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Encourage Gratitude in Your Children – Safe Haven Newsletter

 

Hi Safe Haven Homeschoolers!

I wanted to share a resource with you that I created to help you find books that focus on the real meaning of Thanksgiving and inspire gratitude.

I have included a list of:

  • picture books
  • books for older kids
  • history books
  • books about gratitude
  • videos about Thanksgiving

But that’s not all!

There are also resources for the Historical Roots of Thanksgiving, Poetry Tea Time, Unit Studies, Notebooking, Lapbooks, Gratitude Journals, and more!

You can find it all at this blog post.

If you want just the list of Books about Gratitude, you can find it HERE.

And here’s one more chance to get the FREEBIE Fun Ways to Homeschool Through the Holidays in November!

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and are able to focus on the people and things that you are thankful for.

Do you have favorite books that you read for Thanksgiving time? Hit reply and tell me which ones. And if you read any of the books or try any of the ideas from my list, let me know what you thought of them!

Gratefully yours,

Penney Douglas, B. S. in Elem. Ed.
Safe Haven Homeschooling

E-course The Basics of Learning and Homeschooling by Penney Douglas and Shawn Douglas

Safe Haven Homeschool Coaching

linktr.ee/penneydouglas

Changed By Love blog – My original blog about homeschool, family, freedom and faith

Safe Haven Homeschool Books and Curriculum

Safe Haven Homeschool Shop – T-shirts, mugs, bags, decals with pithy homeschool sayings

It’s Fall But It’s Time to Rise – Safe Haven Newsletter

Hello Safe Haven Family!

Well, Fall is starting to show its glory here in southwestern Ohio. I have deep appreciation for the changing of the seasons since I lived in Texas for 10 years. I get a thrill when I see a patch of leaves touched with Fall color, making the tree look like it was specially decorated for the season. And the cooler temperatures make the days pleasant for walks in the park or whatever outdoor activity beckons.

Are you seeing signs of Fall where you are?

We can look at the changing seasons and see the cycles that God has put in place. Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring each have their purpose in the natural world. We also have seasons in our lives. And God uses the season that we are in to shape us and build in us the character and strength that we need as we are being conformed to His image.

The season of Fall can signify many things for us. As the leaves fall from the trees, we are reminded that we need to release the things that we don’t need any more. Some of the things we have held onto to protect us have become more of a hindrance than a help.

Many things that seemed wholesome and righteous are falling all around us. Are we going to fall with them? Or are we going to rise to a higher standard, a higher awareness of what is really going on, a higher calling to right the wrongs in our world?

Many of the things that are falling apart need to be done away with. If you haven’t seen “The Fall of the Cabal”, a multi-part series about what has really been happening in the world behind the scenes, make sure to watch it.

Another great video to watch is called “The Greatest Show on Earth”. In it Nick Alvear shows us how all of these things are working together for our good. And things are not just randomly falling apart the way it seems.

As we watch the old system fall, it is our turn to rise and shine.

We are coming into a time where we will be able to dream and make our dreams come true.

So for us homeschoolers and parents, let’s unleash our kids’ creativity. Let’s not limit them by our expectations of the way the world works or the world’s definition of success. Things are going to change, and the old ways are passing away.

Not every person needs to go to college to be a success. The “good” careers are being replaced or revamped in such a way that the whole system may be turned upside down. Education systems, business systems, legal systems, government systems, the medical establishment, and the economy appear to be going through a shake-up. The seasons are changing for the whole world!

Let’s encourage our children to follow their dreams. Let’s encourage them to hone their skills and talents even if their talents are not the ones that are typically the big money-makers. In the new digital economy, they are more likely to find ways to make money from more artistic and creative endeavors. Help your kids to make a career doing what they love to do. Encourage them to use their right brain!

Watch this video to see how Karla Marie Williams, author of Homeschool Gone Wild, does this with her children.

Video by Karla Marie Marie Williams – Launching Kids into the World Doing What They Love

Here is a great prayer to pray for our creatives:


This came from AXLCreativeco.com

And here is a great picture book to teach your children that we are all smart in different ways. And we are all smart cookies!

The Smart Cookie by Jory John

For more books that will help your child pursue spiritual things and will also help you to understand the things of the kingdom look for Gateways, DNA and Jacob’s Ladder and other books by Lindi Masters.

Here is a free pdf of all kinds of activities that make homeschooling fun during October.

 Fun Ways to Homeschool Through the Holidays – October

If you have a third grader I have a wonderful Third Grade Workbook available on Teachers Pay Teachers for $5. It covers multiple subjects – Grammar, Reading Comprehension, Math, etc. It’s called Third Grade All-in-One Workbook.

If you are reading The Green Ember by S. D. Smith or plan to read it, I have copywork and narration journals for it on TPT, too.
In the copywork journal, the selections are chosen for their advanced vocabulary, figurative language, and important parts of the story. If your child reads all of the copywork selections, they will get a review of the main parts of the story.
The narration journal was designed to make narration more interesting and to give your kids one place to store all of their written narrations.  There are prompts to help your child think more deeply about the story.

Thanks for reading! I hope you have a fantastic fall and a spectacular school year!

Love,

Penney Douglas, B. S. in Elem. Ed.
Safe Haven Homeschooling

linktr.ee/penneydouglas

P.S. If you need any help with beginning homeschooling or finishing up or anything in between, let me know.

Here are some of the people I have helped in the past and what they have to say.

Let’s Unite – September Newsletter

Hi Safe Haven Family!

We are coming into September with some threatening clouds of “covid restrictions” hanging over our heads. What a coincidence as we go into an election cycle again, and a certain group of people feel the need to “fortify” an election through mail-in ballots (thousands of them with questionable addresses and signatures!)

I see that at least one Atlanta college is already requiring masks and other things.

And at least one school district in Kentucky is closing in-person classes and moving to online classes.

Let’s unite and stand together and not comply with the powers-that-be when they try to control and manipulate the whole world. They are stealing our freedom little by little.

There are more of us than there are of them. If we all stand up and refuse to comply, they can’t arrest all of us!

This isn’t about a virus. It’s about stealing an election and seeing how far they can go, how much control we will let them have.

One man is standing in their way. So they indicted President Trump a 4th time. That means they did this:

  1. To accuse of wrongdoing or criticize severely. From The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

That’s the definition of indict.

It’s just an accusation and criticism.

President Trump doesn’t seem to be bothered by it. The more they “trump-up” charges against him, the more popular he becomes and the stronger he is in the polls.

Fire, Fire Everywhere

Let’s talk about the “wildfires” of Maui. If you haven’t noticed, I use quotation marks when I don’t believe things are as they say they are.

They were not caused by “climate change”. 

I have seen way too many videos showing cars that are melted while the trees around them are untouched. I’ve seen eyewitnesses telling about how the police blocked the way for all of the people in cars that tried to evacuate by Front Street where they were told to go. They were lined up there with no way to escape because the police were blocking the way. I’m sure the police were “just following orders”.

The fires were probably started deliberately by directed energy weapons or by helicopters shooting fire.

There are so many questionable things about the Maui incident:

  • Space Force has a base there.
  • Oprah has a compound there.
  • Hawaii governor is looking to “acquire land” that was destroyed.
  • Media Free Zone around Maui
  • No aid allowed to get in to the people
  • The children were let out of school while parents were still at work
  • The alarm system didn’t work
  • Fire hydrants were dry
  • The power lines were shut off – the ones that supposedly started all the fires
  • Things that were blue were unaffected by the fires. Celebrities roofs were painted blue.
  • There has been talk of turning Maui into a smart island
  • Over 2000 children are missing from the Maui schools in the fire zone.

There were also out-of-control “wildfires” in Argentina; Naxos, Greece; West Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada; and all over Canada; Washington state; Louisiana; Montana; and all over the world. This is not caused by climate change.

This is how they are causing climate change:

It involves lots of complex underground machinery stationed all over the world, satellites, thousands of Chemtrail dispersing planes and lots of fire shooting helicopters.

How many coincidences before it’s mathematically impossible.

This is all happening for a reason. We as a society are being put through the fire. We are being refined by fire.

In 2020 I wrote a book about our Journey of Fire called Refined By Fire. I wrote about a period of my life when everything went wrong. It was frightening and confusing, but God was with me through the whole ordeal. He used it to change me and galvanize my faith. I would never wish it on anybody, but I’m glad I went through it. I’m glad it’s over, too!

Currently I’m in the middle of another journey of fire, but this time I’m more aware of what’s happening. I have hope, and that is holding the door open until my faith becomes sight.

One of my favorite teachers has been talking about the baptism of fireWanda Alger has been learning, like I did, that we have to go through a baptism of fire if we want all that God has for us. Here’s what she says:

YOUR WORDS ARE MEANT TO CARRY FIRE! 

Knowledge of the enemy’s plans without the power to defeat him is useless. God is looking for a people who not only know the truth about the devil’s schemes but carry the fire of God to burn up his plans! This can only come when we each embrace the purifying fire in our own lives. We do not carry the fire until we go through it.

The fires God sends are to purify our hearts and sanctify our cause. The enemy seeks to pull us into fires of his own making, but they only serve to destroy our faith and weaken our call. Know the difference!

The Lord has been leading His people through testing fires in order to purify and prove the worth of our words. Is He God or is He not? Is He faithful to keep His promise or is He not? Is His goodness and power stronger than the fires of affliction, able to OVERTURN THE DEATH SENTENCE THE ENEMY HAS WAGED AGAINST US? These claims must surely be tested, for our declarations are meant to carry the weight of heaven with fire.

“They have lied about the LORD; they said, ‘He will do nothing! No harm will come to us; we will never see sword or famine. The prophets are but wind and the word is not in them; so let what they say be done to them.’ Therefore this is what the LORD God Almighty says: ‘Because the people have spoken these words, I will make my words in your mouth a fire and these people the wood it consumes.’” (Jeremiah 5:12-14 ESV)

Faith is being sharpened and strengthened in those who have determined to pass through the flames undeterred. The enemy would have you fear his fires and back away from the challenge. But the Lord is calling us to GO THROUGH!

“Pass through! Pass through the fires that are purifying your hearts and perfecting your declarations! Do not acquiesce to the pressure and do not conform to your adversaries. My consuming fire begins in the hearts of those who trust in My absolute rule in the affairs of men and My absolute authority over the devil’s work. YOU ARE MY VESSELS OF RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT AGAINST THE ENEMY’S TORMENT! But it is only with fire from the altar of surrender that My authority can work through you.”

“Truth can set you free, but My fire within will annihilate your enemies! Do not yield to the fires of your foes or the fears of your flesh. That which is eternal and lasting will come through the flames as gold and burnished bronze. Those who pass through My fire will become unyielding to My enemies and fearless in the fray. Their pursuit will be holy and their words will burn with fury from My throne.”
https://wandaalger.me/2023/08/23/your-words-are-meant-to-carry-fire/
Isaiah 43:1,2

But now thus says the Lord,

he who created you, O Jacob,

he who formed you, O Israel:

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name, you are mine.

2  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

and the flame shall not consume you.

I have a channel on Telegram called “Shalom in Our Home” that is filled with posts about what is happening with our children.

https://t.me/+WutPN8F36URkMTEx  – My “Shalom in our Home” channel on Telegram

I also have a channel called “Died Suddenly” with posts about athletes and other young people and healthy people who have died suddenly since the v a x  rolled out.

https://t.me/+hTu6yPGZj_EyZmIx – My “Died Suddenly” Telegram channel

I thought this verse was very appropriate for the times we’re living in:

“But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

(1 Peter 4: 7-11)

~~~~~~~ Homeschool Corner~~~~~~~

Have you ever thought about the learning process?

John Holt has thought about it a lot. He said, “Learning is not the product of teaching. Learning is the product of the activity of learners.”

There is a difference between teaching and learning. We can lead our kids to knowledge, but we can’t make them think. That is up to them.

Self-education is really all there is. So in your homeschool, make sure that you are giving your children plenty of time to think. You may ask questions to encourage further thinking.
But give them time to think deeply about the answers to those questions.

This is a missing element in the school-style of education. The students are given all of the information that the teacher wants them to spew forth on the exam, but real learning doesn’t occur, because the time to reflect, process, and meditate is not given to the students. That process is not even addressed or encouraged in most classrooms. Students are told that they have to memorize certain facts that will be covered on the test, and then they are evaluated on how well they memorized all of those facts.

I wrote a blog post about self-education HERE.

But we can make knowledge more attractive and easily accessible by the way we set up our home and provide learning materials that are easy for them to get to.

Speaking of making it easy for our kids to learn, what about Math?

If you are struggling with finding a curriculum that you like for Math, join the club! I have tried many different curricula for Math. With the little ones, I liked to use lots of manipulatives and used real life reasons for using math.

The ones that seemed to work best for us were CTC Math and Teaching Textbooks. We are about to try Learn Math Fast, but we haven’t started yet.

If you want to do Math using living books in a more Charlotte Mason way, check out Livingmath.net.

I am in the process of publishing a new book called “Dear Struggling Homeschool Mom, I See You”. If you or someone you know is in the trenches of homeschooling, this will be a very encouraging read for them. In it, I cover very practical topics like “How Do You Get it All Done?”, “How Do I Get My Kids to Listen?”, “How Do I Get My Kids to Get Along?”, and many more. It is full of tips, advice, resources, and ideas that will make your life easier and less stressful. I also share some stories from my own homeschool journey which has lasted 27 years so far. It will be published VERY soon. I’ll let you know when it’s available!

Hope and Peace,

Penney Douglas, B. S. in Elem. Ed.
Safe Haven Homeschooling

My personal blog

Books by Penney Douglas

My Teachers Pay Teachers Store

E-course The Basics of Learning and Homeschooling

linktr.ee/penneydouglas

My Outschool classes

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When God Changes Your Plans – August Newsletter

Hello Safe Haven Family,

I hope you’re having a good August. My apologies for the lateness of this newsletter. The first of August came before I was ready for it. And last week had some unexpected challenges right after I finished the “Homeschooling Can Be Fun Challenge” that I had prepared for for so long. There were literal “Challenges” from Pedro Adao and Dachelle McVey, and there were relationship challenges that threw me for a loop. Don’t worry, everything’s fine with my family, but sometimes people can get upset about the strangest things.

Speaking of Challenges, the Homeschooling Can Be Fun Challenge was a great success! Many came and learned new ways to add some fun to their homeschool and how to take the drudgery and boredom out of it. You know that we want learning to be meaningful and enjoyable. This should be a time of bonding together as a family. These are the best of times. Let’s not turn them into the worst of times!

On Day 2 I talked about Familyschooling and Lifeschooling. These seemed to be the topics that had the most impact on those who attended the challenge. Several participants said that they will be applying these principles to their homeschool this year.

I also heard feedback about Day 4’s topic of Unleashing Their Creativity. We want to encourage our children to pursue their interests and passions. We also want to give them time and opportunity to be creative and develop their artistic abilities. We want to value right-brained abilities as much as we do left-brained abilities.

The world is changing, and we homeschoolers need to change with it. For more information about this check out Danielle Papageorgiou’s blog at Lifeschoolingconference.com.

I encourage everyone to pray about how God is leading you into new ways of thinking about things and doing things. He is doing a new thing! We are entering a new era. Things are being changed for the better.

It looks bad right now, because the terrible things that have been going on for decades or longer are being exposed. The crimes against children and corruption in government and all of the institutions that have been ruling over us have been going on for a long time. They are just now being exposed and dealt with.

We have been lied to by the media, by our government officials, by our education establishment, by church leaders, and by medical experts for such a long time. We have to learn to think in a whole new way as we realize the truth about our history and even the role our country has played in some of the worst travesties of justice.

We the People are finding out the truth little by little. Even now the 2-tier justice system is being exposed as the DOJ is trying to put their top political opponent in prison through all kinds of drummed-up indictments.

We are getting new revelation on Revelation. If you want to know more about that listen to Johnny Enlow HERE.

We are Opening the Sealed Book. You can find out more HERE.

I titled this newsletter “When God Changes Your Plans” because I saw Him do that a lot last week during my Challenge.

He changed my plans in the middle of my challenge. I had everything ready, I thought. But God highlighted some new themes to me that I knew I had to add. I knew that on Day 4 I was supposed to focus on unleashing their creativity, not just following their interests. And the last day I knew that I was supposed to speak about more than just how we shouldn’t try to do homeschooling alone, but also a better way to deal with evaluating our children’s progress than grades and tests.

And I felt much better about the quality of the information I covered during my challenge.

Then I had a free day planned on Tuesday, but I got a phone call from a friend asking if we could drive to the Dayton Mall area to pick up a package. We had just taken our son to work, and that put us closer to the mall, so we went from there. She didn’t tell me what was in the package. But we trusted her and changed our “plans”, and we ended up with a new Samsung Tablet for Gary! The Lord had told her to get that for him.

The next day, Gary and I met with a friend of my mom and dad at a coffee shop. We were thinking that it would be like an interview for Gary to do something for the church that my mom and dad had been so involved with for many years or for this man’s business. It kind of started out that way, but halfway through, Gary started speaking life and blessings over the man. He started telling him how he could do more for the Kingdom and how he could use social media to spread the Gospel. He told him how great God thinks he is. The man was taken aback. He didn’t really know how to take all that Gary was saying. His demeanor changed, and his all-business attitude became one of “Let’s see what the Lord might have for you to do with us in the future.”

Go ahead and make all the plans you want,
but it’s the Lord who will ultimately direct your steps.

Proverbs 16:1 TPT

Before you do anything,
put your trust totally in God and not in yourself.
Then every plan you make will succeed.

4The Lord works everything together to accomplish his purpose.
Even the wicked are included in his plans—
he sets them aside for the day of disaster.

Proverbs 16:3,4

Within your heart you can make plans for your future,
but the Lord chooses the steps you take to get there.

Proverbs 16:9

I was kind of living in Proverbs 16 last week!

If you are intrigued by what I’ve told you about the Homeschooling Can Be Fun Challenge, you can still see the videos and check out the Facebook page.

The videos are all here:

Day 1 – Don’t Do School at Home

Day 2 – Learning is Natural – Keep it that Way! Develop a Homeschool Mindset

Day 3 – We don’t have to do the things schools do – We can make it a lot more fun!

Day 4 – Follow the Interests of your children – Unleash their Creativity

Day 5 – Should we use grades and tests in homeschooling? and Don’t do it alone!

And the Facebook page is here.

Enjoy the challenge for free.

Then check out my course on The Basics of Learning and Homeschooling.

And then check out my blog at Safe Haven Homeschooling!

I’ve written a new book called “Dear Struggling Homeschool Mom, I See You”.

We had “Planned” to have it published on Amazon during the week of my challenge, but you know how plans go. We are working on it, so be watching for my announcement in the next week or two.

Thank you for your support and encouragement!

If you have any prayer requests, be sure to hit reply and tell me what’s on your heart. It gives me great joy to hear from you and to pray for you and your family.

Your Homeschool Life Coach,

Penney Douglas, B. S. in Ed.
Safe Haven Homeschooling

linktr.ee/penneydouglas
Homeschooling Can Be Fun Facebook group
My books on Amazon 

And join our Christian Moms Book Club August 16 when we will be discussing 1000 Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp.

My Favorite Living Books and Authors

 

I love to read Living Books to children. 

Charlotte Mason gave us some clues about how to identify Living Books. If you want to ascertain if a book is a Living Book or not, ask these questions about it.

  1. Is the writing of excellent quality?
    2. Does it contain living ideas and knowledge suitable for the child?
    3. Does the child react with delight caused by the spark of ideas?
    4. Does it make an impact on the reader’s mind (shown by his narrations)?

I have read so many books that I feel meet these requirements.

Below is a list that I put together of some of my favorites, along with authors that have written excellent stories that have stood the test of time. I consider most of the books they have written Living Books. I suppose you could call them Living Authors!

Enjoy this LIST of LIVING BOOKS Selected by Penney Douglas