When your goals change. . .

Doing the monthly book goal reading program with my daughters has been such a rewarding experience. I highly suggest it as a way to encourage yourself to read more, read more widely, connect with your children, and to practice self-discipline. However, there are many good goals in life, and there is a season for all of them. As Scripture says in Ecclesiastes 3 "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:" (NIV). I like to set goals in life, but my highest goal is to be sensitive to God's leading in all things and live according to my priorities. I feel like I am heading into a very busy time of life where reading outside of my area of research for my dissertation will need to be limited. I have finished my first year of coursework for my doctorate in Curriculum, Instruction, and Technology. I am beginning year two with an intense focus on finishing my internship hours of which I have very few. After that, I must pursue my dissertation research full force. This is on top of caring for my large family of nine children and a full time job as a second grade teacher. I have the help of my husband and oldest daughters, but my oldest two are in a band that is becoming busy with shows and traveling, and my husband works a lot to help them. This sucks the energy out of him (he has fibromyalgia) along with all the other care-taking he does with our large family. I say all that only to say this--I must pare down my life to the highest priorities for this season, so I will be stepping out of doing the monthly reading program full force as is. Do I still want to share the reading experience with my daughters? Yes, as I have opportunity to read, and as they share what they are reading with me. Two of my daughters read all the time; I will try to ask about their reading lives. Will I still seek to sneak in a fun book now and then? Yes, probably, for my own sanity's sake! Haha! But I must relieve myself of the overload my brain experiences when I try to do too much and have too many areas of focus. I must conserve mental strength, so I am rewriting my reading goals for the rest of the year. My new monthly book goal will be to read at least one book and one article a month related to my possible dissertation topic, and then if I find a book for fun, sneak it in as I have time, using it as a needed rest or "brain break." This still keeps me reading with my children, but helps me keep my priorities in check.

Books inspire us. . .

This month our category was our favorite category of non-fiction book. I love animal books, and so I chose the book "The Soul of an Octopus" by Sy Montgomery. It is about a woman's thoughts, experiences, and various first hand encounters of this unique creature. The octopus fascinates me, so I was looking forward to reading it. I cannot help but think about my daughter, Kat, who wants to be a marine biologist, as I read it. I think I will recommend it to her when I finish. It makes me want to visit an aquarium and go to the beach again. As I delved into my love for the natural world, Landree investigated her love of writing in her book choice of the month. Landree has finished her book on writing a novel, and I think she is now working on writing her first novel. She said two of the characters from her novels appeared in her dreams the other night. I love how books inspire and encourage new interests and curiosities. In fact, I think it was a book I read to kids at school about octopuses that sparked my love for the creature. Books have that power to help us see each facet of creation in a beautiful new way.

When you reach a goal by not reaching a goal

This month of April, our reading goal was to read a book by an author you've read before and/or an author you haven't read before. We set these goals in order to challenge ourselves, give us some direction and guidance in our choice of reading material, and for fun. However, this month, many other things were on my mind other than our monthly reading goal. I was starting into a busy month of working full time, preparing for finals for my doctoral classes, and caring for a soon to be three month old. My oldest two daughters had several things going on with their band, Easter was coming, etc. . . So in order to pursue the things I needed to do to fulfill my first priorities--my family and career/education, I had to scale back on something. So instead of reading a brand new book, I merely decided to finish the second Harry Potter book I'd started back in March and my Leadership book by John Maxwell I had began for my final class project. They were both books by authors I'd read before, and I had started them back in March, so they couldn't completely "count" for my book goals, but sometimes we have to break our own "rules" in order to do the right thing. I used to give up on a goal when I couldn't reach my them to "perfection" feeling that it wasn't worth it anymore, but as I've gotten older and grown in maturity, I have realized that true "perfection" isn't what I'd imagined. True "perfection" is authenticity and wholeness; it is accepting circumstances as they are, striving for what is best, and being flexible in those things that do not matter. Obeying God's calling in each moment from a heart of love is the best goal. All other goals bend to that goal. So I can choose a new book for April realizing that the journey of inspiration in reading I am taking with my daughters is still a worthy goal. What is most important, though, is the peace from knowing that doing what God wants each moment can trump that goal or any other personal goal I set in the future.

March's Reading Goal

Our reading goal for March is to read a book or books from a series. Katriel is continuing to work on the Chronicles of Narnia series (which is one of my favorites!), and she is currently in the book "Prince Caspian" after having read "The Magician's Nephew," "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," and "The Horse and His Boy." Landree is reading the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. She enjoyed "The Hobbit" and thought she might enjoy those. I look forward to her being exposed to this classic series. As far as my goal. . .well, Landree has been begging me to read the "Harry Potter" series, so I began, and am currently in book 2. You would think as a teacher that I would have already read this series long ago. Well, when the books first came out, I heard all about how wonderful they were by many, but then heard how dangerous they were by the Christian community. As a dedicated Christian, I wanted nothing to do with witchcraft, and wanted to do the "right" thing, so I steered clear of them. Well, age and maturity has a way of showing you that things are not always so "black and white." In fact, how many times did I enjoy "The Wizard of Oz" with my children despite the presence of witches, good and bad? I also began to see how much damage the Christian community did in the world by judging things harshly that were not a big deal and batting an eye at things much more damaging. Not only that, but I had seen too many Christians judge books and movies without every having watched or read them, and so had little chance to discuss them intelligently. There is a time to steer clear of entertainment that might draw us away from the Lord, and a time to not indulge in that entertainment if it will cause others to stray, but I believe there is a time to view books and movies through the lens of redemption (see this blog for clarity as what I mean by that: https://sarahcinnamon.com/2017/03/21/an-unlikely-view-a-different-review/). Using godly wisdom in these things takes maturity and discernment. So as a mom, when my third daughter (who received permission from dad to read the books) begged me to read them, I consented. What a better way to open up the discussion about a variety of things, including the real nature of witchcraft (as opposed to the fantasy based world of Harry Potter), friendship, bravery, obedience, etc. What did I discover and what are my conclusions of this series so far, based on my Christian worldview? Though I would hesitate to recommend it to a child not grounded in the faith, since a fascination with the books could possibly lead to a curiosity about real world witchcraft, I find that for a believer grounded in their faith or someone with no curiosity of the occult, it appears to be a harmless fantasy world. I would rather the story not include so much occultic terminology, but the story is not centered on the magical as much as it is upon the friendship and adventures of the characters. The magical that it does contain has a fantastical childlike quality about it. Real witchcraft is based on the manipulation of others and nature through demonic power and self-will so as to thwart the good will of God and the free will of other humans. These books does not appear to encapsulate the essence of true witchcraft so far (though many things in the books go by that name.) Overall, there are lessons to be learned, such as in the first book, where Harry had to take the existence of platform 9 3/4 on faith, where Ron sacrificed himself for his friends and the greater good of the school, and the mirror and Dumbledore taught Harry that being truly happy means being content with life as you have it. Now, granted, I have not finished the series, but this is my perspective so far. Does this mean I think these are books for everyone or all Christian families? And do they compare to the depth of Christian teaching contained in the Narnia series? No, but we must use discernment, wisdom, and a view of redemption in all we do, and not jump to conclusions out of spiritual pride or without intelligently and wisely considering things.

How is the family reading plan going?

My oldest two daughters, due to their band commitments have mostly dropped out of our reading program. I am sad by this, but it is understandable. Their band, Crossing Fire, is doing well; their first song is #1 on Christianrock.net, and my oldest daughter is trying to prepare for the ACT. I suppose they are doing well in how to handle multiple commitments (especially when being a "one track mind" runs in your family genetic pool). How? They have learned it seems to "choose your top priorities and focus on them, letting other things go." Music is their ministry right now, and their age demands they focus on preparing for college. Not only that, but living in a large family, I am a happy momma that they consider helping out around here and developing relationships with their younger siblings as priorities. Does this mean I do not think they should make reading more of a priority? Not necessarily, but it is important to me not to meddle too much in their volition to think, pray about, and then choose for themselves these kinds of things at their age. I want them to learn to depend upon God in making choices and not push upon them my own self-chosen agenda. Every now and then, I am sure I will encourage them to not forget the important part in ones' life reading can play, and see if they want to join in again.

Where are we now in our reading goals?

So I ended up choosing Tom Sawyer as my classic book. Landree began reading it for fun, so I thought, "Hey, maybe we can discuss it if I choose it as my classic book!" She actually chose a different book for her classic book (which I fail to remember because she reads so many books outside the categories of the month), but she inspired me in mine. I read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn last year and thought it was a well-written adventure. I have to say that although the orneriness of Tom bothered me at first (I am a schoolteacher after all, and didn't find his antics as amusing as a child might), the genuineness of Mark Twain's characterization and his childhood simplicity appealed to me greatly. His adventures and outlook were enjoyable, and as the book went on, I enjoyed it more and more, just like with Huck Finn. I also liked being exposed to a story so connected to my American/Missourian history and heritage. I think it is a valuable part of one's education to know the stories connected to your own heritage; I think it helps us better understand ourselves. Multi-culturalism is important, because we need to understand others, but understanding ourselves is the first step towards understanding others. Maybe this is why I am saddened that European-American and early colonial and pioneer stories are being forgotten as we focus in on stories of Native and African Americans. We need both, and each child should be able to celebrate their own even as they learn about others.

Our February Family Reading Goals

Last year, we really enjoyed choosing a book for each new month's category. However, a problem we sometimes ran into was that one of us (my daughter usually--who had more time), would finish their book within a few days and then have no new goal to focus on the rest of the month. So this year, except for the first month--which was a challenging book--we chose two categories per month. We did this with the expectation that there was to be no pressure if one of us only got one of the categories read that month. Nevertheless, it allows early finishers to choose another book goal, and it also gives us more exciting categories per year to read from. So February's book goals are a Bestseller and a Classic. When choosing the categories for the month, we tried to choose two categories that would somehow complement each other. When choosing this duo we thought, "a popular new book" and a "popular old book" or the best of old and new. Well, seeing that I finished "Crime and Punishment" a little early (I am on maternity leave. Normally, a book like that would take me the whole month), I began my bestseller at the end of January. It was so good, and it was an easy read, so I actually finished it before February. That's okay, though, because I know I will get busy come April and May, so if I get ahead on all my categories, that would be a good thing. So what did I choose? I chose the book, "Ghost Boy" by Martin Pistorious. It is an international bestseller and an autobiography (one of my favorite categories) about a boy who comes down with a mysterious sickness that causes him to lose memory of his childhood, but also control of his body. People think he is a vegetable with little brain function, but he is completely aware and intelligent, just unable to communicate at all. Finally, one person believes in him enough to realize he can communicate by staring at pictures, and through time he finds ways to communicate with technology and regains some control back of his body. It was a great story of someone who overcame a great obstacle and the importance of treating all people with dignity no matter what we perceive their level of awareness or intelligence. My girls are choosing their books now too. My third daughter chose a bestselling book of Christian encouragement and began reading it as soon as "War and Peace" was finished, my oldest, Faith, chose a bestseller non-fiction book about octopuses, Kat chose the book "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" which is popular enough to have a movie out about it right now, and Arwen chose the new "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" book. Savannah is choosing to take her time with her challenging read from January, "Jane Eyre." It is a classic anyway, so hey, it fits into one of February's categories anyway. Landree and Savannah (in honor of Landree finishing "War and Peace") are watching the History channel "War and Peace" mini-series. I just love to see how reading is becoming a normal part of our family life and how our books give us something new to discuss and share with one another. I am not quite sure what book to choose for my classic read. Hmmm. . . what am I in the mood for? Feel free to comment your suggestions below.

My philosophy on true leadership and free will

Peter M. Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline, said the following:
You cannot force commitment. What you can do … you nudge a little here, inspire a little there, and provide a role model. Your primary influence is the environment you create.
“As a leader, how do you get people to do what you want them to do, or is this not even your idea of what a leader does?” In response to this question, I would have to say that this is not my idea of what a leader does because true leadership is not about pushing your agenda upon others. Please forgive me if I get deep and philosophical in this post, but this topic is one close to my heart. Leadership should never be about “getting people to do” certain things. Senge is spot on when he says, “You cannot force commitment. . . your primary influence is the environment you create.” Jesus says in Mark 10:43, “He who wants to be great among you, must be servant of all.”
Free will is the sacred gift bestowed upon all from God Himself, and I believe it is a grave sin to violate that free will through force, pressure, manipulation, or oppression. It is best encapsulated in Christ’s phrase, “Whosoever will.” Unfortunately, a lot of schools and educational leaders become oppressors as they force their visions upon schools and teachers. Paulo Freire, an educational philosopher, in his book Pedagogy of the Oppressed, says, “the more the oppressors control the oppressed, the more they change them into apparently inanimate ‘things.’ This tendency of the oppressor consciousness to ‘in-animate’ everything and everyone it encounters. . . corresponds with sadism. . . They talk about the people, but they do not trust them; and trusting the people is the indispensable precondition for revolutionary change. A real humanist can be identified more by his trust in the people, which engages him in their struggle, than a thousand actions in their favor without that trust” (1970, p. 41-42). John Holt, another revolutionary educational thinker, in his book Freedom and Beyond says, “no one can find his work, what he really wants to put all of himself into, when everything he does he is made to do by others. This kind of searching must be done freely or not at all” (1972, p.57). I Corinthians 13 says, “Love always. . .trusts. . .”
So how does one lead, then? You lead by the “environment you create” --your attitudes. First, you lead through the attitude of respect for the humanity of your followers, and because of that respect, you are willing to suffer for their freely chosen mistakes and support them in their part within your organization. Secondly, you lead through trust. God puts in the hearts of people His dreams for them, and if you are their leader, you are to trust that God will use their skills, talents, and even failures to drive the agenda in which He wants you to lead them. Only then does the “nudging” and “inspiring” have a place.
The “nudging” is the “planting of the seed”—the new idea, the action that helps people overcome their weakness, or the clearing of the path for them to go through. Sometimes they have a mental roadblock you must help them overcome through the “nudge” of new information, belief in their abilities, or godly discipline. The “inspiring” might be like the word I spoke to my student teacher when I told her of a time that I went through a similar experience and overcame. It is also the belief in the abilities and potential of those you serve. The “providing a role model” is the most important element of all, for it is what truly inspires others to follow you of their own free will. When you are willing to chase the vision first, to put forth the effort and dedication despite the cost to yourself, speak with passion of it, and then give your very life energy towards that goal, you embody the spirit of Christ who gave all when He was “lifted up” upon a cross of suffering and thereby “draws all men to Himself” (John 12:32).
If we are to lead our educational institutions towards school improvement using data as a primary tool, we must believe in it and commit our own selves to it first. Then we can gently nudge and inspire those around us to engage in the journey as well.
RESOURCES:
Freire, Paulo (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum.
Holt, John (1972). Freedom and beyond. Portsmouth: Boynton/Cook.
Senge, Peter M. (2006). The fifth discipline. New York: Doubleday/Currency.

Our January Reading Goal Update

So our January Goal for this month was "A Book that Challenges You." I finished "Crime and Punishment," and I have to say that the first half challenged me. Not because of the fact it was an older classic book, but because the theme was dark, and you kept wondering what he was thinking and what was going on until the second half started answering your questions. The first half of the book bored me. Thankfully, the second half of the book was better, and the last third of the book was so good that I read it in about a day. I came to the conclusion, though, that I much prefer Tolstoy as my Russian author of choice, over Dostoyevsky. His characters are more lovable, in my opinion, and I love his philosophical bent. In fact, Tolstoy is still one of my favorite new authors of late.
My third daughter read "War and Peace" by Tolstoy and loved it as much as I did. A girl after my own heart! And she read it much faster than me, my little bookworm! She said the characters were so well-thought through that you could feel what they felt; I agreed. She said that the war parts were boring, but she agreed with me that they were well worth getting through for the main story. She also liked how the book began by discussing five different families separately and how it ended with all of their lives intertwined with one another. Like me, she liked how it opened your mind up to a different way of perceiving and understanding history.
My first daughter is almost done with "To Kill a Mockingbird." She is not much of a reader, so I have been so excited to see her get interested in the book. She said it was nice to have something else to do besides her normal hobbies. Her and my second daughter are very caught up and busy with their music and band, so they are not as determined to stick with their goals, but they do say they want to read more this year. My second daughter released the pressure from herself to get a book done every month, but she has started "Jane Eyre" and intends to finish it. My fifth daughter got frustrated with her book this month; I feel the author's speech and topics were frustrating for her level of understanding, so she decided to focus on other books. This is perfectly fine with me. I do not want reading to feel forced and unenjoyable for any of my children.
Finally, my fourth daughter finished "White Fang." She had a hard time being committed at the first, and then she really took off about the first third of the way through. I can tell that my little animal-lover enjoyed it, and she asked about a lot of new vocabulary words as she read, so I know it was a good learning experience for her.
I really encourage you, if you are any sort of a reader at all, to try something like this challenge with your children. It really brings you together as you discuss your books, and it encourages your children to become life-long learners. I have also done something like this at school where I share my reading goals with my students, and it is such a rewarding learning experience for children as you model to them reading and thinking skills in real life.

Tag teaming--a key to large family dynamics

Many people are fascinated by how things work in a large family--especially one that is as busy as ours. If you have ever worked in any large group situation, you may have discovered the importance of everyone having a job, trust, and committment between the group members. Delegation, obedience, and teamwork are also important components to making sure that things are accomplished. We also have to watch out for each other's needs and set priorities without selfishness. So how does this work in a typical day or week in our family household?
First of all, each member has their primary assigned duties that are priorities for them.
For dad, it is running laundry through the wash, taking trash to the curb, helping mow the lawn, bills/finances, shopping, car and household maintenance, cooking dinner, planning and coordinating the teenage daughters' home-school, band gigs, and other extra-curricular. With his fibromyalgia, we also have to watch to make sure dad is not doing too much to overexert himself.
For mom, it is working a full-time teaching job, working on her doctorate, reading with and monitoring schoolwork of the school age children each night, keeping her and dad's room and bathroom clean, putting her and dad's laundry away, and overseeing weekend chores and break-time organizational tasks around the house.
For the oldest daughter, it is her schoolwork, band gigs, music practices and lessons, daily breakfast/lunch cleanup and cooking,her room/shared bathroom and laundry, and weekend kitchen clean-up.
For the second oldest daughter, it is her schoolwork, band gigs, music practices and lessons, weekly putting away of the laundry, her room/shared bathroom, and cleaning of the family room and nursery.
For the third oldest daughter, it is her schoolwork, music practices and lessons, extra reading/writing practice, feeding and watering of the pets, weekly laundry, her bedroom/shared bathroom and cleaning of the living room.
For the fourth oldest daughter, it is her schoolwork, music practices and other extra-curriculars, her bedroom/bathroom, her weekly Awana memory verses, putting away her own laundry,picking up toys, and daily dinner clean-up.
For the fifth oldest daughter, it is her schoolwork, picking up toys, soccer practice, her bedroom, taking out the household trash, putting away her own laundry, and cleaning off the kitchen table.
For the sixth oldest daughter, it is her schoolwork, bedroom, picking up toys, and the weekly organization of the shoe closet.
For the seventh oldest daughter (four years old), it is her bedroom, picking up toys, and helping the sixth oldest with the organization of the shoe closet.
The toddler's job is to be good! LOL
Now beyond those individual priorities, every one does one of the most important components to making a large family work: delegation and tag teaming!
Childcare of the babies and toddlers, as well as seasonal cleaning and organization, fit into this category. When one person is done with a job, TAG! They watch the toddler and/or baby while the previous family member does what they need to do. When other big people have to be gone to extra-curriculars, work, or school events, TAG! The teenager or adult at home does childcare. When seasonal cleaning time arrives, delegation happens with childcare tag-teaming at play. It is a constant interplay of back and forth work to make family life balance.
Finally, how do we make sure family members are not tired and burnt out? Sundays and select vacation days take on a relaxed and laid back approach with built in rest/nap times, family time, and scheduled days for family members to go out with their friends or have some alone time. Life in a large family can work well when everyone works as a team!

Our January Reading Goal

Well, even though we have a few days left until January, the girls and I were ready to begin our January reading goal. The category we decided upon for January is "A Book that Challenges You." We really felt that reading "A Book that Intimidates You" last year was good for us, so we decided to do something similar again. What is interesting is that a couple of the books chosen were books read by a parent or sibling before. For most of us, we chose an older classic since the older language, depth of thought, and length are often more challenging.
I chose "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. I chose this for the aforementioned reasons but also for one of my own. I loved Tolstoy last year, and Dostoyevsky is apparently the other highly esteemed writer of great Russian literature from the same time period. We'll see if I like him as much.
Faith chose "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. She has just decided to get back into reading more than school assignments, comics and fan fiction to better prepare herself for college. Landree highly recommended this book to her (it was her favorite read from last year and one of her favorite books).
Savannah chose "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte because Landree and I agree it is probably one of our all time favorites, and since Savannah loves things from that time period, we thought she would like it.
Landree chose the monstrous book "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy. She is my literature lover, so she really wanted to challenge herself. She saw how much I liked it, and she watched part of the History Channel's special "War and Peace" series (which was really well done and true to the book, by the way). This is one reason she pushed for a head start at the end of December to begin reading, although I bet my fast reader finished in less than the three months it took me!
Katriel chose "White Fang" by Jack London because she loves animals, and the book came highly recommended by Faith. Her and Faith have similar interests, so she took Faith's recommendation to heart. Faith is not much into literature, but is a big fan of Jack London's books "The Call of the Wild" and "White Fang."
Arwen is still learning to read, so she chose one of Landree's childhood chapter book favorites "Clementine." It is a funny and cute book that we both think Arwen will love with her fun sense of humor.

Hopefully, we are all up for the challenge and finish our books for January! I enjoy seeing my daughters share books with each other and have the privilege of observing a sibling read a beloved book. Not only that, but it is so exciting for me to see my child pick up one of my cherished reads and read it for themselves.

Our reading goals 2017

If you read my last post, you know that my third daughter and I set a reading goal for each month of 2016. We are aspiring to do this again for 2017, but I am excited to share that all five of my oldest daughters appear to be on board to join in the challenge! (By the way, for those who do not know, I have going on nine daughters! But I can save information on my large family of girls for other posts.) This thrills me because that as an educator and mother, I long to see my daughters grow in the knowledge and personal growth that reading can bring them. Not only that, but since literature is a passion of mine, I long to grow in my relationship with each one of them. I say this because like many understand, sharing a hobby or passion with your children is a great way to connect. With so many children and so little time, it is important to me to have those things that draw us together and spark discussion between us. Several of my daughters are fans of comic books and superheros like my husband, which is one way they bond with their father. A few of my daughters are like me and are animal and nature lovers, so we have those things to share. We all enjoy movies and TV shows together and the discussions those spark. Now, I am excited that all my daughters old enough to read on their own, will be trying to read along with me!

Literature and books as everyday family education

This last year, my third daughter, a fellow book lover, and I decided to go on a journey together. We decided to grow our relationship with books and each other by embarking on a 2016 book reading challenge where we chose a book a month to read from some pre-selected categories. It was a very positive experience that brought us both out of our comfort zones. I read a variety of genres and types: fiction/non-fiction, classics and modern, and challenging/easy.
I think stories whether in books or movies are a great way to start family discussions and get people thinking about the important things in life.
What were my take-aways?
1. I LOVE Tolstoy! I read "War and Peace" as the "Book that Intimidates Me," and although it took me three months to read with my busy schedule, it was deep and thoughtful, with engaging characters. I also read "Anna Karenina," and I rate it as the best book I read in 2016. Tolstoy explored the depths of humanity, relationships, the nature of history, and the meaning of life. Sometimes I just had to sit and chew on a thought nestled within his books savoring the truth and meaning I tasted within it.
2. The timing of a book can be as important as the book itself. "Anna Karenina" was in the category "A Book I Abandoned" because I began reading it about five years ago, and not far into the book, I set it aside as disturbing and somewhat confusing. I picked it up again, and it came to life before my eyes. Sometimes, life experience, how you have changed as a person, and the time of life you are in can make all the difference in how you see a book.
3. Some books are great for a quick, fun and engaging read. However, some books are "life" books that require thought, time, and effort, but they affect you deeply and leave you a better person. It is nice to have both in your life. It is the difference between a snack or dessert and a five course, nutritious, and savory meal.
4. A set reading challenge that you do with a buddy or two is a great way to be a consistent dedicated reader. The different categories make it fun and also lead you into new, interesting, and challenging directions. The buddy(ies) help you stay consistent and make reading a relational activity. As opposed to a book club, you each get to read something you want and feel fits you personally, and you can also learn about other books from someone else who is reading them.
5. It is important to read timeless classics (which are classics for a reason) as well as modern works that help you better understand what is happening in your own generation and how people are thinking today.

Simply documenting thoughts--the gift of ourselves

Again, it has been a long time since I've written in my blog. Life is busy, and sometimes the time just isn't right. I am now busy working on my doctorate in education, teaching third grade, and raising soon to be nine children. My husband is a stay at home dad, and he home schools my older daughters who help immensely, so I am not the supermom some people think when I list out my responsibilities. I am just a mom following the unique path God has for me doing the best I can with a husband and children doing the best they can. I am currently on Christmas break waiting for my ninth baby girl to come. The last month of pregnancy is the most difficult for me, and it is especially difficult because I have to rely on my children for so much. My husband's fibromyalgia prevents me from leaning on him too much for physical help with things, so we often rely on them. They are so good about it, but I know it is hard for them. I know people would judge me for having nine children, but I just figure that it will have to be that way. Sometimes you go down a path that isn't easy just because you know it is the right thing and trust that God has more good in it than you can currently see. I realized the other day one reason why I do not write in my blog more despite my love for writing. I am waiting for some grandiose thing to say. I read an article that said to just start documenting, don't worry about creating some grand thing. If you document enough, good things will eventually be created. So here is my start. I also know, however, that I am a pretty private person, and my husband is too. I do not want to share more than he nor I would like. I do not like to market myself or my ideas,so we'll see if this tapers off once again. However, sharing a part of yourself is a gift to the world; I firmly believe each person is a gift to those around him/her and to the world. When a person shares their true selves with those around them, the world is enriched in a way that only that person can provide. So here I am.

Why I am a Christian:

Why I am a Christian? After all, many would say all religions contain elements of truth—a higher power or consciousness of good, the need to reconcile or align oneself with the good and deny, suppress, or fight the bad, the consciousness of something wrong that needs to be corrected. So many of the ancient myths and stories contain these themes—some go so far as to have a virgin mother figure, a messiah like figure or war hero. All usually contain some teaching on love, forgiveness, righteousness, and justice. So why am a Christian, and not anything else or nothing at all? Because Christianity remains rooted in the historical Christ who can be said to have fulfilled not just the Jewish law and prophecies, but also the myths of the Norse and Romans, the philosophies of the Greeks, the suffering and self-denial of the Buddhists, the monotheistic holiness of the Muslim, the ethics of the Confucians, the Nirvana of the Hindus, and He is the answer of the human heart in a living breathing complex reality, and not just in a remote idealism. He was the God-Man, the fulfillment of all priestly figures of all religions. He came down and lived the truth in a flesh and blood way that we can understand because truth just cannot be spoken—it must be lived out. The Incarnation is the supreme crux that makes all the difference. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. . .

Invertebrates (to tune of Bingo)

This is another one of the memory songs I wrote. Hopefully, this will help kids learn the taxonomy of the invetebrate part of the animal kingdom. One great way of helping kids learn this is by repeating it each day of your unit on invetebrates while showing pictures or flashcards of the animals within each phylum or class.

The Annelid group includes earthworms
With their segmented bodies,
Invertebrates, invetebrates,
Invertebrates have no backbone!

Sponges are the simplest animals,
These Porifera filter feed.
Invertebrates, invetebrates,
Invetebrates have no backbone!

Cnidaria are stinging creatures
Like jellyfish, anemones, and corral,
Invertebrates, invetebrates,
Invetebrates have no backbone!

Echinoderms are marine animals,
Whose arms radiate from a center,
Invertebrates, invetebrates,
Invetebrates have no backbone!

Mollusca is a group of snails and slugs,
Bivalves, and cephalopods, (Bivalves-oysters, clams)
Invertebrates, invetebrates,
Invetebrates have no backbone! (Cephalopods-squid, octopus)

Arthropods with exoskeletons,
Are many--break them into classes!
Invertebrates, invetebrates,
Invetebrates have no backbone!

Arachnids are eight-legged creatures,
You think of them as spiders!
Invertebrates, invetebrates,
Invetebrates have no backbone!

Crustaceans have hard outer shells,
And sometimes claws like lobsters,
Invertebrates, invetebrates,
Invetebrates have no backbone!

Insects have three parts,
Six legs, and an antennae,
Invertebrates, invetebrates,
Invetebrates have no backbone!

(NOTE: There are 8 other phyla that include various types of worm-like creatures. There are also five other phyla of various other kinds of sea creatures with which most people are unfamiliar. The ones in the song are the most common types.)

VERTEBRATES MEMORY SONG: Classical Educators

I've always been partial to the classical model of education. It has influenced my teaching philosophy in many ways. I especially like the focus on memory skills in the grammar stage (which is the elementary years). After having worked with this age group for going on 11 years, I think the modern teacher's disregard for memory work is sad--especially since so many of them beat their head against a brick wall in trying to teach abstract "higher-order thinking skills" before some children are really ready. I am not against teaching higher-order thinking skills in moderation as children are ready; however, memory skills are important too. When I was homeschooling, I noticed that good poems and songs to use in memory work were not always easily found, so I often made my own. I decided it was time to share my work with all who would like to use it for non-commerical purposes.

MEMORY WORK PIECE #1 SCIENCE--A Piggyback song about "Vertebrates"

(Sing to tune Jingle Bells)

(CHORUS) Vertebrates, vertebrates, creatures with a backbone,
There are five groups of them by which they can be know,
Amphibians, reptiles, fish, and mammals too,
And then there's the final group called birds,
but let's give each one its due

Amphibians lay eggs--in the water yes,
They breathe through gills when young,
They must stay moist I stress;
Their skin is smooth and damp,
And cold-blooded though they be,
These toads and frogs, and salamanders, are oh, so lovely!

(Chorus)

Reptiles have scaly skin, and it's also dry
They are cold-blooded as well,
On this I wouldn't lie;
Lizards and crocodiles fit,
In this group with snakes,
Alligators and turtles too, oh for goodness sakes!

(Chorus)

Fish live within the water, and breathe through their gills,
Cold-blooded creatures also,
These facts I must instill;
They have fins upon their bodies,
No arms, legs, wings or claws,
Their scales are such a grand design,
That we give to God applause!

(Chorus)

Mammals have fur or hair and they're warm-blooded, yes,
Most grow within their mother--no eggs for them, you've guessed,
They also have four limbs, and mother's milk they drink,
There are 11 groups of them,
Oh my, this makes me think!

(Chorus)

Birds are made to fly, at least most of which we know,
They have feathers, wings, and efficient lungs,
And from eggs they grow;
Their beaks God made to help them
Grasp and eat the food they need,
Warm-blooded like all the mammals,
They are unique indeed!

Back at it again

It has been a year and a half since I last wrote on this blog. I guess it has been that long since I've had enough downtime to put any significant amount of thought into anything extraneous. In fact, since I last wrote, I finished my Master's Degree in teaching, looked like mad and finally found a new teaching job, began that new teaching job at the fourth grade in a low-income public school in my hometown, and I also gave birth to my sixth daughter! I've finally reached a point of relaxation and rest that were welcome friends. However, I was beginning to get a little antsy with all the open "thought" time available and thought it was time to start blogging again. Will I keep it up? Well, we'll see.

The Brain Needs a Vacation Too

I don't think as educators, we have learned to teach in the natural rhythm of the whole human. Holistic teaching is important. A child who is anxious, tired, stressed, excited, or overwhelmed will not learn. Do we take these things into account when trying to teach? Right now, myself and my kids are on a much needed vacation from school--they have a break from homeschooling, and I am having a break from working on my master's program. And yet I'm using this time to explore interests and concerns outside of my regimented program. In fact, I think I am probably learning and growing more as a teacher right now by following my own curiosity. Sometimes, what I'm reading isn't even directly related to education. I've been reading a fiction book and online religious history resources, and yet I can't help but feel that the reading I'm doing is directly impacting what kind of teacher and mother I am becoming because I am flowing with my spirit's natural learning rhythm and the needs of my own heart. By pressing incessant duties upon children, could it be that we are denying them these basic skills in life long learning, reflecting, and growing inside?

How my philosophies of life influence my educational goals

This is an excerpt from a paper I wrote for my History and Philosophy of Education class:
"So how does my metaphysical philosophy drive my educational goals? Well, since I believe that the universe was created by a good God according to patterns and principles, and that it is a reflection of Him, it must then follow that one of my main goals in education is to guide students to see and discover the patterns and principles in creation so that they can live in harmony with the creation and its Creator. Since I believe that the nature of God is goodness, love, justice, and wisdom, then my second goal in education is the be a model of God’s goodness, love, justice, and wisdom in my interactions with students that they may come to know and be like Him. I also believe that humankind is made in God’s image, and yet that image has been marred by sin. In response, God sent Christ as our redemption. Therefore, another educational goal I have is to treat all my students with dignity as God’s image bearers as I train them to treat others with dignity. Not only that, but because of the effects of the Fall, my goal is to guide them into the knowledge of Christ and His grace as I am able and mediate for them before God in prayer for their souls’ salvation. I also intend to support and train students as they work on developing their full potential so they might shine more brightly as tiny reflections of God on the earth. Finally, since I believe reality is absolute, my next educational goal is to teach reality as something to respect as we respect God—not something we create for ourselves. And because reality consists of a deeper spiritual dimension with its corresponding physical dimension, I also purpose to make sure I teach with depth and not just coverage so that my focus is not mere rote learning that touches on the mere physical surface of things.
Now how are my educational goals influenced by my epistemological beliefs? Since I believe that the revelation of Scripture enlightened by the Holy Spirit is the best way of arriving at truth, my goal is to make that revelation integral to my conveyance of knowledge. This may be directly to my children at home or in a private religious school. Or if teaching in a public school, it may be indirectly as I live out and teach its basic principles. However, I intend to make clear through words and actions that the quest for knowledge can rightly be attained through a variety of other methods, such as reason, senses, intuition, and authority, when they are balanced out and used in an attitude of humility that remains open to correction.
My axiological beliefs also influence my educational goals. Since I believe in right and wrong that is absolute according to God and Scripture, one goal I have is to implement rules and curriculum that best align with those absolute moral standards. Since I believe there is a type of absolute beauty that reflects God and His glory, I also set an educational goal of helping students develop a taste for that beauty (as best as I can ascertain it), recognize their unique preference for various aspects of that beauty, discover the beauty around them, and create beauty within their lives."