Weekly Update Feb 13-17, Vol. 6

Last week I had a physical with my family doctor. He gives me the once over and measures my blood pressure, height, weight, etc. But as important as these indicators are to my overall physical health, there is another area that is even more important, my heart.

The Hebrew word for heart is “lev”. It is the real man. It is more than emotion or passion, it seems it is closer in meaning to the will of a man. We know from Jeremiah 17:9-10 that the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it? “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind.

It is very difficult to know our own heart. Yet it is with the heart that man believes. And David was a man after God’s own heart. We get glimpses* into our heart from looking at our expenditures, for where “our treasure is there will our heart be also”. Our tongue instructs us well, for “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks”.

But the best cardiometer is God’s word. “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 NASB

Many times as I am reading the word, I sense that I have a hard heart, which is deadly to the Christian. Some symptoms of a hard heart are: the things of God seem unreal, my spirit is not responsive to the life giving words as I read them, or I am callous to the promptings of God.

When I sense I have hardness creeping into my heart I often pray with the Psalmist, Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! Psalms 139:23.

And I remember the wonderful promise in Ezekiel 36:26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

May God bless us with soft hearts this week,

Steve

Weekly Update Feb 5-11 Vol. 5

But they delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. Psalms 1:2-3 NLT

I notice when I am not reading the word and meditating on what I have read, life seems harder. The activities of the day are more difficult and require more energy. And if I have not had my heart softened and cleansed by the word, I am not equipped to respond to these daily challenges in a godly manner.

When I do put God’s word to the forefront, I sense a divine prospering in ALL that I do. My relationships at home improve, my work becomes more effective, and life is just plain better.

Have a prosperous week in the Word,
Steve

Dear Principal of the School Meeting in Your Home,

My wife and I home educated our four sons over a period of twenty-one years. Our first son began formal education in 1985 and our fourth son graduated in 2005. Most of the daily instruction was done by Sandra. I helped teach the math, and added my input to other subjects when I could, but Sandra did the heavy lifting.

I viewed my position as the principal or administrator of our home. I was available for curriculum decisions, perhaps some discipline, and for consultation. But my main job was to make sure the on-the-job teacher was supported and doing well.

Here are a few questions for the principal, that may help prime the pump:

• What is the state of your school? How are the students progressing?
• How is your teacher? Does she feel supported?
• Does she have enough money for curriculum? Are the students obeying her and treating her with respect?
• Is the school achieving your goals and measuring up to your expectations?

I hope this picture of Dad as principal and Mom as day-to-day instructor helps you. But regardless of how your home school operates, here are a few essential ingredients for a successful home education experience.

1. Be on the same page. Both parents are responsible for the training of the children God has entrusted to you. Spend some time to identify your goals and objectives for your children.Some of these may be as broad as teaching them the word of God. Others may be more specific, such as teaching the six year old how to read and the eight year old how to memorize his multiplication facts. Other goals may be more geared to character development such as treating each other with respect or being honest.If parents can get away, even for an evening, to plan and discuss the coming year, all will benefit. And if you can, write down your objectives for the coming year and refer back to them periodically, perhaps each month or every other week. Seek God together as to His plans for your home and what is on His heart for your family.
2. Protect your teacher and watch for symptoms of burn out. Good teachers have a tendency to do too much. A diligent principal will monitor his prized instructor and help her to have the yoke that comes from Jesus.
   “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” -Matthew 11:28-30 If the day-to-day activities are becoming overwhelming, pray and search together for the yoke that is doable and the burden that is light.
3. Help each other to stay the course and evaluate what things are in line with your vision for your children and family. There are a lot of good activities to choose from. Choose wisely which things are of God for this season of your life, and which are a burden, and though good, may need to be let go.
4. Recognize that each of you as parents have unique strengths and capabilities. You are a team. Think of yourselves as participants in a three-legged race. Working together produces the best results.
5. My wife needed a short period of time each day, just for her. She explained to the boys that after lunch she would be putting on a red hat. This hat signified that she was not to be approached or disturbed, except for emergencies. She needed that time to recharge her batteries. Find out what your teacher needs and make a plan for regular seasons of refreshing.Perhaps she needs a night out with her girl friends. Perhaps she needs a date with you. Parenting is a long race and we need wisdom to see how to run this race well, and how to build one another up.

I hope these insights have been helpful to you. If you have strategies that have worked for your home, please send them along.

Have a Blessed Autumn,
Steve

Weekly Update Jan 30 – Feb 3, Vol. 4

If I had one opportunity to visit Whit’s End, and enter the Imagination Station* I would choose to be one of the men who were walking on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus, when Jesus caught up to them and joined them on their journey. As they walked, Jesus taught a bible study or survey of the Old Testament. Here is Luke’s description:

And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He (Jesus) explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. And they (Cleopas and his friend) said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:27, 32

As I read the Bible, I sometimes ask the Holy Spirit to help me see Jesus in the assigned chapters for that day. I have had Jesus revealed to my heart throughout the scriptures, including Leviticus and Deuteronomy.

May God’s Good Spirit reveal His Son to each of us this week.

Have a wonderful week with Jesus,
Steve

*The Imagination Station is a feature of Whit’s End, on Adventures in Odyssey, created by Focus on the Family Radio. participants are able to venture back in time.

Weekly Update January 23-27, Vol. 3

Some mornings I experience “Aha” moments studying the word. Other days I read several chapters without discovering any new insights. But I know that these mornings are still profitable as I experience a fresh cleansing through the exposure to the inspired word of God.

“You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you,” Jesus, in John 15:3.

“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols,” God the Father to His chosen people in Ezekiel 36:25.

That He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word; Jesus to His Bride in Ephesians 5:26.

Have a great week,
Steve

Weekly Update January 16-20, Vol. 2

Like many of you, I am reading through Genesis this month, as well as Matthew. Joseph first appears in the 30th chapter, but we don’t read more about him until the 37th chapter when he becomes the central figure for much of the rest of the book.

In the 37th chapter Joseph shares two dreams with his family. In the 40th chapter we see him in prison, interpreting dreams for Pharaoh’s servants, and later, Pharaoh himself.

As I pondered how God had given him dreams, and the ability to interpret dreams, I wondered how much of an encouragement this must have been to Daniel, who “had understanding in all visions and dreams”. As Daniel meditated on the life of Joseph, this must have been a huge encouragement to him as God began to give him this understanding.

When I read the Bible, I often think of Jesus reading the same scriptures I am reading and wondering how God used them in His life and ministry. Even though He was the word made flesh, He still must have read and meditated on the word, since it says in Hebrews 5:8 “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience …”

As we read the word each day, let’s remember all those who have gone before us who have read, prayed, and sought God as we do today.

Have a great week,
Steve

Weekly Update January 9-13,  Vol. 1

After I recommitted my life to following Jesus Christ, I began to pray before I ate a meal. In my home, I became the designated pray-er to ask God to bless our food. My brothers and Dad complained that the food was cold by the time I was done asking God to bless our meal. Back at college that fall, I would bow my head and give thanks, In the cafeteria.

Since man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Father, perhaps we should look at our Bible Reading as having a meal, of the word. I don’t always remember to pray before I read, but when I do, I get so much more out of the scripture portion for that day. Sometimes I pray for a soft heart to receive the word. Other times I pray that God, by His Spirit, would help me to see Jesus in the reading. But talking to God before “eating” is always a good practice.

Have a great week,
Steve

As we begin this school year, I hope we will each be encouraged by meditating on how God has created us to be teachers. As the wise bumper sticker says: Every parent is a teacher, but not every teacher is a parent.

A. Parents are Uniquely Designed

God creates a man and a woman in His image, makes them one in marriage, and commissions them to multiply and have children. God calls the father and mother to train, teach, and nurture their sons and daughters. When God calls, he equips. Moses questioned his qualifications, but God knew His man. Moses’s unique background equipped him to lead the children of Israel into the promised land. Parents are uniquely designed to teach and train their children.

B. Parents are Divinely Motivated

Every father and mother desires to see their children live a good long life. They want their sons and daughters to possess skills that will enable them to succeed in life. No one is as motivated as a parent. Being a mom or a dad is not a job, it is a life calling.

Parents do not need academic qualifications to teach their own children. If a mom and dad are willing to learn along with their kids, they will make fine teachers. Even though I had a college diploma and had taught in a classroom setting, I knew that as we taught our own children I would need to learn real phonics, a creation view of science, and a providential approach to history. All of this was new to us, but Sandi and I were willing to learn along with our boys.

Parents know how their student learns, and much of what he knows. I call this the Deuteronomy advantage, since you are with your children when you rise up, walk by the way, and lie down. Since you have read most of the books and watched most of the movies that they have, you know what they know.

On the way to a Fourth of July parade, my six-year-old asked why we were celebrating this day as a holiday. I was able to weave an account of the history of our nation using movies I knew he had seen (The Story of a Patriot) and places I knew he had been (Bunker Hill and Williamsburg), so that he could understand. Even David Barton couldn’t have taught any better than I did, because I knew my son.

Parents can adapt the curriculum to the student’s style of learning. Sandi began teaching our sons with traditional textbooks and worksheets, but she saw that this one-dimensional form of teaching was not what her sons needed. Because my wife wanted her sons to love learning, she chose to teach with Konos (a hands-on unit study approach). The boys moved from repainted desks purchased at a yard sale to the woods, the garage, and the kitchen. All three boys have since graduated from college, and one has gone on to earn two master’s degrees. They are accomplished life-long learners, thanks to a mom who was willing to adapt and learn along with them.

C. Parents are Tutors

Tutors are more effective and more efficient as they teach individuals one-on-one, instead of managing a classroom of twenty or thirty as a group. A tutor has the freedom to teach a student based on what the student knows, and not by how old he or she is. A tutor also moves at the child’s pace and not at the textbook’s pace. Whether a student is gifted or challenged, a tutor can adapt the material for each individual.

When you are with your children, you have unique opportunities to apply and reinforce what your children are learning. I received a call from an excited mom who had been baking cookies with her daughter. As they took the warm cookies out of the oven, they noticed they were in rows of three. They had been studying skip counting by three that morning , so they began counting the cookies: “3-6-9-12-15.” Here is real life application that only a parent who teaches math – and cooking – can do.

While a good classroom teacher may possess many of these traits, their success will depend on how much flexibility they have, the number of students in each class, and their ability to spend a few minutes with each individual student during the course of the day. Most professional instructors are convinced of the superiority of the tutor model. Institutions of higher learning may boast about their teacher/student ratio being fifteen to one, but only parents have achieved the ideal ratio of one to one.

Conclusion

• Parents are created, called, and equipped to teach and train their children.
• Parents are specially qualified and incredibly motivated to see their children succeed.
• Parents are tutors, not classroom managers.
• Parents make wonderful teachers. Rejoice in your unique gifts and enjoy the journey!

May God bless you each as you begin a new adventure of learning along with your children.

After sending the last newsletter, we found that we had left out a section on Energetic Ideas for Outside. These ideas and a few other suggestions from our readers are in this letter.

Energetic Activities for Outside

• Paint ball
• Make and fly kites
• Croquet
• Bocce
• Ultimate Frisbee (Soccer with a Frisbee)
• Hide and seek, in your yard or neighborhood
• Ride bicycles on a trail or around the neighborhood
• Wiffle ball: A big red bat with a large plastic Wiffle ball helps everyone succeed.

Moose

The object of the game is to become the moose and stay in the seat belonging to the moose as long as you can. Each seat has a corresponding animal sign. The best seat is the moose’s seat, and the worst seat is to the right of the moose. It is the skunk’s seat. The moose begins by giving his sign and then someone else’s sign. That person does their sign, followed by the sign for another player. This continues until someone does their sign improperly or makes a mistake. Then that person moves to the skunk chair and all the people to the left move up a seat to the right. When the moose makes a mistake, he moves to the skunk seat and everyone advances one seat to the right. Here is a short video we filmed of Moose and another game called Viking.

Disc golf

This is a Demme family favorite. Think of golf with Frisbees. Use regular Frisbees or purchase discs that are designed for this sport. To find a course nearby, go the Course Directory on the Professional Disc Golf Association’s website.

To learn more about the sport, watch this video. You can always design a course in your own backyard, using trees, posts, barrels, or other objects as targets.

More Activities From You, Our Kindred Spirits

• Charades
• Spoons
• Musical chairs
• Indoor volleyball: Substitute a piece of rope or yarn for the net, and a balloon for the ball

Marshmallow fights

Replacing snowballs with this sugary confection has always been a winner in our family. Marshmallows are inexpensive, unlilkely to cause injury, and easy to clean up. Loads of happy memories return when an errant missile is discovered on a deep cleaning day or when it’s time to move.

Squirt gun wars

Some folks think they’re only for outside in the summer time, but our family has learned the delights of indoor aquatic attacks. Whether it’s a parent or a child who starts the stealthy showers, it’s not long before everyone’s involved with steady streams and giggling dodges.

Hide-N-Seek inside with flashlights

When it’s dark outside, turn out all the lights in the house, including computer monitors or anything that gives off too much light. The person who is “it” counts in a specified place and the remaining family members seek out hiding places using flashlights. When hiding places are found, the hiders turn their flashlights off and keep still and quiet. The seeker, after counting, turns on his flashlight and seeks all those hiding.

We’ve even played this game at night when a storm came and our lights went out, giving the kids a fun activity to do to keep their minds off the thunder and lightening. Some younger kids do end up hiding with older kids and adults as they are usually a little afraid to be alone in a room in the dark.

Pajama run

After the kids had been tucked in bed for the night and settled in, my husband and I came running into their bedrooms yelling (in a silly fashion) and piled the kids into the car. We said we were kidnapping them and didn’t tell them where we were going. They were all pleased and surprised when we pulled into Sonic and ordered them each an ice cream cone!

Dinner and a movie

I don’t know why it’s such a big deal, but my kids LOVE to watch a movie while eating supper. We don’t do it often, but when we do they ask for it again and again.

Ultimate spoons: You will need a deck of cards and spoons

If seven people are playing, you need six spoons. To begin, one person is picked to be “it” and hides the spoons. Since he knows where the spoons are, this person sits out the first round. Deal 10 cards to everyone else. Whoever has a two begins by laying the two on the table. Whoever has a three plays it on the two. Then the four is played, and so on. There are no turns; all try to play the next card in order from their hand. When the highest card has been played, everyone jumps up and tries to find a spoon. Since there is one less spoon than the number of players, the person who does not find a spoon is ‘it’ and hides the spoons for the next round.

As a parent, I had to work at having regular family devotions. I dislike routine and schedules. My helpmeet enjoys structure and sought to maintain a regular schedule for our children. My nature was to go canoeing on a sunny day instead of following through with their schooling. I recognize now that we need balance between the serious and the serendipitous.

So when I received the following request via email a few weeks ago, it struck a chord with me. Having just completed a contest to encourage the serious side of discipleship—regular family worship—perhaps it is time for some fun.

“I was wondering if you could help with some suggestions for family time fun. We are a family of 9 and do have evening devotions around the table and are so thankful to The Lord that it has just become like breathing to our family, but we fall down on good old plain fun times. I seem to lack fun ideas and don’t want to fall into the trap of always watching movies or for the children to play on the computer. Not that these things in and of themselves are wrong, but I really want to build strong relationships with my children before they all leave home. I want them to remember home as a fun place to be around, not a sterile environment, even if we do have devotions.”

Here are a bunch of activities that I pulled together to give you some ideas. I have grouped the ideas in several categories, which are underlined. If you have a family activity that you could recommend, please send it along.

Here’s hoping that your family will experience a joy-filled summer and make memories that will last a lifetime!

Steve

Active Activities for Inside

• Hide and seek
• Rubber band wars
• Moose*
• Viking*
• Family Ping Pong*
• Darts
• Charades

*(Check back to the website for a video clip of these activities to give you an idea how to do them.)

Subdued Ideas for Inside

• Assemble a puzzle
• Card games: Dutch Blitz, Set, Uno
• Board games: Monopoly, Risk, Scrabble, Clue, Life, Parcheesi, Sorry
• Dominoes
• Bingo
• Yahtzee

Food is Fun

• Make homemade ice cream
• Make hot pretzels
• Have a campfire with smores

Evening Excursions

• Miniature golf
• Bowling

• Stargazing on a dark night

For a Weekend or Weekday

• Bike ride
• Canoeing
• Hiking
• Overnight camping
• Find a bird watcher who could take you on a hike to identify birds
• Volunteer at a soup kitchen

Some Suggested Read-Aloud Books

• Little Britches
• Summer of the Monkeys
• Cheaper by the Dozen
• Narnia Books

Other Ideas

• Invite friends over to share in a family game night
• Put all the activities on cards and have someone pick one randomly. Insist beforetime that there is to be no grumbling and that all will congratulate the winners and say, “Good game!”
• Take turns selecting the activity or game among different members of the family. Each person in the family could rotate hosting the activity with all the materials gathered and the refreshments prepared ahead of time. You might want to set aside a certain budgeted amount

Summer Contests

These might seem a lot like school. In Cheaper by the Dozen, the children learned the Morse Code on summer holiday.

• Learn Morse Code
• Learn the phonetic alphabet (A-alfa, B-bravo, C-Charlie…)
• Have a family forum to review books that members of the family are reading
• Learn the Greek alphabet
• Learn the New Testament books of the Bible