Category Archives: Articles on Children and Family

Virtue Formation Through Liturgy in Our Homeschool Morning Time

Virtue Formation Through Liturgy in Our Homeschool Morning Time

  Earlier this month I had the privilege to speak at a women’s conference for ten like-minded Fort Worth churches. I spoke on family worship in the home–developing daily habits, or liturgies (which can be defined as habitual group actions), reflective of the gospel and of the church’s worship in order to cultivate Christlikeness in… Continue Reading

A Homeschool Mom Reads: August and September

A Homeschool Mom Reads: August and September

August: August was back to school month for us as well as me getting ready to speak at a conference, so, while I didn’t get much read, two out of three of my books were excellent. Caught Up in a Story by Sarah Clarkson I bought this after listening to Sarah on a podcast at… Continue Reading

Book Review: Bonding with Your Child Through Boundaries

Book Review: Bonding with Your Child Through Boundaries

Since reading a highly recommended secular parenting book earlier this summer out of curiosity, I’ve been on a bit of a parenting book binge, looking for intensely practical parenting advice like that book offered, but from a biblical perspective. Bonding with Your Child Through Boundaries by June Hunt, with Peggy Sue Wells, was released by Crossway this summer, and… Continue Reading

The Four Approaches to Classical Christian Education, Part 3: The Trivium-as-Stages Approach

The Four Approaches to Classical Christian Education, Part 3: The Trivium-as-Stages Approach

This entry is part 3 of 4 in the series Classical Christian Education: Four Distinct Approaches You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

In this series, I am discussing the four different ways that evangelicals are doing classical Christian education (CCE) in 2015. In my first post, I asserted that CCE has come a long way in the 30-plus years since Doug Wilson wrote Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning. I would argue that CCE has grown beyond… Continue Reading

A Homeschool Mom Reads: July

A Homeschool Mom Reads: July

After the fun beach and car reading of June, I was ready for some nourishing fare this month, and that was just what I got. I have rarely had such an encouraging and refreshing month of reading, in terms of the books themselves, as I had this month. I started about three or four books… Continue Reading

My Curriculum Recommendations: 2nd and 4th Grade

My Curriculum Recommendations: 2nd and 4th Grade

As I plan for our upcoming school year, what am I buying? I still love much/most of what we’ve been using. We had a few things that didn’t work for us this past year, so I’ll note those changes and why they didn’t work. Also, we’re transitioning into our second history cycle, so that necessitated… Continue Reading

A Homeschool Mom Reads: May and June

A Homeschool Mom Reads: May and June

Here’s what I read in May and June. (January through April can be found here.) May: The Penderwicks in Spring by Jeanne Birdsall The fourth book in this series. I personally really enjoy the Penderwick books (light, clean fun and well written), but there’s too much teen boyfriend/girlfriend stuff for me to give these to… Continue Reading

A Homeschool Mom Reads: January through April

A Homeschool Mom Reads: January through April

At long last, I finished my master’s degree in Christian education in December. Much as I’m thrilled to be done, I loved the external pressure of hard book lists and required reading deadlines. Don’t get me wrong. I love to read on my own. But…I probably wouldn’t pick up some of the heftier, weightier things… Continue Reading

The App That Rescued Our Memory Work

The App That Rescued Our Memory Work

I posted this photo on facebook a few days ago as I was gearing up for and getting excited about our simplified summer morning routine (as opposed to a full homeschool morning). I mentioned that our summer Morning Time (see Cindy Rollins on Morning Time) includes mostly reading aloud, listening to music and stories on… Continue Reading

How do children learn to worship?

How do children learn to worship?

Yesterday I had the opportunity to present a special library lecture on the topic of family worship. I emphasized the importance of both welcoming children into corporate worship and encouraging families to worship together at home. Any concerned, Christian parent is committed to training his or her child to be obedient to the Lord and… Continue Reading

Four Approaches to Classical Christian Education, Part 2: Towards a Definition

Four Approaches to Classical Christian Education, Part 2: Towards a Definition

This entry is part 2 of 4 in the series Classical Christian Education: Four Distinct Approaches You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

I recently wrote a post introducing a new series about the four distinct ways that evangelicals are doing classical Christian education in 2015–more than 30 years after Doug Wilson re-introduced us to Dorothy Sayers and the Trivium. I asserted that, despite the many who claim that classical Christian education is the Trivium and its “stages,”… Continue Reading

Classical Christian Education: Four Distinct Approaches, part 1

Classical Christian Education: Four Distinct Approaches, part 1

This entry is part 1 of 4 in the series Classical Christian Education: Four Distinct Approaches You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

I’m guessing that a lot of homeschool parents, like me, encountered classical Christian education (CCE) through either Doug Wilson’s excellent book Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning or through Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise’s very helpful The Well-Trained Mind. Wilson first convinced me of CCE, and Bauer and Wise made me think that I… Continue Reading

It’s time to order your Christmas daily devotional – “Rejoicing in Christ, the Newborn King: 25 Meditations for Family Worship During the Christmas Season”

It’s time to order your Christmas daily devotional – “Rejoicing in Christ, the Newborn King: 25 Meditations for Family Worship During the Christmas Season”

Last year we published a new daily devotional for the Christmas season by Pastor Taigen Joos that was very well-received. This devotional is perfect for both families and individuals to use as they prepare to worship Christ during the Christmas season. Each daily reading is a rich, yet brief meditation on an event or characteristic of… Continue Reading

List of Classical Conversations and Veritas Timeline Cards

List of Classical Conversations and Veritas Timeline Cards

Last spring I did a review of Classical Conversations history. I mentioned that I’d provide a list of the Classical Conversations history timeline events and people as well as the Veritas history timeline events and people (read my review of Veritas history here), since I pick and choose and mix the two together. You can… Continue Reading

The Much-Requested Timeline Song

The Much-Requested Timeline Song

This entry is part 8 of 8 in the series Teaching Your Child to Love History You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

I keep getting emails requesting our timeline song, which I promised awhile back that I would post. Here it is at long last! I explained in one of my earlier history posts that I teach my children a literal, six-day creation. This worldview influences the timeline of history because interpreting history and archaeology using biblical… Continue Reading

Children and Worship

Children and Worship

This entry is part 8 of 10 in the series Back to Basics You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

Any concerned, Christian parent is committed to training his or her child to be obedient to the Lord and His Word. From the earliest of ages we inundate our children with Bible verses, we make sure that they faithfully attend church, and we seek to instill in them Bible truths that they can carry with… Continue Reading

Article 14: On Our Children

Article 14: On Our Children

This entry is part 16 of 17 in the series A Conservative Christian Declaration You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

  This is a series to further explain the articles of “A Conservative Christian Declaration.” . We affirm the necessity of passing these values to our children through regular catechesis, in faithful family worship, and by welcoming all ages into the corporate worship of our churches (Deut. 6:7, Eph. 6:4). Children learn rightly ordered worship and have… Continue Reading

Homeschooling with Little to No Prep

Homeschooling with Little to No Prep

I was talking with a friend the other day, and she commented that she didn’t know how I was doing grad school, blogging, and doing everything else as a wife and mom, plus homeschooling and all the prep involved for two grades. I answered that really have very little homeschooling prep for the most part,… Continue Reading