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On Code Writing

Posted in Guests, My Children with tags , , on Friday, June 18, 2010 by Becky

When he came to me early this week saying, “Mom, may I post something on your blog?” I was super excited! So today, my Son, who loves to draw, and keep treasures and notebooks,the one who is always trying to learn something new, is my guest blogger.

Enjoy.


This is one of my son's drawings.

Codes can not only be used in Wars or Top Secret documents, but also in having fun. Even though codes are fun when using them, it is not that fun when you write them out for the first time. It will take a while, thinking of all the little symbols, and it also will take patience, because code writing is not exactly what some people would call “fun.”

There are easy, simple codes, difficult codes, and the third type, which I like to call “insane” codes. The first type, the G rated codes, are simple, easy to memorize, symbols. No upper or lower case; only one symbol per letter. This kind of code, of course, is the best one to start with when you are a rookie in code writing. It is painless but entertaining at the same time. The PG-13 rated codes are not easy; not at all. You have to write an upper and lower case for every single letter and use more crazy symbols. You think that’s all? No, there’s more “fun”! You also have to make a symbol for every single preposition, conjunction, and subordinating conjunction. If you just fainted, that’s a normal symptom. And finally, for the grand finale, I present you, the Beast; the R rated code; the dark side of code writing. Darth Vader. Not Luke Skywalker, not Obi Kenobi; Darth Vader. This code is vicious. The description can be resumed in thirteen words: make a symbol for every single word ever invented in the whole planet. If you have reached the doors of heaven, that’s a normal symptom.

To memorize your code, you can do it the boring, cheap way, or the fun, awesome way. The boring one is to sit on an old stool with your code in front of you and write the same letter or word over and over until you have memorized it. Then you move to the next one. Write, write, write, write, write. Memorize. Change to a different word or letter. Write, write, write, write, write. Memorize. Change to a different word or letter and so on! See? It is boring. The fun, awesome, party, cake-fight way is way better. You take a piece of paper and start writing with the code. If you don’t know a symbol, look for it in your code guide. The trick is to just keep writing and writing with your code. Eventually, you will have looked up the same word so many times, that you already will have it in your brain, memorized.

So code writing is always fun, no matter what type you use. So far, I have just used the PG-13 code, and have written 4 of them. But when you write a code and have memorized it, make sure you keep using it! At least once a day, just to always have it fresh; otherwise you’ll forget it. I say that from personal experience. And one last thing, if you ever do a VILE, R RATED code, let me know how it goes; I’m not doing one.

If you’re wondering how my “love” for codes started, ask my mom*, or memorize the Greek Alphabet.

*Mom here:
Just to let you know (in case you were wondering)
my son's love for codes started the year we studied
Greek!
And, of course, he is not displaying pictures of his
codes, because those are "top-secret"!

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Timelines and Little Ones

Posted in Guests, Learning at Home with tags , , on Friday, May 28, 2010 by Becky

I am so happy to introduce you to Megan, she blogs at Contented Sparrow, and loves to homeschool her little ones under His sun, abiding under His wings and enjoying His beautiful creation. Today she is sharing with us about Timelines and little ones; grab a cup of tea (or coffee) and enjoy!

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My second-born asked one time, “Mom, was Grandma alive at the same time as Laura and Mary (Ingalls, of course)?”

That right there confirmed what I had heard about young kids having a hard time grasping history….the order of events, times and places and how they all fit together.  Of course, as a homeschooling mom, I had already been reading about the value of using a timeline….

From Homeschool in the Woods

“With eras of “time” being such an abstract concept, a child can have difficulties wrapping his young mind around the idea of it! (Adults, too!) Quite often the student will become frustrated and bored, resulting in a deflated desire to understand the subject at all.

Understanding when and where events took place, however, is crucial to understanding the patterns that evolved throughout history! It also illustrates God’s hand in all things from civilizations to sciences, something unfortunately left out in public school educations today.

The key factor lacking in teaching the subject of history was transforming it from an abstract concept to a concrete framework, visible and even tangible! Practically all people, young or old, rely on visualizing in order to learn. A child will see patterns happening and will make sense of how one event leads to another or a person’s importance affecting a turn of events. Once you add in a hands-on element, you create an environment where the child has additional exposure to the lesson, building memories relating to the project that will further cement the lesson in his mind.”

So, after I told myself, “Yes!”, to the timeline idea, my next question was inevitably how to do it?  Do we use a timeline in a big long book?  Or one that the kids notebook themselves?  Or sticky notes on the wall? I ruled out the timeline-in-a-book idea right away because I was sure it would end up neglected.  I decided it would be valuable to have it out in front of us all the time so I could answer children’s questions by pointing to the wall…i.e. “No, Oliver, Grandma was not alive the same time as Laura, see?”

Thankfully around this same time, a good (homeschooling) friend of mine had a timeline painted in her schooling room…all around the top of the walls.  Because we have a dedicated homeschooling room in our home, I was excited with the thought of how great that would be for us, as well.

Being a DIY kind of girl, I painted the line, did some complicated (for me!) math figuring to equally space out the centuries, and stenciled them onto the line. (Which, I have to say, took some patience.)

Then I had a talented girl (who had done my friend’s timeline) come and paint key Biblical events onto the timeline.  Starting with this, of course….

Then, an ark for the Flood, a ram and altar for Abraham and Isaac….

tablets for Moses and the Ten Commandments….

a crown, sheep and shepherd’s staff for King David….

and a lion to remind of us Daniel (and the Lion of Judah!).

Lastly and most important, where all of civilization hangs their hope, the great divide between BC and AD, a painting to remind us of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. All of time is divided into before our Saviour left His Heavenly dwelling to rescue us and after His work was done and He ascended back there to create a Home for us. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve pointed up to that “0″ in relation to history…..the home-base for everything. It really is HIS-story of redemption

I also had Psalm 25:4-5 painted onto one long wall.

The kids (and I) are amazed sometimes to realize what Biblical events were happening at the same time as “worldly” ones…as in, “The Ancient Greek Olympics and Jonah?!?!”

For History, we’ve taken a break from the chronological course of things this year to concentrate on American History. We’ve loosely used WinterPromise’s friendly curriculum to guide us along from Viking discoveries through to Lewis and Clark where we are right now. My children are two boys and a girl, ages 8, almost 7, and almost 4. So, we take a somewhat casual approach. I read books aloud to them, they do something hands-on like paper models, 3-D maps. And whenever we learn about something in the Bible or in our history reading, I scour the internet for a lovely image to print off and tape up under the respective year on the timeline. And whenever we come across dates in our reading, I stop and have the children point it out on the timeline for me so they can visually relate the event to others.

I have to say that almost anything could be taped up there to enhance understanding of time and events. Little copies of covers from favorite books you’ve read under the year they took place. Or a print out of a piece of artwork under the year it was painted. There are endless brilliant ideas!

Here are some links I’ve enjoyed related to timelines:

Jimmie Homeschool Mom’s excellent lens….tons of info and linkage here!
Heather Sanders for Pioneer Woman…timeline in a notebook
Paula’s Archives on timelines…lots of links
Higher Up and Further In’s notecard timeline on a string

Thanks to Becky for inviting me to share!
May God richly bless the education of your children and cause the seeds you have planted to grow.
Megan

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Why Classical Languages Matter

Posted in Guests, Learning at Home with tags , , on Saturday, May 15, 2010 by Becky

We are part of a great community, Veritas Press Scholars Online, and we receive a monthly  epistula (letter) featuring a very interesting article every month.

This month Joanna Hensley, one of the favorite teachers at Veritas Press Scholars Academy,  wrote a fabulous article on the importance of Classical Languages. I asked permission to post it here for you.


Why Classical Languages Matter

A Latin teacher, like me, asked to write a newsletter article on “Why Classical Languages Matter” is tempted to peddle her wares like a fair barker with a megaphone: “Step right up! Get five languages for the price of one! Feel smarter in just fifteen minutes a day! Absolutely guaranteed to raise your SAT!” While all these promises regarding the study of Latin may be true, and while these may be the very reasons some students study Latin in the first place, there is something far more valuable and far less self-serving in the importance of studying classical languages. Classical languages are necessary for understanding ideas, and to illustrate the point, I will put down my megaphone and tell you the story of St. Isidore of Seville.

Born to a Christian family in Spain in A.D. 560, Isidore was a student at the Cathedral School of Seville, the first school of its kind to be structured around the trivium and quadrivium. In other words, he was one of the first boys in medieval Spain to receive a classical Christian education, not unlike the one offered by Veritas Press Scholars Academy. While the Spanish culture around him was disintegrating with the spread of anti-intellectualism and illiteracy thanks to the barbarian Goths who had taken over the government, the young Isidore was studying Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and the liberal arts, holding on to classical influences which were all too quickly disappearing in Europe.When Isidore grew up, he put his classical education to work in service to his culture. After his older brother Leander died, Isidore became an archbishop and boldly fought against Arianism, that heresy popular among the barbarian Goths which rejects the biblical understanding of the Trinity by saying that Jesus was just a man and not true God. It took courage to tell those powerful barbarians they were wrong. (Remember what had happened to poor Boethius? If you don’t, take Omnibus V.) Yet, Isidore stood fast to Scripture, and through him, God converted many.As an archbishop, Isidore presided over several church councils, including the educationally significant Fourth National Council of Toledo in 633. At that council, Isidore encouraged everyone there to open classical schools like the one he had attended as a boy, based on the trivium and quadrivium, in all the Cathedral cities. Again, this was a bold move, quite counter-cultural. Through this spread of classical Christian education, Isidore stalled the influences of barbarism and ignited an educational renaissance throughout Spain.

Wondering what this has to do with classical languages? I’m getting to it.

In addition to fighting heresy and spreading education, Isidore wrote a gigantic encyclopedia-the first to be published during the Middle Ages-called the Origines (also known as the Etymologia and some of which students translate in my Latin II class). All 448 chapters of this 20-volume set were dedicated to understanding the origins of words. That Isidore could write such an encyclopedia is a tribute to his fine education. That he cared so much about etymologies illustrates his belief that knowledge comes to us through words, and the meanings of words come to us through study of classical languages. Isidore argued that the very existence of ideas depends upon understanding the origins of words, something you learn through the study of classical languages.

Why, then, do classical languages matter? Unless we know the origins of words, we cannot understand ideas. Since 90% of English words of two or more syllables come from Latin, English relies upon classical languages to express ideas. Take for example the phrase liberal arts. These are the arts which set a man free, not the arts which are particularly generous or best align with the Democrat Party. One understands the true meaning of liberal arts when he recognizes that the word is derived from liber, the same Latin word which gives English liberty and deliverance. This is just one example of thousands, but it shows how right Isidore was to think that understanding word origins is necessary for understanding ideas. This is why the study of classical languages is so important in becoming a well-educated person.

It makes sense to reasonable folk that words are connected to ideas. We express our ideas through words, and we read words in order to understand other people’s ideas. And yet, today’s postmodernism is challenging this basic connection between words and ideas. Our culture, like Isidore’s, is becoming more and more barbaric. Our church, like Isidore’s, is battling against heresy. Our postmodern world, like Isidore’s, needs to be reminded that words have true, objective meanings. What Isidore did to revive medieval Spain-namely, the spread of classical Christian education, the defeat of heresy, and a renewed appreciation for words-can revive our culture as well.

When words hold no significance, ideas simply do not flourish. I daresay this is why postmodern America is having trouble keeping up with the Great Conversation of western civilization. Knowledge does not advance when people argue what is is. Ideas do not flourish when words have meaning only for the individual. Debates do not resolve when no one even cares to define terms, and education is pointless when universal truth is replaced by relativism.

Let us instead commit ourselves and future generations to appreciating words. Let us love words so much that we study them all the way back to antiquity. Let us know exactly what is is, to the point that we can rattle off that irregular verb chart in languages millennia old. When someone tells us, “Sure, that’s what it means for you,” let us know with confidence that words do have objective meaning, going back to the days of Cicero and before. Let us read Cicero, while we are at it, and let our goal for studying classical languages be to enjoy the great books written in their original great languages. That goal is not far off. My Latin Readings students are doing that even now.

With classical languages under their belts, our children and their children actually can keep up with-even lead-the Great Conversation of western civilization. Knowing words is knowing ideas, and we need good ideas these days. So study Latin to improve your SAT score, master romance languages, and feel like an all-around smart person, but do your culture a favor and be like Isidore. Use your understanding of the origins of words to battle heresy in the church, spread classical education, and transform the culture through a renewed appreciation for words, and in this way give all glory, laud, and honor to the Word Made Flesh.

Joanna Hensley


Joanna will be teaching a Latin In-A-Week Online Course this Summer,
click here to know more about it and here to read a review of someone
who has already taken this course.


 

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Teaching the Word of God to Our Children- part IV-

Posted in Guests, Learning at Home, The Word with tags , , , on Friday, May 7, 2010 by Becky

My sister is here again, with her last post on Teaching the Word of God to our Children. Thank you Sis, for all the encouragement, the reminders, and the time that you have put on this. I love you!

As I was thinking on my last topic on the Importance of Teaching God’s Word to Our Children, all I could think was this: it is important because God commands it. Because if we treasure knowing God’s Word as the most valuable thing we posses, then we would naturally want them to know it and treasure it.

Obedience is better than sacrifice. We can sacrifice all our vacations, expensive clothes, fancy meals at restaurants, to be able to send our kids to the best school in town, but if the Word is not preached constantly… is there a benefit? Our kids need to hear the Word, read it, live it and see it through us every day.

We need to put our energy in the heart of our kids. Trust in the Lord and not in our own understanding but acknowledge Him in all our ways.

When they go to church, they need to learn how to behave, to not wonder with their eyes and  to pay  attention to what is being preached, we should then, ask them questions about the sermon. When having a family devotion, we should expect them to take part. we also need to teach them to pray at the youngest possible age (if they can talk, they can pray); so teach them to pray often before they start their day, before a test, if they are upset, and also when they are happy. Teach them to go to the Lord for every need and want so that they will know how to live by faith and have their prayers answered.

Teach them during school, to be teachable, to work hard in all their subjects, and use every opportunity to show them their God and marvel at Him. Teach them to be respectful of their authorities; when they cheat, point them to Christ, point them to repentance, to the importance of learning how  to resist temptation and equip them to learn how to avoid the path that seems at times irresistible to take.

Explain them your own temptations, your weaknesses, how much you need a Saviour, how He saved you, how merciful He was with you. Tell them about the love He has for you, help them to pray for you and you pray for them.

Help them to understand the fear of the Lord, and how they will be truly happy if they are friends with Christ. Guide them with their friendships so that they choose those that are friends with Christ. Explain them of habits that they take at a young age and how it will affect them when they are old. Explain them the importance of reading the Bible, and how there is no other Book like it.

Pray for them every day. And know that God does as He pleases and shows mercy to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands.

We need God’s grace to raise these children, we need His wisdom and the fruits of the Spirit to be evident in us every day, and we need His work in our lives so that we can show Jesus Christ to them.

Norma.

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Teaching the Word of God To Our Children -part III-

Posted in Guests, Learning at Home with tags , , , on Friday, April 30, 2010 by Becky

As you read this my Sister and I are enjoying a God-given opportunity to be together. To laugh and talk and enjoy long conversations.

This is the third part of this series,
the first part can be found here.

Teaching our kids is a great job given to us by God himself. He gave them to us, He entrusted their education to us! And very often that is an overwhelming thought because we see in us many faults, many mistakes, much sin, and our own inabilities while being expected to do a good job!

Now I am asked by God to train these children so that they are industrious, honourable men and women, godly in all that they do, follow God’s commands and treasure His law in their heart,all these by showing Jesus Christ to them, being a model of God’s character in me,and that through my marriage they will see a model of God and His church, and when they learn about Christ, they can understand it easily, because they had a good model to follow.

If this is not overwhelming enough, I do not know what it is. But it should be overwhelming at times; it should make us realize that it is not by what we do or not do, but because of God’s mercies. It should bring us to our knees every day crying to God for his strength, for His wisdom, for him to be the One teaching our kids and that we might be just an instrument useful to Him.

It demands from us to trust and obey, to lean on Him and to die to self every day; and to be a witness to those inside our house who really know us… the good, the bad and the ugly. There is an opportunity to live what we preach with an audience that learns from watching. They will study if our priorities are what we say they are.

Teaching our kids should be a challenge and a great passion because with God’s grace, we have the privilege to preach the gospel of Christ every day to our children and bring them up in the fear of the Lord.

What is the purpose of education? Is it to create moral kids that know how to behave? Or do we teach our children with their souls in mind? Which books are your kids reading? Which clothes are they wearing? How do they honour their parents? Which movies do you allow at home? (And I’m not talking just about secular movies, but even those that called themselves “Christian”) Do you teach them to always be on guard about their souls? Do you teach them to search their hearts? Do you teach them God’s doctrine? Do they know why they believe what they believe? Do you teach them history with God in mind? What about Science? Can they defend their faith against someone who wants to seduce their faith? Do your kids know their own temptations? Do they know yours?

Christian education needs Christian parents.

We need to know who Christ is; we need to study good doctrine if we want to fight the lust of our own flesh! The Lord has to be our passion, our desire, our most precious treasure. The more we know Christ, His doctrine of justification, sanctification, forgiveness, sin, death, resurrection, total depravity, irresistible grace, election, mortification of sin, holiness, know the Old Testament , understand  the doctrine of covenant theology, baptism, the sacraments, God’s character, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, His love, His patience, His judgement,… There is so much to learn!

“Knowledge without repentance will be a torch to light men to hell.”1 As we teach our kids all these, we are to teach them repentance and pray that God will grant it to them. We can yell, scream and cry all we want, but is God alone who can change a heart and give it life. The more they know, the less excuse they will have before God.  Do they know that? What a great privilege to be born in a family where the word is taught, but also great responsibility comes with it.

Do we want godly children? Let’s be godly parents!

Norma


1. Thomas Watson

The picture shown above is from a great
housewear shop in Boston, MA

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When Light Meets Daily Light V by Claire B.

Posted in Art, Guests with tags , , on Saturday, April 24, 2010 by Becky

Saturdays are great when you share them with friends, friends like Claire B. She is in Ireland, I am in Mexico, yet we have something in common; His light shining upon us.

Thank you, Claire for sharing here today.

i remember the room well. it was dark with a luminous red pink shade to it. people wore coats and the smell of ink and toner created a definition of sorts, a common ground for everyone.
it was the darkroom in my high school. it was nestled between a clump of pine trees at the bottom of the victorian heritage property. it was a hideaway for those who found the realities between creativity and tests a bit stark. i was one of those. it was this room and my father’s old film camera, that made me realise there is something very special about light. it is not only alive. it brings life.

i have only pursued this first love in very recent months.  in the beginning, my inspiration was found in objects. i liked the close up detail. i wanted to see the everyday by focusing on small aspects that might have gotten lost in the whole. this fascination has not decreased but i am finding that if i zoom out and clear the space within my frame, i am able to achieve the same effect. less is more, just presented in two different ways. something was calling me though. intuition won me over.

i settled on a 365 project for 2010 and decided to photograph that which had first drawn me into this world of imagery: light. this journey has taken me to places that i could not have imagined. i hoped for it to broaden my love of photography and hopefully in the process, my practical output. i did not bargain for the emotional and spiritual insights that it has surprised me with. a few weeks ago, i started a bible study on light with the root words in the greek and hebrew languages. i learnt the meanings and the phrases and how they differed. i realised that what we call “light” and “dark” are in fact so much more than just those two things. in these quiet hours God revealed to me that it was not light that i was pursuing but rather, Him.

my study is not complete. but then again, He is eternal…

“photograph the light” i can hear Him whispering to me.

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You can read more about Claire B. camera here.

Do you know about hot cocoa tea? Claire has a great article with beautiful pictures about it here. It is worth reading it.

And if you missed this series, When Light Meets Daily Life , go here and see the first post about it.

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Teaching Our Children God’s Word.-Part II-and When Light Meets Daily Life IV

Posted in Guests, Learning at Home with tags , , , on Friday, April 23, 2010 by Becky

Friday is here, and so is my sister. This is the second part of this series; part I is here.

So grab your cup of tea and enjoy while you read.

The images on this post are also from Claire B.
Light meets our Daily Life...
His perfect light meets us even in the kitchen, over some muffins,
and a godly conversation with our children.

Teaching our kids God’s Word, is a great privilege which we often take for granted; many often figure that our children’s spiritual growth will come out from Sunday School and that as long as they are familiar with Bible stories (Noah’s Ark, Daniel in the lion’s den, Jonah, Adam and Eve, David and Goliath…) and have a favourite one, we are doing well. Oh! How little we value God’s Word! How little we treasure His law! And how little we fear His teachings!

If we could focus in teaching our kids God’s Word, read it reverently, and when we pray, pray focusing on what we are saying, studying faithfully, and asking Him to open our eyes and the eyes of our kids to understand what we read, to change our hearts, and to see Jesus Christ throughout the Bible as the only hope for us. Many read as a habit, routine or even as a hope that if I do all that I need to do, I’ll be good with God. Do we read to our kids, not just the story of Daniel as a cool story with lions in it with angels and a great miracle? But a story where we see God’s sovereign hand throughout the whole book, teaching us that God does as He pleases, and He bends the heart of whomever He wants to bend. We can see God’s character, God’s mercy, God’s providence, God’s wrath, God’s forgiveness… Much about God’s character is shown to us through each of these stories.

We see Jesus Christ, the promise the hope.

Why not teach our kids ALL about God? We are often afraid that they are too young and that they may not understand. But they understand! They need those truths now that they are young; they need to understand them now and anchor them in their hearts. We are obliged to do so if we profess to be Christian parents. They need to fear God and be wise.  We need to teach them stories written in the Bible like the one in 2 Kings 2:23-25 to understand the dangers of mocking others. We need to teach them that Jonah, was not a fantasy story, but was real, the people he was asked by God to preach to, were sinners; and we can see God’s sovereignty, God’s judgement, God’s faithfulness, His patience, His love, His wrath! God does as He pleases! We can trust this God in the Bible and teach our kids, that they too can trust Him.

We need to show them who God is in everything we do and say. We need to be a witness of Christ inside our doors, before we are a witness to the world. We need to live Christianity in the secret of our house if we want our kids to follow Christ. If the world is more persuasive than their religion, they will follow. But when they know Christ, love His laws, know the doctrine to defend their faith; then Christ, His love and His forgiveness will be far more persuasive for them than any treasure the world may offer.

That is why, for as long as we are parents, we need to bring our kids to the cross, bring them to the knowledge of Him who died for them, explaining their need and dependence in Him. Forget for once about self-esteem and teach them to find their value in God alone, in that sovereign Lord who does as He pleases. They will know who you are talking about. They will know that Lord is in control of all and their souls can rest in Him. If they are good at something is because God made them good, therefore that must use that for God’s glory. If they lack abilities, also the Sovereign God gave them that so that they will not boast in themselves, but go to Him and ask.

We need to bring them to Christ, to the cross and to their need and absolute dependence on Him every day, every hour, every minute of the day.

May God give us grace to live our lives showing all that Christ is to our family.

Norma.

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Tomorrow, Claire B. will be here. She is the photographer, the eye and soul behind the camera on this week’s posts.

This blog entry can now be read at the new blog.

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