100 Years Old!

Recently we have started to add books to the S.V.H.E. Library that would be considered classic, meaning that they have stood the test of time and are still being read. One such book is The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The text was copyrighted in 1911. This means that this book is about to celebrate its 100th birthday.

The book is about a girl named Mary Lennox of India. Her parents died in the first chapter. Then she is brought to England to live in a 600 year old mansion, Misselthwaite Mansion, owned by Mr. Archibald Craven. There Mary is left to herself with very little supervision except for an occasional appearance by Mrs. Medlock, the housekeeper, and Martha, a servant. Mary finds a secret garden. Mary also finds a crippled long forsaken boy named Colin in another section of the mansion. Colin has never left his invalid bed being bedridden from birth. Mary also meets Dickon, a local boy who likes to wander the moor and is a friend to animals. Dickon and Mary take Colin to the secret garden without anybody in the household knowing their whereabouts. There Colin is healed and learns to walk. He becomes healthy and is no longer an invalid. There Mary also receives healing. Her problems were not physical but rather emotional because of the death of her parents and the way she was raised in India. The story ends happily for all.

This past summer two of my grandchildren, ages 6 and 9, watch a video of this book. They liked it so much that they wanted me to read it to them. So I did, all 27 chapters. It did take several nights of reading. The reason I feel that this book is considered a classic is because of all the symbolism in the story. The secret garden reminded me of the Garden of Eden, Paradise. Here God met with Adam and Eve. Everything was perfect. Colin in the book kept talking about the magic of the secret garden. I believe the magic was God's presence. I believe that we as Christians can go into our secret garden and experience healing just like Mary and Colin did. How do we do that? There is an old hymn called I Go to the Garden Alone that captures what Mary and Colin must have experienced in their secret garden. I will close this blog with the words of this hymn.

I Come to the Garden Alone
by C. Austin Miles, 1913

I come to the garden alone
while the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear,
The Son of God discloses.
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own,
and the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.
He speaks, and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing,
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own,
and the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.
I’d stay in the garden with Him
Though the night around me be falling,
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe,
His voice to me is calling.
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own,
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

Evaluation Time!

I was visiting with a new homeschool mother who was talking about what the No Child Left Behind Law has done to the public school teachers. It has left the teachers so stressed out. They have to teach in such a way that the students do well on the tests. That conversation reminded me of a book we have in the S.V.H.E. library: What Your Child Needs to Know When by Robin Scarlata.

This book was a best-seller in the 1990s. This book answers these questions:
What are the state standards?
What are God's standards?
How were children taught in Bible times?
How do I prepare my goals for the year?
How do I overcome my testing fears?
How do I overcome my child's testing fears?
Are the achievement test scores accurate?

Robin Scarlata points out that academic standards should not be separated from spiritual standards. We need to teach the whole child she says. Parents need to realize what their children really need to know - true wisdom from God's Word. The spiritual is just as important as the academic. Robin Scarlata has a chapter on character evaluation. How can that be evaluated on an achievement test?

This reminds me of the verses in Isaiah 55: 8-9, " For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways", says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."

Last evening we watch a video documentary at the monthly SVHE meeting titled: Home School Dropout: Why the Second Generation is Now Headed for a Spiritual Wasteland. This documentary, featuring the Botkin siblings, explores some of the reasons why second-generation homeschoolers are dropping out of the movement – in other words, they don’t intend to homeschool or actively disciple their own children (and many are dumping Christianity altogether). The labor of their parents means nothing to them. They try to melt back in to mainstream American culture, thinking it will bring them happiness. As one of the Botkin siblings puts it, “They want to be cool.” They presented six sins of the second generation. Here is what they say of their generation:

1. We don’t seek God for ourselves. (Please read that about ten times!!!!!)2. We don’t take our own sin seriously. 3. We are proud. (Homeschoolers may be academically better than average, but “Is beating the average really a standard of success?”) 4. We don’t engage the world. (Isolating ourselves from the world’s problems instead of confronting them.)5. Laziness and complacency. 6. We are bitter instead of grateful.

As I meditate on the conversation I had with the new homeschool mother, Robin Scarlata's book, and the documentary I am reminded of how Job in Job 1: 5 prayed regularly for his children. I am also reminded of Psalm 127, which tells parents how to labor and prosper with the Lord. Other Scriptures that come to my mind include Deuteronomy 6: 4-9. These verses tell parents to love the Lord with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their strength. Then parents are to teach that love of the Lord to their children.

I know that from my homeschool and life experiences that there is always hope with the Lord. Yes, at times, we as homeschool parents have failed. But we do serve a gracious and merciful God. He is a faithful. He has said that He will never leave us nor forsake us. He is there for us. He is our Restorer and our Redeemer. He can bring good out of bad. I say to the Botkin siblings the story is not finished yet. There is still hope for the second generation homeschoolers!

The American Heritage Series

A new addition to the library is The American Heritage Series with historian David Barton. It is a 10 DVD series that is very popular at the time of this blog. It has been shown in local churches, on the Salina cable access television, on several Christian networks, and even used last school in our S.V.H.E. co-op classes. Also, it can be seen on The Homeschool Channel. Here is a link to the Homeschool Channel: http://www.thehomeschoolchannel.tv/ I even found some of the videos from this series on You tube.

Amazon.com has done an excellent job reviewing this series. Just check it out: http://www.amazon.com/American-Heritage-David-Barton/dp/B001RJ78TE

Margin in our lives

This morning I happened to be in the car at 7 a.m. when I heard Richard Swenson on the Focus on the Family radio program. He was talking about the fact that we need a margin in our daily life. We do not have to have every hour of every day scheduled with an activity. He said that sometimes we should say "no".

In the mid 1990's I remember a speaker with several children at the TPA Homeschool conference in Wichita who said that she has no ministry outside the home. The entire audience stood up and clapped. I clapped, too. Why? I think that was the year in which I was teaching 3 - 5 years old on Wednesday night and Kindergarten on Sunday. That was also when I was homeschooling all six of my children. But what became too much was when the Wednesday teachers decided to have the Wednesday night children plant flowers. We planted them but nobody was watering them after a week. The pastors did not think it was their resoonsbility. So I decided I would take that job on. So every day that summer I came to church to water the flowers. Two weeks in August the temperature was about 110 degrees every day. So I came twice a day. The next year the pastor asked me if I wanted to be responsible for the flowers in front of the church since they were so beautiful the previous summer. I wisely said no. I did recommend a different lady who is still enjoying being responsible for the flowers. I have learned over the years that activities do take more time than you originally think that they would.

We do have a book in the S.V.H.E. library by Richard A. Swenson published in 1992 named Margin.

Check out this book from our library or you could check the Focus on the Family web-site. http://www.focusonthefamily.com/ Dr. Swenson spoke on October 12 & 13, 2010. I do not know how long programs are kept online. But it is worth your time. You might also want to check out Richard Swenson's web-site. http://www.richardswenson.org/index.html

The American Storyteller

I want to post an excellent web-site for auditory learners called The American Storyteller Radio Journal. It is real people and real stories. The host is Nelson Lauver, who has been known as the Rockwell of Radio. He is a master storyteller. His stories are only 4 minutes. There are currently 117 stories to pick from. Do try at least one story. I know you will be hooked. http://www.theamericanstoryteller.com/