Rest in the Truth!
by Becky Wyand
1. Be Refreshed
I know that you have had the experience where you wonder what God is doing. Maybe you’re awakened at 2am and can’t get back to sleep. Maybe you are facing a crisis with a child. Maybe you or someone you love is facing ill health. Even in small crisis as the bread refusing to rise, we can be refreshed in quiet moments with God and His Word.
As we rest in the truth of God’s Word we can be refreshed.
Consider Psalm 67:1-2 “God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause His face to shine upon us. That thy way may be known upon earth. Thy saving health among all nation.”
2. Leadership
Whether we are training our children for positions of authority in church, in government or in the home we want them to have a Biblical view of leadership. We, therefore, will continue to train by stories, topical studies in the Word, by example and by experience.
A few considerations:
1. Give your child time to grow in leadership by giving them specific scheduled opportunities to practice responsibility and other character traits.
2. Continue to look for ways to use failures to train for the future.
3. Realize that if you are committed to training your children, opportunities will arise for that training to take place.
4. Be open and reaching for what God believes and how that applies to me in this situation.
3. Method Received
Teaching is an all-consuming task. We must daily look to our Father for wisdom and strength. Often in our buy lives we resort to the “get this work done” teaching method. Sometimes that is the only practical method.
1. Story telling – When we have a paint we want the child to understand telling it in simple story fashion gets the listening ear. Tell stories of your own experiences to teach Bible to character. Tell stories as you remember history to make it more realistic. Tell stories of experiences you have had that point to a Sovereign Creator God.
2. Read Aloud – This method can be used to bring the family together, to share reading that is too difficult for younger children to read to themselves, to prove a point in discipline and for many other reasons.
When reading aloud to the entire family, vary what you read to accommodate different age groups.
Use read-aloud to share information, to read Scriptures or for the sheer fun of being together.
3. Student Teaching – This method benefits the student and the teacher. If is seems not to work in your family situations, iron out the problems. It will b well worth it! Older children and “give” instruction to younger children in the subjects they are studying. For example your 10th grader might be getting a credit in biology. The information she learns can be told to all of the younger children. Simplifying information for younger children is a great test for whether the older child really knew the information.
4. Marilyn Howshall’s Tip
For several workshops and in the last letter I mentioned the writings of Marilyn Howshall. Her materials “Lifestyles of Learning” are available at our office. Call Annah.
From book 2 “The Unit of Life Learning Model” page 43 we learn:
Character Qualities Represented in My Notebook Work
I am orderly…
I am clean…
I am neat…
I am thorough…
I am attentive…
I am responsible…
The chart foes on to show how each pf these traits was practiced in he research-notebook style of learning for older students.
Many other good ideas can be discovered by reading her writings.
5. Thinking skills
One of the fun was to exercise the brain is with analogies. These practice books are probably available through your teacher supply store but you don’t really need a book to practice analogies.
Simple choose one category or type of analogy and practice that while sharing kitchen or other duties.
Some types of analogies to consider:
1. Synonym to antonyms
As cry is the laugh
2. Function
As tub is to bath
3. Place
As cow is to farm
4. Characteristic
As baseball is to round
Enjoy word games and help your young thinkers grow.