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Welcome to the 23rd edition of A Living Education E-zine.

This month I am breaking with tradition (I’ll be back to our normal format next month) and will be sharing with you some questions that I have received recently which I feel have universal appeal.

1. My passion for homeschooling has diminished.
2. How do you get it all done?
3. How do I start planning?
4. How do I incorporate more Charlotte Mason elements to my homeschool?
5. How do I become more like the Proverbs 31 woman?

My passion for homeschooling has diminished
I didn’t know that there was a rule book that we always need to feel passionate about homeschooling. We all have our ups and downs and times when we feel flat and would rather cuddle up with a good book than face the day’s schooling.

What I do know is that we need to remain obedient to this that God has told us to do. It is when we are obedient to Him and continue to homeschool our children, or even just school them on the day we don’t feel like it, that He rewards our obedience and He brings the passion, ideas and thoughts back to us.

Persevering when things are tough or when you are feeling “flat” is what produces character in us as moms.

How do I get it all done?
Little bits at a time, accepting some things will never be perfect like having a home that can be featured in a magazine :-) and by doing what we can to train our children with love and grace to work with us.

We do have time pressures that others who do not homeschool do not have. When there is no help in the house and all cleaning and cooking falls to mom, things can get a little stressed at times.

Planning takes care of a lot of these things but life can still hit you a curve ball. This is where a good sense of humour comes in and you learn to take things in your stride.

How do I start planning?
I like to plan from the end to the beginning…I know this sounds weird but I think about where I would like to be and plan out steps to reach that goal. For instance we are planning to grow more of our own food. I looked at what I wanted to achieve and then put down plans to get us to that point. Another example is our daughter’s school leaving certificate. She has told me where she would like to end up and we are now planning short term and long term goals to get her there.

Other ways to start planning is to look at all the areas that need planning – chores, cleaning, meals, work, schooling and set aside a time to plan for each one of those areas. Start in the area that needs your attention the most.

More planning help can be found on these pages:
Menu Planning
Homeschool Planning Essentials
Organized Mom

How do I incorporate more Charlotte Mason elements into my homeschooling?

I always think the easiest way is to start introducing living books into your curriculum. If you have got this one under your belt then the next thing to add is a weekly nature walk. Music and art appreciation can follow this.

In the beginning just doing a little of each of these things is still 100 times better than doing nothing at all. As you begin to feel comfortable with one thing, add the next.

How do I become more like the Proverbs 31 woman?

Wouldn’t it be great if we could wave a wand and “get-it-all-together” overnight? There is so much written about this woman that she has become an icon to many homeschooling moms. She is what they strive for, model on and set their sights on becoming.

So Christian woman begin to attach themselves on the image of the perfect homemaker – sewing, cooking, gardening, running a small business, rising early, working til late...

I, however, feel that they often overlook the most important part of this scripture which is tucked away neatly at the end: “...but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.”

Psalm 111:10 says: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding.”

Therefore the answer to the question is to discover the fear of Lord and live according to the fruit of wisdom that this relationship yields.

Homeschool Curriculum For Life News!

The switch over to the new format is taking time which is in short supply here at the moment with a new puppy, schooling and our garden project. But it is moving ahead. My site has just short of 180 pages of which 30 have now been converted. I aim to have all the rest done by the end of June.

At the same time I am busy adding content to my new site which I hope to announce in my next E-zine.

In the interim I have added one new page to this site which the highschool homeschool science programs

For those who are interested...I have added some photos of our recent trip on my nook at The Homeschool Lounge - feel free to take a peek!

Take care until next time,
God’s richest blessings to you as you homeschool,
Wendy

PS Please pay it forward by sending this E-zine on to other homeschooling moms who will benefit from my thoughts. If you received this from a friend, sign up here