Home Schooling by the Book

Laying a strong foundation for your homeschool

Adventures!

September, 2009

The following is a missions support letter written by our daughter (age 12). We wanted to share it because it reveals how personal God is in answering her prayers and questions as she sought His direction. God wants to have a personal relationship with each of us and we as parents  need to lead our children into this relationship with Him. It is certainly the ultimate goal of homeschooling.    Dear Friends and Family,     Recently I joined a group through my church’s youth group that meets monthly to learn more about world missions, different cultures, as well as past and current missionary life. Occasionally they have missionaries visit the group to share about their experiences and their life in the mission field.     Periodically, this missions group goes on a short-term mission’s trip, and this year it has been decided that we will be going to Ukraine.     In Ukraine, I, along with the other students going on the trip, are going to be performing in street dramas, and evangelizing alongside a youth group from a church in Poltava, Ukraine.   This trip will take place sometime between June 10 and June 27, 2010 and we will be there for 2 weeks.  Yes, my mom is having a very hard time with this but she is trusting God.      The total cost of the trip is $2,000, which will cover the cost of transportation, lodging and all meals. The first payment of $1,000 is due by January 1st, 2010. Although it may seem like a lot of money, God is always faithful and He will provide for everything that I’ll need to go on this trip, including finances.      Please pray about whether God is leading you to assist me in this mission opportunity. I am offering four ways that you can support me: 1. PRAYER - I can always use your prayers for safe travel, physical/spiritual strength, endurance, good health, unity and co-operation between the missions team, financial needs, and for many lives to be changed through this trip. 2.WORK- I’ll gladly baby-sit, wash/vacuum your car, clean your home, mow your lawn, do yard work, etc. to raise money. 3. WREATHS- I am selling Christmas wreaths through Wreaths of Maine. The wreaths cost from around $25.00-$35.00 and I receive $6.00 for every wreath except for the homestead wreath, for which I receive $4.00. Please let me know if you would like an order form to order a wreath. You can see pictures of the variety of wreaths at Wreathsofmaine.com. All of the wreaths are fresh, made from Balsam fir trees-not artificial. The wreaths will be shipped to you in mid/late November or early/mid December-your choice. 4. FUNDRAISING DINNER- I will be hosting a fundraising dinner at my home on October 18, 2009 and November 8, 2009. There will be two seatings at each one: The first seating will be at 4:30pm and the second one at 7:00pm. Please RSVP to me at least a week before the dinner you plan on attending, so that we can know how much food to buy. I’ll be charging $10.00 per person, or $25.00 per family for a delicious Russian meal!        I have really prayed about this trip and I want to share with you a couple of things the Lord showed me when I asked Him for a verse for this.       First of all, has it ever seemed like God did something or created something, JUST for you? Well, I started using a devotional study guide called “Quiet Time”.  I’ve been using that for, hmm, maybe about seven months. It has a chapter or section of verses to read each day along with a commentary and personal application questions. Almost every day, the section of scripture applied to my everyday life and the situations I was going through. For example: right before and during the Bahamas mission’s trip I went on last year it had me read a lot of stuff about sharing the gospel and becoming “fishers of men”. I mean, it wasn’t just one verse; it was  a couple of weeks of this confirmation that God wanted me to go on that trip…well, it’s been pretty much the same way with this upcoming trip to  Ukraine. I would ask God for a verse in the morning right before I started my Bible reading, and each time, He would show me something…even when I was pretty specific.  One morning I began my devotional time, asking God to give me a verse about traveling or going far (if you don’t know already, Ukraine is really far from where I live…it’s right beneath Russia!) and when I opened up my study guide it said to read Acts 8:26-40, where God told Philip to go to Gaza, to meet a young eunuch who was reading from the book of Isaiah, but didn’t understand it. Philip got to preach Jesus to him (v. 35), and eventually lead him to Christ and baptize him, after which God caught Philip up and moved him to a different city called Azotus. Isn’t that cool? Any ways…I kept getting a LOT of verses about sharing the gospel and listening to God, rather than men and not letting people stop you from sharing the gospel, and things like that, so, to kind of confirm that He wants me to go on this trip, I asked God to give me one more verse about missions or something of that sort and let me tell, you-I wasn’t expecting what I read: It was Acts 10:23-33 and the verses that really caught my eye were verses 28-29 and this is what they say, ‘28Then he [Peter] said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. 29 Therefore I came without objection as soon as I was sent for. I ask, then, for what reason have you sent for me?”’    For me, these verses applied so much to my situation…Starting with verse 28, It says ‘You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation.’ For me, this means that some people might think I’m totally crazy or way to young to be going all the way to the Ukraine (another nation) on a short term missions trip, but just because I’m young doesn’t at all mean that God can’t use me. 1 Timothy 4:12;14a says, ‘let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity…do not neglect the gift that is in you…’.  Anyway, next it says, ‘But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.’ For me, this means that even though in the Ukraine, the people there have a different culture and probably live differently than I do here in America, God still loves them and wants them to come to Him so I shouldn’t call them “common” or “unclean” just because they have a different lifestyle. While I am in Ukraine, I should use what I already know about their culture to reach them with the message of Christ. So, continuing with the verse, it says, ‘Therefore I came without objection as soon as I was sent for.’ Basically God has sent for me to go to Ukraine and I should go without any concerns or objections because I know that God will provide for everything I need since this is what He has called me to do. Lastly, it says, ‘I ask then, for what reason have you sent for me?’ God has sent for me to go to Ukraine because He wants me to tell the people there about His love and mercy so that they will know that Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship. Many people claim to be Christians, but they don’t fully rely on Jesus to save them…they have traditions they follow and they think that they have to sort of earn their way to heaven by doing their ceremonial things. For example: In Ukraine, the people there go every so often (I think it’s once a year) and wait in HUGE lines just to be near what they believe to be Saint Luke’s bones because they believe it brings cleansing of their sins. So they really need to hear the message of relationship rather than religion with Jesus. Please pray for their hearts to be prepared to hear the message that they will be receiving from this mission’s team.       Thank you so much for all of your support and prayers! I really, really appreciate it.              -Alicea                                                                                     Psalm 37:4-5 Enjoy serving the Lord, and He will give you what you want. Depend on the Lord; trust Him, and He will take care of you.

July 22,2009

Prior to this, we had never really heard of "scalloping"! While planning our time out of town, I stumbled upon it and decided it would make a great educational adventure! We learned about scallops and other sea life in the Big bend area of Florida and visited a charming town of Steinhatchee. This ended up being one of my favorite trips. We rented a skiff for the day and went out in search of scallops. We ended up with our legal limit and had a blast snorkelling and gathering the scallops all day. This of course resulted in trying all kinds of new cooking dishes with the abundance of our catch!

July 19, 2009

Today we visited St. Augustine and toured the old fort. We got a glimpse of how the Spanish soldiers lived hundreds of years ago. Little things we noticed really brought the reality of this history to life. We saw inscriptions carved by soldiers in the limestone walls and bullet holes where the firing squad would carry out executions.    While in the gift shop, I spotted a book entitled “Jonathan Dickenson’s Journal”. It caught my attention because there is a Jonathan Dickenson state park near us. I flipped through it and discovered its actual title is “God’s Protecting Providence…” It is an account of the hardships suffered by Quaker Jonathan Dickenson and the other men and women after shipwreck on the Palm Beach, FL coast 9/23/1696 and their struggle to eventually reach Charlestowne, SC on 12/26/1696. It was such a grueling ordeal that had all odds stacked against their survival, and such a remarkable account of 1696 life along the desolate, Indian populated Florida coast. Most of all, it was an account given to tell the story of God’s providential protection for most of this group. Such an encouraging story among the Quakers that it was reprinted 13 times. I have read it to my children and we thoroughly enjoyed it!  Are those authentic Spanish period sunglass?? I think they're replicas!

July 17-18, 2009

We were at the HERI homeschool convention in Jacksonville, FL. We had the opportunity to speak at the workshops. Here you can see Andrea's visual display of the overwhelmed homeschool mom. The balls represent areas of responsibility and the colored flags represent specific activities that go along with those responsibilities. She did a great job sharing how to avoid burnout!

April 16, 2009

We landed a drum set and electric guitar to add to our classical guitar($5 from the flea market) and small beginner’s guitar, our violins and piano. We were recently visiting friends with a drum set and our younger daughter and son both showed a real interest in the drums. My older daughter has been applying herself to a “Teach Yourself Guitar” book too. We want to provide every opportunity for our kids to find an instrument they are passionate about but also provide a passion for music and provision for musical ability.  We looked for good deals on these instruments through Craigslist.com and found what probably prevents many parents from buying instruments for their kids. With both the drum set and the guitar, the parents bought the item for the child and it went virtually unused. This was a bonus for us because we got new instruments at half or less than half price. Many parents may not be willing to take the risk of wasting money on an unused instrument but we’re not willing to waste an opportunity on undiscovered passion, talent or ability for our children!

April 3, 2009

You’ve probably heard of the guy that went to a garage sale and bought a painting for a few bucks only to find that it was an expensive work of art. Well, I met him today! We were having our own garage sale (a great opportunity to teach our kids many  skills like handling money, bargaining, letting their stuff go, end even experiencing other cultural mindsets, etc).     This man drove a hard bargain and ended up with our prized solid oak Thomasville TV Armoire that we picked up for only $75 at a thrift store 15 years ago.  He got away with it for $20!! It was day 2 of the sale and no takers so we sacrificed it!    While I helped load it in his car, he removed a painting to make room. He proceeded to tell me that He bought it at a garage sale earlier this morning. It was hanging on the wall and he recognized it as a Highwaymen painting. He asked how much would they like for the painting and they offered it for $10. He agreed. Now I’m not up on paintings so I would have probably let it go too but this painting is worth about $700!                                    "In the early 1950’s through the 1980’s a group of twenty-six African-American artists known as the "Florida Highwaymen" used vivid and bright colors to display the beautiful untouched Florida landscape. The Florida Highwaymen painted wind-bent palm trees, serene sunsets, churning oceans and bright red Poinciana trees. They painted from their garages and back yards on inexpensive Upson board and then on the weekends they would travel and sell their Highwaymen paintings to hotels, offices, businesses and individuals who appreciated the artwork for around $25 a piece. " (Taken from www.floridahighwaymenpaintings.com) The man then told me that at another garage sale he recognized another known artist’s key painting and asked the owner for a price. She stated that she knew it was valuable and would not let it go for less than $300. It was in turn sold for $14,000! I immediately thought of my mindset as a child and how often I wondered “Why do I need to know all this stuff I’m learning?”.   As a matter of fact, my own children have asked that question. So this was a perfect example to show them how practical knowledge can be. We have all heard the saying “Knowledge is power.”  We never know when the knowledge we have obtained will come in handy.

April 2, 2009

Today we went to the Kennedy Space Center in Titusville, FL. We took the bus tour to the Apollo / SaturnV complex where we saw the lunar lander. It looked like it was covered in tin foil but I discovered it is actually mylar. That is what many balloons are made of. This same material that we use for balloons was used to protect the lunar lander from space dust traveling at thousands of miles per hour! -Abby   F1 Rocket engines! COOL!

March 27, 2009

We went on a little camping adventure down to Big Pine Key in the Florida Keys. This key is home of the Key Deer, the smallest race of North American deer,also endangered.   Our friends told us how they observed the deer roaming through the camp when they previously visited so we thought it would be a neat thing to see too. While we were setting up our tents after arrival, I was a little surprised when I heard my oldest daughter say she took plenty of pictures of the deer and even of Dylan hugging the deer! We hoped to see them but this was quite a bonus! It turns out they are somewhat like raccoons in that they try to take food from the table and raid the garbage bags! I’ve challenged the kids to figure out how the deer came to be on the islands before roads. Hmmm…?                             We had to bring the potato cannon too! Check out the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oeiz6nHR5Kw .We only had the chance to fire it a couple times since building it so we fired it till we got bored this time, trying more and less fuel combinations to see what works best. This thing always raises a few eyebrows as evidenced by a visit from the park management! Build one for yourself with the recipe in Backyard Ballistics available in our Recommended Resources section or click here.   The kids found all kinds of sea life around the shore and Ali reeled in a Jack but Dylan just couldn't handle all the excitement and crashed in the grass!   This area can bring history to life with the old abandoned bridges built by Henry Flagler. It is a great testament to his productivity and determination as he brought the railroad to Key West and originally connected all these keys.