Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philp. 4:8
Now these are words
(Ideas) to live by!!
Isn't feeding our families these Ideas......God's
Ideas......the best reason to Home school? It is for me! Though I will go further and say isn't feeding our families these
Ideas the best reason to diligently watch over and protect our children concerning the types of
Ideas they are presented no matter what our child's 'school' situation is.
At Home, Public, Private Schools, after school, weekends...........wherever our children are................with us and away from us, we should do our best to present them with
IDEAS that feed their mind, soul and spirit. They need to have daily opportunities to see and hear things that are true, noble, just, lovely, good, praiseworthy. We also need to daily protect them from unhealthy
IDEAS.....the opposite of what God's Word speaks of. That is not always easy in the world we live in today but just because it isn't easy doesn't mean we shouldn't do it. The problem is that this world 's definition of what is pure, good, true, etc. is becoming completely different than God's definition of these things. Our desire as parents should be to search out God's
IDEAS on everything and choose to stand on them no matter what. I appreciate the opportunities that I have been given to teach my boys these holy and righteous
IDEAS! Daily I get to help my boys live out these scriptures through the direction of the Holy Spirit by sharing God every day with them, praying with them, being forgiving and seeking forgiveness from them when that is what is right, by choosing carefully what t.v. shows, movies, cartoons, books they see and the music they hear. Home schooling is also another wonderful opportunity I have to present them with a wide variety of noble, true, pure, lovely, and admirable
IDEAS through the books we use, the people we learn about and activities we are involved in!!
It doesn't stop with our children though,
we need to make
all our life choices based on
God's Ideas! Not only will we be living out God's commands, we will be making choices that are healthy for our entire being and we will be living examples of God's Word to our children.
I encourage you to meditate on these scriptures. Let's strive to provide our families with the opportunities to live out these scriptures
(Ideas) in every area of their own lives? I pray that God continues to give you and I the wisdom, grace and strength to daily feed our family on HIS
Ideas!!
A few ways to provide these types of IDEAS (True, Noble, Right, lovely, Pure, Admirable):
1. The Word of God
(Read it, listen to it, talk about it) (Click HERE for he Daily Audio Bible site)
2. Praying Daily
(Click HERE to be learn more about prayer)
3. Listen to Christian Music
(All styles)
4. Read Living Books ourselves and to our children or have them read them
(Click HERE for a great Living Book "booklist")
5. Getting out in and studying God's amazing creation
(Go HERE for great information, tips and Inspiration)
6. Read Biographries of people that have characteristics that God would approve of =)
(See above booklist)
7. Art and Music
(Classical, Hymns, etc) Study
(For one ex. click HERE ) (HERE is a link to Biblical Art) (Go HERE for Secular Art) (HERE is a great site for teaching your children about Composers) (Go HERE for a great list of Hymns)
8. Read about Missionaries, Teachers......You know Hero's of the Faith
(Click HERE for a great book series)
9. Check out the idea of Home Schooling especially the
Charlotte Mason method of Home Schooling
10. Check out
Sky Angel: A ministry (like cable) with Safe, Inspirational, Family, Spiritual, Fun choices for T.V., Radio and Movies.
(A wonderful friend told me about this, Thanks T.H. =)
Remember everything always comes back to God:
We allow no separation to grow up between the intellectual and 'spiritual' life of children, but teach them that the Divine Spirit has constant access to their spirits, and is their Continual Helper in all the interests, duties and joys of life--Charlotte Mason
Here is an AWESOME IDEA to live by, I came across this the other day on a Field Trip and I just loved it:
I know it's long but I thought you may appreciate the words below that are from someone I think has wonderful
IDEAS on raising up children, specifically in educating the whole child!!
Quote from the
Charlotte Mason Vol 1
Home Education Series:
Children learn, to get Ideas.––The child must learn, in the second place, in order that ideas may be freely sown in the fruitful soil of his mind. 'Idea, the image or picture formed by the mind of anything external, whether sensible or spiritual.'––so, the dictionary; therefore, if the business of teaching be to furnish the child with ideas, any teaching which does not leave him possessed of a new mental image has, by so far, missed its mark. Now, just think of the listless way in which the children too often drag through reading and tables, geography and sums, and you will see that it is a rare thing for any part of any lesson to flash upon them with the vividness which leaves a mental picture behind. It is not too much to say that a morning in which a child receives no new idea is a morning wasted, however closely the little student has been kept at his books.
Ideas Grow and Produce after their Kind.––For the dictionary appears to me to fall short of the truth in its definition of the term 'idea.' An idea is more than an image or picture; it is, so to speak, a spiritual germ endowed with vital force––with power, that is, to grow, and to produce after its kind. It is the very nature of an idea to grow: as the vegetable germ secretes that it lives by, so, fairly implant an idea in the child's mind, and it will secrete its own food, grow, and bear fruit in the form of a succession of kindred ideas. We know from our own experience that, let our attention be forcibly drawn to some public character, some startling theory, and for days after we are continually hearing or reading matter which bears on this one subject, just as if all the world were thinking about what occupies our thoughts: the fact being, that the new idea we have
received is in the act of growth, and is reaching out after its appropriate food. This process of feeding goes on with peculiar avidity in childhood, and the growth of an idea in the child is proportionably rapid........
Value of Dominant Ideas.––But how does this theory of the vital and fruitful character of ideas bear upon the education of the child? In this way: give your a child a single valuable idea, and you have done more for his education than if you had laid upon his mind the burden of bushels of information; for the child who grows up with a few dominant ideas has his self-education provided for, his career marked out..............
If you would like to read more go
HERE and scroll down to pg 173
Read more...
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