Thrift Schooling

Nikki, over at Angels of Heart  is starting up a Lego Challenge for kids! The first and third Friday of each month she will be presenting a new challenge for your kids to take on. My oldest son spends more time playing with Legos than any other toy in our house, I'm sure many of you can relate! So I thought it would be fun to present my three children with a challenge, and they loved it.       Both of my boys picked a monster for their creation! Of course. Michael's Monster Age 5 Aaron's Monster Age 6 Tirzah's Towers Age 3 Some creative looking towers, I must add.  I should have done duplos though, she was having quite the time trying to snap these together. Hence the short towers, haha! Tallest: Red Shortest: White Tune in two weeks from now for the next challenge!!!

* UPDATE: January 2025. This company is no longer in operation but I will keep this content up in case any woodworkers are looking for inspiration.  Woodworks By Brooks is a family company based out of Alabama. With over 25 years of experience, Michael Books and his wife April work hard at providing quality, handcrafted wooden treasures for the entire family! When you order from Woodworks By Brooks, you are ordering a handcrafted piece made by them, no outsourcing! Not only do they provide quality items found on their website and Etsy shop , but you can custom order that wood furniture piece that you've been dreaming about for years! They also provide home remodeling services if you are local. Want to learn some woodworking skills for yourself? They hold 'How-to' workshops to help you gain some of the basic skills needed in woodworking! When you support Woodworks By Brooks , not only are you supporting a small business with products made in the USA, but you are supp...

For those of us who grew up attending public school, we most likely remember receiving a weekly reader to take home to inform us on current events. I remember receiving mine on Fridays to take home and read over the weekend! Sometimes, as homeschool parents we want to be able to recreate things that we remember from our educational past, but if our worldview has changed since then, we want to make sure what we are allowing our kid's to read line up with our beliefs!  God's World News  is a biblically based magazine providing children from Pre-K through High School with current events and fun facts appropriate for their age level. What a perfect substitute for the secular counterpart! As soon as I learned of this company I knew I wanted to try it out in our homeschool! I was excited to receive several copies of the Early Edition geared towards first and second graders and look forward to receiving a full year subscription.        $28 f...

When I hear, Youth With A Mission, I immediately think of their Discipleship Training Schools and different ministry opportunities. I think of missions trips and intense spiritual training. YWAM is well-known for training youth to carry the gospel all over the world. Even when I was halfway across the world, almost a decade ago teaching in a children's home in India, I met Christians who had come in contact with YWAM. The impact they had left in that place was profound, especially in the lives of the leaders of that particular ministry. Recently, I have learned that not only does YWAM provide ministry training, but they also run a publishing company! Perfect for homeschoolers,  YWAM publishing  carries a series called Christian Heroes, some include a Curriculum Guide to use in your home or private school setting. I recently read Jim Elliot: One Great Purpose  by Janet and Geoff Benge and the accompanying Unit Study written by them as well.   Christian H...

A few weeks ago our family visited the National Zoo in Washington DC. It was a blast. We didn't get to see mama or baby panda since they were tucked away so she could do her nursing thing though. But, we did see daddy panda, quite intriguing! I was also fortunate enough to see this chipper little fellow.  For some reason he wouldn't smile for the camera.   Here is another one of my faves, something tells me he couldn't smile if he wanted too.   Now here's a guy who wouldn't stop showing off for the camera. Think I got his best side? And of course, Mr. Lion, I'm sure he's enjoying some peace and quiet right about now! When we were there it seemed like every child that walked by him had to growl at the top of their lungs, mine included!

I try not to include politics (too often) on this site because that is not the primary focus of this blog. Homeschooling and training children up in a way that is in accordance with Jesus and His Word is the primary focus. But sometimes politics and homeschooling do go hand in hand. Which is why our family turned a lesson of "current events" into a field trip, to:  CAPITOL HILL! That's right, come this Tuesday, October 1, 2013, things will change in this country in a way that I believe will be a moment in history that we will not forget. This is the day that every American will be required, by law to receive government health care. This is the day that socialized medicine, although not a new concept, will be enforced in a way that goes against everything this nation stands for. We took our children to a building. A building in which was built to face east. East, so that the sun would never set on the face of freedom. We went to the capitol of our nation, to...

We all have a story. A past. There are pleasant memories, and ones that you pray will be erased from your memory, forever. We all have had people treat us unfairly and unkindly in our lives, and how we choose to deal with that pain, determines how will will treat and react to others in the future. In Dear Dad, did you know I was a Princess? Sundi Jo Graham shares her testimony in light of her healed relationship with her father at the end of his life. This journal-style piece of writing shows her sharing her fears, insecurities and eventual faith in God in the form of letters to her dad.  The story of Sundi Jo is interesting because her true deliverance and salvation found in God did not happen before she found herself in ministry but after. What a sobering message. Although my experience is different and I didn't fall prey to all the same sins as her, sin is sin. I too, remember when I was highly involved in ministry, yet my heart was far from God, far from desiring righteou...