Daily Focus

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).

If homeschool parents had lecture podiums like school teachers, mine would have definitely been the kitchen sink. From this central location, I was able to deliver endless hours of instruction in spelling words, poem memorization, and multiplication facts. Multi-tasking from this "lectern" proved to be the only way I could complete daily lesson plans and my chores of washing dishes, preparing meals, and cleaning messes....

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Sitting in the corner of our kitchen like a trophy on a mantle was the "done" box. Each homeschooling year began with a new box to collect each of our children's completed worksheets and lessons. Originally designed to provide documentation of our children's schoolwork to state authorities, the done box came to represent something different throughout the homeschooling years....

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As I stood in front of the formidable shelves of books in our local library, I wondered where to begin. Finding thought-provoking books with godly and moral values shouldn't have been so difficult, but it was. Frustrated, I prayed and asked God to help me in my search for wholesome literature for my children. "Consider the source" came to my mind. I realized God was prompting me to first study the authors, and then I would find the right books....

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"Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it" (1 Thessalonians 5:24).

Have you been experiencing setbacks lately while homeschooling? Are your children rebelling or acting bored? Do friends continue to harass you about your decision and worry that your children will be socially inept by the time they graduate? Is all the hard work of balancing time for your spouse, your children, and yourself just too much? Are the unpaid bills or unfinished chores keeping you awake at night? Maybe God never really wanted you to homeschool in the first place? After all, if He did, things wouldn't be so hard, right?...

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The story of God's people, Israel, in the Old Testament draws a striking parallel to my journey as a homeschooling parent. For years, I had been caught in the bondage of believing that public school was the only way to educate my child. Miraculously, we experienced God leading our family out of this "slavery" and through our "Red Sea" when He provided a path to teach our children through a homeschool satellite program. Chased by the Pharaoh of the school system with threats of truancy, we walked though our difficulty on dry land and watched as the waves crashed over top of those who worked so diligently to keep us from teaching our children at home....

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"Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it" (Proverbs 3:27).

Do you think praising your homeschooled children will cause conceit and pride in their character? Since I received few compliments as a child from my stoic Dutch and German parents, I wondered if my praise would lead to an over-inflated ego in my children. I struggled with this question and searched the Scriptures for an answer until one day I read, "Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do" (1 Thessalonians 5:11)....

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Rebellion has many faces, and the big pout on my daughter's face was definitely one of them. With three other children in our homeschool classroom, she didn't like being the one who had to wait for help with her questions. Watching her body language, I realized there was a much bigger problem waiting to be dealt with than the one in her math lesson....

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If your homeschooling family is like most, there are probably many symbols of your faith located in your home. We had several crosses throughout the house that our children made during art class, and our refrigerator was plastered with new Sunday school papers each week. We had the word "Jesus" made with barbed wire and hung on the wall in the kitchen. We even had a screen-saver on our computer's desktop with changing pictures and Scripture passages....

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"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil" (Jeremiah 29:11a).

Is there anything more agonizing to homeschooling parents than watching their child struggle when taking a test? Whenever my children went through contortions trying to remember facts hiding in their memory banks, I wanted to run to their rescue. Sometimes, I even went so far as to drop a few hints to help them succeed in their efforts. Surprisingly, my children perceived just the opposite about my feelings. Thinking I enjoyed using my red pen, they didn't understand the ache in my heart when I corrected their wrong answers. As their parent, I didn't want them to fail. I wanted them to triumph in their tests....

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Learning to read and enjoying good literature were seeds we consciously planted into our homeschooled children. We cultivated in them a desire to read by first reading to our children when they were young. As they grew older, they mastered phonics rules and eventually became avid readers themselves....

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