Back to School Unity

I love the ministry of Heart of the Matter. I am honored to guest post there monthly and today I am over there. Here is an article preview:

I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me (John 17:23).

A desire for unity among Christian brothers and sisters is recorded as one of Jesus last prayers before He went to the cross. He knew the cross was coming and as He was praying, He was praying for us to have unity.

Now to me, this is powerful. Unity must be important to Jesus. If I were the one about to face a horrible torture I would probably be praying for it to be quick, pain to not linger, or various things of the self-focused nature but I am not Jesus. It is important to remember He was fully man and fully God so He struggled with the same temptations that we do, yet He prayed for future believer’s unity.

Now this may be something hard to swallow for some but READ MORE (full article is at Heart of the Matter Online.)

Heart of the Matter Live Interview Blog Talk Radio

Listen to internet radio with Heart of the Matter Live on Blog Talk Radio

Homeschooling and "Normal" - What is Normal Really?

Source: moldingmindshomeschool.blogspot.com via Angela on Pinterest

Another fun Pinterest find! I thought it would be fun to share these home school funnies today!

Homeschooling is such a blessing to us. Now that I am dealing with this chronic illness it looks differently than probably the typical home but we make it work. We love each other well, serve one another well, cuddle up and read and work on workbooks and lessons. The days when things are real rough we gather in the king size bed. The work is done, we are comfy, we are close. I worried about typing those words though. I think many people would be against me schooling now. Some have even asked if I would put them back in school because of my illness.

The answer would be if God directed us to then yes. Obviously if I was so bad that I could not teach and instruct my children I would have to do this. But I am not a vegetable. I have my teaching resources and curriculum and can still teach. It is not like the world system but we don't want to be like the world anyway. The children are in a secure and loving learning environment. I think those are good things. Plus they are learning to serve. Things I did not teach them well before this. Most importantly they are getting to see God up close and personal come through and shine in the situation that may seem desperate at times.

Sometimes we try to recreate "the institution of school" in our home school. Why? If that is the case then why are we doing it? So what if we cuddle in the bed and learn together? My children are bright, loving, compassionate kids who love well and consider other peoples needs. Not to get something back but because it is what they have experienced in this life. It is because they have experienced the gospel and because of that love they desire to serve the King. This is the end result we desire.

It is good. God provides. We will survive. It is just a temporary blip of time and things will go back to "normal" whatever that is. That is why I posted the cartoon. That is home schooling at its best! Learning is to be nurtured, fun, and comfortable. In love and at a pace that the individual child needs to really get it. I really know my children and listen to their needs. I can study them this way and meet them where they are at. To me for us there is no better way. Yet we will go where God directs. Each family has to do this. Let's not compare.

Source: teacherspayteachers.com via Angela on Pinterest

Love this chart! These are some of the social skills that need to be taught to my child with aspergers. There are so many things we say in our language that really don't make literal sense but somehow as we grow we just understand what it means. No one really teaches it we just pick it up. With Aspergers my daughter is not able to do that so we have to teach these things. It has really made me aware of our speech. If you really paid attention to your words in a given day you would probably see that we say so many things that would be considered slang. I really liked this chart that just named a few for us to go over and learn.

Found this chart also browsing Pinterest! Can you name any other Idioms?

Homeschool Fun with Multiplication, Advent, and Grammar

Source: gingersnapstreatsforteachers.blogspot.com via Angela on Pinterest

Found this on Pinterest! I am loving Pinterest now I understand how to use it!! I am finding some great ideas too. New foods, craft ideas, inspiration, etc. If you need an invite let me know I will send you one. Would love to follow your inspirations too. It is fun. It is also fun to see what makes others tick.

I have not done a home school post for a long while. So here is one. This is what we are working on now. I want to drill the girls these next few weeks to get them to really commit addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts to memory. We have completed their Math grade work for the year so we are now going to do drills. I guess this is school light because it is almost Christmas break. However, we are always learning around here. We find fun ways to make learning fit, even if it is unknowingly to the children. :) Next up is fraction drills. I am taking this time to really hone in on the deficiencies I have seen. Then we will move on to our next Math book. I have it on stand by and there is just a love I have for a new school book. My children carry this same love. Strange huh?

Also a very important part of school now is studying the advent. I am loving this inductive study we found online. You just download the PDF or Doc on the top left of the page. You can print them even if you want they come with coloring sheets. You can find it here. It is so much fun to just see the story come alive again through the eyes of the children. I love the wonder they still posses. I pray to have more of that.

Source: squidoo.com via Angela on Pinterest

I also found this cool chart I want to work on with the girls to help them really understand grammar. Another great Pinterest find.

Those are just a few things we are up too. I really just wanted to share the multiplication chart, advent study and grammar chart! Love those! Hope you do too. Happy Home Schooling!

School's Out Let's Celebrate! Win a Starbucks and Lifeway Giftcard by entering our contest.

I love this time of year! We made it through another school year and not only survived but thrived! Summer is when we can relax a little bit. So I was wondering what are your favorite ways to relax? My favorite things are reading a book while sipping a Starbucks soy mocha. Because those are my favorite things I am doing this summer give away! Win a $10 Starbucks, $15 Lifeway giftcard and our e-Bible study Abundant Grace just for following the steps. The more things you do the more entries you get to enter in.

What is your favorite Starbucks beverage?

What book would you buy if you win?

What are your favorite summer things to do?

I am hoping to do more giveaways this year so this is a great way to kick things off this summer! The winner will be chosen May 31st!

Homeschool Helps that are a Must for Us

I have not done a home school post for a while so I though this was a good time. I was encouraged today by an article posted on working with kids with sensory issues. You can see it here.

With the sensory issues we have to work with these items are a must in our school.

These grips are great! My youngest cannot tell how hard she is pressing on the page so pencil leads would break all the time causing extreme frustration. Once we got a grip like this we have had no more broken pencil leads. It has been wonderful.

This exercise ball comes in very handy as well. I let my child who has fidget issues sit on it while doing her book work. This works great because she can keep her attention on the book instead of focusing on sitting still on a solid surface. It works wonders and helps us get lots done.

This mini trampoline is another must! It helps with numbers and spelling words. Something about the bounce and movement in conjunction with the numbers or words just helps. It makes her mind move faster and better. Love it. Plus it helps burn off that extra energy.

This book has been a great purchase. When we realized that there were social issues and skills that were becoming more of an issue than desired we purchased this. We have been using it and practicing the social skills. It has great pictures and instructions. My child loves to just flip through it when we are not using it and study the pictures. It has been a great help.

This book has been great as well. It teaches with pictures how to properly write each letter. It is fun and easy. Since we have small motor skill issues this book has been very helpful!

This math book is also wonderful because it uses pictures to demonstrate math concepts. Such a good one for us as well.

This phonics book I just found this past month. I really like it so far because it teaches phonic concepts with pictures and has been helping me and my daughter see the areas we need to work harder on. Since my daughter thinks in pictures this one is a perfect match.

Home schooling can be successful if you have the right tools. It has taken some time to get this all sorted out but these all appear to work very well for our situation.

Wondering if this ADHD is Wrong

While we were stuck in the cabin, which seems like yesterday, my husband and I watched the movie Temple Grandin. It is a really good movie about a woman who overcomes many obstacles dealing with her autism. As we watched the show I just cried. Not because it was a sad movie, rather it was quite inspirational. I cried because I saw many similarities with my youngest child.

My girl saw parts of this movie and she was comforted by the fact that this lady thought in pictures just like her. She wondered if anyone else did that. It opened our eyes to a lot of things. We took this time to just observe and we noticed things we didn't pay attention to before. We think that what this quirkiness is called is Asperger's. This is a high functioning form of autism.

We checked out some websites and online support groups and it sounds so very similar. Things we have been struggling through are not unusual for those with this. I believe God created my girl perfect and this is just a greater opportunity for her to be challenged to overcome and grow into an even stronger person. She is amazing to me and brings so much life to our home.

As we implement things and try to understand her better we are seeing some great improvements in her and our family. We are all learning together how to make this work and how to best prepare her for whatever God has in store for this beautifully gifted child. Did I tell you she got baptized a few weeks ago? I cannot wait to see all God has in store for her and us. It is an honor and privilege to be entrusted to raise this little one.

Original Christmas Plan

It is so funny to me that my article about our plans for this Christmas trip and making memories posted on Heart of the Matter and I read it today. I so needed to read my article and the perspective that God gave me then about this trip. Words needed to be heard to myself written much earlier by myself. LOVE how God works that way. He is so amazing to remind us of things that are important. Go check it out here.

To Medicate or Not? That is the Question.

Join me over at Heart of the Matter Online today...
"No Not Medication!," I thought over and over again in my mind. I could not believe it finally came to the point that my daughter would need medication to help with her ADHD, impulse control, and OCD issues. I am not sure why it seemed like a huge ordeal in the first place? Possibly because of all the bad side effects you hear about from medication. Also maybe because as Christians sometimes we are guilty of saying things about medication like we are lacking faith for God to heal a situation. All of this and more made it a really hard struggle for me in deciding to medicate. Read more here.

Parenting the OCD child

Hey all. I am over at the Heart of the Matter today talking about parenting a child with OCD. It comes with certain challenges and blessings. Check it out here.

Bear Fashion Show

Life with girls....Bear fashion show! Music of choice...Every day heros. Good times.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.8

Power of the Ten Commandments

Today was a really rough day with the girls. They were not wanting to get along at all in the morning. It figures because I was trying to host a conference. This has been going on for about a week or so now and deeply grieves my heart. I have been praying for a breakthrough and today we got one! Praise God.

I was making them just sit with me while I was working out on the treadmill. They had to just sit there. It is what I call boot camp because they lose all privileges and lose the right to be on their own since they lack the ability to make proper choices. As they sat and waited for me to finish my work out we were listening to the conference.

My youngest decides to read the wall while she waited. We have this chart posted on it (pictured above). She spent most of those 20 minutes reading and studying this chart. I was unaware she was doing this until she said, "Mom, I broke number 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10." "And Mom, you broke number 10." At this I cracked up because I knew this meant coveting...I could not figure out what I was coveting. My child explained to me all the sin she committed and how she broke these commandments then went on to explain mine. I broke number 10 because God gave me these children and I should not want other better behaving children!! Ha! She is something! So I told her I was sorry and confessed and she confessed. She asked me if she could keep this chart in her room so she can keep studying it and know what was right and wrong. So we moved it to her room.

The best part was it lead into a good discussion that there is no way we can keep these commandments in our own strength. It is why we desperately need Jesus. He is the one who satisfies our sin. He died for us so that we are righteousness in Christ. These commandments remind us of the great need we have for Christ. I challenge you to read them in this child like form above. They are beneficial to her and she really understands them. I just love those little breakthroughs. Praying it helps her walk in a Christlike manner. A reminder to us both of our desperate need of Christ.

Heart of the Matter Online Homeschool Conference is HERE!

Go here to join us!

Are You Ready?

I am over at Heart of the Matter Online today. Come on over and discuss this years school plans. We would love to hear from you.

Love This Pic! Love it When They Unite!

How good and pleasant it is when brothers (or sisters) live together in unity! Psalm 133:1

I am over at Heart of the Matter today.

Even when you don’t know it they are watching. You do not get a break at anytime. When you think they cannot hear, they hear you. When you think they cannot see, they see you. The little eyes of our little ones are watching–always. Read more.

Come Join Us!

Go here to join in on this great conference.

A Good Sport - Tales of Parenting my ADHD Child

This is a poor quality photo but check out my youngest girl's shirt! Does it look a little big? Well that is because it is! All because her momma didn't fill out the right size on the form. All the other kids got their right sized, nicely fit shirts. That was because their moms knew how to fill out a form. All of them but me. When I say all I am talking 167 parents who know how to properly fill out a form. But it is different with us and I am somehow okay with that. I am use to it by now because this is normal for our life. So because of my mishap this is what my child gets. And does she complain? No, she just goes with the flow and says she likes that her shirt is like a dress! Gotta love her! I love that it doesn't matter to her if she stands out. Oh but don't worry about the shirt she will fall back into conformity at the end of the week when we get her one that fits a little more like a shirt and not a dress. Just another fun journey of the Parsley family.

Sibling Sanctification

I am over at Heart of the Matter Online today. Go here to read the article.