Great Home-school Science Curriculum!

We are new to homeschooling this year and are just starting out with a kindergartner.  We have two boys coming along behind our oldest, a girl, and I am already on the lookout for products that can be used across multiple age-levels.  I know it is going to be a huge help to be able to do some subjects as a joint study across multiple grades.  The "God's Design" series by Answers in Genesis is just such a product for science and has been wonderful for us so far for with our kindergartner.

We have started out with the God's Design for Life series and are going through The World of Plants right now.  Each lesson is set up in two sections, a "Beginner Section" and a regular lesson.  The "Beginner Section" is recommended for use with 1st and 2nd graders and contains a brief overview of the topic of the lesson (generally 3-4 paragraphs) with some vocabulary words, as well as review questions at the end to test your child's reading comprehension.  There is also a recommended activity to correlate with each lesson that can be done with this age group.

The regular lesson, recommended for grades 3-8, is much more detailed and includes more review questions to test your child's knowledge, as well as a "Challenge Section" recommended for 6th-8th graders.  The "Challenge Section" varies by lesson, but always includes more relevant, detailed information for the lesson and often has a suggested activity to help reinforce what was learned that lesson.

"Special Features" are also scattered throughout the book.  These focus on related topics such as specific plants or historical people of interest in relation to plant life.  These are enjoyable to read and I have generally included them in the lesson along with the "Beginner Section" for my kindergartner.

We have greatly enjoyed this series so far and are looking forward to working through the other series available as well.  In addition to the God's Design for Life series, Answers in Genesis has also published God's Design for Heaven and Earth, both of which are recommended for grades 1-8.  There are two more series recommended for grades 3-8, God's Design for the Physical World and God's Design for Chemistry and Ecology. All of these books are presented from a young-earth perspective and affirm the Genesis account of creation.  They are of a sound Biblical worldview!   The books are available here:

The World of Animals (God's Design for Life)
The Human Body (God's Design for Life)
The World of Plants (God's Design for Life)

I wholeheartedly recommend these products for your home-school and for use across multiple grades.  What about you?  Do you have any products to recommend that you have used for multiple ages in your own home-school   Do you have tips on things that have worked well for you while home-schooling multiple ages?  Leave us a comment or a link to your own blog post on that subject!

"But I Don't Want to..."

"But I don't want to!"

How many times a day does a mother of young children hear those words?  If your house is anything like mine, the number is high...especially from the toddlers.  Mom says, "It's time to go lay down." "But I don't want to..."  Mom says, "It's time to go inside."  "But I don't want to..."  Mom says, "Give the toy back to your brother."  "But I don't want to..."  Can't you just hear the little (or sometimes not so little in volume!) voice in response?  I know I can!  My typical response is, "I didn't ask if you wanted to, you just need to do it."  Maybe that's not the best way to handle it, but it's what usually comes out!

I wonder if we sound like frustrated toddlers to God sometimes.  We are studying and spending time in His Word and something stands out to us.  What we're reading sounds like something God commands us to do or is a principle that convicts us of a certain activity in our lives.  We feel that we ought to change, but...here comes that little voice...we respond "I don't want to."  How does God respond to this?  How does this make Him feel?  Well, I know that God loves us and He always has our best interest in mind.  Consider I John 4:9-10:

"In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."  (NKJV)

 How can we respond in such a way to a God who loves us so much that He watched His innocent Son endure the punishment and death that we deserve?  How can we say, "But I don't want to...," when we know He loves us so much?  We are much like toddlers to God as young Christians and hopefully we mature past that.  Of course, He is hurt, but He allows us to make our own choices and decide for ourselves whether or not we will obey.  I know I have responded this way before and still do it at times.  Our sinful nature pulls at us and our own desires create that same old response, "But I don't want to..."

Perhaps if we remember how much it hurts us when our children fight against doing as they are told and how much it hurts us to see our children have difficult situations in their lives because they didn't do as they were told, then we can understand a small bit of how our Heavenly Father feels when we protest His commands and put off following His instructions to us.  We love our children so much, but our Heavenly Father loves us, His children, so much that He was willing to watch His own Son endure such a painful death in our stead!  Is this not proof enough that He has our best interest in mind when He gives us instruction in His Word?

Just as we feel that our children love and respect us when they follow our instruction, so does God when we do as He has instructed in His Word.  In fact, we are told that this is the way we demonstrate our love for God.  I John 5:3 says:

"For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.  And His commandments are not burdensome."

God does not give us commands to wear us out or make us feel burdened.  He does so because He has our best interest at heart and He wants to take care of us, just as we want to take care of our own children!  May we remember the motivation behind God's commands to us and the way we are told we demonstrate our love for God the next time we are tempted to say, "But I don't want to..."

Being Truly Thankful

 "in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."  - I Thessalonians 5:18 (NKJV)

I remember singing a song as a child at school that went with this verse.  What a blessing it is to have music as a tool for learning!  It is such a help to committing Scripture to memory and keeping it there!

As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, I have been doing a lot of reflection on thankfulness and what it means in God's eyes to be truly thankful.  We are told in I Thessalonians to be thankful in everything.  Does God really mean that we should be thankful in everything?  Surely not, we think.  What about that spilled cup of coffee, those piles of dirty laundry or that recently elected President whose policies we disagree with?   Note that it says "in everything," not "for everything."  The NIV translates the first section, "give thanks in all circumstances." 

Let's consider this in relation to our country.  Many people feel that as Christians we are coming under more and more persecution from "the Left" in our country.  Our freedom of speech is being hindered by those who are antagonistic to Christianity.  We are mocked in the media.  I do not disagree with these things.  We do have a degree of persecution in our country and it is likely to become worse unless our nation turns back to God.  But, consider the following verses in relation to this:

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.  Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." - Romans 5:1-5 (NKJV)

The above passage tells us that our trials produce perseverance which leads to character which leads to hope.  One way we can be grateful in circumstances that we might consider unpleasant is through the spiritual blessings they can provide to us if we will allow them.  Here's another passage listing the blessings that can result from trials in our lives:

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." - James 1:2-4 (NKJV)

What about that spilled coffee and those piles of dirty laundry?  How can we be thankful in those instances?  Well, the very fact that those things are occurring is evidence of physical blessings in our lives.  I'd like to end with a list of things I'm thankful for in relation to some things that could be considered unpleasant in and of themselves.  I'd encourage you to make a list like this yourself whenever you're tempted to complain about something that comes up in your life.

I'm thankful for:

• Spilled coffee, because it means that I have coffee to drink in my home.
• Piles of dirty laundry, because they mean my family is blessed with clothing.
• An election result that I disagree with, because it means we still have the freedom to vote and elect our leaders.
• A sink of dirty dishes, because it means my family has had food to eat.
• Having to stop at a red light, because it means I have a car to drive.
• Leaves all over the front yard, because they mean I have a beautiful maple tree to look at year-round.
• Stinky diapers to take out, because they mean I've been blessed with another beautiful child.
• Stacks of utility bills to be paid, because they mean I have a home with running water and heat.
• Sawdust in the kitchen floor, because it means we will soon have more space thanks to the hard work of my husband, dad and grandfather on our home addition.
• Toys that get spread out in the living room floor, hallway and anywhere else you can think of, because they mean I have been blessed with three wonderful children.
• Books all over the dining table, because they mean I have the privilege of homeschooling.