Changed By Love

I thought I would do a post about what we’re doing in our homeschooling, since it has been a long time since I wrote about it.

We have been reading a Lamplighter book, which happens to be called The Lamplighter. It is about a girl who learns about the real meaning of love from the people the Lord puts in her life. She learns how to have self-control and how to be a giving, caring person after a rough start with a woman who neglected her and told her she was ugly and that nobody would ever love her. God rescued her out of that situation and put her among some kind, loving people who taught her how to be selfless and a blessing to the people around her. There are some surprising twists in the story. She is a believable heroine who is not too perfect to be true, but she does become a very heroic, admirable person.

My kids really enjoy these didactic stories from another era. They get caught up in the story and feel the injustices, the disappointments, and the hopes of the characters as we move through their story. They appreciate the wholesome, pure lessons that are taught and the triumph of good over evil, even though the good are often mistreated and persecuted at first. They apply the lessons to real-life situations and often comment on how something that happens to us is just like a certain story that we read and how that character handled the injustice and was rewarded in the end for displaying good character and integrity. They learn godly principles from these books, and they recognize the basic decency and rightness of these principles.

I have also read The Basket of Flowers and The Hedge of Thorns by Lamplighter. I plan to get more, but they are rather pricey, so I can only afford them from time to time.

I’m also reading a book aloud to the oldest six kids called Longshot by Mark Ammerman. It is about a trailblazer who is hired to scout out the region along the Ohio River during the 1750’s. Many interesting subjects are covered in this book, including the issue of what happened to the Native Americans after the English took their land.

We have covered the time right before it, the time of King Philip’s War and John Eliot preaching to the Indians, converting many of them who became the Praying Indians through reading a book called Rehoboth. Now we’re covering the time period about ten years after the Great Awakening, which caused changes in many lives, Indian and European alike. I like the way the author approaches many important issues. He examines all sides of the issue of how the Native Americans were treated but keeps it light enough that the story is not depressing.

He gives us a glimpse into what the region around the Ohio River was like before it was settled and what the politics were like at the time. The Native Americans often had to choose between the French and the English, and their choices had a profound impact on the future of their tribes. Of course, in the end, they were left with no choice at all.

We have been catching up on our Bible reading. I got out of the habit of reading the Daily Bible when I found out we were leaving in a week and we needed to finish packing and get out of town! So now we’re reading the New Testament. It took almost the whole year to read the Old Testament. We didn’t even get to the New Testament until November. Then I had to stop. The last day I read was November 22. I didn’t think to take it with us in my travel bag, so we didn’t have it in the hotel.

I took it out after we got moved into our house and started reading at November 23. We’ve been reading the exciting stories about Paul and his missionary journeys. Since I don’t have to read the amount that is assigned for each day, I’m reading less each day, but I think we’re able to absorb more. But I have enjoyed reading through the whole Bible chronologically as a seamless story all together. It helped me to put some things together that I never understood before. Especially when it comes to connecting things that happened in the Old Testament with things that happened in the New.

We watched a video today called Finger of God. It was a documentary about the miracles and signs and wonders that God is doing around the world today. It was very inspiring. We are ready to see those signs and wonders in our lives. But we know that God is shaping and molding us to be able to handle the responsibility and everything else that comes with the gifts of God.

With the twins, I had been reading a book called The Ark, the Reed and the Fire Cloud before we left, but the book belonged to my wonderful neighbor, Tina, and I had to give it back before we moved. It’s about Noah’s Ark from the animals’ perspective. The main characters are a little Scottish Terrier named Max and a black cat named Liz. The Bible story is followed and elaborated upon, but there are also geographic facts and scientific concepts explained and other topics covered in this book. It’s a very interesting book, and I’m excited that I was able to order it for myself, so that I can start in where we left off and read it to the twins again.

We have read from Ann Voskamp’s A Child’s Geography, and I ordered a book for the twins that she recommended. It’s called The Work of His Hands by Jeffrey N. Williams. It is full of pictures of Earth taken from the International Space Station and commentary by the author, a Christian astronaut.

We had a fun mail day today. These two books came today. Several things that Shawn ordered for Christmas and some things that Morgan ordered all came today. The DVD we watched, Finger of God and its “sequel” Furious Love came today also. So we’re seeing more signs that Christmas is coming.

We’re continuing on with Math and Handwriting and Copywork. And constantly learning what the Lord wants to teach us each day through the leading of the Holy Spirit.