Bless our School

Bless our school, Dear Lord, I pray

And close within it always stay.

Guide us by your Precious Hand

Grant us Truth to understand.

Teach this teacher, make her wise

Give her focused, Spiritual eyes.

And please remind her now and then

That “less than perfect” isn’t sin.

In every lesson of this school

May kindness be the teaching tool.

And when frustration starts to trickle

Reach and give our ribs a tickle!

Bless these students, Lord, I ask

Be their Partner in each task.

Create an appetite for learning

And for knowledge, keep them yearning.

Bless the dad whose hands provide

The tools we need and the place we abide.

Help us remember and never forget

The example of sacrifice he has set.

So much to learn, so much to teach

Bless our school, Lord, bless us each.

I know someday we’ll learn Up There

But for today, Lord, hear my prayer.

By Gwen S@2014

The Legend of the First Robin

This story is an opportunity to teach children about the lessons found in legends. First, study what a legend is an discuss why they are an effective means of learning. Then, enjoy the story below.

One day, long ago, a little bird in Galilee saw a large crowd gathered around a Man carrying a heavy wooden cross. On the Man's head was a crown made from a thorn branch. The thorns were long a sharp. The little bird saw that the thorns were hurting the Man. It wanted to help Him, so it flew down and took the longest, sharpest thorn in its tine beak. The bird tugged and pulled until the thorn snapped from the branch. Then a strange thing happened. A drop of blood fell onto the bird's breast, staining it bright red. The stain never went away. And so today the robin proudly wears a red breast, because it helped a Man named Jesus...

Author unknown

The Crayon Apron

Did you ever have a crayon apron? They were popular in the 60's as a sweet apron for children. My mother made one for me and one for my sister. I remember how special we felt wearing our very utilitarian, yet very pretty aprons. There was a narrow pocket for each crayon in our coloring set. A larger pocket could hold a notepad, scissors, a roll of Scotch tape, or some paste for gluing. Sister and I would fill our pockets and then spend hours creating art projects or pretending we were teachers in a school. The pretending must have influenced our future choices, as sister and I both grew up to become classroom teachers. The apron shown in these pictures are not of our aprons, but rather of a vintage one I purchased recently. Mom made ours out of a tiny floral print. If there was any embellishment, it would have been embroidery or something done in fabric paints. I was excited, though, to find this vintage children's apron. It's exactly the same pattern as the one Mother made for me, just in different fabrics. This was truly an apron that inspired the imagination! Perfect for your homeschool!

Encouragement & Child Behavior

"Encouragement is more important than any other aspect of child rearing. It is so important that the lack of it can be considered the basic cause for misbehavior. A misbehaving child is a discouraged child. Each child needs continuous encouragement, just as a plant needs water. He cannot grow and develop and gain a sense of belonging without encouragement."

Rudolf Dreikurs, child psychiatrist

A Child's Contact with Nature

Edith Schaeffer has always been one of my favorite authors. Recently I discovered that her gift for writing was passed along to her daughter, Susan. In her book For the Children's Sake she reminds us to give our children many opportunities to spend time in nature. And I love how she says it!

"Although we should give a child access to varied creative work by other people, how about seeing that he grows up with as much daily access as possible to his Lord's created works? The Bible is a direct verbal word. But we have a place also for other ways of knowing Him, for "the heavens declare the glory of God."

"Do the children know the feel of dew-fresh grass on their bare feet, and lush freshness of the shade of a leafy tree on a hot afternoon? Do they know the fun of autumn leaves, and the fairy-tale beauty of an icy morning? Wherever the child lives in the world, we should consider his contact with nature as part of his life."

Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, For the Children's Sake
page 85

String Theory

I have always appreciated Dr. Kay Kuzma's string theory for promoting obedience and good behavior in children. Here it is:

"Children are like strings; they tend to resist when they feel pushed or forced into doing something. Once they start to resist, the tendency of most parents it to push them all the more, to threaten, to manipulate, to force, and to punish. And the consequence is, the more you push, the more powerless the child feels, and therefore more rebellious."

"There may be times you think pushing or forcing a child results in compliance. But in too many cases it's like the little boy whose dad told him to sit down in church. When the boy kept jumping up, his dad physically pushed the kid into his seat with the command 'I said to sit down!' The little boy sat there, but a few minutes later he could be heart muttering, 'I may be sitting on the outside, but I'm standing on the inside!'"

"Outward compliance accomplished by force doesn't necessarily mean inner compliance, and sooner or later inner defiance causes outward defiance!"

"The key to diminishing a child's stubborn resistance is to remember just how much children and strings are alike. If you push them in the direction you want them to go, they won't do it."

Kay Kuzma, Easy Obedience
page 50

Give it a try! Use the string strategy and don't push. Pull them along by encouraging words instead!

Consistency

"Children are unpredictable. You never know what inconsistency they're going to catch you in next."

Franklin P. Jones

Fostering Independence

"The fastest road to furthering independence in your children is total attention to the needs of your children in their dependent years."

Herbert Ratner