College admissions tests are changing. Yes, the College Board is drafting a new SAT test, and the ACT is also being revised. Some say this is good; others think the tests are being “dumbed down”. Regardless of your view, change is coming.
For the past 22 years, I have been involved in the education process of children – mainly as the result of needing to know how to properly teach my five children with what was required to do so.
Over the years I’ve met with governors, lawmakers, and school board representatives in order to keep bureaucracy from placing undue regulations on parents who choose to educate their children. I frequently attend education forums as a homeschooling authority and/or liaison to share the needs of the community, as well as to learn what may be coming down the pipeline.
Recently I met one of the writers of the new SAT in an effort to get to the truth behind the rumors that have been circulating. What will be different with this test in the future?
Are you ready for convention? The saying, “A stitch in time saves nine” couldn’t be truer when it comes to preparing for your weekend. There is simply so much going on that if you aren’t careful you will blow the family budget, miss important presentations that you needed to hear, or find yourself lost in a sea of other confused moms.
Take it from me, with a little pre-planning you will feel less overwhelmed once you arrive at the conference. (more…)
Are you building your family on a solid foundation? Do you and your children know and agree on the core values your family holds? These are some of the basic building blocks of a family that can be achieved wherever you are, whether you are starting your parenting journey or if you are in the home stretch raising teenagers.
Setting core values is a full family event – you cannot set them and let your family know what they are – you all have to develop and cultivate them. Think first about the values and character your family wants to reflect. What’s important to you? How would you like others to view your family?
Some of the core values we’ve established in my family are:
Love one another
Treat each other with courtesy and consideration
Take care of each other
Treat others with respect, patience, kindness, and goodness
There are a number of ways your family can model your values once they are established, and you can help keep them consistent. For instance, if you had the values above and your kids are bickering over a toy or a particular TV channel, you can remind them that one of your family’s core values is to love one another, and help them find their way back to that. If someone is under the weather, you can tuck that family member into bed with a blanket and a cup of tea because one of your family’s core values is to take care of each other.
In the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and a new year, it is easy to get caught up in the stress and anxiety of creating those perfect memories for your family. Kids are overtired, everyone is home together more often, extended family sometimes comes to stay, schedules are different, and the stress of it all sometimes has mom exhausted!
If there’s one key idea I’ve learned during my parenting journey, it’s that we should not react in anger to situations that come up with our children. Too often we do react in anger, and we hurt our children with our words. The best advice I can give is to s-l-o-w- down and take some time to really listen to your children. God’s word clearly says to be quick to hear and slow to speak (James 1:19). So make sure you take the time to truly hear what your children are saying. This must be done intentionally. That’s right – you must put the iPhone down, disconnect from that tablet, look up from your stack of post-holiday bills and really focus on your child, face-to-face. (more…)
Sitting on my back porch, while I enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the lake, brought a deep sense of satisfaction as I completed my “last first day” of homeschooling. As I observed this sunset I reflected on my day: a journey that I reluctantly agreed to has quickly come to an end. I thought through all the first day stresses that I have worked through for twenty years. “How will we get it all done? What gaps do I still need to address in the few weeks I have left? How do I finish this race well? Will my child be equipped for the next season of life? How did twenty years go by so fast?” (more…)
