The SG Notebook

From one of my groups, I found out about a really neat blog site. Scripture Lady.com is one lady’s ministry which has the purpose of helping others get kids interested in the Word of God. Now I would say that’s a pretty worthwhile cause, wouldn’t you? From what I see of it so far, it’s geared primarily toward’s younger children, so there’s probably not much for our high school here, but definitely there are probably some ideas for teaching Sunday school and perhaps VBS. But for those of you homeschooling younger ones, this seems to be a good site to bookmark. I’m sure going to.

I think it’s so wonderful how various people have found meaningful ways to use their blogs to be a help to others.

Maxine, a/k/a Nanna

If you don’t have Legos in your house, why not? I’d venture a guess that most homes have them, but just in case you don’t, please do get some and start your collection. No home should be without them, especially if you’re homeschooling. I have this great site that’s sure to be a help, thought I’d pass it along. Hop on over and take a look, why don’t you? You’re going to want to bookmark this place: Little Brick Schoolhouse

Enjoy your weekend and a couple of days off from school.

Maxine, a/k/a Nanna

Today is the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln was the sixteenth President of the United States. In my estimation and that of many others, he was a great American. I didn’t say he was a perfect person, nor did I say that everything he did was right. But he was an upright and honorable man who loved his country and did all that he could to preserve her and keep her unified. I don’t know for sure what his personal opinion of slavery was; all I know is he did the right thing while holding the office of the Presidency. He held that office in high esteem, held God in high esteem, and held the people whom he served (we the people) in high esteem. It is my prayer that the day will come that God in His mercy will send us more men like Abraham Lincoln.

Did you know that this tall, stately man had a terrific sense of humor? Once I was looking for joke books for children for my business newsletter, and ran into a delightful one entitled The Abraham Lincoln Joke Book by W.L. Cummings, which contained a bunch of interesting stories about him and by him. He was really funny!! You might want to get this book for your children; it’s in the juvenile section of our library.

I’d like to post here a few of the quotes by this great man (from several sources); I could include so many more if it wouldn’t make this too long. There are some of you who will especially notice several of the ones I’ve included; you’ll know which I mean. Heavy duty.

“Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as a heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own doors.”

“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”

“I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.” [Remember this one, moms.]

“If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. You may fool all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.”

“In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be wrong.”

” Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.”

” I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.”

“Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”

“Republicans are for both the man and the dollar, but in case of conflict the man before the dollar.”

“We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.”

“Don’t interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties.”

This one is a favorite of mine, especially in the time we find ourselves now. I’ve posted it before and hope you don’t mind if I post it again:

“Property is the fruit of labor…property is desirable…is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.”

In the past, we’ve used one of these quotes as one of our Speakables. Hopefully, in the future, we’ll use more. Mr. Lincoln was always a favorite American for me. I consider it a blessing that our children can learn about him in their history books. I hope that he has been or will be a part of your learning in your school, whether it be at home or elsewhere. In my estimation he was not only an American hero, but a Christian hero as well.

Talk to you soon,

Maxine, a/k/a Nanna

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth’s flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

~ Joyce Kilmer

I posted this on my personal blog, and thought it good to post it here as well. What a lovely poem to teach in your little school or in family devotions. Perhaps you have already. Why not do a little unit study for science, integrating it with English and Bible? Only God can make a tree. He is the Maker of all things. What a necessary truth to teach our children.

Maxine, a/k/a Nanna

When I first heard about homeschooling, I thought it was something weird. I had no children then and a young lady from the church I was in said something about teaching her children at home. At the time, I remember thinking it was just one of Jan’s off the wall ideas. Then, after meeting more folks who were doing it, I figured that maybe there was something viable about it after all. Who would have thought just a few years down the road that I would be a homeschooling mom myself. Having seen one daughter graduate as a homeschooler, we are now on our second leg of the journey. (Our girls are twelve and a half years apart.)

Not only do I think it’s a viable alternative to traditional schooling, I firmly believe that it’s a huge success when it comes to education. It’s a force to be contended with here in the U.S. Just watch what happens when the big giant government comes out with threats against the little David homeschooling community. Little David comes forth with its sling shot and aims right at the head of Goliath. And more often than not, Mr. Goliath listens. That’s primarily because there are so many in David’s army. I’m praying that the Lord will continue in His mercies towards the homeschooling community. After all, it’s a tough call and hard work, but we are doing what we feel is a call from our God as parents to our children. And please, Mr. Goliath, be kind to us as we mean you no ill at all.

Now this little force of David’s army has gone so far as to have its own toolbar! Now I think that’s really something. I would suggest checking it out–it’s all self-explanatory. So any of you moms who don’t know about it, hop on over and see what you think.

Homeschool Toolbar

Maxine, a/k/a Nanna

We have one child (high schooler) in our homeschool, which makes it a bit difficult to engage in certain types of school projects. As you probably already know, one of the most blessed tasks a parent/teacher can have is one of leading children in a mission activity. I’m sure it’s been your experience, as it has been mine, that the kids in your home or class get quite excited about it all. So, since it works better for a group rather than an individual, I introduced this idea to my Sunday school class of third and fourth graders yesterday. They were excited and happy about it, as I knew they would be. So we’re going to fill an Action Pack to send to Sudan. If you want more info about this for your homeschool or Sunday school, go the the Voice of the Martyrs site to learn more.

If you want help in thinking of other things you could do, our “Child of Courage” page addresses this and has a link to an article in the archives at VOM’s Kids of Courage section.

Have fun with whatever you may decide to do. One thing we need to remember: Doing any kind of project for the benefit of other children who are needy has a wealth of “benefits” which redound to our kids. The term which describes these benefits may be an old one, but it’s still alive and well today: It’s called character building. Surely this is worth as much, if not more, than all the math, English, science, etc. that we may teach them.

For His Glory,
Maxine

The ruling in California that virtually renders homeschooling as illegal is just another of the many indicators of the woeful condition of our nation. We can only continue in prayer for the mercy of our God who can and will, if He chooses, spare His judgment for the sake of ten righteous people. We can also do whatever we can to stem the tide of all unrighteousness, such as making it known among our acquaintances, and taking any rightful action we can, such as signing petitions. And please don’t forget to pray for the judges. Pray even for more godly ones and the salvation of the unrighteous.

It’s not that I’m equating homeschooling with righteousness, so please don’t write and say that I am. But I am saying that any country which takes away this God-given right of parents is acting in an ungodly manner, just as it is in many of the other decisions which have been rendered in modern times.

For His Glory,

Maxine

Something else new has been added: Our first writing contest. It’s been about three years now that we’ve been posting the Speakables writing activities on our site, and it recently occurred to us that a contest would be in order. From time to time, depending on how it works out, we want to have more of these contests. God willing, we’d like to someday offer better prizes and add more categories. We’ll see. It all depends on quite a lot of things, so we’re taking it one at a time. What do you have to lose? Let your second to fifth graders give it a try. Especially you homeschoolers! Go to our Speakables Home page. You can get to everything from there.

For His Glory,

Maxine

We are all thankful for the release of the hostages. Yes, I know there is controversy surrounding it, but we can rejoice nonetheless.

However, the persecution of Christians continues, the battle goes on. This occurs on many fronts and in many ways. Keep the prayers going for the ongoing work of the Church.

Our homeschooling year has begun and until I settle in, the work of SG suffers a bit. There has been somewhat of a lull in book sales, which is the doing of God, I’m sure. I need the time.

New publications are coming, but slowly. We’ll do our best to keep things moving towards that end.

The Christian Heroes posts will not be made weekly anymore, only as time permits. I have been quite captivated by the fact that so many heroes are still being made in our day and age. Some have been slain, but new recruits are emerging. Praise the Lord.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Do your children know these words? No doubt they’ve sung them at church. Do they know anything of the man who wrote them? His name was Thomas Ken, who lived in the years 1637-1711. This would be a nice homeschool research paper for them, as well as Christian History project: Let them find out all they can about this man and his musical contributions to the Church. Let them study his childhood and his later trials in the time in which he lived in England. Let them learn about this unsung hero. I think they’ll benefit. They can find some information here.