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May/June 2025 - 30th Anniversary Special Edition
March/April 2025
May/June 2023
Are you beating your head against a wall? Is your thirteen year old impossible to teach? Is the curriculum that has worked so well in the past suddenly "boring?"
I recently spoke with a mother of many who, after completing an enjoyable unit study of reading and discussion on Holland, decided her fourteen year old son should follow-up this project with something concrete. She asked him to write an essay on the history of the development of the tulip industry - a topic they had all found to be interesting. As days of reluctance dragged into weeks of resistance, a normally affable mother-son relationship became outright antagonistic....
Top 10 Tips for Home Schooling Families On Simplifying Their Lives
1. Plan to do the most shopping and errands you can do on each shopping trip. Avoid shopping more than once a week, if possible. This will add time to your days.
2. Plan meals for 10 days to 2 weeks at a time, depending on your shopping schedule. Know at breakfast (or even the night before!) what you are having for supper, so you can do the preparations needed during the day and not be wondering at 4 o’clock, “What’s for supper?” This will also aid in nutrition and save you money!
3. Each family member should have a treasure box to keep their treasures inside. Teach your children to de-clutter, too! It will be a blessing to them throughout their lives. Remember, “People are more important than things!”
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It seems to me that home schooling is a lot like swimming across a lake.
When you are out in the middle, the lake sometimes seems to be a lot bigger than it looked when you jumped in, and unlike a swimming pool, it has no lines painted on the bottom to keep you swimming in a straight line. When you are fighting to make it through the waves without inhaling too much water, pushing yourself to keep going stroke after stroke when you are exhausted, and blinking to see in spite of the water stinging your eyes, it is possible to lose perspective.
Our Mexican Son and Brother was written by WISDOM mom Laurie Lacy. David and Laurie Lacy are devout Christians. They live in Edmonton, and are active in WISDOM’s home school events.
I was somewhat thrust into home schooling without a great deal of preparation. About all I knew was that I had the right to teach my children at home, and in my first year I simply brought home all our daughter’s textbooks from school. It soon became clear that importing the school into our home wasn’t going to work very well so, in our second year, I copied both method and curriculum from another home schooling family. This whole time, in an effort to research what other options might be available, I spent a lot of time reading books on education in general and some on home schooling.
The desire of my heart is to encourage families with grace and love. I do pray and hope that the attached article will bring encouragement to you and other home schooling families.
Building strong families together in Christ,
Karen Dargatz
(780) 962-3727
Fairy tales are often what colors our childhood and facilitates our dreams. They are filled with sadness and happiness. Love and loss. Good vs. evil. When researching the top fairy tales, Cinderella, Beauty & The Beast and Hansel & Gretel came up in the top 10. It is interesting to realize that most fairy tales introduce a family that already has suffered a loss of either a mother or a father. The topic is briefly addressed but the “why’s” are not explained in detail.
When I think about the many fairy tales that I have read or watched, the first thing that comes to mind is a dream to find a prince, marry him and live happily ever after. I love the idea that a fairy tale takes your imagination to the next level. Where the mice design dresses, where commoners live in castles and where candy houses exist. You have to admit that these stories would be pretty bland if it weren’t for these elements of opportunities.



