This article at World Net Daily brought me much cheer as John read it to me this morning. This is such exciting news!
Now 36 states are considering taking the Tenth Amendment at its word! What a great flourish for Sarah Palin as one of her last acts as governor. State sovereignty is not secession, but it could rejuvenate our republic like nothing else will.
Alaska's resolution states:
"Be it resolved that the Alaska State Legislature hereby claims sovereignty for the state under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States.
Be it further resolved that this resolution serves as Notice and Demand to the federal government to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers."
Now if the rest of the states will actually pass similar legislation…pray! It could mean we could take back Federally-held logging lands for Oregon and return to prosperity once again.
And once state sovereignty is established, I propose the next Declaration of Independence for the People of Oregon:
Those powers not delineated in the State Constitution to the state of Oregon are referred to The People, as given to them by their Creator God.
I’ll be the first signer! Let King Barack do what he will, my John Hancock goes there.
Arden Sleadd
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
To Be In The House of the Lord
I did make it to church, and shared with tears how encouraging everyone has been and what God is doing in my walk with him. It was so good!
One new-to-the-church sister who ministered to me had her baby and three sons in the car when she drove me to the Y this week. So when I saw them at church the three young boys were so solicitous to help me and pray with me. It is a rare thing for young boys to show such adult-level caring for an 51-year-old like me!
When I came home this afternoon I laid down, and actually got a three-hour nap! Hallelujah!
When I say I am "improved", it only means (at this point) that I have gotten sufficient rest and have behaved myself enough to get the pain down. It is not an indication of real improvement. But I live by faith and take it a day at a time.
And by the way, my health blog has a different address now: www.myfmsjourney.blogspot.com. I updated it last week with more details of the struggle. Have a good week all of you! God bless!
One new-to-the-church sister who ministered to me had her baby and three sons in the car when she drove me to the Y this week. So when I saw them at church the three young boys were so solicitous to help me and pray with me. It is a rare thing for young boys to show such adult-level caring for an 51-year-old like me!
When I came home this afternoon I laid down, and actually got a three-hour nap! Hallelujah!
When I say I am "improved", it only means (at this point) that I have gotten sufficient rest and have behaved myself enough to get the pain down. It is not an indication of real improvement. But I live by faith and take it a day at a time.
And by the way, my health blog has a different address now: www.myfmsjourney.blogspot.com. I updated it last week with more details of the struggle. Have a good week all of you! God bless!
Monday, July 13, 2009
A health update
There I lay, face down on the mattress, unable to move. At least I had dried myself off. I called out to Alexa. No answer. I called out John, and he heard me. What a relief!
The Lord has been gracious to provide my husband within calling range two of the three times this has happened since Memorial Day.
The Lord has been gracious to provide my husband within calling range two of the three times this has happened since Memorial Day.
So while laid up in bed I have had lots of time to read; I read Waiting for a Miracle and Trapped in Hitler’s Hell by Jan Markell. The first book is written by a woman with the same condition I have (CFS, EBV). I recommend it to anyone who wants to understand chronic illness better. It’s the first book I’ve found that gets the spiritual side of it right.
The second book about a Jew-turned-Christian in WWII helps keep my state in perspective. I live in such luxury here in our beautiful home with people who love and serve me. No one is forcing me to get up at 4 am to work in the wind or heat for 10 hours a day. I have all the medical help known to man available to me. The fact that I’m sitting up and able to type for now is good. John never complains when I need prescriptions picked up, or a back rub for the knotted muscles, or just his presence for comfort. He and the children are running the household quite well without me. I also have been sleeping better since doubling the dose of my sleeping pills, but the sleep has not been sufficiently restorative.
I can’t help but think our Hawaii anniversary trip next month will not be possible, but I’m trying to take one day at a time. I am more and more aware of God’s presence around, in and about me, sustaining my every breath. He doesn’t just know me, he permeates me with his Spirit. As long as I keep that in mind, I can hand over to Him every discouraging thought with the rejoinder, “Jesus is here and He saves now!” I have much to be thankful for.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Woman Come Home - Chapter 2
Six years ago when John and I started Covered Bridge Family Ministries, I presented an article at our first family seminar called, “Woman Come Home: My Personal Journey from Career Woman to Contented Homemaker”. You can read the article as my first entry on this blog. As the name of the article implies, I am on a journey to achieving contentment in the home; I have not arrived. I’m still a sinner. So this is sequel to that article.
I want to start off by honoring my mother today (Mother's Day). My husband and children would concur with me that Grandma Voyla is a very loving, nurturing, caring person. She has the instinct of a mother. She would love to gather the whole world under her wings like a mother hen gathers her chicks if she could. Somewhere along the line, however, this nurturing instinct was not passed on to me. I am much more task-oriented than people-oriented. My mother has said that I tended to keep my business to myself and didn’t talk much when I was younger. I believe part of the reason I didn’t turn out like her is that I didn’t have much time with her. I attended 13 years of public school, four years of college to get my teaching degree, and another year in graduate school for my masters. That’s a lot of seat-hours spent away from Mom. In addition, my mother returned to the work force when I was only four years old and my sister was two. I understand why she went back to work; she has explained to me that my father was so sparse with the praise and heavy on the criticism that, in her words, “I would have become a nothing if I’d stayed home”. So, she sought personal affirmation from the working world.
Kevin Swanson, in his article, “The Re-integrated Family and the Return of Love,” pointed out that forty years ago, when I was about ten, only about 2% of children under six were without their moms during the daytime hours. That figure is now at 64%. I was one of those 2%; my sister and I were latch-key children before such a term existed. I’m here to tell you, it was a lonely existence. When Mom came home late from work, I could tell she was too tired or distracted to go deep with me. I somehow thought that my experiences at school were my own burden to bear.
When my husband and I married, we determined that we would do things differently; I would stay home with the children. There was one big problem; I had spent my life preparing myself for the working world outside the home; my mother had modeled that paradigm for me; and I didn’t know how to be content in the home.
In my article I describe how I ended up working part-time anyway while our two eldest children were born, and how I was faced with the stark reality that I was repeating history; I had lost my daughter’s heart; and she was only two or three. Due to financial choices we had made, it took me another year or two to finally come home for good. But you see, there was still the issue of my own heart. I had also thrown myself into volunteer work. When I was home, I had found myself on the phone, cooking up more commitments. I gave prolife speeches in the high schools; I debated Planned Parenthood on the college campuses, on radio and television; I led a Concerned Women for America chapter, and was in the church choir. You see, I was still seeking strokes from the adult world, just as my mother had. Whenever I got on the phone, I noticed my children would suddenly create a crisis, interrupting me and trying to get my attention. As soon as I got off, they would settle down and be fine. They were competing with the telephone for my attentions. They knew they didn’t have my heart.
Oh, and did I mention I was in Bible Study Fellowship too? Well, that was probably my best decision. We were studying the Life of David one week, and we got to the chapter where King David shares his desire to build a temple for the Lord with the prophet Nathan. The Lord gave Nathan a message, and these words were like a sword into my heart: “(I Chronicles 17:4) Thus says the Lord: It is not you who will build me a house to dwell in…Moreover, I declare to you that I, the Lord will build you a house. When your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom.” When I read that, I knew beyond any doubt that these words were for me. God was saying, “All this work you are doing for me is good—the babies you’re trying to save, the church work, the political changes you’re working for—but it’s not what I have called you to do.”
Well, I argued with God. “But Lord, I’ve made all these commitments, I’ve started a new prolife council, etc. etc. I can’t afford to be flakey!” So I didn’t hear directly from the Lord anymore. But what did happen was that my health went south—fast.
In ‘92, six months after I had quit teaching and come home, I became very ill with hypothyroidism and fibromyalgia. The chronic pain and fatigue are still progressing today, seventeen years later, in spite of my visiting at least sixteen different doctors and trying dozens of treatments.
That was the same year I had started homeschooling my children. Naomi was four, Nathan was two, and I had a newborn, Aaron. (He’s graduating from high school next week.) I had thought, if I can teach other people’s children, I can certainly teach my own. But here I was, getting sick and sicker. I wanted desperately to do right by my children—to give them my best, my all—and now I didn’t know if I’d have the strength.
It has been and still is a struggle. When I am in pain, I tend to be more stressed and irritable. I will push myself through the pain, and deal too harshly with the children. They often don’t know what In the world is wrong with Mom. Sometimes I don’t know myself. Then when the pain lifts temporarily, I feel so much better that I tend to be aggressive, trying to catch up for lost time. My husband has often said, “You must be feeling better. You’re getting feisty again.” There were some years when I was so debilitated by the pain that John stepped in and put four of our children in public school. (Caleb was still preschool-age, so I kept him and taught him at home, by hook and by crook.) Those were the darkest four years of my life. The constant pain, along with my sense of failure and uselessness, caused a lot of deep depression. We soon realized we were losing all our children’s hearts in a hurry, and John finally came to the conclusion that if necessary, he would homeschool them himself while working fulltime, and he brought them back home. I was so relieved.
I have found various ways to keep going, managing the household and homeschooling my five children. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. I haven’t time share the details of our curricular methods.
Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” I have learned that my greatest gift from God—my greatest treasure—is my life, and my life is measured in time. The greatest treasure I have to give my children is my time. And though it’s a struggle even now to give them my heart, because of my past choices, I know God will honor His promises and raise up my children to build a house on a sure foundation that will last forever.
Two words of advice I have for mothers and young ladies aspiring to be mothers.
1. Guard your heart.
2. Give up your rights.
We women must guard our own hearts from being seduced by the world’s voices that say it’s more satisfying out there, away from home, than it is being at home with our children. We must guard the way we spend our time, choosing activities that will help us be content with the limitless possibilities that await us in our own homes. Then we can more effectively guard our children’s hearts from the influences of the world that continually call out to them.
And we must give up our right, to have control of our time, and our right to adult companionship. Jesus said, “He who seeks to save his life shall lose it; but he who seeks to lose his life for my sake shall find it.” There is indeed great joy awaiting us if we seek his kingdom first, and all these things shall be added to us.
Now the leaders and founders of Household of Faith Community Church say that we are not a homeschool church. We are a parental discipleship church. I take that to mean whatever model works best for parents to maximize the time they spend with their children in order to make them their primary disciples, that’s the schooling model they should choose. I admit I am not without bias; I think the superior model for discipling children is through homeschooling them. I can’t think of a better way to have the most and best of your time with your children than to homeschool them. Our primary reason is relational. Elizabeth Smith wrote an article called “10 Reasons to Homeschool Teens”. Her #1 reason is: “Cement family relationships. Relationships are the most important thing in family life. When teens are away from home for six to eight hours a day, subtle changes begin to erode relationships at home. Divided allegiance or “serving two masters” can shake their foundation. THE RESULT IS DIMINISHED FAMILY TIES AND PARENTAL INFLUENCE.” She also says, “Age/grade isolation or segregation inhibits socialization.” This was certainly our experience.
Are you making your children your primary disciples? Do you have their heart? Do they have yours?
I often ask myself that question and wonder. I have indeed come a long way, through God’s severe mercy upon me, in re-prioritizing my time, but I often have a hunch that if I weren’t still sick, I would be saying yes to too many “good” options to fill my time, which would divert my attention and energies away from my children, and now my grandchildren. I would love to be taking on tutoring students, or teaching this class or leading that women’s bible study or discussion group. A day doesn’t go by that I don’t picture myself doing such things. And then reality sets in and I must tell myself “no”. I can say, however, that I am very content in my own home now. I do wish I could practice more hospitality there. The hardest part is saying no to John, who I’m sure is disappointed that I don’t have guests over very often. I only know God must have his reasons. I also God will heal me, someday. The only question is, when?
I want to start off by honoring my mother today (Mother's Day). My husband and children would concur with me that Grandma Voyla is a very loving, nurturing, caring person. She has the instinct of a mother. She would love to gather the whole world under her wings like a mother hen gathers her chicks if she could. Somewhere along the line, however, this nurturing instinct was not passed on to me. I am much more task-oriented than people-oriented. My mother has said that I tended to keep my business to myself and didn’t talk much when I was younger. I believe part of the reason I didn’t turn out like her is that I didn’t have much time with her. I attended 13 years of public school, four years of college to get my teaching degree, and another year in graduate school for my masters. That’s a lot of seat-hours spent away from Mom. In addition, my mother returned to the work force when I was only four years old and my sister was two. I understand why she went back to work; she has explained to me that my father was so sparse with the praise and heavy on the criticism that, in her words, “I would have become a nothing if I’d stayed home”. So, she sought personal affirmation from the working world.
Kevin Swanson, in his article, “The Re-integrated Family and the Return of Love,” pointed out that forty years ago, when I was about ten, only about 2% of children under six were without their moms during the daytime hours. That figure is now at 64%. I was one of those 2%; my sister and I were latch-key children before such a term existed. I’m here to tell you, it was a lonely existence. When Mom came home late from work, I could tell she was too tired or distracted to go deep with me. I somehow thought that my experiences at school were my own burden to bear.
When my husband and I married, we determined that we would do things differently; I would stay home with the children. There was one big problem; I had spent my life preparing myself for the working world outside the home; my mother had modeled that paradigm for me; and I didn’t know how to be content in the home.
In my article I describe how I ended up working part-time anyway while our two eldest children were born, and how I was faced with the stark reality that I was repeating history; I had lost my daughter’s heart; and she was only two or three. Due to financial choices we had made, it took me another year or two to finally come home for good. But you see, there was still the issue of my own heart. I had also thrown myself into volunteer work. When I was home, I had found myself on the phone, cooking up more commitments. I gave prolife speeches in the high schools; I debated Planned Parenthood on the college campuses, on radio and television; I led a Concerned Women for America chapter, and was in the church choir. You see, I was still seeking strokes from the adult world, just as my mother had. Whenever I got on the phone, I noticed my children would suddenly create a crisis, interrupting me and trying to get my attention. As soon as I got off, they would settle down and be fine. They were competing with the telephone for my attentions. They knew they didn’t have my heart.
Oh, and did I mention I was in Bible Study Fellowship too? Well, that was probably my best decision. We were studying the Life of David one week, and we got to the chapter where King David shares his desire to build a temple for the Lord with the prophet Nathan. The Lord gave Nathan a message, and these words were like a sword into my heart: “(I Chronicles 17:4) Thus says the Lord: It is not you who will build me a house to dwell in…Moreover, I declare to you that I, the Lord will build you a house. When your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom.” When I read that, I knew beyond any doubt that these words were for me. God was saying, “All this work you are doing for me is good—the babies you’re trying to save, the church work, the political changes you’re working for—but it’s not what I have called you to do.”
Well, I argued with God. “But Lord, I’ve made all these commitments, I’ve started a new prolife council, etc. etc. I can’t afford to be flakey!” So I didn’t hear directly from the Lord anymore. But what did happen was that my health went south—fast.
In ‘92, six months after I had quit teaching and come home, I became very ill with hypothyroidism and fibromyalgia. The chronic pain and fatigue are still progressing today, seventeen years later, in spite of my visiting at least sixteen different doctors and trying dozens of treatments.
That was the same year I had started homeschooling my children. Naomi was four, Nathan was two, and I had a newborn, Aaron. (He’s graduating from high school next week.) I had thought, if I can teach other people’s children, I can certainly teach my own. But here I was, getting sick and sicker. I wanted desperately to do right by my children—to give them my best, my all—and now I didn’t know if I’d have the strength.
It has been and still is a struggle. When I am in pain, I tend to be more stressed and irritable. I will push myself through the pain, and deal too harshly with the children. They often don’t know what In the world is wrong with Mom. Sometimes I don’t know myself. Then when the pain lifts temporarily, I feel so much better that I tend to be aggressive, trying to catch up for lost time. My husband has often said, “You must be feeling better. You’re getting feisty again.” There were some years when I was so debilitated by the pain that John stepped in and put four of our children in public school. (Caleb was still preschool-age, so I kept him and taught him at home, by hook and by crook.) Those were the darkest four years of my life. The constant pain, along with my sense of failure and uselessness, caused a lot of deep depression. We soon realized we were losing all our children’s hearts in a hurry, and John finally came to the conclusion that if necessary, he would homeschool them himself while working fulltime, and he brought them back home. I was so relieved.
I have found various ways to keep going, managing the household and homeschooling my five children. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. I haven’t time share the details of our curricular methods.
Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” I have learned that my greatest gift from God—my greatest treasure—is my life, and my life is measured in time. The greatest treasure I have to give my children is my time. And though it’s a struggle even now to give them my heart, because of my past choices, I know God will honor His promises and raise up my children to build a house on a sure foundation that will last forever.
Two words of advice I have for mothers and young ladies aspiring to be mothers.
1. Guard your heart.
2. Give up your rights.
We women must guard our own hearts from being seduced by the world’s voices that say it’s more satisfying out there, away from home, than it is being at home with our children. We must guard the way we spend our time, choosing activities that will help us be content with the limitless possibilities that await us in our own homes. Then we can more effectively guard our children’s hearts from the influences of the world that continually call out to them.
And we must give up our right, to have control of our time, and our right to adult companionship. Jesus said, “He who seeks to save his life shall lose it; but he who seeks to lose his life for my sake shall find it.” There is indeed great joy awaiting us if we seek his kingdom first, and all these things shall be added to us.
Now the leaders and founders of Household of Faith Community Church say that we are not a homeschool church. We are a parental discipleship church. I take that to mean whatever model works best for parents to maximize the time they spend with their children in order to make them their primary disciples, that’s the schooling model they should choose. I admit I am not without bias; I think the superior model for discipling children is through homeschooling them. I can’t think of a better way to have the most and best of your time with your children than to homeschool them. Our primary reason is relational. Elizabeth Smith wrote an article called “10 Reasons to Homeschool Teens”. Her #1 reason is: “Cement family relationships. Relationships are the most important thing in family life. When teens are away from home for six to eight hours a day, subtle changes begin to erode relationships at home. Divided allegiance or “serving two masters” can shake their foundation. THE RESULT IS DIMINISHED FAMILY TIES AND PARENTAL INFLUENCE.” She also says, “Age/grade isolation or segregation inhibits socialization.” This was certainly our experience.
Are you making your children your primary disciples? Do you have their heart? Do they have yours?
I often ask myself that question and wonder. I have indeed come a long way, through God’s severe mercy upon me, in re-prioritizing my time, but I often have a hunch that if I weren’t still sick, I would be saying yes to too many “good” options to fill my time, which would divert my attention and energies away from my children, and now my grandchildren. I would love to be taking on tutoring students, or teaching this class or leading that women’s bible study or discussion group. A day doesn’t go by that I don’t picture myself doing such things. And then reality sets in and I must tell myself “no”. I can say, however, that I am very content in my own home now. I do wish I could practice more hospitality there. The hardest part is saying no to John, who I’m sure is disappointed that I don’t have guests over very often. I only know God must have his reasons. I also God will heal me, someday. The only question is, when?
Sunday, March 22, 2009
One Day in the Life of the Sleadd Household
Practical Homeschooling magazine runs a monthly feature written by homeschooling mothers that details the usual schedule in their family's lives. As it has always fascinated me to found out what really happens in everyone's else's home, I thought I might try my hand at describing how the Sleadds do real life, er, home school. This will be a typical workday during the academic season, which for us is roughly nine months, mirroring the institutional schedule. (We've tried year-round school, at least with math, and it usually lasts about one week into June before we give it up. Who knows, maybe this year will be different...) Bear in mind that we have launched our two eldest children into marriage, with three children remaining at home. Aaron is a senior this year, Alexa is a junior, and Caleb is in 6th grade. John is bi-vocational as a pastor and a 4th-grade public school teacher. I am a WAHM (see previous posts), with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue/pain (read: If I can homeschool, so can you!).
So here is our typical school-day schedule:
5:00am John rises, showers, has coffee, personal devotions
6:00am John rousts the children out of bed for personal devotions
6:30am John and children read one chapter from the Bible round-robin aloud together; they discuss the content, he asks questions, shares his observations. Then one of the children is called on to lead in prayer, a different child for each day of the week. They agree in prayer for certain friends, church and family members, missionaries, government leaders, etc.
7:00am John leaves for work. The children find some breakfast for themselves, do grooming, and morning chores as indicated on weekly chore chart, posted in kitchen. I get up (I have to move slowly in the morning or I won't make it through the day), have personal devotions and breakfast, and ensure the children are getting their morning jobs done.
8:30am "School" starts. (Well, the academic part does. The chores are just as important for character- and life-skill training as the academics. )
The first hour of the school day is what I call the Recitation Hour. During this time we gather on the comfortable sofas of our living room, with a fire in the woodstove if necessary, and I give direct and interactive instruction to them all together. (Aaron, however, has started to work independently from us during this time. I think he would benefit if he was still with us for this hour, but he has asserted his independence on this point, and I have acquiesced. Because he is so responsible with scheduling his use of time, I felt I can afford to let him have his head as he attains to manhood.)
The Recitation Hour is roughly broken into three 20-minute periods for three subjects. I and each of the children have a two-ring file-card binder and a pencil in our hands during this time. The first period is spent on Bible memory work. I select verses from the scripture portions being studied at our church, or as the Spirit leads. We copy the verses on cards and keep them in the binder, to flip through and review as needed. Then we recite them together for a few weeks until they are well-memorized, adding new verses while rotating through old ones on occasion.
The second and third subjects I cover during the remainder of that time varies from month to month. Currently I am teaching them grammar and reading poetry. They are taking notes on the grammar in their card binder as well, and I review with them some of the basic definitions and concepts of grammar from those cards.
I currently use Warriner's Grammar, First Course. I keep it simple. I read aloud a page or two from the text book, help them take notes on their cards, and we orally work a few exercises together.
During the first half of the year we used this time for Spelling and Vocabulary. I used The Writing Road To Reading's Ayers' List to test each child, and they copied all their mispelled words into the card binder for future review. When I ran out of words from that list for the older child, I used the vocabulary words from our Robinson Curriculum. I have done this simultaneously with all the children, going around the room, one at a time giving them a word to spell orally, a la spelling bee. For some reason, the children have expressed enjoyment in learning spelling this way more than most anything else. Go figure!
I just administered a Basic Skills practice test (http://www.basicskills.net/) to Caleb and Alexa last week, and found that their spelling and vocabulary skills are excellent. What they are lagging in is mechanics (punctuation)--the part of Warriner's I haven't gotten to this year. So we are hitting punctuation hard for the next two months before they take the real test in May.
While we work on this, Aaron is usually working on his computer programming homework. Aaron is being apprenticed by a programmer-friend, who meets with him once a week in his home. The arrangement has been a great blessing.
9:30-12:30am Individualized school work.
With direct instruction done, we discuss what each child needs to accomplish for the rest of the day, and they write their tasks in their student planners. Then I set them loose to do what they need to do.
Caleb has been spending the remainder of the morning on: geography, math, and research.
For geography, we have used the National Geographic website http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ extensively as a resource for our study this year. He competed in our cooperative-academy's geography bee last January. It was a good motivator for both of us and found it very fun!
For math, Caleb is in Saxon Math 65. He can usually do the lessons on his own, and asks for help as necessary. He also researches for his writing assignments, which are geography-related, on the internet.
Alexa uses her morning for physics, debate, and math. I have been hosting a Physics study group with her and Aaron and three other homeschooled teens. They are preparing for the AP Physics test using Apologia Physics and Advanced Physics textbooks. On occasion they have emailed Apologia with questions, but for the most part they have been self-teaching straight from the texts. On Tuesday afternoons these five teens meet together in our home to do the module experiments and discuss the lesson content. This has been a boon to their science knowledge.
Alexa competed this year in LD debate with our local speech club, and as the topic of this year's debate resolution was very philosophical, she has been reading some heady stuff about the Greeks, pragmatism vs. idealism, etc.
Aaron also spends this time on physics and computer homework. On Wednesdays, after he goes to his computer training session, he also does our weekly grocery shopping for me, and stocks the family-owned snack machine at the YMCA for some income on the side.
While the children work, I am in the kitchen cleaning up, thinking about meals, answering emails, and fielding any phone calls or other interruptions. I consider my job, as gate-keeper of the home, is to ensure a good environment for learning. No music other than soft instrumental classical music is allowed during study time. Nor can they use headphones to listen to music. Talking, joking and singing is discouraged, unless they are directly helping each other with homework. Sometimes to blow off steam, I tell them to run around the house three times before continuing with school work. This can help break up the monotony.
12:30pm Lunch and Chores. The children again refer to the chore chart for their assigned chores: laundry, dishes, vacuuming, collecting and washing eggs, etc.
1:30pm School resumes. The children work independently again. Caleb does writing, mandolin practice, and reading. Alexa does apologetics writing, research and reading. She has been competing in apologetics with the speech club this year, and writes new "cards" to add to her file. I have compiled and refined an assigned K-12 reading list that is a combination of the Robinson Curriculum core reading and my own books in our personal library. Aaron and Alexa have finished reading most of the books on the list and have four more for the year. Caleb has been my most avid reader, and I have had to augment the list with more books appropriate to his reading level.
Alexa at age 15 is also a gifted blog writer, artist, illustrator, seamstress and photographer, as well as main cook in the family. She fills her time quite well, with little direction from me.
3:30 or 4:00pm School is over; I go to the YMCA for my water workout (three times a week) or run errands, and sometimes the kids go with me to swim, climb the wall, or run at the park. Alexa or I fix dinner. John comes home.
5:30-7:0pm Dinner, Devotions, Kitchen Cleanup. This is one of my favorite times of the day. We talk about the day's happenings, the news, and John reads from a devotional from R.C. Sproul's Table Talk. The boys do the dishes.
The rest of the evening may be spent at the computer, reading the paper, reading aloud to each other, playing a game, or what-have-you. Our Tuesday nights are for speech club, which the children love, and John usually coaches. Wednesday nights are date night for John and I, and we often go visit our grown children on that night. The rest of the week we try to be at home.
I love being home. I love our family life. I love what God has called me to do. We have our spats and conflicts, but we keep short accounts, ask forgiveness, and work through the messiness. Family life is GOOD!
So here is our typical school-day schedule:
5:00am John rises, showers, has coffee, personal devotions
6:00am John rousts the children out of bed for personal devotions
6:30am John and children read one chapter from the Bible round-robin aloud together; they discuss the content, he asks questions, shares his observations. Then one of the children is called on to lead in prayer, a different child for each day of the week. They agree in prayer for certain friends, church and family members, missionaries, government leaders, etc.
7:00am John leaves for work. The children find some breakfast for themselves, do grooming, and morning chores as indicated on weekly chore chart, posted in kitchen. I get up (I have to move slowly in the morning or I won't make it through the day), have personal devotions and breakfast, and ensure the children are getting their morning jobs done.
8:30am "School" starts. (Well, the academic part does. The chores are just as important for character- and life-skill training as the academics. )
The first hour of the school day is what I call the Recitation Hour. During this time we gather on the comfortable sofas of our living room, with a fire in the woodstove if necessary, and I give direct and interactive instruction to them all together. (Aaron, however, has started to work independently from us during this time. I think he would benefit if he was still with us for this hour, but he has asserted his independence on this point, and I have acquiesced. Because he is so responsible with scheduling his use of time, I felt I can afford to let him have his head as he attains to manhood.)
The Recitation Hour is roughly broken into three 20-minute periods for three subjects. I and each of the children have a two-ring file-card binder and a pencil in our hands during this time. The first period is spent on Bible memory work. I select verses from the scripture portions being studied at our church, or as the Spirit leads. We copy the verses on cards and keep them in the binder, to flip through and review as needed. Then we recite them together for a few weeks until they are well-memorized, adding new verses while rotating through old ones on occasion.
The second and third subjects I cover during the remainder of that time varies from month to month. Currently I am teaching them grammar and reading poetry. They are taking notes on the grammar in their card binder as well, and I review with them some of the basic definitions and concepts of grammar from those cards.
I currently use Warriner's Grammar, First Course. I keep it simple. I read aloud a page or two from the text book, help them take notes on their cards, and we orally work a few exercises together.
During the first half of the year we used this time for Spelling and Vocabulary. I used The Writing Road To Reading's Ayers' List to test each child, and they copied all their mispelled words into the card binder for future review. When I ran out of words from that list for the older child, I used the vocabulary words from our Robinson Curriculum. I have done this simultaneously with all the children, going around the room, one at a time giving them a word to spell orally, a la spelling bee. For some reason, the children have expressed enjoyment in learning spelling this way more than most anything else. Go figure!
I just administered a Basic Skills practice test (http://www.basicskills.net/) to Caleb and Alexa last week, and found that their spelling and vocabulary skills are excellent. What they are lagging in is mechanics (punctuation)--the part of Warriner's I haven't gotten to this year. So we are hitting punctuation hard for the next two months before they take the real test in May.
While we work on this, Aaron is usually working on his computer programming homework. Aaron is being apprenticed by a programmer-friend, who meets with him once a week in his home. The arrangement has been a great blessing.
9:30-12:30am Individualized school work.
With direct instruction done, we discuss what each child needs to accomplish for the rest of the day, and they write their tasks in their student planners. Then I set them loose to do what they need to do.
Caleb has been spending the remainder of the morning on: geography, math, and research.
For geography, we have used the National Geographic website http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ extensively as a resource for our study this year. He competed in our cooperative-academy's geography bee last January. It was a good motivator for both of us and found it very fun!
For math, Caleb is in Saxon Math 65. He can usually do the lessons on his own, and asks for help as necessary. He also researches for his writing assignments, which are geography-related, on the internet.
Alexa uses her morning for physics, debate, and math. I have been hosting a Physics study group with her and Aaron and three other homeschooled teens. They are preparing for the AP Physics test using Apologia Physics and Advanced Physics textbooks. On occasion they have emailed Apologia with questions, but for the most part they have been self-teaching straight from the texts. On Tuesday afternoons these five teens meet together in our home to do the module experiments and discuss the lesson content. This has been a boon to their science knowledge.
Alexa competed this year in LD debate with our local speech club, and as the topic of this year's debate resolution was very philosophical, she has been reading some heady stuff about the Greeks, pragmatism vs. idealism, etc.
Aaron also spends this time on physics and computer homework. On Wednesdays, after he goes to his computer training session, he also does our weekly grocery shopping for me, and stocks the family-owned snack machine at the YMCA for some income on the side.
While the children work, I am in the kitchen cleaning up, thinking about meals, answering emails, and fielding any phone calls or other interruptions. I consider my job, as gate-keeper of the home, is to ensure a good environment for learning. No music other than soft instrumental classical music is allowed during study time. Nor can they use headphones to listen to music. Talking, joking and singing is discouraged, unless they are directly helping each other with homework. Sometimes to blow off steam, I tell them to run around the house three times before continuing with school work. This can help break up the monotony.
12:30pm Lunch and Chores. The children again refer to the chore chart for their assigned chores: laundry, dishes, vacuuming, collecting and washing eggs, etc.
1:30pm School resumes. The children work independently again. Caleb does writing, mandolin practice, and reading. Alexa does apologetics writing, research and reading. She has been competing in apologetics with the speech club this year, and writes new "cards" to add to her file. I have compiled and refined an assigned K-12 reading list that is a combination of the Robinson Curriculum core reading and my own books in our personal library. Aaron and Alexa have finished reading most of the books on the list and have four more for the year. Caleb has been my most avid reader, and I have had to augment the list with more books appropriate to his reading level.
Alexa at age 15 is also a gifted blog writer, artist, illustrator, seamstress and photographer, as well as main cook in the family. She fills her time quite well, with little direction from me.
3:30 or 4:00pm School is over; I go to the YMCA for my water workout (three times a week) or run errands, and sometimes the kids go with me to swim, climb the wall, or run at the park. Alexa or I fix dinner. John comes home.
5:30-7:0pm Dinner, Devotions, Kitchen Cleanup. This is one of my favorite times of the day. We talk about the day's happenings, the news, and John reads from a devotional from R.C. Sproul's Table Talk. The boys do the dishes.
The rest of the evening may be spent at the computer, reading the paper, reading aloud to each other, playing a game, or what-have-you. Our Tuesday nights are for speech club, which the children love, and John usually coaches. Wednesday nights are date night for John and I, and we often go visit our grown children on that night. The rest of the week we try to be at home.
I love being home. I love our family life. I love what God has called me to do. We have our spats and conflicts, but we keep short accounts, ask forgiveness, and work through the messiness. Family life is GOOD!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Sleadd family year-end newsletter
I have been pondering and treasuring many things in my heart today. We have kept a 25-year Christmas scrapbook since John and I married, and this year we are filling the last page with our newsletter and memories. Naomi shares an interest in scrapbooking and memory-keeping, as she sells Creative Memories products. She and I scrapbooked together, and I loved that time. So much has happened these 25 years. How can life be so full? How can my heart hold so much?
MARRIAGE AND CHURCH
Far and away the main event in the Sleadd household this year was Nathan’s courtship, engagement and marriage on October 25th to Colleen McMurray. Colleen and her parents Robin and Brad, and my buddy Carla Deems directed a wedding to beat all weddings. God provided many favors, and Christ was glorified at every turn. Alexa was a bridesmaid; Aaron was a groomsman, and Caleb a lantern-bearer. Nathan and Colleen, both 19, came home from their two-week honeymoon in Leavenworth, WA with the news that they were pregnant. Their honeymoon baby is due July 22nd.
The church is a central feature of our lives. Coram Deo Church www.coramdeogp.org has some of our sweetest friends. John is pastoring the church for his second year part-time while teaching fulltime at Highland Elementary. He preaches twice a month and the children join him to lead worship once a month. There is much participation in each service by the young people, and easily 40% of our church is composed of teenagers. We have moved to a better location with an awesome kitchen, and our weekly shared meals are a high point in our social life. We anticipate a name change to Household of Faith Community Church, www.hofgp.org, as we affiliate with the consociation by the same name (www.hofcc.org). Alexa says, “I love our church!”
MORE HIGHLIGHTS OF 2008
• Naomi, Colleen, Alexa and I hosted a Thanksgiving celebration for 25 people in our home. You can see more pictures on Alexa’s Facebook page. The girls brought their china, I got out my silver, and Alexa decorated the tables fabulously. We dressed up as Pilgrims and Indians; each person shared what they were thankful for; we played a Pilgrim Trivia game, ate turkey, made pumpkin ice cream, staged a paper boat race and played a hootin’ good game of Guesstures.
• Nathan and Colleen were blessed to secure a guest-house apartment from our friends Bryan and Lori Scott. Several work parties were organized to remodel the interior of the apartment, (see also Alexa’s blog, mylifecompiled.blogspot.com).
• Naomi and Nathanael announced their expectancy of #2 the same weekend as Nathan’s engagement, right after July 4th. Naomi is due in March. They sold their trailer home a week before Christmas in spite of economic turbulence. PTL!
• Aaron received the Iron Man Award at regional speech competition last spring, having placed and qualified in six speech events plus LD debate. He and Alexa took two first places with their duo interpretive The Elephant’s Child . They qualified for Regionals but were one place short of qualifying for Nationals. This year Alexa is the only Sleadd competing, in LD debate, impromptu, and apologetics. I count 32 medals and four trophies accumulating in our study (okay, I’m bragging!).
• Aaron has been spending his Wednesdays at our friend Stephen Hewitt’s home learning about HTML, web design, and other computer stuff. Aaron aspires to be a computer programmer. He will be graduating from high school this spring. He has also taken over the snack-machine business from Nathan, with a new machine I helped him buy for the YMCA location.
• John launched Covered Bridge Academy, a home school cooperative, last fall. Seven classes were offered; John taught beginning speech, and I taught writing. I am also facilitating an AP Physics class which Aaron and Alexa are taking. The Academy has received a scholarship for the start of our Family Choir, which has four families presently and is directed by Ron Strom.
• Caleb joined Aaron in the egg production business this spring with 20 new chicks. Recall our story last year of the slaughtering raccoons? Well, this spring all but two chicks were killed, perhaps by a skunk, in one night. This year we were not so charmed by the cute critters. Nathanael lent us a live trap, and we dispatched two skunks and one raccoon. The boys bought another 18 chicks and they are now grown and laying brown eggs like crazy, even in sub-freezing temperatures. You can buy some from them for $3 a dozen.
• In October I began antiviral treatment for HHV-6 and EBV. These viruses are among those suspected to cause chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. I am hoping that this will finally be the answer to curing my 17-year illness.
• My parents have had serious health issues this year. Dad has been on the edge of eternity several times. His foot was amputated this month and is spending Christmas in a nursing home. My mother battled breast cancer for the second time while trying to care for my dad. I am frustrated by my own health keeping me from being more helpful and leaving the work to my sister Julia, bless her heart. Tomorrow we will attempt to brave the snow over the pass and visit them.
• John and I hit the big 5-0 this year. I planned a surprise birthday party for him, and he really was surprised. He thought it was just another pool party at the Scotts’.
• For our 24th anniversary in August we spent time at Lake of the Woods. The weather was perfect, while back home it was baking. There were millions of butterflies throughout the camp. How romantic. We love being married. This year we re-instituted a weekly marriage-date-night, and I recommend it for anyone. For our 25th we have reservations to go to Kauai Island, Hawaii. It will be John’s first time to visit the islands. I hope and pray that my treatment will cure me by then, or I will be well enough to make the trip.
• After building a business from the ground up for four years, Nathan put up a new website last spring for ziplinegear.com and sales took off running. When business boogies, he hires helpers among friends and siblings. With no debt to pay, he is making enough to support his new family; not bad for a 19-year-old.
In Christ’s Love,
Arden for the Sleadds
Thoughts from John
Life is a workshop, and we are all works in progress. I say this because I have been spending long, blissful hours in my garage during Christmas vacation building cabinets for Alexa. Her craft clutter had begun to spread like a flood, offering the perfect excuse for me to buy a new table saw and launch into a woodworking project. I picked up a new belt sander, shop vac and quick-grip clamps, too. O the joys of ripping, chopping, routing, clamping and sanding. A man is in his element when he dances to the buzz and whir of spinning blades. Now that I’ve finished the cabinets, allow me to wax reflective on the passing year.
Last January I got ordained as pastor by Bear Creek Church in Medford, Oregon. I’m still waiting for the pastor police to show up some Sunday morning and cart me off for impersonating a real reverend. I can’t claim to really know what I’m doing, but whatever it is, I love it and I can’t help but do more of it. I get to study and talk about the best Book ever written, and try to live out what it says with fellow fans of the sovereign, triune Author. Last year I preached 30 sermons. This means that the talented men of God with whom I share the pulpit got to preach the other 22. I’m really just a cheerleader for Christ and a recruiter for kingdom servants. I enjoy watching others excel at teaching and I hope to expand our church’s preaching and leadership team in 2009.
For fair weather frolics the kids and I enjoyed camping with the Holst family at Silver Falls, and we joined the Bear Creek Church campers at Howard Prairie Lake. We tried to squeeze in a cool backpacking trip before school resumed, but it got cancelled due to smoky forest fires.
For a good portion of 2008 I duked it out with chronic shoulder pain until pouring concrete sidewalks by our pool cured me. Right now things are in relatively good working order as long as I don’t break dance, do acrobatics or jujitsu with my fifty-year-old bod.
In September I wrapped up my one-year leave of absence from teaching and reported for duty at Highland Elementary School, where I now teach fourth grade. Being a bi-vocational pastor can be a challenge, but I enjoy the fruitful labor of working with young minds and a great staff. The high percentage of students who live in broken homes is a strong reminder of the urgent need for family restoration in the American divorce culture.
With graying beard and ever-present reading glasses, I am looking more and more the part of a grandpa. I’m thrilled to cackle and burble with my grandson, Boone, at every opportunity. Now that two of my wee tikes have grown up into parents, I’m reminded how fun it was/is to be a dad. “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!” (Psalm 127:3-4).
May God’s abundant blessings draw you to Himself. -John
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Thanksgiving at our House
Mommy's got a baby in there! Awwww...
Our friends the Emmons Sisters and two Deems kids...aka friendly Indian warriors.
Airsoft target practice is serious business for Creighton Deems aka Pilgrim, er, maybe Myles Standish?
And the Deems family in their garb. Mark is the one pretending to be Pilgrim Barney.
We all look rather un-authentic, but Alexa comes closest with her newly-acquired braces :).
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