Guest Blog - Suzanne Woods Fischer - Five Things I’ve Learned from the Amish

I'm blessed to review Suzanne's new book next week.  Until then, I thought I'd share a guest post by Suzanne about the unique and wonderful lessons we can learn from the Amish.

Five Things I’ve Learned from the Amish that Have Nothing to Do with being Amish and Have Everything to Do with being a Christian:

Being Amish is not a lifestyle. Life among the Amish has to do with faith. Faith can’t be squeezed to an hour or two on Sunday morning; it infuses their entire life like a teabag in hot water. What they do and how they do it is rooted in the spiritual question: What is pleasing to God?

Amish proverb: “Letting go of earthly possessions enables us to take hold of heavenly treasures.”

The Lesson: To pray about my day’s activities and offer them to God, first, for His purposes. And then trusting interruptions (seeing a friend in the grocery store, for example) or de-railings (those days when everything goes wrong!) to be God-managed.  

Cherish your family. A family that works together, grows together. Amish families spend a lot of time together and try to keep their work close to home. Children are valued as gifts from God, wanted and enjoyed. They’re included in all of Amish life—from barn raisings to three-hour church services. An Amish bishop once said, "We don't prepare our children for the future, we prepare our children for eternity."

Amish proverb: “Tomorrow’s world will be shaped by what we teach our children today.”

The Lesson: Involving children in chores and activities may not be the most convenient or efficient way to accomplish a task, but the benefits are long lasting. Look for ways to get everybody involved—cook together, sweep out the garage together, set the table together. And have fun while you’re doing it!

Draw a land in the sand. The Amish want to be good stewards of God’s resources—time, money, material goods. They know that convenience comes with a cost. They don’t want to be dependent on outside sources (such as electricity or gas!). Convenience means loss of something valuable. For example, fast food means less nutrition. More stuff means more maintenance. They’re willing to say no.

Amish proverb: “Things that steal our time are usually the easiest to do.”

The Lesson: Technology has its limits. And technology isn’t all good. Evaluate purchases more thoughtfully. Think of where a purchase or an added expense will lead your family. More time together or less? More stress or less? Reframe your view of time and money and goods as God’s resources.

Watch Your Words. The Amish continually stress the importance of filtering their speech.

Amish proverb: “Words break no bones, but they can break hearts” and “Mincing your words makes it easier if you have to eat them later.”

The Lesson: Say less. Prayer more.  

Nothing replaces face-to-face visits. Back in the day when telephones emerged on the scene, the Amish bishops made a deliberate decision to keep the telephone out of the house. They didn’t want to interrupt family life. But they drop everything for a face-to-face visit.

Amish proverb: “Use friendship as a drawing account, but don’t forget to make a deposit.”

The Lesson: Nurture relationships by investing face-to-face time in them. No technology can substitute for the real thing.

Honor the Sabbath. An Amish person would never think of working on a Sunday. But it’s more than that—they truly cherish their Sabbath. They spend time on Saturday to make Sunday a smooth and easy day.

Amish proverb: “Many things I have tried to grasp and have lost. That which I have placed in God’s hands I still have.”

The Lesson: Strive to make Sunday a different day than other days. A day of rest is important on so many levels—time to worship, time to reflect, time to re-energize. A re-charge your battery day.

Suzanne Woods Fisher is a bestselling author of Amish fiction and non-fiction and the host of a weekly radio program called Amish Wisdom. Her most recent book, Amish Values for Your Family released in August. The Waiting is a finalist for a 2011 Christy Award. Amish Peace: Simple and Amish Proverbs were both finalists for the ECPA Book of the Year (2010, 2011). Her interest in the Amish began with her grandfather, W.D. Benedict, who was raised Plain. Suzanne has a great admiration for the Plain people and believes they provide wonderful examples to the world.  When Suzanne isn't writing or bragging to her friends about her first new grandbaby (!), she is raising puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind. To Suzanne's way of thinking, you just can't take life too seriously when a puppy is tearing through your house with someone's underwear in its mouth. Keep up on Suzanne's latest news on Facebook, Twitter and on her blog!

Wordless Wednesday - Marley's New Digs

Marley is our bearded dragon.  Friends just gave us a much bigger aquarium for her to call home.  Ain't she a beauty?

Our Curriculum for this Year - 9th and 7th Grade

A fellow crewmate is doing a blog hop about curriculum choices this year.  While I’m not sure everyone cares what we are using, I do know that it has taken hours and hours of scouring choices and looking at books and pricing options and considering my boys learning styles and figuring out what our co-ops are doing, and, and, and… to get to the point where we made our choices.  So, for me, it’s a bit cathartic to put it in writing.

I homeschool my two youngest boys.  My oldest is starting high school and my youngest is going into 7^th grade. 

9th Grader (14 this Sept.):

This year he will take three courses through our co-op.  We meet one day a week and then do the learning at home.  I like a co-op because they are accountable to someone besides me, because these ladies have expertise in areas I am weaker in, and because it keeps the idea of a classroom setting in his mind for college.

The three co-op courses are:

Biology (and lab)  – we are using Apologia Biology.  I am going to incorporate additional work to make it an honors course.  This is really two classes at the co-op because the lab is separate.

American History – the text is United States History by BJU.  We will also use REA CLEP for History 1 and 2 and The History of US DVD and text.  This will be an honors course and he’ll take two CLEP tests this year.

Computer Applications I – this is a semester course I will be teaching at the co-op.  We are using Microsoft Office 2007 Simplified along with a plethora of information and activities I have downloaded.

3D Visual Programming – also a semester course I will teach using Alice by Canegie Melon.  Alice is a free download with many tutorials that teaches the fundamentals of programming in a visual platform.

At home he will be doing:

Spanish I – we have Auralog’s Tell Me More Spanish levels 1-5 Homeschool Edition.

Honors English I – I will use Excellence in Literature: Intro to Literature with the honors option, Easy Grammar Plus to keep up with grammar and we’ll supplement vocabulary as needed.

Geometry – Teaching Textbooks is our choice here.  Both my boys really like the format and instruction.  It worked well with Algebra I for him so we’re sticking with it.

7^th Grader (12):

My younger son also attends the same co-op and will be participating in another as well.

At the first co-op, he will take:

Middle School Art – this class will focus on drawing and paint.

General Science – We stick with Apologia for science. I have bought him the audio to go with the text as he’s more auditory.

Computer Applications I and 3D Visual Programming – same class as my oldest except for a modification for the middle school students.

World Geography – the instructor is compiling her own materials

Co-op #2

Critical Thinking – will use Critical Thinking materials

Writing – (this is every other week) He will have a teacher the first semester focusing on the five paragraph essay; I will teach the course second semester and focus on genres of essay writing.

Science Lab – (every other week) Taught by a highly qualified scientist who will have parent led labs with her assistance. He will create two projects over the course of the year.  The labs are similar in content to what he will be learning in General Science.  A good supplement.

At home:

Literature – we are doing Battle of the Books this year, so he will read 27 total books (3 per month – we did nine over the summer.)  I have a study guide for one book a month so we can address that one in more depth.  I will also have him doing Easy Grammar Plus. 

Pre-Algebra – Teaching Textbooks all the way!

German I - we have Auralog’s Tell Me More German levels 1-5 Homeschool Edition.

Whew – that’s one big year ahead of us and that’s not even counting the extra-curriculars…  I can’t wait to get past the anticipation and finally get rolling!  Two more weeks!

My Homeschool Transcript - A Wonderful Transcript Generator!

My Homeschool Transcript

http://www.myhomeschooltranscripts.com/

Cost:  $29 for lifetime subscription

           Free basic one time transcript

While this is a review, it is unsolicited.  I was blessed to be part of the beta program for My Homeschool Transcripts and give input on what I thought would be needed for my children’s transcripts.  It was great to work with the developer as he took all suggestions seriously and really strove to implement those that appealed to the wider audience.

Having a strong transcript, as a homeschooler, is important for those students wanting to go on to college.  Unlike in a public or private school, the developer of the transcript, typically mom and dad, has to really elaborate on what was accomplished in order to catch the college’s admissions counselor’s eye.

When I first knew I was homeschooling high school, I invested in another popular program that I now believe is very limited in what it can accomplish on a transcript.  Now that I’ve had time with My Homeschool Transcript, I wish I could get my money back!  This program is so much more thorough and dynamic.

I love the flexibility of what I can add or change in the program.  Some examples of what you can do include the following:

·         Create classes/subjects and as many student files as you need

·         Provide details about the class/subject including a description and comments (this is where I keep a running account of what texts we use)

·         Determine what is expected for graduation and visually see what your student needs to accomplish

·         Designate courses as Honors or Dual Enrollment and have them calculated properly

·         Determine how to calculate your grades

·         Develop a by grade or by subject transcript printable as a PDF

·         Record extra-curricular activites and test scores

All of this is for a one-time fee of $29!  A lot cheaper than what I spent before.  To see a more extensive feature set list, click here.

I feel that the process for creating transcripts is very straight forward.  I’ve started my son’s including the classes he will be taking this year, a bibliography for each course, and his extra-curricular activities.  This way I’m ahead of the game and can supplement or remove anything that changes as we go along.  He has already needed one transcript to join the National Honor Society.  I guess you just never know when you’ll need one.

Another aspect I have been very impressed with is customer service, I have sent the occasional email with a question and always get a fast and friendly response.  I don’t know about you, but I really value strong customer service.

I really felt compelled to post this as I just finished using it and wanted to be able to share a great program with my fellow homeschoolers.

There is an option to generate a free transcript if you want to check it out or are in need of a transcript, stat.  Obviously, I highly recommend this program for generating professional transcripts colleges will take notice of.

Slim Down Sunday Meme - Week 4

Whether you want to lose 10 pounds, 20 pounds or 100 pounds – it always helps to have support from those around you.

Goal – lose 20 pounds   

Pounds Lost (Week 4) – Down 8 pounds!  (12 total)  Weighed today and had four more lost than I originally thought.  Woot!

How it Went This Week:

This has been one crazy week!  Spending the first two days in the hospital and the last catching up on everything I needed to get done has pretty much derailed some of my good intentions.  However, I've been very disciplined about eating. 

What I didn't do - exercise and drink water like I had planned.

I'm excited to see another drop in pounds, though!  That's the ticket!  The hubby says he's beginning to see places where the weight has dropped.  That certainly feels good to hear!

What’s my Plan for this Week:

Water and exercise for sure!  This week is a big week in terms of getting ready to start our homeschool year.  We'll be easing into full time over the next two weeks with August 22nd being our official full first day.  I need to establish habits now so that I won't slack off when the hustle and bustle of schooling get rolling.

Go to the doctor.  I'm supposed to follow up with my doctor anyway, but I am at an all time low for energy.  Actually had one great day of energy and paid for it with three days of feeling utterly spent.  Every nurse/doctor at the hospital that had anything to do with my vitals commented on how really low my blood pressure is, so I'm going to pursue that with my primary this week.  Do any of you fight fatigue?  What works for you? 

How about you?  What have been your successes this week?  I'd love to hear what's working for you - I know I want the scale to keep going down and will take all the advice I can get!

To Smartphone or Not - That is the Question...

It’s time to upgrade and renew our phone plans.  I’m so torn – we’re with Verizon.  I was taken aback to find out that they have a whopping four non-smart phones in their repertoire to choose from, and, let’s just say, they aren’t very impressive.  That wouldn’t bother me so much if it weren’t for the fact it’s going to cost me an extra $22 per month per line to have smart phones.   Urgh!

Even if it’s just my husband and I, that’s $528 per year!  Yikes!  For a phone!!!  Of course, the gentleman argued it’s no longer just a phone.  It’s a GPS, it’s Internet, it’s mail, it’s social networking and banking and…  Ok.  I can do that from home.  I just don’t see myself with the sudden urge to bank or Facebook or get online while out and about.  It can wait.

Mail, well, that’s attractive.  I do need another GPS, but I could buy quite a GPS for $528.  Come to think of it, with a two year contract it’s $1056 (and we have a corporate discount!).  I think I feel faint. 

My husband already has one.  Urgh!  Even $500 over time is a bit of a scary investment no matter how you break up the payments.

I’m pretty sure I’ve talked myself out of it.  Thoughts?  Why do you have a smart phone?  Is there any reason compelling enough to spend that much money? 

Wordless Wednesday - Never Inhale Chlorine

Having opened a chloring bucket a thousand times, imagine my surprise when I got too close and a giant puff came out in my face.  Surprised enough to inhale and then realize that was a dumb idea!  Two days in the hospital and inhalers for the next couple weeks.  Never let your kids near the chlorine bucket!  So glad it was me and not them!