Christian homeschooling encompasses more than just school time. It really should be about how we do life – Bible study, character lessons, prayer time, daily attitudes, serving others, diligently and joyfully working, enjoying family time, worshiping together and so much more. In these articles I have tried to share everything from how I plan our daily Bible time and fantastic resources to help along the way to specific character training lessons and service project ideas that strive to build your children up as you point them to your Father.
I’ve talked a lot about using picture books to help teach good character qualities here at Our Journey Westward. For that matter, I’ve talked a lot about using picture books to teach, well, everything. Bill Peet’s stories are some of my favorites for helping children recognize kindness, honesty, courage, and the consequences of poor choices….
I’m a very practical gal. And since this is a homeschooling blog, I thought I’d share some super-practical character-building lessons you can easily incorporate into the academic side of your homeschool. As you read through the lessons, you’ll see many of them are very creative, involving more than one subject and/or learning style. These in-depth lessons are what I like to…
Now that I’m a “boy-only mom” (because my daughter is in college) choosing read-aloud books requires a new consideration. Will the potential book appeal to my boys? I can’t get away any longer with reading books that have any sort of girly-girl flavor. Lucky for me, there are TONS of wonderful living books to fill…
Any time is a good time to read a fantastic picture book, but when that book serves double duty as an educational tool, it’s truly a “keeper.” The character building picture books listed below are definitely keepers. We know that good character is best taught through example, right? The saying goes that way more is…
Enjoy the magic of Christmas with this precious literature-based lesson, which includes a special service project for your family to do together. You’ll love the Silver Packages book activity so much that it might even become a Christmas tradition. Traditions help families build relationships and give children a sense of peace and security. Because they…
Homeschooling in December can be rough. Everyone needs a bit of a break from the monotony of the regular homeschooling schedule. Because of this, some families choose to take the entire month off from homeschooling. Others switch the curriculum to focus on preparing for Christmas and turning their children’s hearts toward the One that Christmas…
Adding a good picture book to any lesson makes learning come alive. It also adds terrific visual references to help concepts have more meaning. This particular Christmas book activity is the perfect way to celebrate the season and help children learn empathy at the same time. In my mind, character-building is just as important in…
With each new school year, I always find renewed energy and vision for homeschooling. Rather than wait until Thanksgiving or when the blahs of winter kick in (when it seems to make sense to write a post about why I’m thankful for homeschooling), I thought I’d harness this joyful beginning-of-the-school-year energy to list all those…
Character building is one of the best ways to solidify good values in our children. Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll write about ideas for helping our children build strong foundations in character. I pray that you and I will both be inspired (or re-inspired) to train our precious children in the way they…
We homeschool for many reasons, but one is more important than all of the others combined. We desire to pass on a bold Christian faith that finds our children seeking God with all their hearts and sharing Him with others from here to eternity. Come along as I show you how I plan homeschool Bible…
Welcome to Day 3 of my 10 Days of Teaching Values series. Today’s topic focuses on one of the most important things we’ve added to our homeschooling schedule – service and leadership opportunities that lead to beautiful character growth AND benefit others. You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use…
When my youngest was in second grade, we did a Creation-based dinosaur unit study that led to some amazing rabbit trail learning! What started out as a great “boy topic” to end the year with a bang, turned into so much more. Without my pre-planning, it even gave him a great foundational understanding of events leading up…