Thanks for stopping by to visit! Feel free to browse around to your heart's content. My hope is to inspire you, to encourage you, and to instill a bit of sunshine into your day. I do hope
Ever since I was a teenager, I can remember hearing Focus on the Family’s program Adventures in Odyssey on our local radio station. Even though we were far away from the broadcasting station and couldn’t always listen, we certainly took advantage of the times when reception was clear. I am so excited to share Adventures in Odyssey with my own kids, and to think that now they have CDs, DVDs, and other resources available.
We received Adventures in Odyssey- Take it From the Top for review from Tyndale. With over 5 hours of audio full of different stories, as well as bonus material, this CD set is definitely worth listening to over and over again. We usually listen to audiobooks and CDs in the car on our trips out for errands and things, and this was a set that not only entertained my boys but also taught them valuable lessons. Here is a listing of the tracks/stories, as well as values they taught, on this set:
The Inspiration Station (Inspiration)
Clutter (Storing Up Treasures in Heaven)
Game for a Mystery (Procrastination)
Target of the Week (The Folly of Revenge)
For the Birds (Responsibility)
When You’re Right, You’re Right (Pride)
Grandma’s Visit (The Importance of Family)
Finish What You… (Responsibility)
The Jubilee Singers (Perseverance)
I think that one story that resonated with our family was the Clutter story. The Parker family had to part with different “treasures” that had honestly become a source of clutter and frustration, as they were having a yard sale. Our family sometimes struggles with clutter, as well, especially when it comes to those “treasures” we all seem to put on the shelf and never take down for months at a time. Is this clutter really true “treasure,” though?
Sometimes the boys and I just need to laugh and giggle and just plain be silly, and this was one of those days. I was trying to teach Jacob how to have a staring contest, but instead it turned into a hooplah of laughter.:) Happy Friday!
Yeah, that got me fired up too, even though I’m a homeschool mom. I’m signed up for a local homeschool group’s Yahoo group here in Missouri, and I read that on one of the messages that came through. The person actually had it on their signature that goes out with every message. I was not impressed. What are your thoughts when you read that phrase?
See, we are a homeschool family, and sure, we hold certain values and beliefs that influenced our decision definitely….but never that public school is even remotely close to child abuse. For Dan and I, we believe that decisions regarding schooling your own children are just that….your decisions. Every family has to make that personal decision for themselves, and they shouldn’t have to worry about being judged for whatever decision they end up with. We chose homeschool because, for one thing, it gave us more time with our boys to give them more of a foundation here at home. We are able to insert our values and beliefs into the curriculum that we use, so that they can hopefully form a strong foundation. Another reason was that the school district that we lived in at that time was not the best; a lot of the kids that came out of that school ended up not being able to read (Jacob was already struggling with reading enough as it was), and there was just such a huge drug problem. We were afraid that the quality of his education wouldn’t be what we could give him at home. We didn’t want his already growing problems with reading to become a factor. (Now he reads anything in sight.)
Are our kids perfect, and are we perfect for homeschooling? Absolutely NOT! We made the personal choice as a family, and noone, NOONE, has the right to judge our decision. Just as noone has the right to judge our decision if someday Jacob ends up wanting to attend public school, and we feel that it’s a good move.
I do not agree with the phrase above, and honestly, I get so tired of the negative flak that opinions like that give the homeschooling community. We are not all judgmental, know it all people. I’m not trying to be rude here, but as Jesus pointed out, when we see the speck in our brother’s eye, maybe we should also look to see the beam that is in our own (Matthew 7:3).
Am I proud to be a homeschool mom? You betcha! Do I judge you for sending your kids to school? Absolutely not!
and to think that now they have CDs, DVDs, and other resources available.
