The Communication Dance

The following is a sermon my husband preached a few weeks ago during a series on relationships. Much of the material was gleaned from Danny Silk's video teaching "The Communication Dance". I thought this would be beneficial to many people and wanted to share. Please keep in mind that translating a verbal teaching into written word can be challenging but the information is wonderful!

Communication is the key to success.

Diana Waring's History Revealed, Vol. 1 (Ancient Civilizations and the Bible)

Two years ago I was fortuitous enough to win this entire curriculum in a very random way. I'm grateful for my high school typing class and journalism experience which conditioned me to type wicked fast. As a result, we used Ancient Civilizations this year which covers Creation to Christ.

Variety is the Spice of School: Eclectism

All the walls in my house are eggshell white. It's boring. But I've never been confident with color. Plus, we got all the paint for our almost 2,000 square feet for about $5. Cheap AND boring.
This same trend of boring does not carry over into our homeschool, however. And good thing.
Again and again, I read comments from moms in total frustration: they are using a boxed or computer-based curriculum, and their child is uninterested, unmotivated, bored, underwhelmed and they don't know what to do about it.
My advice? Paint some rooms red and yellow.

Managers Of Their Homes (MOTH)

The day my husband came home and found me hiding under a pile of (clean) laundry on our bed, we knew something had to change.
In the fall of 2007 I had a foot-dragging second grader, a shy kindergartner, an ornery three-year-old and a clingy baby girl. Add homeschooling on top of that, and let's just say it was the straw that broke this mommy's already weakened back.

Dreams, or How I Came to Title This Blog

I’m a dreamer. Anyone who knew me as a child will laugh knowingly because I was infamous for my staring-out-the-window episodes. I can daydream so deeply that I won’t even hear someone talking to me. I am extremely gifted in blocking out the world. (Which is awesome, because sometimes the world stinks.)
But I also dream vividly. Only recently was I given tools for interpreting these dreams. (Side note: For those Christians who are going to balk at my belief of God speaking in dreams and dreams being interpreted by other Christians, you can pick up your Bible and read all the accounts in both the Old and New Testaments of this actually happening. Cessationist theology is something I won’t entertain.)

Apologia: General Science (7th grade)

When transitioning from elementary to middle school, the jump can be steep in a few areas. To help with this transition in science I had my son choose whatever elementary Apologia book he wanted and complete it on his own in 6th grade. Previous to that, science was a subject I taught to all my children at one time, using the method of reading out loud from a text, discussion and experiments. He chose Astronomy and this proved to be a great decision as it gave him a taste of following a lesson plan independent of me.

Apologia Overview

Lately, I find myself recommending Apologia in a lot of different places. We started using this last year and I plan on my children using it straight through high school. I actually have a plan written up outlining which books we'll be using from now til 2024. It's impressive.
There are many reasons we all love this curriculum. I'll outline my three biggest loves: