What We’ve Been Up To In Our Bible Based Homeschool
Our Bible based homeschool is always changing.
This year has been a pretty smooth year; no big ups or downs and everything has been pretty steady. I guess compared to least year, with a husband out of work, losing power during Hurricane Sandy for two weeks, and many other bumps in the road, you can say we are feeling a much needed breather.
Yet I have noticed that each year is a different year, and I love that about homeschooling- we can change right along with the year. Last year, many lessons came just from real life. This year we have been a bit more balanced with things.
Our daily homeschool life.
We are generally home on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and take lasses outside of the home the other days. it provides a nice balance knowing that the days we are home, we are home. We can focus on our book work and projects at home. I like this schedule very much.
Our Bible studies.
We are studying Matthew right now. We just go through the book, a little at a time. Some days are a bit meatier than others. I read the passage, we discuss, look at commentaries, and try to really dig in. We spend about an hour doing this along with map work, looking up articles, or other resources from the passage and about Ancient Rome. We’ve been getting our hands on as much Ancient Rome resources as we can. We’ve been really wanting to understand what was going on in the world during the time Jesus lived. We have been in awe of God’s providence and how He had Jesus born at the exact time in history in the exact place for His purposes. Truly fascinating stuff.
Individual work.
After our family time, the kids work on their individual studies. (Math, Copywork, Reading, Spelling, Science, Music, etc.) This takes us to lunch time. We take a nice long break and then after lunch get back together to read some family literature, watch an educational DVD, or any other projects we may want to work on. If there is any other individual work that needs to be finished, they work on that as well. We are pretty flexible though. My son was in a robotics competition and that fulfilled science for a bit; when the weather was warm we were into studying the caterpillars in the garden. Some days my son will sit for hours working in PhotoShop or other computer programs. My daughter will want to cook or sew. My younger ones will build Legos. And yes…some days we want to just “veg.” (thank you Netflix 
We go with flow quite often.)
Overall this year is steady. One major change that I think has helped us keep things feeling steady is we have taken Sabbath weeks. So far we have had two breaks and it has made a world of a difference. I have felt more rested, and so have the kids. I am also learning to weed out things when the schedule starts to feel overwhelming. I remind myself I work for an audience of One- and my only aim is to please Him.
This month we are doing Advent studies and taking a break from our normal Bible study. We are learning about prophecies and Jesus’ birth. We are enjoying the preparation for Christmas. This morning we had family worship time, which lead to my daughter looking up several songs to play on her cello. She ended up playing most of the afternoon. I love days like that- where I can let them explore and learn without forcing anything on them.
My son (3rd grade) taught himself Power point so he could make a presentation on why he should have a certain item for Christmas! Ha! Love the creativity, even if there was a motive behind it Yet, these are the days when I can sit back and allow them to teach themselves rather than me just filling them up with information.
Don’t think all days are smooth sailing…many days my temper is short, attitudes are poor, and things get rough. Yet, God always prevails. Those are the days that drive me closer to Him. I must rely on Him through it all.
God is good. He leads us. When I am submissive to His plans, and let my plans go away, He always shows me a better way. I could never homeschool without Him. I am so incredibly grateful for what He has done.
