Year 8, Week 4: Bible

     Another week in the books!  Literally.  Sonlight is a literature based curriculum so we have A LOT of books.  I don't mind, though.  I love reading!  Sonlight is what we're using for our Bible, History, Science and Geography.  Today, I'm going to focus on our Bible studies.  We always start our day with our Bible readings/study and prayer.  It's an important part of our day; it's THE most important part of our day and I make a point to remind my kids to start their day with God.

My well-worn Bible

     In the past we've used Long Story Short:  10 Short Devotionals to Draw Your Family to God and Old Story New: Ten-Minute Devotions to Draw Your Family to God.  While both books are family devotionals I decided to use them as our studies because the kids were still young when we started them and they had a lot of great questions to draw them out.  It opened plenty of great conversations as well.  It took us a little over 4 years for us to finish both books; we started Long Story Short in 2016 and made a point to only use it during the school year (we did something else during the summer breaks).  We completed Old Story New toward the end of 2019.  In January 2020 I purchased a devotional suited for each child and decided that our Bible studies would be based on our personal readings from the devotionals; sharing what we read and how it applied to our lives. 

     Now, with the new school year under way, we're using what Sonlight suggests which begins with reading Mark along with a smaller "field guide to the Bible" of sorts.  I say suggests because while it's in the schedule I don't necessarily have to follow it.  Frankly, I may change it up.  Both devotionals above were so thorough in drawing the kids out and helping them make connections that currently they seem a little...bored.  We've done an inductive study of Matthew and our church did the same through the book of Luke over the course the past year and a half.  So, I can see where reading Mark with very little discussion can seem monotonous.

     Recently, I happened upon a short video that touched on the failings of some youth ministries and it convinced me to take this opportunity of homeschooling to also instruct them on how to study their Bible.  Perhaps an exegetical study of Acts?  Or a shorter book since this is their first time doing it?

     I don't want to overwhelm them but I do want them to do more than just read the Bible.  Of course I want them to live it out as well, but they can't do that unless they know it well.  I want them to be equipped. to fully put on the armor of God.  And...I think I just answered my own questions.  I think a study of Ephesians 6:10-18 is what I'm looking for!  It's amazing how God works.  I'm sitting here typing this and when I typed the word equipped, God brought me to that scripture.

     I'll take some time over this holiday weekend to see how I can approach this, but as I sit here finishing up, I'm getting excited at the prospect of digging into the whys and hows of Ephesians 6:10-18.  Woohoo!

     Have a safe holiday weekend!

Year 8, Day 1: ???

     

     The reboot of this blog may be a bit unorganized until I find the layout and style that will work best for me.  I don't even have a great title for these Year 8 posts as evident by the lackluster title of this one!  For now, I'll just share how our week went.

     Every school year I spend some time praying about what scripture should lead our year.  This year the words joy and willingness came to mind.  After doing some research and reading, I found Romans 15:13:

     We surprised the kids with donuts from a well-known local shop along with breakfast from Chick-Fil-A.  Not the healthiest meal or my kind of start to any day (I don't like donuts so I didn't have any), but it's not like they eat like that all the time.

     

     Our first week was pretty easy, of course.  I always make sure to ease into our schedule, so our focus this week was Bible, history, science, geography and math along with their reading requirements.  Next week, writing is added and then the week after that spelling is added.  It seems like a lot, even looking at the calendar, but it doesn't take all day and they're not overwhelmed.

     Midweek, I switched things around a bit and did our poetry reading in the morning while they were having breakfast.  I've been trying to implement a morning time routine for the past three years but I haven't been able to find something that sticks.  I read to them in the evening, when The Principal is home.  Little Toughie likes her free reading time later in the day while A380 isn't a fan at all.  We would do art, but then they would stay on that FOREVER.  Music and/or art appreciation is a possibility.  We always start our school day with our Bible reading/study and prayer but I've been trying to add something else.  I don't know.  It's been three years.  Perhaps I should just let it go.

     Besides, I'm now trying to figure out if I want to stick to a particular format for these posts.  I want to share every week, but I don't know if I want to stick to "What We Read" and "What We Tried" every week, which doesn't necessarily limit me to our homeschooling.  Or perhaps something similar to our dinner time sharing:  Pow (the low of our day), Wow (the highlight of our day) and Yowzah (how we saw God at work during our day).  I came up with Yowzah because it reminds me of Yahweh!  We learned this dinner conversation starter a couple of years or so ago while having dinner with one of our lead pastors and her family.  Everyone shares their day; the high, low and how they saw God at work.  We LOVED the idea and started implementing it.  Maybe I'll use a format similar to that.

    That's pretty much it.  Nothing else.  Just ramping up bit by bit!