
Whew! Did some of you actually read all of that? Thank you! As you can tell, I am very passionate about education. I certainly don’t have everything figured out yet, but I am ready to learn!
I can’t tell you the number of blog posts I have written in my mind. I’ve probably had an idea a day. Today I realized, however, that it is time to start fresh and move on. I do, however, want to do just a tad bit of catching up first.
Luke never did come down with a virus after his trip the the ER for croup. We now think (without any official diagnosis) that Luke probably has asthma. A few days ago, he was wheezing pretty badly, and we gave him part of a dose of albuterol in the nebulizer. It took care of the wheezing. We plan to discuss all of this in detail at Luke’s 12-month checkup next month.
Progress on the house is really happening. I am trying not to panic about the fact that we will be moving in a month or two. One blessing is that we do not plan to put this house on the market until we are completely moved from it. Impromptu realtor showings and young children on a schedule do not mix well.
Okay, now for the “moving on” part of the post. Last night we had the second-ever Tyndall family photo shoot. We had one two years ago, but two family members have been added, so we thought we should do it again. Here is the large group shot.
Top row: Chase, Mike, Keith, Ralph, Mason, Rick, Christian, Brian
Bottom row: Janice, Grant, Calder, Amy, Luke, Peggy, Lydia, Sierra, Laura, Cole, Diana, Ryan
We also took some pictures of Luke, hoping to get one good enough to blow up huge, like we did for Lydia when she turned one.
So, here it is:
We love the lighting, love the boy, but we’re not sure about the big metal bar on the picnic bench. What do you think? Blow it up, or try for another picture?
If we wait long enough, maybe he won’t need a picnic bench to help him stand. Check out this pre-walking he did for the first time today.
Whew! I think I might finally be back to normal after a hectic but fun week of Vacation Bible School (VBS).
This year’s theme was Boomerang Express. The kids learned fun facts about Austalia in addition to studying the life of the disciple Peter.
My part of VBS was missions. In the past, missions has been a class that the kids rotated to. However, this year our church had VBS in the evenings instead of during the mornings. Because of this, the whole event was 30 minuntes shorter, and something had to be cut. So, instead of the kids coming to me for missions, I led a 5-minute missions interview during the worship rally.
We chose the missions speakers based on the verse Acts 1:8. It says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
When Jesus was saying this to His disciples, Jerusalem was their hometown, so the first interview we did was with the director of Grand Oak Mission, a ministry that provides food and clothing for low-income families in our city.
Judea was the disciples’ region, similar to our state. So for the second interview, some teenagers in our church talked about a recent mission trip they took in Missouri. Samaria was a neighboring region in Jesus’ day, so the third interview was with some church members who helped build a church in Louisianna. The final “interview” was a video of a couple who used to be a part of our church who are now serving in Australia. This was the ends of the earth emphasis.
The kids also participated in a missions project. Each class was assigned a member of the US military currently serving overseas. The kids prayed for the soldier, in addition to bringing items and offering to send him/her a box of goodies. We started with 23 names, but ended up sending boxes to 29 soldiers because the kids were so excited about brining items. The boxes were filled with things like Christian magazines and devotionals, a New Testament, socks, beef jerky, Rice Krispie Treats, hard candy, powdered drink mix, soap, and sunblock.
This project was a ton of work, but I think it was one of the best projects we’ve done so far. I believe the reason is the personal connection the kids could feel with the soldier. Last year the kids brought personal hygeine items to help international college students get started in our country. There was a contest between the grade levels to see who could bring the most items. While the ministry was very grateful and blessed by our generosity, the kids themselves didn’t seem to understand who the items would help. This time, they had a name of a specific soldier, and often a picture to go with it. They knew where he or she is currently serving. They wrote letters. They prayed for the soldier. They were blessing a person, not trying to win a contest. Success!
I never had any cousins growing up. I don’t have any cousins now that I’m grown up, either. Lydia, however, has quite a few already, just on Keith’s side of the family.
I’m not kidding when I tell you Keith took 25 versions of this shot. I got a little cross-eyed trying to pick the best one, so I hope this one will suffice.
Confused? Let’s review a few at a time.
Calder (brown hair) and Grant (blonde) belong to Mike and Janice. They were already featured in the previous post, so I’ll give you a more accurate representation of their personalities here. Despite their silliness, they are always very sweet to Lydia.
Their older brother Chase graduated from high school a couple of years ago, and he works for Mike and Janice in their new business, Renegade Chemicals. He looks like one of those senior pictures found in a mall kiosk, don’t you think?
Next, we have little Cole, who is four and a half months younger than Lydia. Whenever I am tempted to think Lydia still has chubby cheeks, I can just look at Cole to set myself straight. What sweet cheeks they are! Cole is the son of Rick and Laura.
Rick’s son Mason isn’t quite ready for his senior picture, but this budding football star could certainly hold his own in a mall kiosk some day. We watched him score several touchdowns at his Mighty Mites football game last week.
Next we have Laura’s daughter, Sierra, who always has a sweet smile on her face. She is a very responsible young lady and a wonderful big sister to Cole. She proved herself to be very photogenic. Every picture of her turned out wonderful.
And how could I forget Christian, Brian’s son? You might have noticed that in the comments of the last post, he was wondering where his tree picture was. Christian has the gift of making people laugh. While Keith, Lydia and I were getting our family picture, he was making the tripod fly behind Ralph, who was taking the pictures. He cracks us up, and as you see from his picture, he cracks himself up, too.
There you have it: Lydia’s cousins in a nutshell. Not a bad group, if you ask me.
This evening the entire Tyndall family got spiffed up and gathered at a local park for a family photo shoot. We all live in the same town, so we just had to find a night everyone was free, send a few emails, and voila, everyone showed up.
Here are a few of the resulting photographs. Hover over the photo if you’re wondering who these people are.
For the past year, Keith and I have been getting to know some of the kids in our neighborhood. They’ve helped in the garden, they’ve taken “piano lessons,” they’ve chatted with us on our evening walks, and they’ve played with Lydia. We wanted an opportunity to teach them about God’s love. Many of them go to summer camps during the day, so they weren’t able to attend VBS at our church. We decided to host a Backyard Bible Club for them each evening last week.
We received materials and encouragement from our children’s department at church. Since Lydia’s bedtime is pretty early in the evening, we knew we would need some additional help. Two teenagers whose parents are in our small group at church agreed to lead the story time, songs, and crafts.
The teenagers taught the kids a song in which they spelled out “JESUS” on letter at a time with their bodies.
One of the Bible verses for the week was written on this beach ball. As each child caught the ball, he or she said the next phrase in the verse.
This game was similar. Each heart had a phrase from a Bible verse written on it. The kids had to put themselves in order.
Oops, how did this picture get in here? Lydia actually snoozed away during most of the time the kids were here. We had a monitor with us outside so we could hear her if she cried. She only cried once the entire week.
An important skill we taught these kids was how to use a Bible on their own. We spent the last portion of each evening looking up Bible verses, reading them, and discussing them.
Our neighbor looks at her Bible.
A teen helper works with a neighborhood boy on his Bible reading.
Our nephew Mason attended the club.
Our nephew Christian attended the club and also led the games at the beginning of each evening. The favorite game was Tuesday’s sponge relays.
On Thursday, the kids learned about the ABC’s of salvation. ABC is an acronym for Admit, Believe, Confess. This is a simple way to understand how a person becomes a Christian.
Admit - A person must admit that he or she is a sinner and express a desire to change. (Romans 3:23)
Believe - A person must believe that Jesus died for his or her sins and that He rose from the dead. (Romans 10:9)
Confess - A person must be willing to say, “Jesus is Lord!” (Romans 10:9)
There is certainly more to know about being a Christian, but this is all a person needs to know to make the initial decision to accept Christ. We were thrilled when one girl responded to this message and prayed to become a Christian that evening!
It was a very busy week, and many household tasks got put on hold, but we believe we have made a worthwhile difference in the lives of these kids.
Last Saturday, one of Lydia’s activities was going to a pool party for her cousin Christian’s fourteenth birthday. (Check out her full day here on Keith’s web album.)
Here, Lydia and I pose with cousin Christian (center), cousin Mason (left), and Uncle Mike (back).
Lydia enjoyed playing in kiddie area. There were two fountains that were just her speed.
Finally, it was time to get dried off for some smooch time with Daddy.
The day after my big birthday party was another significant event. Keith, Lydia, and I participated in the parent-child dedication at our church.
This dedication was different than an infant baptism. The Bible says in Romans 10:9, If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Emphasis added.)
Since Lydia is not yet old enough to confess and believe, participating in this service did not make her a Christian. That is something she will have to decide for herself when she is older. The purpose of this service was so Keith and I could dedicate ourselves to raising Lydia in a Christ-centered home.
Lydia is blessed with lots of boy cousins. The latest addition to the clan is Cole Bryson Tyndall, born Sunday morning at 6:00. This dashing son of Keith’s brother Rick and his wife Laura weighed in at 9 pounds, 2 ounces.Â
The cousin that loves Lydia the most is two-year-old Grant, son of Mike and Janice. Keith took this picture and Peggy added the artistic effects.
Lydia’s oldest cousin, 13-year-old Christian, was helping Peggy experiement with some new photography lights and took this sweet picture of Lydia during the ice storm.
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